Brain Dead!

(Small disclaimer..... I can't get the spellchecker to work... so read at your own risk, and please don't judge me.... it is genetic, ask my Dad!! )

I am absoultly amazed at how draining class is for me right now! We are ONLY in class from 8:30 - 12:30 in the morning with several breaks.

The result.... I am not near as orginized, creative or thoughtful! To think that is has almost been a month since my last post is, well I want to say shamefull, but really it isn't, maybe dissapointing is a better word.

We only have 7 more days of class, and then it is ..... Christmas break. Whooo HOOO!

Please don't get me wrong the class is AMAZING!!!! I wouldn't NOT change the class for anything, just maybe the schedule.

There have be so many "posts" that I have wanted to write.... but I just never had the energy or creativity. Some of them would have been ( and might still be - in 7 days :) the following:

- Up date in the fish and Kent's Malaria
- Girls at thanksgiving.... playing in leaves and making oreo turkeys.
- More of Emma's potty training adventures
- Reflections on the awesome things that God is doing in my heart!!
- South Africa status
And from today....
- Mekala's birthday party! (this will be a definant post later!)

Well that is all for now..... Don't give up on me. I "blog" while I am trying to go to sleep!

You Might be a Red Neck IF....... (2)

You might be a red neck if your husband goes fishing, with the sole purpose of catching something for dinner, and then brings it home and puts it in the bath tub!

To view you might be a red neck one click here

Please pray for Kent! He is having another bout with Malaria, it hit him as he was bringing the fish home. It died while the girls and I were at LifeGroup. SO I have a horribly sick hubby and a dead fish in the bath tub..... now that I think about it..... could you pray for me too!

I did it....

Thanks to the encouragement of my wonderful friend Kristy M. I took it upon myself to cut my girls hair. YES I cut their hair. and I didn't do half bad either.

We went to Walmart and bought the best pair of scissors they had ($14.95). Before I even put them in the basket I showed them to each child and said... "You are not to cut anything with these scissors." I don't want any one getting the idea that they can cut their own hair.

Hannah was first. I trimmed off the ends, and tried to keep the layers. I need to learn how to check and make sure I trimmed all the ends and didn't miss anything. Next was Emma, actually she "went" several times. She likes getting her hair brushed in the mornings and this was no exception. I trimmed off the a tiny little bit off the back, where it got tangled all the time. now it is relatively even all the way around.

Then came Sarah. Her hair is cute, and we get more comments on that feature than anything else in the whole family! HOWEVER it is a nightmare to cut. I'm not sure I really helped it at all. I needed to clean up the frizzy ends, and I might have done that in the back..... but I'm not even sure how to cut it. All one length, layers, long back, short front??? ARGHHH, It might be worth the money to have a professional cut her hair.

Lastly was Mekala, she like her hair, and didn't want much cut off. However by the fourth head I thought I was fit for the Paul Michell Salon, so I didn't hold anything back! I came out shorter that we had planned on, but is has some cute layers and she likes it.

All in all I think that the 14.95 investment was well worth every penny. I would have spent at least $45 dollars to have the three big girls hair cut, and then I would still have to leave a tip. How I have the scissors and the confidence to do it myself. Next time it won't cost me a dime.

NOW.... If I can get brave enough to cut my hair........

Thank you Lord for the talents you have given me. Open the doors for me to use them as a blessing to others as well as a blessing to my family!

My Hidden Talent

I had the privilege of talking my friends pictures the other day. They were the first they had done in 4 years, I think. We had a lot of fun, despite the fact that it started to rain moments before we went out to get started.... But we made it work and we got some cute pictures too!

I'm thinking about offering my "talent" as a way of earning money for our South Africa trip! If you or any one you know is interested in getting some new family pictures, while helping send MY family on their next journey....... Let me know!!

Do you hear what I hear?

Mekala is our cheerleader. She loves going to sporting events and cheering for her daddy's favorite teams. To her knowledge all cheers are either for your team or against the opposite team. : "Go Baylor!" "Beat UT!"

Well the other day Mekala was enthusiastically leading Sarah in a cheer in the back seat of the car. IT went something like this:

M: Who's the biggest and the best?
S: GOD!
M: Who's the meanest meanie?
S: ....... (silence)
M: Who's the meanest meanie?
S: .......
M: Satan!
S: Ten.
M: No, sa-tan.
S: TEN!

IT was at this point that Kent and I realized that even though Mekala was yelling Satan, Sarah was hearing "Say ten" and that's exactly what she did!

If you give a ......

If you give a Hannah an Easy Bake Oven.....
she'll want a cake mix to use in it.

If you give a Hannah a Cake mix.....
her sister will want one to.

If you give a Mekala a full size cake mix.....
she'll need some icing to spread on it.

