scared

Not so sure I even knew this but, right now Josh doesn't really have a job. His bosses decided no more office work for him. They call him to do stuff for them when they need him. And he can't say no. We appreciate all they have done for us, by giving him things to do these past 8 weeks. But now what are we to do?? They are happy to have him back when his ankle is functional, so that is good.
I was scared today so I went to Tops to apply for a job. I have good cashiering and customer service background. Well I filled out the whole app on the computer at the store, they put up a message saying they were "very interested" and that I should ask customer service to speak to the manager on duty. I stood in the really long line for 20 minutes, I was next and then I got scared so I left. I hope that didn't blow my chances. I was afraid I would have to deal with all the ghetto people in my neighborhood. People who don't speak english, drugies, drunks etc. So pray. Either Josh and I both need to get minimum wage jobs or one of us needs to get a good paying job! But we only have one car and Merci needs to get toschool and what to do with Ethan. Josh might need surgery, we have no ins., how long will it take to heal??????????? So many questions? I am so scared. I have Faith, but it is sooooo hard to wait for what I have faith for. What to do, What to do??

I love you all and know you are all praying. Thanks a bunch.

I will choose the voice of TRUTH

On Sunday Amy Rivera gave me a cd to encourage me. It did. Ethan is cooperating and taking a nice long nap. I got to spend time just sitting and listening to this praise cd. It really encouraged me. I needed time to sit and talk to and listen to God. I feel a little refreshed. I need MORE! This song by Casting Crowns was on the cd. It pertains to everything I (we) need right now in the midst of the accident and Josh's ankle. We need prayer and encouragement so much right now. For sooooo many things. Right now the 1000 piece puzzle is dumped out of the box waiting for somebody to come put it all together. That is our life right now.
This song is great. I nevre really listened to the words but This is my "saying of the week"/ This is what I need to repeat over and over all day long! Read it and pray that it would speak to you also!!

"Voice of Truth"

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
on to the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I(Donna) will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes
to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone

Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"(But we will win , we will. This will all be over soon)

Chorus:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
On top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

Chorus:
But the Voice of Truth tells me a different story
The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me (calling out to me)
I will choose to listen and believe-

I will choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth

I will listen and believe
I will listen and believe the Voice of truth
I will listen and believe
Cause Jesus you are the voice of truth
And I will listen to you, you are-


I needed to highlight the whole song, it was so speaking to me today. God you are the great physician, you are the only one able to heal Josh's ankle. Your surgery is all we need. You are the only "Insurance" guy we need. Your assurance is all we should be looking to. You will provide all we need, they (progressive) WON"T. They can't even come close. Lord I am crying out for answers. Answers are ours. You ARE NOT A GOD OF CONFUSSION. YOU ARE NOT! You are a God of Love and a God who takes care of His children. WE areYOURS!

Copycat

How funny that a day after Rebekah posts a cute picture of Iz in a basket. Ethan has a similar experience. Ethan wasn't happy about his though! I felt like a mean mommy telling Merci "Don't get him out, just wait until I find the camera!"



He fell into his play drum (the lid comes off to store the other instruments) and got suck. HOW HILARIOUS!! It is so fun to take pictures of kids! Poor Ethan.

For the REST OF the STORY

Check out Josh's blog for the story, click on link at right!
Sorry about all the teasers I was too impatient waiting for Josh to have time to blog!!

Who's fault do you think it was??

Who's fault?? You guess.

Right on our own street, what the heck.
By the way I shuould have mentioned Josh is OK!! For once!
The truck on the other hand??

It was pretty cool the whole street got blocked off, Merci got to meet her first homeless guy, and Muslim woman in one day!

UH OH!!

Hmmm...is this really Josh's new truck?? Stay Tuned.

Being Angry

I think this may help with the previous conversation about issues with spouses.

Check it out see what you think. Josh's Grandma sent this to me awhile ago and I have been trying to figure out how to paste it here! Thanks Jason!!



