Karate Kid

Last weekend we bought the new Karate Kid movie. It is a good family movie and even though it was a "remake" of the original, it was different enough that it wasn't too bothersome to me as a fan of the original. They kept some of the common threads and themes, but much was different, which was probably pretty smart of the movie makers. Some movies just can't be "remade." It was cute though and the kids enjoyed it. Will Smith's son is very talented, especially for his age. He probably has a pretty big future ahead of him if he wants it and doesn't screw his life up along the way like many of these child stars. But, I digress...

Sunday, I looked and all 3 of the original Karate Kid movies were on "play now" off of Netflix, so we had us a little Karate Kid marathon and finally finished up on Monday. It brought back a lot of old memories watching the original. The music was terrible, the clothing is awful, but the story is still very heartwarming and endearing.

Abbi is now obsessed with them. I don't let them watch TV every day anymore, but she asks me daily if she can watch Karate Kid. She has now watched the original twice and the new one 1 1/2 times (my fault...I made them go to bed). It is so funny. Even at 9 years old, she thinks that both of them are very "cute" and I think that is part of her wanting to watch it (much like my sister and I in the 80's!). I won't tell her that the original Karate kid is almost 50 now and old enough to be her grandpa!

Today we are getting this wallpaper off. I may be up until the wee hours of the morning, but it is coming off! The border is lifting MUCH easier. I admit that I didn't really mess with it for a few days this week. I was so tired of it! I really want to paint this week!!!!!!!

It is also trick or treat night . It is the first time that we have gotten to trick or treat with family in 3 years, so that will be fun.

Abbi is 9!!

The week I had Abbi I just felt "off." I don't know another way to describe it. I had funny backaches that would come and go, false labor (typical for me), and just didn't feel like myself. I chalked it up to being 34-35 weeks pregnant and didn't think that much of it.

I went in for a doctor's appointment on that Friday and Jamie had joined me, which was not typical at that time (his work schedule was crazy and I had a toddler). I told the doctor of the things that had been going on and he checked things out. He even said, "don't worry, I'm sure there is nothing going on yet." I can still remember looking up at him and all of a sudden his face fell and he said, "or maybe not...you are 4cm dilated." If I had been a couple of weeks further, this would be good news, but since I was only 35 weeks, then it wasn't such great news and I remember just being afraid. He followed the statement with, "you need to be admitted to the hospital right away."

All I could think of was how it was too soon. I felt very unprepared and didn't know what to expect. I also had a birthday party planned for Micah the next day to celebrate him turning 2 years old that week, which was quickly cancelled.

The doctor had explained that at this stage, they didn't really want women having the baby, but they wouldn't stop it either. They also wouldn't do anything to progress things along unless we were at the point of no return. Ideally, I would be put on strict bed rest for a week to let her lungs develop a bit more.

He came back in that evening, and I was already dilated another centimeter without really having any pain that is was out of the ordinary. Even the nurses the stumped. Nothing was picking up on the monitor to speak of....just those weird back pains that I had been having, which I guess was back labor, but it should have still been coming around the front? My body is nuts (I learned that the first time though).

So, instead of going home, I was stuck in the hospital for the night in hopes to keep her in. In the middle of the night I knew labor had truly kicked in. The contractions were bearable, but regular and picking up on the monitor and we got zero sleep that night. At that point I was being fed antibiotics (3 rounds of it) since things were happening early.

Sure enough, I was about 6.5 cm in the morning and about 9am they broke my water, because I was at the point of no return. I was having a baby whether the we were ready or not.

She was born right after noon and it was an easy delivery. She was 5# 8oz and the nurses lifted her up after her birth for me to kiss her on the head, but she was quickly whisked away. There was no moment of holding her. Jamie followed her out and came back to report that she was OK, but things were a bit bumpy at the moment and that they might like that for a while.

As soon as they'd let me I got up and went down to see my baby. She was beautiful and so tiny! She had tubes and wires hooked up and was under the hood for oxygen. They had a nurse that watched her 24/7. She was not breathing properly, and that was scary. She had a seizure that same night and I remember standing there just crying and feeling so helpless and wondering if she would be OK. My baby girl was born sick. As a mother you get all kinds of "guilt" anyways, but I had the preemie guilt and feeling like I (my body) had failed her in some way.

We waited around all week and she finally turned a corner and around 4 days old we could at least hold her for short periods of time. It was bliss! I had waited 8 months to hold her and while I may not have gotten my "moment" at birth, I was finally getting to hold her. The problem was that she was also very happy to be next to me too, because she would fall asleep when I held her almost instantaneously and her breathing would get "lazy" too. I think we spent the entire day taking turns holding her and then putting her back in for her dose of oxygen. She was finally coming along. She was able to come home at a week old, which I still consider a miracle.

