In a nutshell (alright, so it's a big nutshell)

We had family over this weekend...it was really a lot of fun. The boys were really excited to have kids their own age to play with all weekend. And Chris (yes CHRIS) had a blast in the hotel pool. (Yeah, the kid who screams like he's just chopped his leg off when he gets a drop of water near his eye when he's in the tub). Aunt Beth (who used to be a swim teacher) got him used to the water. By the end he was "swimming" back and forth between Jon and Beth (with floaties and a water noodle) with NO ONE holding him. I never thought I would see the day...and he was actually having fun doing it. The last time, when we were living at that motel, we fought him to even get into the pool...he went kicking and screaming the whole way. We got to spend about 2 min. in the pool that time and then had to get out because Chris was screaming so loud that he was terrifying Ethan. It was a waste of getting into our swim suits. This time we had to fight him to get him out...it was great! Then we had a BBQ at our house (we were VERY grateful for the fully fenced in back yard with 5 boys ages 4 and under). But we had a TON of fun this weekend.

Jon, has ANOTHER cracked rib (at least this time it wasn't Sifu Tony...but it was still from Karate). He really enjoyed having his sisters here too. We were laughing when we went to check them into the motel ALL of us went (Jon, Me, his 2 Sisters and 5 little boys) with them. When we walked into the room Beth started laughing, when we asked what she was laughing about she said she hoped no one thought that we were polygamists...because we sure looked like it. And apparently he also tried to saw his finger off. Topher and Ethan kept jumping on Topher's bed and pushing it all around the room. And it broke, so Jon was fixing it and cut his finger up instead.

I have been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning...and my house still looks the same. Someone once told me that housework is like tying beads with no knot in the end. I have never believed that statement more than I do right at this very moment. I just finished all the laundry on Friday. One weekend later there are 2 weeks worth of clothes...how does that happen? I think my laundry room should be the 8th wonder of the world...it creates dirty clothes on it's own. Oh, and I got to help out ("help" meaning be in charge of) the RS enrichment night. The RS president was supposed to leave on Friday (the enrichment was on Thurs) but her husband apparently was already 1/2 to where they were going and didn't want to have to drive back to get them and then drive back to where he was and continue on (I can't say I blame him, that would make for 6 EXTRA hours of driving). So she called me on Tuesday (I was at the Doctor's office with the boys) and asked if I would be willing to take over. She kept saying that it was going to be a lot like a Stampin' Up! party (without the sales and "business" part of Stampin' Up!), so it should be easy since I'm a demonstrator. I think that she thinks I am more experienced than I am. Really, I mostly do it because I get a discount and it's the only way I can justify spending that much money on scrapbooking. I have only been a demonstrator at 1 party and only been to 3 as a customer...so yeah, I should know what I'm doing right? :O It went well though, I had a lot of fun.

The boys are all growing so fast you wouldn't believe it. I swear they grow 6 months over night. (Children...the 9th wonder of the world huh?)

Chris had so much fun with cousin "Mewl" (Mel). He had to make sure that Mel was coming with us EVERYWHERE. We went out to eat "Mom? Can Mewl com too?" Then when we got to the restaurant "Mom! Mewl's there too!" Then when we stopped at the gas station when we were getting ready to leave Sara pulled up beside us, so when Chris turned around to make sure that they were there he didn't see them. "MOM! STOP! MEL IN THE RED CAR ISN'T THERE!!!" So I showed him that they were right beside us he says "Oh, okay, you can go now." Then at the BBQ they had a lot of fun "relocating the dirt" to the tree who was hungry.

Ethan started playing with Kai after a while. Ethan was HUGE compared to Kai but they are about the same age. And we turned Ethan's room into a playroom. That's been nice. Before my Mom and a few of my siblings came 2 weeks ago, Ethan would wake up SCREAMING like 5 or more times a night. Then one night he woke up once, I comforted him and he went back to sleep and never woke up again until the morning. I was surprised. Then I found him in Topher's room. The next night he slept through the night...but woke up in Topher's room again. So then when my family came we just put his bed in there and he seemed to do fine. So we just kept him in there and set up all of the toys in his old room. So when it gets messy in there I can just shut the door and not worry about it. And the toys don't mess up my living room because the toys stay in the toy room. I really love it.