If you give her some icing............
she'll want some sprinkles and candles too.

If you give her some sprinkles
her sister will want to eat the cake.

If you give an Emma no options for reaching the cake.....
she'll come up with her own.



This is sortof how the day went last Sunday. Hannah wanted to use her Easy Bake Oven (which I loath), so I gave the job to Kent. Kent and Hannah had started busting out all that was needed to bake the rock hard 3" circle for 4, when Mekala decided that SHE wanted to bake a real cake that could be shared by all.


Mekala, lovingly mixed up all the ingredients, and carefully poured the batter into the pans. Then she patiently waited for them to bake. When they had baked and were cool, she (we) cut off the top of one of the layers. Then the artistic decorating began. She gingerly spread the pink icing all over the cake, while Emma and Sarah sat and drooled. When the icing was finished she graciously allowed her two baby sisters to help add the sprinkles. Then for some reason unknown to me, she decided that she wanted to candles too.


When Mekala finished her masterpiece, she placed the cake on the counter and thoughtfully removed the stool from the kitchen and hid it under the bathroom cabinet. However all the preparation in the world would not have kept "someone" from helping themselves to a large piece.

Can you guess you ate the cake?

I heard some noise in the kitchen, and when I went in to inspect what was going on.... I was dumbfounded. It was one of those "I should be mad at this, but it is too funny" kind of moments. So I went and got the camera and she was very proud of her icing hands. Mekala on the other hand, wasn't as understanding, but in the end she did see the humor in it as well.

Pass codes

YEA we finally went to the post office and put in all the paper work to get Sarah and Emma their passports. We told Sarah what we were doing, and she just couldn't get it. Every few minuets she would pipe up and ask, "Why do I need to get a pass code?" It was funny to hear her ask, and not be able to say the correct words.



The other day Emma woke up before I was ready, so she came and climbed into bed with me. After we had talked and cuddled for a while, she reached over and grabbed my face and said, "MOMMY, Look at my face." and then proceeded to tell me something important. I thought is was so funny to hear my works coming out of my two year old's mouth.

KIDS SAY THE DARNEDEST THINGS!

Mission: Walmat

Ok I just read my friends blog about not wanting to go to the grocery store and it reminded me of MY experience from this week, and I thought I would share.

Let me begin by letting you know that for SEVERAL weeks I have been going to Walmart around 9:30 on Tues evenings after my ladies prayer group. I think I set myself up for failure by enjoying that quiet shopping experience for such an extended amount of time.

Last week we HAD to go to the store. Kent had made a milk and bread run that morning, but unless we were going to eat french toast for dinner, I had to break down and take all four of my precious children to Walmart.

We started off OK. (which is more than I can say for the last time we went to Walmart.) but as we neared the back of the store we slowly started to fall apart. Correction.... the kids started to feel more relaxed and at home, so I started to fall apart. As a habit, I always let the kids take a potty break when we get to the dairy section of the store. Today was no exception.

Mekala, lovingly took Emma in to go potty (yes we are still "training" and haven't made it over the hump yet). while I worked my way around the area getting all my needed dairy products. Today was unusual in the sense that Walmart had samples of a yogurt smoothie that was causing quite the traffic jam. This one rather angry lady almost plowed over this small elderly lady who was interested in the smoothies. Taken aback by her harsh rudeness the elderly lady came to me for comfort and justification. While listening to the sweet lady I was interrupted several times by Hannah.

First Hannah comes and tells me that Mekala needs a new diaper to put on Emma. To which I respond: I didn't bring in the bag, just put the old one back on, and we will change her when we leave.

Then Hannah quickly returns to say that Mekala has already thrown the old diaper in the trash, what should they do. To which I respond: just let her go "as is" and we will put a diaper on her in the car when we are finished.

After she delivers the message, Hannah once again returns and says: She peed on her dress while she was going potty. By this point the little lady has moved on so I go into the bathroom, and discover Emma BUTT NAKED with her crocs on.

As I begin to asses the situation and start trying to plan my attack, I look up to see the little lady standing there looking sympathetically at my two year old. The Sweet lady begins to try and help me with my plan of attack, by informing me that it is cold out side, and that she needed to have some clothes on. Then she asked me if I had any money to buy her some clothes. To which I sweetly responded, yes, that we would take care of things.

AND I did. Super Mommy style. No mother in her right mind would ever consider leaving her children unattended in the bathroom while she went out to grab some new clothes. (I would be the type to have to pay for them first, so I wouldn't feel like I was stealing.) Who knows what she would return to. As one friend creatively thought..... they all might end up running around in their birthday suits. So that option was out!

