New Teeth, new teeth, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah

Kalea got her new teeth today. Thanks to all of your prayers, everything went smoothly. We kept her up late eating and playing in hopes that she would sleep late and not think about her lack of breakfast. Unfortunately, our plan failed when Nathan woke her up at 6:30AM with the fresh tunes of Boys in the Sink. We ended up spending the morning with Kalea sitting on my lap watching TV and asking for juice between each show. I would tell her ok, and then distract her with other things. We got to the dental office at 8AM and after Kalea drank her special "kool-aide' we had to wait until 9:30 in the small waiting room. We sat by a stripper who talked 'shop talk' to her stripper friend on the phone. She said that Kalea and I were both beautiful while her husband and Kalea made silly faces back and forth. After an hour and a half, they took Kalea to the back. They worked on her for almost 2 hours and then gave us the report. They said that she did not cry at all and that she was a very good girl. Her teeth were worse than they thought so she ended up getting a root canal on her front two teeth, got the first four teeth capped, and her two back teeth sealed. They ended up charging us $244.00 more than we were prepared to pay so we are going to have to figure some things out. The good part is that she did very well and that she is beautiful with her new teeth. I am so thankful!!!!

Other good news?! Steve got a call today for an interview at Jane Long Jr High. It was his first choice in schools, so I am really excited. His interview will be on April 3rd at 9:45AM so please be in prayer about that. Also on April 3rd, Kalea will be going back on the ENT doctor to find out whether or not she will need to have surgery to combat her 3 month long sinus infection.

MIA

There a comic that has a picture of a dad with a brief case (obviously just coming home from work) and a little boy sitting in a chair in a corner. Above the boy, there is a caption of the boy saying, "Mom is in the kitchen reminding herself that I am a gift from God."

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE DAYS!!!! Today they seem more like a gift you would get from your mother-in-law than from God. It started with Kalea in the morning and is following up with Nathan. He was so mad that he gave himself an asthma attack on the way home from school. As I was praying myself through the afternoon it occured to me that perhaps I just grabbed the wrong children somewhere and that my real children are lost and alone on the street. I thought I'd take the time to describe them to see if any of you have seen them.

Nathan is the sweetest, most helpful big brother that I have ever seen. He is always taking care of his little sister and loving on her as if she were his own. He dislikes church, but he loves God and asks questions about Him on a daily basis. He witnesses to his teachers and friends and his childlike faith is a large part of who he is. Nathan is the greatest monster drawer who ever lived. He draws them in all shapes and sizes at the request of his mommy and teachers. Dispite his dislike for school, Nathan is a great reader and has mastered everything but cutting.

Kalea is my sweet, snuggly one. There is nothing she likes to do more than to sit on your lap and snuggle her head into your shoulder. She is passionate. She is our musical child who loves to sing, but will cry if you sing "Twinkle, Twinkle." Kalea LOVES animals and spends most of her time playing with her Fisher Price Noah's Ark animals. They ride on the bus, train, and play on the amusement park and castle....but not the ark. Kalea could live off of "cheesh" and can smell chocolate a mile away.

These are my sweet children. If you've seen them somewhere, let me know. I accidently took the wrong Kalea to MDO and her perfect reputation was ruined. If you'd like to claim the snarky children who are currently in my house, please let me know, I'll be happy to trade them for my perfect gifts from God.

Things Unseen

A few months ago when Kalea and I were praying together I noticed that she had to pray with her eyes open in order to thank "Jeesh-us" for the things around her. She was unable to thank Him for the things that she could not see at the time. Noticing this really made me think about faith and the ability to trust in things unseen.
The month of March is a really hard month for us as a family. March is the time of year where our loved ones usually pass away and if either of us is going to lose a job, March is the month to lose it. March is always ridden with illness and great amounts of sadness. I not only lost my brother-in-law in March (2003), but I lost a ministry that was very close to my heart (in the same year) because I was 'too Baptist in my faith' (thus the reason why I became Baptist and am truely blessed because of it). March is a month where I completely shut down (socially...thus no blogs) and focus on God's plan for my life and serving and honoring Him in whatever ministry I find myself in. It's the blind faith part that gets me through the month of March. Faith that God's hand is in whatever comes our way whether we see His hand or not. This year we've not only lost someone we love dearly, but my husband did not get his teaching contract renewed. It does not matter that his students made the highest grades out of all the 4th grade classes or that he is a Godly man dealing with fatherless boys bringing knives and most recently a gun to school. What does matter is how we deal with the challenge ahead. It's the blind faith that will allow Steve to pack up and leave his school in May without a hint of anger or bitterness. It is the blind faith that will carry us through the summer knowning that whether we live in our beautiful house in the ghetto or in a cardboard box in the Brick's backyard, that God is with us and loves us with the same love and passion that created the world and all of the things in it. We've lived a year without internet and will do it again if we have to. Because of the month of March, we are able to pray with our eyes shut knowing that whatever comes our way, God will be able to carry our little family though it. Our circumstances may change this summer, but our hearts will remain focused on our Lord and Savior and that is all that will matter.

