Talent...

Jordan sewed this dress for her sister Riah's birthday. Riah got a doll like this one (this one is Bekah's) and Jordan worked on making her a hand sewn dress in one week (we don't have a working sewing machine). The lace added the perfect touch to this dress. It is beautiful. Like I said...talent! (I don't say it in a bragging way, more in awe because I have NO talent. I have no ear for music and can't sew a stitch) (those are things I dream of having so I put a lot of emphasis on their importance).

The doll is from http://www.visionforum.com/. They have four dolls there (although one is not available) and they are cheaper than an American Girl Doll. If you get on their email list, they let you know of clearance sales and specials. I got Riah's doll almost half off the price online and Bekah's was 10% off when you buy two dolls. They will be a keepsake as Jordan and Emily got dolls similar when they were the girls ages and still like to dress them up. (I do like Jordan and Emily's dolls better because they are all hard-bodied and hard hair. I can see these dolls may not look so nice in 10 years as the hair could get ratty and the body is soft.)

Happy 6th Birthday...

to Moriah. We had a really great night! All the grandparents and my brother and family came to celebrate. I got these adorable cupcakes at Sam's Club (got home too late to make something home made). I had to go to town to get sugar and some other supplies and then ran late so didn't need the sugar anyway! Jordan and I had a good time in town together. She needed a coat and we found one clearanced out at Sears and she likes it a whole lot, plus she got a hair cut. The lady checked when the last time Jordan was there, January 2009. I just can't believe it's been that long. She had to take off 4 inches to get it healthy and feels it's so short (a real laugh if you can see how long her hair is). I can get in such a panic having people over (clean freak that I am) and then they come and I didn't get to dust, vacuum or anything and everything went quite well. Relationships not perfection!

Gearing up for birthday #5 of 2010...

Riah turns 6 tomorrow! Em has a scavenger hunt planned and everyone else is scrambling to figure out what to give her. She's been asking for the last 100 days "How many days until my birthday?" Poor daddy has to be gone for a training until Thursday and will miss it. He was only a couple hours from home and texted me saying he wished he was here already. So very nice to be so loved :) Here I am looking forward to sleeping in that nice big bed all by myself with no-one who snores!!!!! If I didn't suffer from insomnia, it wouldn't bother me so much.

Since, I'm rambling, did you know ACV (apple cider vinegar) is the cure for most anything you might have? I've been going on www.earthclinic.com lately looking up home remedies for things like eczema, eye issues, yeast, etc. All of those can be cleared up with ACV. For the eye thing you actually put it in your eye and people have had immediate results. Kev's taking it for fungus right now. A couple girls are going to try it for their eczema. Isaac showed off how he can drink it without making a face. Emily tried it and ran to the sink in horror at the taste. It was funny. It's great for digestive issues and almost anything. Check out the site if interested in those things. My number #2 website is www.azurestandard.com as it goes out this Thursday. I will not buy 70 avocados at one time again, you need to try some things to find out though. We had too many bad ones. Still, we have enjoyed eating them daily! I am ordering Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar and ACV capsules for those who can't do the taste! Still spending my free-time finding answers to all those questions out there. Have a great week!

A good trip...

We made the long drive to Mankato yesterday leaving about 6:15 a.m. and getting home around 9 p.m. It is always nice to spend so much time with Kevin. He is fun and we laughed a lot. Dr. K's visit went wonderfully, as usual. He is a nice doctor with a positive attitude. Isaac's blood results showed much improvement! His hemoglobin is 11.7!! (up from 10.4 two months ago). Again his hemoglobin is higher than mine, which explains why he can run, jump and be completely obnoxious and I am in a daze much of the time :) Isaac's retic count, SED rate and platelets all show where they are supposed to be. His inflammation markers are showing no inflammation! We are coming down on the prednisone again. Please pray that blood will not come back as he tapers off. I always come away from there feeling hopeful. He also added Isaac to their prayer chain for the prednisone taper. How many doctors are praying for you to get better? In our journey for healing I haven't run across many that will even acknowledge God has anything to do with it. Praise God for our trip being successful :)

Prayer please...

Please pray for safe travels as we drive to Isaac's follow-up doctor appointment in Mankato tomorrow.
Please pray for Isaac's blood tests to show his body is continuing to improve!

We have to rent a vehicle to drive there as our van is giving us trouble. It wouldn't start yesterday when we got in to go to lessons and AWANA :( I had a bad day! There is always something going wrong it seems and it is so discouraging some days!!! Besides the van having trouble starting, it has trouble at 50 mph to 65 mph. It pulls and shakes. I continually think this is it, I can't do one more thing (don't know what I'll do about it), I can't do it anymore. Then, of course we get through it and look back and it wasn't so bad. I can usually laugh, but, lately, it is getting harder and harder to look back and laugh or find the hope of the future being any different. Then, I think, why should it get "better" for me. Sometimes people go through hard times and some of those times are harder than what I'm experiencing. Should things get "better" or should I view my circumstances differently? Should I be like Paul in the New Testament and find joy in the hard times and should I be content with that which I have? I know the right answer. I know that I have nothing to complain about really. I know that my kids are great, people are praying and caring for us, God has not left (despite it feeling like he must have sometimes), tomorrow is another day (that I too often think will only bring one more trial), Lena is the cutest baby ever, I love Jane Austen movies (just watched Persuasion (very good)), my dad (step dad) brought me flowers for Valentine's Day (I don't think he's ever done that), my husband continues being a great person (poor guy thinks I'm mad at him that the van wouldn't start because it's been giving me trouble for months, but I was really crying and couldn't talk on the phone when I called to tell him what happened so I handed the phone to Jordan), and I could keep finding the good things in life despite it being a challenge to do so at times. I'm not sure why I write all these things. Maybe to give hope to someone going through a challenge? It can be hard but there is always hope no matter how far away it seems to be. The greatest hope is eternal life with Christ Jesus:) What a glorious day that will be!

To answer the Vander Vorsts question: Jordan has been playing violin almost three years (started lessons in April of 07). Emily started then too. Emily is practicing more in a day as she is interested in trying out for symphony next year too. Jordan just started teaching two of the other children violin. Maybe we'll have our own little orchestra soon!

Last time...

Here is a picture of Jordan with Midori after her Sunday concert. Jordan's been listening to the CD she bought over and over again. It is beautiful music.