I am on Dr. Weil's list for Daily Tip, and sometimes he has something
really good. The tip for today was about forgiveness. When you click on
the link, you can read the responses other people wrote. I've copied here
the response that I liked best.
.............
Author Doyba:
Being angry with someone because we believe their actions or inactions have
prevented us from getting what we want or need, is a common reaction in
life. We seemed to be born with the ability to be angry in order to get our
needs met. As a baby we cry when we are hungry, wet, or need to be held.
And if there is a loving person attending to our needs, we find that being
angry often gets us what we want. Eventually we learn that this is not the
only way to get what we want or need. There are times when we sense that we
have lost something that we had, and we become sad. It seems to me to be
anger turned inward because we realize that we don't always control events
in our lives. In fact, when we sense that we have no control over a
situation in our lives we become fearful. Fear appears to be the underlying
emotion of anger and sadness. Yet, when we feel that all of our needs at a
particular moment are being met, we experience many positive feelings such
as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, and gentleness. We
seem to be "healthy" when we reach this state.

The belief that we need to continue to be angry and upset with someone in
order get what we want is a childish notion. At its core is a belief that
how we feel in a situation is dependent on what is happening outside of
ourselves. Forgiveness is a choice to take control from within. It
recognizes that in order to be reach a state of "healthiness" we need to
stop blaming others for how we feel and accept the fact we control how we
feel.

Interestingly, Christians often recite the Lord's Prayer asking for
forgiveness just as they forgive others. It recognizes that our sense of
being forgiven is related to our choice to forgive. I like the expanded
meaning of the Aramaic (the language Jesus spoke) of the words in this
prayer. They suggest an image of untying knots so that only a simple bond
of love exists between ourselves and others. It is related to the
understanding that we are spiritual beings on a human journey and not human
beings on a spiritual journey.
..........................
You can find other responses here:
http://forums.drweil.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=drwdailytip&msg=495.1&ctx=0



>Dr Weil 08.07.2005
> Today's Tip
>Learning to Forgive
>
>Forgiveness is beneficial not only mentally but physically as well. People
>who forgive tend to be less angry, depressed, stressed out and anxious,
>and have lower blood pressure and heart rates than those who hold grudges.
>If you tend to have a hard time letting go of a grievance, consider that
>forgiveness does not mean you have to forget an incident, but rather that
>you can place a limit on how it affects you and your relationship with
>another, and that you benefit from the process as much as the person with
>whom you have the grudge.
>

The Time Has Come

The time has come for little Merci Rae to go to school. Today was Merci's first day of school at Parma Community School. Why Parma you ask?? Well we do live in Cleveland, one of the worst school districts around. So I am a good mom and drive 20-30 minutes to take my baby girl to an Awesome charter school in Parma. Did I mention it is right in the same parking lot as the YMCA...now I have no excuses for not working out. I did go today for 45 minutes. It may not sound long enough but I have asthma so I cannot do a lot of cardio. I feel like I accomplished a lot today and it is only 10:15!! Ethan is down for a nap so now I am left to do whatever I want!! 1 kid again, wow. Feels so weird. I do feel an emptiness without my best friend of 5 years! Enjoy the cute pictures.

School Starts Tommorow

Well my little Princess starts Kindergarten tommorow. I am in denial! We had open house today and got to meet Mrs. B (Blogna). We got to walk around the school and see all of the rooms she will be going (Music, Media Center, Cafeteria, Gym and Bathrooms). Oh my goodness, my heart is fluttering just thinking about it. Someone might have to drag me out of the room tommorow, I might be having a crying attack. Well I will post cute pictures of her and her little uniform tommorow, and let you know how it went. I will also be going to the YMCA to workout, I was good in May and June and have taken a leave of absence since!!!! I am off to loose 25 pounds (really I cannot disclose my actual weight but it is definately 25 pounds over target weight for my body size). So cheer me on as a new Kindergarten mommy and a woman in need of loosing baby fat!!(or that is just what I blame it on=))


Oh my gosh my baby girl, is growing up so fast, I just cna't get over it, I just cannot believe...
sob sob sob...........................................;)

Zoo, Potatoe Pancakes and Roses

I have wanted to post a few things for a while, but time is so hard to find lately.

On Monday I took my kids to the Zoo. I realized this is the last week to do fun stuff before Merci goes to school=( It was a nice mild day, perfect zoo weather.