Abbi made me a mommy of 2. She was my first little girl. She made Micah a big brother, and even at 2 years old, he was so fascinated with her. She is a very special young lady with loads of talent. I'm so blessed to have her in my life and I know that God is going to do special things through her.

Today we had a "low-key" homeschool day and we have had a lot of fun! We made these crafts. Aren't they cute?

There isn't a "but" in the Bible

How many times do we read our Bible and try to justify doing the opposite? It seems that we try to fit Christ into our lives rather than having our lives fit into Christ's standards. There is a big difference there. How many times do we tell God, "but...." when we are presented with a Biblical truth? I think we do it more than we realize. Sometimes I know God has to just shake His head in the way that we justify ourselves and wiggle out the parts of the Bible that aren't comfortable. It is to be expected, I suppose, because we are human and was born into a sinful nature and the world is so corrupt that sometimes the definition of right and wrong can be clouded and we are often deceived. Even Adam and Eve tried to justify and point fingers when they were guilty.

We see the world around us and we say, "well we aren't as bad as that guy over there" but in reality, we are all filthy rags and our litmus test is the Bible. If you are not representing the Bible, then we are not representing Christ. Period.

And I thought about all the instances that I have said, "but" over the years. Was I really representing Christ during those times? I can't help but think about the missionaries around the world that risk their lives on a daily basis and here we sit in the Bible belt where it should be "easy" to show people God's love, but we are often presented with fear. Fear of what? Sometimes physical fear and sometimes just social fear.

God has placed Jamie and me in a very unique county. It is a county that is very diverse and eclectic in culture, religion, and income. I go out shopping and I see people that don't look like me, speak my language, or worship my God. It reminds me a lot of when I was a student at MSU and there was many people that weren't like me. I even worked with a young lady from Hungary. I think about her sometimes and where she may have ended up. I remember her saying to me that she was afraid to die. I never told her about Jesus. I didn't know Jesus as my savior at that time, but I still wonder about her and if she is afraid to die. I hope not.

You don't have to go to a foreign land to be a missionary and representative of Christ. I want to represent Christ wherever I am and to whomever I'm around. I don't want to tell God "but," I want to do what the Bible tells me, because it is the truth. No amount of justifying is going to change God and what he expects of us.

Ghandi said it best when he said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians." I love my brothers/sisters in Christ, but I also love my brothers/sisters that are outside of Christ, because he died for them and loves them too.

Micah's birthday, New bathroom, and Last day of Soccer 2010

Micah had a great birthday. In fact, we are still celebrating tonight for Micah and Abbi combined by grilling, going out for dessert, and getting a new Wii game to play as a family. We've had a busy day, but it has been good. This was the girls' last soccer game of the season. Hannah won her first game and scored 2 points, so we were glad her team could go out on a high note. Abbi's team maintained their undefeated status and the weather was perfect soccer weather. She took cupcakes with witch fingers on them for her team in an early celebration of her 9th birthday next week. It was a good season and they had a ball!

We completed our bathroom project finally. It seems like it took forever, because it was not a priority and the girls and I are glad to have back our big bathroom and all its counterspace. It will make getting ready for church so much faster in the morning! As you can see, we went all out "girl" since we had to deal with the pinkish fixtures and it was going to be for us girls anyways. But, it ended up being a fun room and the girls loved it!

Here is the before:


And the after:


I did the paper floors, stripped wallpaper and painted, painted the cabinets, added new knobs, and new curtains.

Micah's 11!

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I can still remember October 22, 1999 very vividly in my mind's eye. I had gone in for a regular check-up and besides feeling the normal 3rd trimester "blahs" and being tired, I was feeling quite fine. I didn't really sleep well the night before, but again, pretty normal. I was already have a lot of braxton hicks contractions, but nothing major and nothing out of the ordinary.

The doctor checked me out that day and I was already over 4cm and effaced and other things to make him suspect that I was in labor. I remember him asking if I wanted to have a baby that day. Since it was my first baby and I wasn't due until November 3rd, I was caught off guard and I was so glad that Jamie had accompanied me to the clinic to hear the heartbeat. Little did we know that by that evening, we'd have our son in our arms!

So, I went down the stairs and was admitted and hooked up to all those straps to measure what was going on. What do you know, I was having a very mild contraction every 5 minutes! An hour later, I had progressed another centimeter all on my own, the doctor broke my waters to make things happen a little faster and faster they did! A couple of hours later I was ready to push.