Adventures to Petco

Kalea and I went to Petco today and she managed to become every pet's worst nightmare, but she was sooo cute about it. We pulled up to the store and she began yelling "puppies and kitties!!!!" She could barely contain herself as she ran into the store grabbing the first mini cart she could get her little chunky hands on. With her cart in hand she took off through the door. BAM!!!! She runs straight into the mouse cage sending the mice scurring to the corners and under their mouse bedding. "HEllllO moush!" she calls out to them her voice dipping down on the 'Ls' and going back up on the "o!" She spends a few minutes looking at them with her big greenish eyes most likely sending chills of horror into their little 'moush' bones. When she tires of the mice, Kalea rams her cart into the bunny hutch. The bunnies squeal and hop into their plastic igloo homes turning them over in panic. "HellllllOOO baw-eee" she calls into their hutch. She watches briefly as they tremble and try to hide behind their fallen homes. We move on to the 'mamsters,' 'nakes,' 'ishys,' and 'bogs' sending eat running in panic as the rams her cart, body, or hands right up against their cages sending mini earthquakes into their peaceful worlds. Trying my hardest to keep Kalea's cart in check, I am perpetuall running and squashing myself between her cart and the cages, but Kalea is determined to make her presence known to the animal world. We weren't in there too long before I noticed an audience of employees giggling at Kalea's joy and enthusiam as she greated each and every animal. We noted noses and tails, beaks and ears. We took stock of each animal's 'juich, juich' (juice) and eats. We said 'HellOOO' to each and every animal and when all was said and one, Kalea had one more memory of God's creation stored in her beautiful little head.

Valentine's Day

Nathan was sitting at the kitchen table opening up his Valentines from all of his friends. This is first real Valentine's day party so it was really special. With the sunlight pouring in on him from the kitchen window, Nathan looked up questionally and asked me why all of his Valentines had hearts on them. Not wanting to miss a teaching opportunity, I quickly dove in the explanation of Saint Valentine and paralleling that with the story of God's love for us. Nathan quickly dropping his Valentines as if they were poisonous snakes yelled, "LOOOOOVE?!! I hate love!" and just as soon as his small paper cards fell to the floor did Nathan realized that with Valentines day came candy. Grabbing a piece of chocolate, Nathan decided that perhaps love was an ok thing.

Mimi

"Mimi, whewe awe ewe?" my two year old, Kalea, whimpers. This is the second time Mimi has gone on an adventure of her own and it's not even 8am yet. As we search the house, Kalea frantically calls out for Mimi in such a desperate call that even I half expect Mimi to spring up from her hiding spot squeeking "here I am" in a small soft pink bunny voice. I don't know how one could even sound pink, but if anyone could, it would be Mimi. Mimi is Kalea's best pal. They've been together since birth. When Kalea was barely coordinated, she would throw Mimi over her face with her soft baby hands and hide beneth Mimi's smooth delicate folds. "Mimi, whewe awe ewe?" Kalea cries out again bringing me out of my large mental book of mommy memories. I follow a clothing trail in my search for Mimi. As I go, I pick up with the thought that if the house was clean, then Mimi would be easier to find. I pick up socks, little boy underwear, a pair of jeans with holes in the knees, and wonder how one gets naked without being noticed while making a beeline to the play room. The trail continues; some shoes, a jacket, a uniform some-what white polo. I wonder if when the school board made the rules for polos if the board was made of all men or were there mommies who knew that when they mandated white polos that by mid-year the white would turn into some-what white. Mother of Pearl, perhaps. "Mimi, qum bacc....." Kalea cries out. The trail of clothing ends and I decide to search another room, the kitchen perhaps. I dump the clothes off in the nearest dirty clothes basket and follow another clothing trail to our kitchen. This time it's baby girl pj's, socks and slippers. Picking up the pink and white pajama pants decorated with sporatcally placed pastel puppies I remember Christmas and how big she looked when she first put them on. There's nothing like warm winter pjs to make a baby girl look big. On my way to the kitchen I spot Kalea's pink backpack that her brother Nathan helped her into this morning. Could Nathan have had the thoughtfulness to put Kalea's Mimi in her backpack? A blurred before school conversation pops back into my head. I was packing Nathan's lunch and he was having a conversation with Kalea about school today. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was the only one who would be going to school, so I allowed him to get Kalea ready. What did he put in her backpack? A frog....and what else? Then it hit me. Nathan did not want Kalea to forget Mimi so he packed it in her bag for her.
I reached down into the bag and pulled out a crumpled up Mimi. The rattle in Mimi's head sounded and hearing it as though it were as loud as an atomic bomb, Kalea came running out of the livingroom. As the two united in a giant, almost two sided hug, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of the bond that Kalea and Mimi have.

Damage Control

The reason that I haven't been able to blog at all since December, just turned two years of age and has kept me on my toes twice as much as any ballerina. Her name is Senoria Destructa, aka Kalea the terrible. It seems that I now spend my days doing nothing but damage control following in her hurricane-like wake that would make even (Hurricane) Katrina jealous. She is on the counter, in the cabinets, and pulling the DVD's out of their cubbie all at the same time. I tremble with fear at the thought of checking my e-mail or going to the bathroom. I zoned for two seconds and found that the tiny Picasso had scribbled not only in red, but blue, green and orange, all over the "kid's wing" of our house. All over it. She is all of the forces of nature mixed and smoothed into an angelic face with beautiful hazel eyes and a smile that could win anyone over....who would even guess that behind that facade could be such a force that would make any baby-sitter sake in their Converse. Even as I type, she is hiding away in the garage filling her diaper and eating finger paint while trying to reassure me that it is 'yum.'