Likewise, no mother would ever parade her naked two year old through the store, nor would she be willing to walk away from the basket of groceries that she had just worked so hard for and just leave. So I did what any super mom would do........ I dried the dress under the hand dryer and let her go. She wasn't wet, she wasn't "naked", and I didn't have to leave my children unattended, and I didn't have to leave all my hard earned groceries. PROBLEM SOLVED!

Don't you all wish you could have adventures like me! This week it's back to shopping alone. ;) I must make it clear, however, that my girls are angels. I usually get frustrated that they are playing and giggling, instead of walking single file with no expression and no sudden movements. Things could be far worse. I have seen many mothers who's children are yelling, screaming, fighting or all of the above. Yes I will take giggling over fighting ANY DAY!

Lord, thank you that my girls love each other, and play well together. May they always have that special sister bond! Knit their hearts together, so that come rain or shine, they will each know that they are always loved and supported by three. (plus mom and dad)

Parade

Poor Sarah never knows what day it is. She wakes up every morning and asks, "Are we going to Nate's house to day?" (That is where they go in Tue and Thurs while we are in class). So I am making here a "days of the week calender" It is really cute, as soon as it is finished, I will post some pictures...... Anyway, Saturday has a question mark because we never know what Saturday holds. Last week we went to the "Texas Country Reporter Festival", lots of fun, but I forgot my camera, bummer.

Today was Baylor's Homecoming Parade.... it is supposed to be one of the nation's largest homecoming parades. We went last year and had a blast, in spite of the fact that they were playing Texas Tech (Get your guns UP) and all the floats depicted "roasted raiders" and the such, and decided that we would go again.

Hannah took this picture of me and Emma, not bad huh? I think she has the family talent!
We met our neighborhood friends there.... which meant there were lots of kids!! This isn't even all of them. Everyone was decked out in their "green and gold" except my three pink princesses.

What princess wouldn't want to ride in a carriage like this???

AAAHHHHHHHHH SIC 'EM BEARS!

Emma has been yelling this ALL afternoon since the parade!

Fun with Thing Two and Thing One (and 3&4)

Look at me!

Look at me!

Look at me NOW!

It's fun to have fun,

But you have to know how!

"In this box are four things

I will show to you now.

You will like these four things,"

Said the cat with a bow.

Warning: Viewer discretion advised...

THIS BLOG CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES....... WEAK STOMACHS BEWARE! This is how my Hannah looked when I dropped her off at "school" this morning. Halfway through class we get a message from someone saying we needed to call our friend on her cell phone, Hannah had been in a bike accident. We called and discovered that Hannah had battled with her bike and lost. While on her break she, Mekala and another friend were riding their bikes, they went down a hill, and in the process Hannah hit a log. Mekala says that she saw Hannah and her bike flip, and then Hannah flipped again. Very dramatic for all involved.

In our conversation with our friend, we arranged to meet in a churches parking lot. Kent was thinking Churches Chicken and our friend was thinking big vacant church parking lot. Needless to say, it took us more time to get to her than we would have liked. We finally got to them, to pick Hannah up, and this is what we found....... beware!















The middle tooth was pushed so far back that we thought that it was missing and we sent our friend back out to the field to look for it. The other tooth that was damaged was a baby tooth already in the process of falling out, so it was easily removed and not worried about.

To "fix" the middle tooth the wonderful dentist(s) had to put LOTS of "sleepy juice" in her gums - four shots to be exact - and then they had to do a lot of pulling. Hannah was a trooper!! After the initial shock had worn off, she didn't cry at all. She squeezed my hand a few times, but that was it!! I was so grateful!! Mrs. Ruth said that she was wonderful and deserved FIVE prizes and strawberry ice cream for dinner.

After they pulled it back forward, the dentist put a "brace" on it using wire, bondo and her other big tooth to hold it in place. It is still not exactly were it should be, but it is a lot better that it was, and it can be fixed more later. We are now in a waiting process to see how it heals to know what else we can do.

Please pray that the young roots will heal quickly and fully. And that the tooth will work it's way back into place. We will keep you all updated on the healing process has we progress.

Lord, HEAL Hannah! We are asking for complete healing and restoration of all the roots. Put her tooth back in it's rightful place. Help the healing process go smoothly! May she be able to return to "Normal" quickly!

Prayer Warriors Wanted

We are learning so much during this time. One of the biggest "lessons" is that we need you and your prayers! Before we get any further along in this process of giving our lives to further the Kingdom of God, we want to be completely covered in prayer!! It would be so comforting to know that each and every day we are being lifted before the throne of grace. So at the bottom of my blog I have put a calender, and it is my goal to have each day filled in.

We know that there are a lot of things out there that can compete and overwhelm your prayer time. All we are asking for is one day a month, for you to commit to praying for the Forester family on the 5th (or what ever) of each month.

No one can change the world alone - We need you.