I remember panic striking me in a way that I had never felt before. All of a sudden, I realized that this baby had to be born, and not only that, I was going to be a mother. Micah was born a few hours later. It was a very difficult delivery where I'll spare the gory details, but in the end, he was born healthy....but blue. I remember the doctor holding him up and he was sticking his little tongue out at us, bright eyed and looking around already. I held him for a short moment and he was rushed out to administer oxygen until almost midnight.

I can still remember sitting in that hospital bed feeling like a complete trainwreck yet blissfully happy. I can also remember listening to all the hustle and bustle in the hallway as I watched from afar as everybody was admiring my beautiful son through the glass. Jamie took a video of Micah and brought it to me so I could at least SEE my baby.

I finally got to hold him at almost midnight and he was still just so bright eyed and looking around. I rocked my baby and knew that my life would be forever different. I wasn't quite sure what that meant at the time, but I was right. My life has changed. I had become a mother to a beautiful baby boy who is now a "preteen" and just the cutest little boy I have ever seen..

God has truly blessed us with Micah and I know that God will do big things through him. He loves the Lord and has many talents that he will be able to use to reach other people. He is a very special young man and I'm so blessed to have him in my life.

I can't believe it has been 11 years. People are right when they say to enjoy every moment, because it fleets by. I don't know where the time has gone! Shouldn't he still be a little toddler or no more than 7 or 8 at the most?

Today we have taken a fun school day to just enjoy.

I'll never be a professional wallpaper stripper

So, I stripped the wallpaper in the bathroom fairly easily. Heck, I've even stripped wallpaper in previous homes we've lived in, but never in my life have I encountered wallpaper so stubborn as the room we are working in now. It is coming along, but we are literally picking it off inch by miserable inch. I even have the kids involved and while they think it is fun, I'm simply not amused at this point and really would LOVE to get some paint on the walls this weekend! I'm not sure that will happen, but we'll see.

It is funny when you mention wallpaper to people, everybody thinks they have "the trick" of all tricks to get the stubborn stuff off the walls. We've tried them all. Downy, DIF, Parana, hot water, hot vinegar water, hot dishsoapy water....yes we perforate it and we have a tool to get it lifted off, but it is still not coming off in very large sheets (think more like lasagna noodle size at most). I've even had some people tell me to dry strip the top off and that should come off easily, then the paper backing is a piece of cake with some hot water. Ummmm...hello! Maybe that would be a great idea...if it would come off!!!!

Ok, yea, a little frustrated with the wallpaper, because I really want it off, so we can paint and get this show on the road already. I miss having my desktop computer, I miss books, I want my dry erase board on the wall and not propped up in the floor, I want to organize my homeschooling things once and for all, I want to showcase the kids' artwork, I want a bulletin board, a classroom calendar, and I just really want to whine about it I guess. No advice, just let us whine a bit, because in reality, nothing is going to be the "trick of all tricks" to get it off. I'm sorry, but somebody actually asked us tonight if we have wet it. Seriously, people? I really am not that naive.

I think they used some kind of NASA glue or something. I'm not sure, but maybe they'd like to get some of it to test it in the lab. Or perhaps, it was wallpaper that was hung over 20 years ago and the previous owners were determined that it would never peel or come down without a fight.

So, I think I've given up my career as a professional here and we'll call it a night.

Our Virtual Mission Trip

http://www.mypassporttoindia.org/

The kids and I have been taking a virtual mission trip to India. We will continue our journey for another few weeks, then we will send a donation, which will be matched dollar for dollar by Sonlight (our homeschool curriculum publishers). We are all very excited and I think every spare coin in the house has found its way into our donation box.

We watch a video twice a week and the kids have little passports with stickers, verses, and questions. We are learning a great deal about their culture and the money will go to send children to a Bible Club that they have in the villages. The Bible Clubs are an enjoyable place for the children to go, because they get to sing, learn a Bible story, and many families have been saved by their children coming home and telling them the love of Jesus. Some children are saved, and are still praying for their families to accept Christ.

We are visiting the city of Mumbai , which is the second largest city in the world. One slum in Mumbai has a million people in 1 square mile. I really cannot imagine! There is only 1 toilet for every 1 million people. It really puts things in perspective when we think we are "roughing it" right now, because we are sharing 1 bathroom (1 is still under renovation).

My kids are young, but I hope that they can see how much we really do have. The average income is $1 a day and we go spend $1 on something and really don't think anything about it. So, we are raising some money to send the children to the Bible Club. Every $1 will send one child.