Justin is almost rolling over. He's at that point where, if he would just kick ONE more time, he could do it. But he doesn't know he is that close. I've decided that it's probably a good thing that the Lord made pregnancy so miserable because if not for the thought of having nine months of that misery, I would be wanting another one already. It seems to get sooner and sooner after each pregnancy. With Chris it was about 8 months after, Ethan about 6 and now Justin at 3. Man, the next one I might be coming out of the hospital ready for another. ;) LOL, I doubt it.

Well, I think this blog has gotten a little out of control, so I think I will be done for now :)

It won't be like this for long...

He didn't have to wake up, he'd been up all night.

Lying there in bed listening to his new born baby cry.

He makes a pot of coffee and splashes water on his face.

His wife gives him a kiss and says it's gonna be okay.

It won't be like this for long.

One day we'll look back laughing at the week we brought her home.

This phase is gonna fly by, so baby just hold on.

It won't be like this for long.

4 years later 'bout 4:30, she's crawlin' in their bed.

And when he drops her off at preschool she's clinging to his leg.

The teacher peels her off of him; he says what can I do?

She says now don't you worry this'll only last a week or two.

It won't be like this for long.

One day soon you'll drop her off and she won't even know you're gone.

This phase is gonna fly by, if you can just hold on.

It won't be like this for long.

Someday soon she'll be a teenager, and at times he'll think she hates him.

Then he'll walk her down the isle and leave her there.

But right now she's up there cryin'

and the truth is that he don't mind.

As he kisses her goodnight and she says her prayers.

He lays down there beside her 'till her eyes are finally closed.

And just watching her it breaks his heart 'cause he already knows.

It won't be like this for long.

One day soon that little girl is gonna be all grown up and gone.

Yeah, this phase is gonna fly by, so he's tryin' to hold on.

'Cause it won't be like this for long.

It won't be like this for long.

It's just been one of those days I've been trying to remember this song. Put things into perspective...you know what matters and what really won't matter. I remember hearing someone tell me that before you discipline or yell ask yourself "Will this matter in 10 years? 5 years? 1 year? A month? A week? Tomorrow?....10 minutes from now?" If the answer is "No" don't worry about it. Let it go. Sometimes I just have a hard time "letting it go". I suddenly feel sorry for my Mom having to go through that "nothing works for discipline" stage with me. It's really irritating. Afterwards you feel terrible because you feel like you disciplined to harshly...and yet, he's completely un-phased by any of it. And then I think about when he's going to be grown up and is going to be the wonderful man that I know he will be; it breaks my heart. Unless his personality changes DRASTICALLY between now and manhood, he will be such a sweet and caring man too. He's not going to grow up to be a terrible person just because he doesn't want to clean his room, or gets a little territorial with his brother, or doesn't eat all of his food at dinner, or if he won't go to bed right away. Or forgets that it's MY job to discipline his brother...not his. It's not going to have eternal consequences if he keeps wanting "just one more drink of water" when he's got a full glass sitting right next to his bed. In the long run, none of that really matters...I just need to remember that.

Popcicles

Last night I told Topher and Ethan they could each have one popsicle before they went to bed. They both had their ONE popsicle and of course had to ask for another (just to see if I forgot I told them only one). I told them "No, I said that you could have ONE. No more." Then Ethan tried to get another one (I'm not entirely sure he even heard me when I said no more). Then I hear Topher yelling "MOM SAID NO MORE!!!!" and a slam...then a crack...then a scream. I looked over and Topher had (inadvertently) slammed the refrigerator door on Ethan's hand. The crack I heard was (unfortunately) Ethan's hand...right on the knuckles. It bruised it, but thankfully, didn't break it. Then Ethan, cuddling his hand and with tears streaming down his face says "Mom? 'cicle (popsicle)?" Alright...I'm not heartless...he got another popsicle.

