at 01/25/10 4:57AM
This time last year I was SOOOO sick with Malachi's pregnancy. My mom actually gave me a bath for my birthday. That was all I wanted but I was too weak so mom helped me out.
So this year, I'm thrilled to not be throwing up and that I can take a bath on my own. I'm sure my mom is thrilled too!
Not much scheduled today for a birthday celebration. We are driving to Gainesville to pick up my mom and then heading back home and doing the Monday grocery shopping and running a couple other errands. Like I said, nothing exciting but all of it is essential.
We are hosting a party on Friday night for the FC students that worship with us and that we know from various studies and such. Our total guest list is 147. It's a come and go party so hopefully that will keep the party flowing nicely. The most we'd had over here before was about 60 so I'm thinking this might be like that.
So the party has a theme (you know I can't have a party without a theme! It's just not in my nature to do such a thing!).
The invitation read:
Everyone in Florida knows it doesn't get cold enough to snow here but we can pretend can't we?
You are invited to a
"We're going to pretend it's so cold outside that we need to warm up with a delicious, steamy cup of hot chocolate"
Come and Go Party
Yep, it's a hot chocolate party. I am going to be making the house look like a winter wonderland in the spirit of pretending that it's cold. Now I know it was cold 2 weeks ago so it's a little ironic now but it's supposed to be in the 70s on Friday so it will work according to plan.
So we have 200 boxes of hot chocolate in our house (stashed in Noelani's closet because that's the only place that I could put them besides the garage and the garage just didn't seem right) and I'm making homemade marshmallows and LOTS of other goodies.
So before I go, I will let you in on a little secret. OK so you know how I love a good deal? (I know I say that a lot!) Well I scored a huge deal on the hot chocolate. My friends, I was able to get paid to take these 200 boxes out of the store. Let me say it again...I got paid to take 200 boxes of hot chocolate out of the store. Now I didn't get paid much but I did get paid! I got paid a whopping $2.00! But as we were taking these out of the store, Frederic asked me what are we going to do with them. I figured we would just give them to the students and then I decided to throw them a party instead. So much more fun!!!
at 01/22/10 5:54PM
My
husband uses his Bible A LOT! So much so that it was falling apart. Pages were missing and the binding was gone. So we decided to save up some pennies and buy him a new one. Many pennies were saved and we were ready to make the purchase of a new sword for Frederic.
We got to the store and I had to take 2 girls to the potty and change a baby boy's diaper so I did that while Frederic shopped in his favorite store. Something about a Bible bookstore that just puts a smile on his face. Seriously, we park in the parking lot and he practically skips to the store like a 3 year old.
Anyway, so when all the potty business was finished, we made our way to the aisle of Bibles and there was my husband smiling BIG holding his new Bible. He is not too picky but he does know what he likes and that is what he likes. He loves a slim, black, NAS with red letters. So I opened it up to take a look and in the bottom right corner it says "Jay Ballard" in gold. I closed it up and said, "Oh Frederic, you really deserve to get a new Bible. You use it constantly. Really, you should get a new one." This new Bible was to be the replacement for his old worn out one that was a misprinted Bible too. Something about seeing Frederic Gray or no name at all on the Bible would just be so nice. We had the money for the new Bible but he insisted that we get this one. Since it was misprinted, it was clearanced to $10.99. He said he knew I have been wanting to stock up on cards for all the sick and birthdays and such so I'll let you spend the rest of the money on that. The cards were on sale BOGO and he has a 20% off preachers card so it was a pretty sweet deal.
So that's what we did. We figured we'd put another sticker on the front that read Frederic Gray in a nice, fancy font and hopefully this time the girls won't slowly pull that sticker off the Bible like they did with the last one.
That night we got home and Frederic took out his new Bible and started breaking it in. As he flipped it over, he saw that the name Jay Ballard was on the back too. Not in the lower position but going up the side. On the back it's silver and on the front it's gold. So now what? Do we get his name printed twice on the little stickers and then put one up the side too? This poor Bible would look like we had to put little sticker band-aids all over it!
He called the store and told them that Jay Ballard is a pretty popular guy and his name is all over this Bible. They said if he was willing to keep this Bible, they would just give it to him for free and give us a credit in the store.
So why does this make me love my husband? Because he is just such a sacrificial guy x 100! He is willing to have a pretty funny looking Bible so that I can send cards to people for their birthdays or when they are sick. This is not the only time he does things like this for us. He does it all the time.