Please leave a "comment" to choose a date OR send an e-mail. Thank you so much, we are eagerly looking forward to your shield of prayer!!

................

Speechless......... I am utterly speechless!

Let me back up and try and explain what all has happened this week.

As you all know, Kent and I are currently in the second part of our training. The cost/tuition total is $4000. (of which we only have $1655) We have been class for 6 weeks with out having paid our full tuition. The staff has been graciously giving us time to wait on the Lord. They moved the deadline back from Sept 1st to October 13th. Which is next Monday.

At the beginning of this week Kent was ready to give up. The future looked bleak and confusing. God has provided every penny that we have needed so far, why was he stopping now? What was he doing? What were we going to do if we had to wait and extra year? The questions were endless!

On Tuesday the staff, wanting to do everything possible to help us in this journey, came up with a plan that was a compromise of the two options that we thought we had. 1) train now and be on the field by summer '09. or 2) train in '09 be on he field by '10. Their option was to 3)train now be on the field by '10. So we began praying about what to do.

On Wednesday, we had some dear friends speak into our lives. They felt like we needed to be humble and open about our financial needs so that those around us could help! In all honestly we have struggled in that area, being in a constant state of "need" is extremely hard. You begin to feel like a beggar, walking around with your hands out all the time! So it is easy to start keeping all your needs to yourself . But Kent took their suggestion (that was a divine word from the Lord) and we shared our current needs that night at lifegroup. Hard, but needed. Our friends gathered around us and prayed for us. Several words were spoken, one of which was that Kent needed to let God carry him. Powerful!

On Thursday, we went to class, thinking that it very well maybe our last day in the class room. The class administrator pulled us out in the hall and told us that yesterday they received an anonymous gift of $2500 hundred dollars to cover the rest of our tuition!!

Speechless........... I was utterly speechless. I will never know why God's timing works the way that it does. We believe that God was waiting for us.... he is trying to teach us how to be humble, how to fix our eyes on him and not the storm around us. When we do that Miracles happen!!

I won't even try to explain how the rest of the morning went. God is Amazing. I want to share, it will just have to come later. Hopefully it will be a powerful to all of you as it was to us!!

Lord, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!! You are so wonderfully gracious! I can't even begin to express my feelings of gratitude. All that I can do is cry at the sweetness that you are! God, I want to keep my eyes on you!! Not the miracle. Not the next "mountain". Just you!!

the Zoo

Today was a glorious day! The big girls are in OK visiting Gram, and last night as a special treat Sarah had a friend spend the night! It was too much fun! Quick highlights of last nights events: Got in bed way later than 4 year olds should.
Had "talk time" for a while. (this lasted a lot longer that I wanted...)
Sang Jesus loves me for them hoping it would send them to dream land.... no such luck.
Got them both a drink
Then I hear these words: "Um actually, I think I would rather sleep with my mom."
SO I climbed in between the two of them and held our little guest.
Then I started praying, again a ploy to lull them to sleep. I thanked God for all the yummy fruit that he made and began listing is off one...... by ....... one...... softly...... and slowly..........
It only half worked. Our friend fell fast asleep, Sarah however informed me that I was praying too long and was waiting for me to stop. Girls will be girls...
It rained last night so it was a perfect day to go to the ZOO. It was cool and cloudy, there was NO ONE there so we had the place to ourselves. You really couldn't ask for a better day.

We had a perfectly exquisite day!! Fall is in the air....... come on cooler weather!

FALL

We got the decorating bug a few weeks ago. So I got up in the attic
and pulled out all our fall stuff. In the "stuff" was this "harvest"
sign painted by Mekala several years ago. When Sarah saw it she
was sad that she didn't have one. No amount of explaining would satisfy her.
So finally I gave in and told her that soon we would get one that she could decorate.
Before I got some "fall wood" to paint we colored these awesome harvest pictures. Every one helped, only we couldn't get them to stick to the wall, so we stuck them to the entertainment center.

The following week I was able to pick up these wood things at Hobby Lobby. We thought about painting them with acrylics, but I knew that would cover up the lines and details. Our first attempt was to water color them, and it ended up being our only attempt! They turned out great!! The water color was easy to use, it was easy to clean, and it was translucent so you could see the detail lines. Plus the colors were really bright. Sarah did the Turkey, Hannah the Pumpkin and Mekala did the Harvest.

This was Emma's. She did most of it, I just added the red on the edges to "fill in". Tuesday we used the wood leaf as a pattern to make our crayon melt, sun catcher leaves.

These are the pictures of the supplies, the process and the finished product. Pictures were an after thought on this one, so there are no kids in the pictures. SORRY.

The rest of the pictures are of the other fall decorations around the house. Even if it is warm outside, at least we can pretend that it is getting cooler!