Excitement with the Egelands

Last night we had a bit of excitement (more or less). Jon and I were watching a movie and then we decided we didn't want to finish the movie, it was getting late. So we started getting ready for bed. Jon went into the bathroom to brush his teeth; then I hear this *FFFSSSTTT FFFSSTT!* (Jon scaring away our neighbor's cat that is ALWAYS in our yard. All of the sudden I hear "OH HOLY CRAP!" and the window slamming shut. I was thinking "alright, that was a bit of an over reaction...it's a cat." Turns out it wasn't a cat...it was a skunk - RIGHT outside our window with it's tail up in the air and pointed toward Jon. I suppose that was an appropriate reaction to THAT. So then we wandered around the yard with Jon's BB gun trying to find where it went (by "we" I mean Jon did while I stood up on the porch...I was the look-out...I was NOT going to end up getting sprayed by the skunk.) But we never found it, but we also didn't find a hole or anything that it could have gotten into, so hopefully Jon just scared it away. I was NOT pleased, just that morning I was wondering how DOG FOOD got onto our back deck. All of the neighbor's dogs are big enough, that if they had gotten into our yard, you would have been able to see the hole that they crawled in through. I did not like the thought of a skunk up on my deck. So we might just get some of those things that Mom and Dad Egeland have (I don't know what they are called) you set them up around your yard and they emit a high frequency sound (I think), but whatever they do, they keep animals out of your yard. It was annoying when I thought it was a cat, but when it's a skunk...I'm not going to put up with that if I don't have to. I don't want my kids to find it and think it's a cat and end up getting sprayed. That would be horrible.

Ed Freeman - A TRUE HERO!

True Story !

Ed Freeman

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Na Drang Valley ,

11-14-1965, LZ X-ray , Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it...

Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.

He's coming anyway.

And he drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.

Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.

And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times...... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman,died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID .......

May God rest his soul......

I bet you didn't hear about this hero's

passing, but we sure were told a whole

bunch about Michael Jack son.

Medal of Honor Winner

Ed Freeman!

Shame on the American Media

Best Husband in the world!

Sorry I've been lacking on the blogging...nothing new has been going on though. We finally got the evaporative cooler in. YEAH! (Thanks to Jon for that). The boys (and me too I suppose) have not been quite so cranky today...I suppose part of that has to do with the house not being so dang HOT! Well that and Jon taking the boys so I could sleep. I have the greatest husband in the world (I don't care what anyone else says...if you want to believe that your husband is better, I will let you think that...but I know the truth). ;) I think we need to work on our communication skills though. Last night Jon was finishing putting the cooler up, so after that was done he showed me how to hook up the new tractor for our water. Then I was getting tired so I decided that I would go and read my book while I waited for Jon to come to bed. Not long after I got into bed, Jon came down and said "I need to go shut the water off." but sounded to me like he wasn't ready to go to bed. So I told him to take his time, I didn't want him to feel like I was rushing him. So he went and shut the water off. Then I kept waiting and waiting. I went to see why he hadn't come to bed yet and he was up playing solitaire. So I decided that I would read a few more chapters. Then I went back up stairs and he was playing his Starcraft. So I was like "Alright, I suppose I can read a few more chapters." Then I looked at the clock and it was 3:30 AM. So I decided that I was going to go to bed whether he was with me or not. About 4:00 he came to bed. And then this morning I found out that he was doing all of the gaming and dishes and cleaning to pass the time because he thought I wanted to read and he was waiting for me to finish. Maybe if we both hadn't been so patient with the other we could have gotten to bed at a decent hour. LOL. So this morning (I don't have a clue what time) Jon got up and changed Justin and got the other boys changed and fed and the upstairs all cleaned so that I could sleep until a ridiculous hour. Then he finally got a nap himself. He's the greatest because he didn't get to sleep early either but he let me sleep as long as I wanted and kept the boys quiet (which is a feat in and of itself). But that's about all that has happened lately, so I don't have much to say.

Would you RUN?

I got this on an e-mail. It really makes you think. After you read this ask yourself...would you RUN?

Imagine this happening to you...

One Sunday morning during service; a 2,000 member congregation was surprised to see 2 men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying sub machine guns.
One proclaimed "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are!"
Immediately the Choir fled, the Deacons fled, and most of the congregation fled.
Out of the 2,000 only 20 remained.
The man who had spoken removed his hood. He then looked at the Preacher and said "Okay Pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites...now you may begin your service. Have a nice day."
And the two men turned and walked out.

Funny, how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny, how everyone wants to go to heaven...provided they don't have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" yet follow Satan (who, by the way, "believes" in God too.)
Funny, how you can send thousands of funny jokes through the internet and they spread like wild fires...but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, you think twice about sending them.
Funny how the lewd, crude and vulgar pass through cyber space freely...but public discussion of Jesus is suppressed by the schools and work place.

FUNNY...ISN'T IT?

Funny, how someone can be so fired up about Christ on the Sabbath/Sunday...but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.

ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?

Funny, how when/if you go to forward this message you will not send it to most of your address list because you are not sure what they believe...or what they will think of you sending it.
Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

ARE YOU THINKING?

Will you share this with people you care about? Or not?