On Thursday I babysat Ariana and Yesenia. I had two 1 year olds and two 5 year olds. It was actually a very good day. Yesenia and Merci played outside ALL day! No whining little girl at my side telling me how she wants this and that! They had a bad hour where they were in and out, in and out asking for stuff but other than that they were GOOD. I heard the door slam shut and so I yelled"WHAT DO YOU WANT NOW" in walks Josh with some roses. One red from him and 4 little yellow roses (one for each kid). He layed a kiss on me and left again! 4 stars honey.* Ethan and Ariana took naps at different times so I usually only had one crawling around playing. I decide since I couldn't be cleaning or running up and down doing laundry, that I would scrapbook! Perfect solution. I was right by the window watching the big girls play all day, and right where I could see the little ones playing. I finished 6 (back and front) scrapbook pages. YEAH ME! That brings me to Nov 2002. Yeah I know still a long way to go.


* This act is not of my husband, I don't know where it came from. Don't be jealous as he is not like this very often;) I love you honey for the wonderful surprises you throw to me randomly. They mean more than those of obligation

Last night Josh asked if he could make dinner. He had been talking about potatoe pancakes the other day, so I was kinda scared. But if he was really going to voluteer to cook that I would eat it! After researching on the internet, he found a yummy recepie. They were GREAT. Check
out his blog about this JOSH.




Last night we also rented Jurassic Park to watch with Merci, after realizing it was a lot more violent than we remembered, especially right before bedtime. We turned it off and brought Merci in bed with us. We talked and cuddled and prayed for her. The realization of her growing up is evident. only 4 more days until our baby starts full day Kindergarten.
So many emotions going around! After we prayed over her we asked her to pray for us.

"Dear Jesus, help my mommy....scrunches nose, makes faces.....help my mommy turn 25 at her birthday. Amen.
"Dear Jeasus, help my daddy...talkes to self quietly, I can tell she is counting(couldn't decide what came next so she goes on)...I love daddy , I love him I love him I love him. Amen"

Here is part of our conversation.

Merci what are you looking forward to at school?
"Painting, I love painting. We can paint with our hands.

Merci aren't you excited to learn to read?
"Yeah. We can learn to paint fans. (While laying down staring at our ceiling fan...one track mind.)

Merci what don't you like about daddy?
"He doesn't have a blue truck"

I was a very precious time!

Allergy gone??

Well I think I have some good news. As of last week, which was also the week Ethan turned 1, we have noticed Ethan's allergy to milk products has improved. Even up to a few weeks ago ANYTHING with whey in it would give the guy very loose bowel movements. Well on his birthday Grandma and Grandpa came over bringing him one of those chocolate hostess cupcakes withthe creme in the middle. 2 strikes, but I couldn't deny him a cupcake on his birthday. Earlier that day I had also given him a small taste of pudding, and cheese. No reaction! Since then he has had ice creeam, lactose free milk, and mac n cheese, and many other yummy things he could never have before. No reaction yet!!! YEAH GOD! I will try real milk this week, since he isn't reacting to cheese and ice cream. Just wanted to pass along the exciting news. Pray that this continues and isn't just a freak thing!

Dear Aiden and Iz,

Dear Aiden and Iz,

Let me warn you. Someone has to tell you about this crazy thing that is going to be upon you both before you know it. So, yesurday all these people invaded our house. They were all eating and talking, everyone kept saying "Happy Birthday Ethan." Come on have thier mommies not taught them any new words yet?? Anyway, then my mommy started taking my clothes off, in front of EVERYONE. She put me in that horrible chair and strapped me in. And then she handed me this...this thing. I think she told my grandma it was a smash cake or something. Whatever that is??? It was kind of cool looking.

After everybody stoped screaming at me, my mommy handed it "the smash cake" to me. So as you know I had to touch it. OH MY...there was this horrible goopy stuff all over my fingers. I wasn't sure what to do, or why they would give something that would fall apart like that so I put my fingers in my mouth. Let me tell you this "smash cake" tastes like nothing my mommy has ever given me. It was incredible, much better than that "baba" my mommy is always stuffing in my mouth...or "boobie" they are always stuffing in your mouth (you know I am kinda jealous.) It was so good I just kept...................................................................

stuffing it in my mouth, I eventually started using both of my hands. That "goop" sure is good!

I thought mommy should have a taste. Maybe if she liked it she would feed it to me more often!

She refused. Oh well more for me.

