Happy Birthday Nana

Not that I could forget her, but Happy 54th to my Mom today. Everything I learned about being an excellent mother, I learned from her. Sacrifice, a love of reading, crafts, laundry, and a strong sense of duty, was all learned at her knee. I'd be nowhere and nothing without her. I love you, Mom!

I wish I liked to cook...

My mom (Nana to you peeps) and Aunt Kelly both love to cook and bake. My sister (Aunt Kelly!) just called to tell me she was making a pumpkin cheesecake or something amazingly good like that. They cook to relieve stress. I am the exact opposite...cooking causes me stress. Big time! I wish I enjoyed it as they do. While I certainly enjoy a good meal, the prep and clean up gets me.
I felt sort of bad when I called Mr. R's mom, Granny, to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner. She immediately said, "Who's cooking?", which is her lovely way of saying, "Girlllll, I don't want me no food poisoning. Order Chinese or let Mr. R do the bird!"
So Mr. R is taking over the bird, as he loves to deep fry the turkey. Its my job to do the pumpkin pies and the green bean casserole. I buy the store brand biscuits, I have no idea how to make real ones. I'm putting Missy and Tiger on snack patrol, meaning they get to cut cheese and put them on crackers. Yes, thats a snack!!!
Since its only seven of us this year (our family of 5, plus Missy's friends whose parents got stuck working on Thanksgiving) we are not going crazy. No potatoes, as only Mr. R and I eat potatoes. I'd rather have green beans anyway. We're going to Nana's for dessert at 8pm, because poor Nana got stuck working too! (Note to KMart...you only pay people minimum wage and expect them to work Thanksgiving!?!? What the !*^!@# is wrong with you people?!!?) So this will be a gentle, quiet, laid back Thanksgiving for us. I pray that everyone who reads this post will have a wonderful day too.

I need to go the the Lord in Prayer

I went to this amazing charity event last Friday through an organization called "Nathaniel's Hope." Basically, they provide free respite care for children with disabilities, so their parents can have three hours to themselves. I took Bucket and Tiger with me last weekend. They both had fun, but Bucket really loved it. The next event is December 15, and Bucket has already reminded me of it several times.
Anyway, Bucket was so excited about this fun new thing we were trying, that he injured me. He was bouncing up and down and slammed into me while I was sitting on a concrete floor. Down I went. Crunched my back and my bad shoulder. Knocked the wind out of me.
This is where going to the Lord comes in.
I have been saying, over and over, that I want to be home with my children, especially for Bucket's sake. Well, maybe I've been thinking wrong. Maybe its their Daddy who needs to be home. After all, Bucket is going to be a tall, strong, and possibly socially frustrated man very soon. And while I am not some frail petite little thing, I already have physical trouble handling him. Two major car accidents have destroyed the muscles in my shoulders and I get achy and tired very fast.
Mr. R and I need to go the Lord in prayer to see if this is a direction we should go in. I still have all the medical coding information and it would only take a me a year to finish the school and double my salary. Mr. R says that if the Lord moves us in this direction, he will gladly go.

An Amazing Thing Happened at Church Picnic

I'm sure this lady doesn't read my blog, considering I just met her over the weekend. I was in line with Bucket waiting for hot dogs at the picnic. We had to wait over 15 minutes for a hot dog, which is sorta crazy. Anyway, he tried so hard to be patient. I didn't realize that Bucket had started crying, as his back was against my stomach and he was doing it quietly. He was trying so hard to control himself, but he was hungry and the wait was bad. A lady I had never seen before saw Bucket's tears, and actually took his plate, ran to the barbecue, and got one for him. He was so relieved, and so was I. She came over to me after he had finally eaten, and told me she was an aide in his Sunday school class, and knew his situation. She felt so sorry for him trying to wait on the hot dog, she had to do something about it. All I know about her is, is that her name is Jennifer and she is an angel in disguise.

God is Good

Have you ever been just happily content?
Nothing has changed dramatically in my life. There was no windfall of money. My husband still has the job I am not crazy about. I am just happy to be me, content with my life. The Lord has been good to me. I love the holiday season. I especially love Thanksgiving...a day to give THANKS. I am so thankful for my life.
Over the weekend, Mr. R was home, and were able to attend the church picnic as a family. We were sitting on the bench together eating burgers, and talking about having more children. This is a BIG DEAL. My heart tells me I want more children. My brain and my wallet tell me how foolish this can be, especially being the mother of an autistic child. I teasingly said to Mr. R, "I can go back to school, get a career, and get a tummy tuck." (hey, I had three 8 lb children in three years, cut a girl some slack, she needs a tummy tuck!) But my darling Mr. R said, "Those are rewards of the world, I'd rather invest in eternal rewards. I'd rather you be home with our children and have more children with you." Did I not marry the best guy ever? I even said back "Can you live with the tummy pooch?" and he said, "Of course I can, you got the pooch carrying our children!" Wow do I love him.