And in other news, our minivan was sick again. Yes, it's true! This time it's the spark plugs and the coil thing around them (yes I say coil thing because I do not know anything about cars. I've lived 30 years not knowing anything about cars and I'm very content with my life so I'm not going to learn now.). The cost this time was $354. Well that was about $354 more than we had to spend. So my husband made a deal with the automotive place. He gave them his car in place of the payment to fix the minivan. They said they would give us $500 for his car so they fixed the minivan and sent him on his way with a check for $145.87.
So the minivan is well again. For the next month or so!! I feel like making a black and white chart that shows our minivan on it and coloring in all the parts that have been redone on it. It would almost be colored in by now! That's a Ford for ya! Even though our minivan is not too reliable, it seems to fit our family well!
So we are now a one car family. We did the one car thing when Noelani was a baby and it worked out ok. It requires a little more planning but we'll make that work. Frederic is home more now that he is a preacher but he does go from place to place throughout the week (usually about 12 places a week) and so we'll just have to make that work out.
Oh and for the record, we just left the Bible with the wrong names on it. So if you ever see a lonely little black Bible in a pew and you see that it says Jay Ballard in gold on the front and sideways in silver on the back, it belongs to my husband, Frederic Gray!
at 01/20/10 11:30PM
*
You know I love a good deal. And the best deal is a free one.
Two days ago, our neighbor rang the door bell and when Frederic went to the door, he saw him standing outside with an overstuffed box of toys. He said his family wanted to give them to our family. Very sweet! He also wanted to give us a air hockey table and a basketball game. He said his kids just don't play them enough to keep them around. I was totally thrilled. FREE stuff always has my name written on it.
So today I got around to looking at the air hockey table and basketball game. Very nice condition. Looks like his kids never played with them!
While the littlest ones took a nap, Noelani and I sat in the livingroom with our new box of treasures and dug inside to see the loot. Books, books and more books. I am a fan of books. While Noelani played with a doll they gave us, I scanned the books to make sure the content was something we wanted our kids taking in.
So what did I find in our treasure box?
The Story of the Prophet Nuh: Quran stories for tiny tots. If you are not familiar with this story, it is the tradition Muslim view of the Biblical flood account. On the back cover, it showed other books you could buy in the "First Things First" series: Tell Me about Haji, Tell Me about Muhammad, Tell Me about Musa, The Origin of Life, Allah's Best Friend, The First Man on the Earth, The Two Brothers, The Brave Boy.
The next book out of the box...The Hundredth Name...a book about the 100 names for Allah.
Next one out of the box...The Evolution and History of Dinosaurs...this one was LOADED with all kinds of Darwinist theory about the earth beings millions of years old.
And the last book out of the box...Who's in a Family....this one is about what makes up a family. Some families are made up of a mommy and daddy. Some children only live with a mommy or their daddy. Some children go back and forth from mommy to daddy. Some live with their grandparents while their parents work. Some families are just a husband and wife that are married without children.
And then here is a direct quote from the book, "Laura and Kyle live with their mom, Joyce, her partner, Emily, and a poodle named Daisy." As you read along you come to, "Robin's family is made up of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and Robin's cat, Sassy. Clifford and Henry take turns making dinner for their family." On this page, Robin, Clifford and Henry are all in the kitchen together. On the fridge is a picture of two stick men with a little girl between them.
This book was published in 1995 by Tricycle Press and the age level is 3 to 6. Yes...THREE to SIX. On the back it says, "Who's in a Family? The people who love you the most! Chances are, your family is like no one else's - and that's just fine."
So much for my free stuff. I will say I was disappointed to say the least. Not what I was expecting at all. Not disappointed that my free stuff wasn't worth keeping but disappointed that there are books about these subjects for children (ages 3 to 6) and that my neighbors had them.
But I'm happy. Happy that I read through these books and didn't just trust and give them to Noelani.
This has been a big problem for Noelani. Last I tested her (which was last May) she was reading at a 6th grade level. Now this is hard because she's supoosed to be in kindergarten. We are teaching her on a 1st grade level but her reading is very much beyond that. My guess is that she's around a 7th or 8th grade level now. Maybe even higher. It's hard because there just isn't too much that is made for a 7th or 8th grader that a 6 year old should be reading. Well let me rephrase that...there isn't much that is made for a 7th or 8th grader that a 7th or 8th grader should be reading. So we have struggled with what she can read. And she can pick up just about anything and start reading it. And understand it. So she trusts us to look through things for her to approve them before she reads them. But not only can she read at a higher level, she can read it fast! So I'm reading through these little chapter books like crazy. And it's disappointing when I spend days reading one and get to something I don't like and then I have to can it. What a waste of time!