I just started shoveling it in my mouth as fast as I could, just in case mommy decide to take it away (mommies do that when you make messes..BEWARE.) She finally took it away saying "Your going to get sick if you eat anymore"......YEAH RIGHT. What was she thinking??? Well, I just thought I would let you know that when they hand you that "THING" when all those people invade your house, telling you the same thing over and over, that it realy is OK. It is more than OK it is GREAT!! Just eat it as fast as you can!!

PS Aiden you might want to let Addy know!
PSS Note to self: Let baby Moss experience it for self!!

Peace out, Ethan
Thank You to all who celebrated Ethan's birthday with us. It was a short and sweet little birthday bash for our little guy! All his gifts were awesome. Thanks so much!! Hope you had fun. Hope this post made you all laugh.

Kiddie Park

We finally made it to the Kiddie Park today. Merci has been eager to go since it wasn't even open! The kids had fun. Ethan couldn't decide if he liked the rides or not. He was happy the first half of the ride and fussed the rest of the time. The carosel was NOT a favorite. Which is funny because Merci screamed her first time on a carosel also. So here are some pic's!

Happy Birthday baby boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ETHAN!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Ethan
Happy Birthday to you!!

I am just so amazed a year has gone by. Right about now last year I was litterally pushing him into this world! I love my little guy, and pray God will bless this year with learning, and all the possibilities a 1 year old can have!! I pray for improved eye sight, Lord! See you all on Sunday!

Cute little Guy

So many new things

merci
as most of you have heard, merci has her first loose tooth. as i was rejoicing with her, i cried. i cannot believe the time has come for her little baby teeth to be replaced. it seems like yesturday they were coming in. the last 5 years have flown by so quickly. only 2 more weeks and off to kindergarten ALL DAY. i am excited at having 1 kid again, for most of the day, but i am positive that after a few days i will miss her being here. i love you merci rae with all of my heart. you will always be my baby!!









ethan
my little ethan has learned MANY new things this past week. how their little minds work is so amazing to me. i love this little monkey so much. ethan loves to climb on top of the coffee table, open the fridge and bring random condiments to you, play inside the toy box , pull everything off any table he can reach..among many others. i love you ethan chase, my little monkey!

As for Josh and I, well we don't change as much as these little cuties, we are the same old Josh and Donna. Josh is FREE!! More to come on that.

Garage Sale Sucess

Today was the big GARAGE SALE. 5 street extravaganza, they called it. There was even rent a cops on our street to direct traffic (our street is a bus line). It was crazy!! Unfortunately I didn't get to visit many other sales. I prayed God would help me find a cheap baby gate, I was at one sale down the street, and I turned and went "uhhhhh" like I have found $100. I was just amazed there stood the same gate I already have, a nice heavy duty gate. It wasn't cheap, it was $10, YUCK. Well later that day my brother-in-law, who will be staying with us for the week, was headin out to shop. I said to him "Isaac, I need a gate for a couple of dollars." 5 minutes later he comes back with the $10 gate, "Is that the $10 one", I reply. "Yeah but everything was half off, and they gave it to me for $3." YAHOO!! Thanks Isaac and most of all GOD.

So like I said the garage sale was a sucess. Autumn and Angela cam e and sold stuff too. We had so much stuff it was unbelievable. Not very many moms with kids or women pregnant with baby boys ( I had lots of little boy clothes). But somehow we still did good. Quarters add up quickly! I, Donna, made a little over $100, Autum made about $50, and Angela about $30. All on stuff we didn't want..COOL HUH!! So that was our day, selling junk and eating some pizza after we realized we hadn't eaten all day. And we got a break from our wonderful children, who we did miss!

So thanks girls for keeping me company and making my sale look bigger! Love you girls.

So it has been awhile since I have had time to sit around and spend time with my "blog". I have been so busy getting my house decluttered and cleaned up. I am going to take part in a 5 street Garage Sale this weekend (come check it out, there is about 50 houses involved). So I am selling everything, no, not really but I am just decluttering as much as I can. I have also been trying to do a lot of yard work before Ethan's party next weekend. Josh had been no help this summer, at least he has an excuse..I guess..if that is what you want to call it. (Just Kidding honey, I know you'd rather do yard work than have that awful cast on). Only 1 more week...hopefully!

So here are MY prayer requests:

1) DIRECTION for everything Josh's job, housing, children rearing...and everything else.
2) Satisfaction of who I am and what I am doing
3) New season of growth in my spiritual life!

THANKS, Talk to you all soon.