The Love Dare

This weekend I bought the book, The Love Dare. If you have seen the movie Fireproof then you should be familiar with The Love Dare. This book is a 40 day endeavour that leads you through daily devotionals, allows you to write down any thoughts, and ends each day giving you a specific task to perform. The tasks are basically a way to show your spouse love. I feel that this book is designed for the couple who is struggling, but in all honesty its a great process for any couple...because what couple cant use a little more T.L.C?

My marriage is good..but why settle for "good"?

Right now I am on day 2 of the dare, and I will keep you guys posted on the progress. I am not going to tell Michael I am doing it, and I'm curious if he will catch on. Yesterday my "task" was not to say anything negative to him, and today I am supposed to continue with that and do one act of kindness for him. So tonight, I plan to wash and put away his laundry--since he typically does his own laundry.

Anyone want to take the dare with me??

I dare you!

Spring has Sprung

Today was beautiful. After church, the boys and I went for a ride on the Polaris and cruised through the woods, on up to the big horse/cow pasture. The boys love to visit it, so they can see the animals. Then we came home so we could all play in the yard for a while before daddy came home from work. It was a nice weekend...but like all others, it went by way too fast.

Humpday

Wow. This week has been super busy.

Monday Hayden went for his procedure...since he wasn't able to eat or drink after midnight, we (Michael and I) decided to do the fast with him. We were told to be at the hospital at 12:30, and they ended up starting the procedure around 3 pm. We were starved!!! Hayden did great though... And the doctor said visibly everything looked good, but we have to wait for the results to come back...which will happen at the end of the month.

Michael happened to have his phone with him so we snapped some pictures of him in his cute little hospital gown. Excuse the "camera phone" quality.

And all week the weather has been just beautiful....warm and slightly breezy. The temperature has been in the upper 70's. Its shocking to think we just had snow last week, AND they are calling for cold weather starting tomorrow. The sky was just beautiful this afternoon.


Then tonight at church we had our annual pine car derby for the kids in AWANA. Dylan's *cough cough* daddy's*cough* car did very well. All the kids had a blast.

Check out Dylan's Lightning McQueen look alike!

And finally, be sure to check out the link for Baby Jonah's on the upper left side of my blog. This little guy could use lots of prayers.

Stop the Clock

Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. I have been blogging about Hayden's medical issues for a few months, and the doctor have him scheduled tomorrow for an endoscopy and a few other tests. So starting at midnight tonight he cant have any food or drink. The bad thing is that his procedure is scheduled for 12:30pm. So come lunch time he will be one pitiful child. I also imagine that handing over my baby boy to those nurses will be really tough, also. I trust God with all of this, and know he will be with us. I just pray for strength.

Cabin Fever

I'm home from work again today. Aside from Dylan not having school, Hayden is still sick...Since Michael is back at work, I cant really take Dylan outside and leave Hayden inside....so I have been trying to keep the boys busy.

To keep Dylan busy I sat out a few cup of water and our food coloring, and told him to mix the different colors to see what other colors he could make.

Snow continued

Aside from the fact that Hayden is sick, this snow day has been wonderful. I was able to get Hayden out for a little bit so he could atleast enjoy our only real snow of the year.

Snow Day

I cant believe we actually got a real snow! In the beginning of March, at that. It came at a perfect time for me, because both of my boys are under the weather....so today we will enjoy the coziness of our home, munch on snow cream and play.

Answers for Hayden

Over the past few months I have blogged a couple times about the health issues Hayden has been going through.

Well, Yesterday we had a visit with Dr. Fortunato at Brenner's Hospital. He is a pediatric Gastrointestinal physician. We went over all of the symptoms; from tummy aches to very loose bowel movements. He was concerned about Hayden's growth rate and obviously, his digestive issues...so they are going to do an endoscopy and test him for Celiacs...but also drain some fluid for a pancreatic analysis. He said he really thinks there are some malabsorption issues going on, and this may give us clues. So in a few weeks we will go for that, and hopefully get some answers.

California-Race

Okay...so maybe I failed miserably at last weeks picks ... in my defense, that race had many unexpected turns.... But I'm no quitter... I have placed my bet on today's race at Pepsi's Fantasy Racing. For today's race I have Carl Edwards down to take 1st place, with Earnhardt Jr and Harvick taking 2nd and 3rd.

Im ready for this race to get here... Go Burton!!!

Glorious Saturday

Ahhhh, Saturdays...I love Saturdays...

No where to go...nothing to do (well, except household chores-but we like to pretend those dont exsist sometimes...shhh)

It was pretty enough today that I took the boys outside for a walk. They were able to play on the swing set while mommy did what she loves to do-snap pictures.

Daytona 500

The Dayton 500 is today, and I'm psyched!

Michael and I are taking part in Pepsi's Fantasy Racing and even though I'm a die hard Jeff Burton fan, I have Mark Martin down to take it all today. Call it a hunch.

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Edited to add: Well, that was certainly not what I expected... The race was high on the entertainment factor, but ended up appearing as more of a comedy of errors. So much for my hunch.

Valentines activities

Yesterday, I left work early to attend Dylan's Valentines party at school. Can I just say, I don't remember school being that much fun back when I was a kid! They made a cute craft with their hand prints on a heart, then had a snack and finally finished decorating their heart.

After the party we decided to take the boys down to the river, since the weather was so perfect. They enjoyed throwing rocks in the river...and Dylan made sure to let us know he wanted to come back and go fishing some time.

Where I Live

Often times when asked where I live, Ill answer "out in the boonies" or "in the sticks". I really do use those terms lovingly, because I dearly love the small town I live in. I love looking up at night and seeing the stars, and the abundance of trees..I love seeing people sitting on their front porch just because...I love hearing cows "moo" when I'm in my yard...I love to hear the crickets at night...the wonderful smell of country air. I love where I live. Country and back-woods as it may be, Id never live anywhere else.

The view of the sky from my yard.

A totally random barn down the road.

Little Man

When I ask Dylan to smile, this is the expression I'm given....

I can already imagine the teenage years.

M.I.A

I just realized today that its been a while since my last post.

Things have been ultra hectic lately. My mom has been sick, and due to her health issues we have been having to find alternate childcare for Hayden...and will have to continue this for at least another 4 weeks. Luckily for us, our friend Michael (who happens to be my husband, Michaels, best friend-yes, 2 Michael's) has been off work this week, so he has been the main care giver. Yes..a man... No, I'm not at all sexist...but any woman knows that when it comes to childcare, us women seem to fulfill the duty. But, I have to admit that he has done an excellent job (minus that first days lunch that consisted of gummy snacks).

And, after months and months of stomach issues with Hayden..yes, the same ones I posted about months ago...the doctors ordered lab work and have found that milk is not what is causing his issues.... They did do blood work to also test for Celiac Disease, and one of the tests came back positive...so he is now scheduled with a pediatric GI doctor for the end of the month. I just pray we can get some answers soon, because it is hard to see your child in such pain.