So right now she is reading the Bible. Chapters a day. She loves to read the Psalms. Chapter 1 is her favorite. She reads the Bible to us at dinner and to Maleia when I put Malachi down for a nap. She also loves 1 Cor. 13. Frederic was reading a book that suggested substituting your name for the word love and she does that with all our names. It goes like this,
Noelani is patient, Noelani is kind and is not jealous; Noelani does not brag and is not arrogant, Noelani does not act unbecomingly; Noelani does not seek her own, Noelani is not provoked, Noelani does not take into account a wrong suffered, Noelani does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; Noelani bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
I really like that idea. When she reads my name it makes me really motivated to strive to have those attributes. We told her to use this as a self test to see how she's doing with showing love.
So back to the free books, Noelani was sad. Frederic told her that she needed to guard her heart and that these books weren't going to help her grow closer to God and so we weren't going to keep them. She understood and was content.
Speaking of content...Maleia is struggling with whining. The root of her problem is that she is not being content. So when the whining starts (and it's OFTEN!) Frederic will talk with her and remind her to be content and not to whine. He has several things he goes over with her when he is done talking with her and she's ready to be content he'll ask her, "Maleia, are you having a good heart of contentment? Are you being sweet toward others?" and, usually through some sobbing and trying to not whine anymore, she'll say, "Yes Sir, Daddy. I a tent. I happy and a tent."
at 01/09/10 12:32AM
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Feeling like I want my
husband to come home! Like now would be nice! But I'll be patient.
Not sure how single mothers do it. This week has not been as easy as most but it also wasn't as hard as I was thinking it would be. My week was full of 1 sick kid, 1 baby that is NOT sleeping through the night anymore, 1 toddler that is potty training, 1 mommy that is trying to get too much accomplished and 1 house that does not like to stay clean. I am blessed to report that nothing broke while Frederic was gone. So unlike us!
And on a totally different note, last year we decided to do something new every year. A first time for everything was a theme for us.
Last year, our new thing was a boy! We got him and he's different from the girls and fun and we love him.
This year our new thing is.......are you ready.......a family vacation. Yes we have NEVER taken one. Not at all. We have gone on trips to my parents house and have gone on an extended family vacation but our little Gray family hasn't been on a family vacation. So we are doing it! We are in the process of planning it and we're pretty pumped to think about it. So Frederic and I said "where do we want to go?" So many possibilities. We have decided on a place and are working out the plans. I don't want to say just yet where we are going because nothing is set in stone yet and our trip involves staying with some friends on the way up to where we want to go and on the way back and I don't want to throw it all out there just yet. I'm excited about it!
at 01/06/10 7:36PM
I had issues at the bank today. This time it wasn't with money though. We were at the drive threw and I could not remember the date. Like at all. Was totally clueless. So I asked Noelani if she knew what it was and she very calm and cooly said, "It's January 6th mom". Well nice to know she's at least paying attention.
So as I was just typing this, Noelani was reading it over my shoulder and I had typed January 5th and she pointed to the screen and said "Mom it's the 6th."
I think I need my husband to come back soon! I'm loosing my mind!
Sweetest Husband Ever!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
And you are just awesome with your shopping tips, deals, wheelin' and dealin' - haha. I admire you alot.
Have a wonderful weekend and fun party :)
I am not sure what it could be. There are a few things that are different but our best guess is I am on thyroid medicine this time and your thyroid really affects your hormone levels.
I have also had trouble with bleeding. It's unexplained and we had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and everything looked perfect. I have another ultasound next week which will be comforting.
All in all we are taking it a day at a time and trusting God in the moment he has provided. Thanks for praying and checking in.
I will look for you! I'll have all the girls and Josh with me...It's likely that our son will be hanging out with friends (well, the girls might be as well...). Just look for me and Josh! ;)
I loved our visit. It was so good to meet you. Well, I'll be doing lots of praying for financial aid...NO grants. Ugh. Jonathan's digging deep for more information this week. It is hard to believe we are eligible for NOTHING free. I feel like one of the 'entitlement' 'handout desiring' masses...but, just this once, it would be nice. LOL. Now to come up with $17,150 to add to the $1000 scholarship we have already!
You haven't updated in a while. What's going on? I know you guys have been sick right?
You are very blessed and so are your children!