So, if my children hit you up for money, don't blame me. They are quite excited about our mission trip and what we have learned and they are eager to help these children know about Jesus!

Another Room Done!

We are finally in our bedroom now after living here 6 weeks. It has been almost 6 months since I've had a chest of drawers or a closet to put my clothes. Doing laundry is one of my most loathed household tasks, but I gleefully put away clothes in my bedroom this afternoon. I don't think I've ever been so excited to do laundry in my life. It just felt so nice to have things normal and no more digging through boxes or laundry baskets to find what we need. I guess I never realized how much you can take those little things for granted and to be thankful for them.

We ended up with Jamie's Granny's bedroom suit, which just made the room complete. I love a bed with tall posts. At some point, we'll update the knobs on the dressers, but that is not a priority right now. The bed felt very tall last night since we have had our mattress/foundation on the floor now since we moved.

I love how it turned out and can't wait (again!) to get the pictures on the walls to make everything complete, but here is the (almost) finished product.

Before:




After:

The hallway bathroom is next. I just need to do the floors is there, but it'll be so nice to have my nice big "girly" bathroom back! I swear, sharing a teeny tiny bathroom with 5 other people is not fun. I don't even have room on the counter top for my Chi flat iron...that is down right blasphemous! Soon...very soon!!!

I'm still just so thankful for the blessings that God has given us! 6 months ago, I never would have imagined!

Lessons I've learned the Past 6 Weeks

• It is amazing the amount of paint you can use out of a seemingly empty paint can.
• I'm the messiest painter ever. I get it all over my legs, arms, hands, and even hair on occasion.
• Carpet is a disgusting invention!
• Wallpaper is from the devil!!!
• You can do a lot even on a little budget if you put in the time, effort, and creativity.
• Updating a home is a neat thing to see.
• Making my first mortgage payment made it more "real" and wasn't even scary!
• New dryers and old homes make you have to pay an electrician.
• Polyurethane actually smells better than stain, but both will make your clothes dryer emit a kerosene smell (we had to google that one).
• Sharing a teeny tiny bathroom with hardly any counter space with 5 other people is NOT fun.
• Church can be exactly like you envisioned it should be.
• The harder you try to forget, the more you seem to remember.
• My kids are flexible and wonderful.
• My husband is amazing to be able to work more than 40 hours a week, give us his time and attention, and work on his Master's full time...I don't know how he is doing it!
• I have a lot more patience than I realized.
• I can live among disorganization and still be happy.
• God has revealed a lot to me.
• Having a fenced in yard is a huge blessing!
• We CAN make it on a smaller income when God is in control!!!!
• Homeschooling can be hard work, but it is fostering qualities, skills, and knowledge in my children that is irreplaceable and I'm completely "sold" on the idea of homeschooling them through high school.
  
• I am not good at remembering all these new names that have been thrown at us.
• It is OK to make mistakes and have to come back and re-do them.
• God is forever taking care of us and I'm simply amazed at his patience and faithfulness.
• I'll never understand everything, but I can let go of it and let God deal with it and move on. Even if I'll never forget.
  

I think I can, I think I can...

That is what I keep telling myself anyways. I know this house will be finished at some point. Right? We will be in our bedroom again this weekend. I'm currently working on the hallway bathroom and it should be completed in the next week. I think we've made a million trips to Lowes and Wal-Mart already and we aren't even halfway through.

I love the end results though and all the rooms that are complete feel so cozy and nice already. Next week, we are taking a break from painting and floors and I'm going to focus on getting things organized into our bedrooms.

This week, we are taking a fall break from homeschool and my kids have lived outdoors 90% of the day. We are loving this weather and I'm so thankful for a fenced yard! Tonight my 3 oldest children are attending their first church lock-in. How did they get so big? Chloe has already said that she will not be sleeping in that room by herself, so I guess she'll be camping out with us. So, it'll be quiet around the Hughes house tonight after church.

I just have to tell myself that we WILL see an end to all this madness though. Sometimes, as I'm painting, I think, "didn't I just do this?" Our goal is to be finished by Christmas. I really think it'll be more like January though, because I will need to Christmas shop at some point I suppose.

Oh, and on another entirely different note. Chloe was in there taking a bath the other night and was singing at the top of her lungs, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". I chuckled a bit, but dared not disturb her as she would have stopped and I wanted to hear her sing. How great is it being a mother and getting to enjoy all these little moments in life. You have to admit, there isn't anything much funnier than a 4 year old singing her rendition of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" in the bathtub at the top of her lungs with only the words of the chorus being right.