Just Because

Because I feel like I should post as much as possible, not because I have anything to post about.

We got to have dinner with the Herzogs last night. We hung out at my parents' for a while and then drove to Coppell to eat Mexican. Somewhere along the line I missed the part about their WHOLE family being here. It was fun to see Ms. Clara and Mike and Rachel too besides John and Linda and Stuart and Melissa. Isaac asked if we could spend the night at Mrs. Linda's house but we just couldn't swing it.....it being 13 hours away and all. It's bitter-sweet to spend time with old friends.

After dinner we went back to my folks' to drop Josiah off for the night but he had a melt-down and we couldn't leave him. We were surprised but it was ok. We were hoping he'd stay because we had a yard sale this morning and were pretty sure he would not like seeing our stuff walk away with other people. He did surprisingly well however and since it started raining around 9 or so we didn't have long to torture him. This morning was eery. I have never seen so little traffic on our street. We set up at 6am and didn't have a single customer by 8. After that we had a rush and then it started raining. During that first two hours as we stood and watched our totally deserted street Todd said, "Wow. This feels just like trying to get a job."

We did eventually make a little money and we took the kids to Toys R Us as promised. Toys R Us did not have any cool Star Wars toys so we moved on to the real toy store....Wal Mart and everybody got what they wanted (under $15) and we went back to Grandma's. Hunter stayed tonight so it's just the 4 of us. We played a few rounds of Dora's Candy Land and I'm trying to convince Ike and 'Siah that they are as tired as me right now. They're not buying it. Maybe I should try harder.

T-day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I pray God blessed you with many happy memories and things to be thankful for. We had a great time here. Todd's family all came and everything went smoothly. The house was almost really clean, the food all got cooked (except that pie Todd wanted me to make for Josiah. I didn't even know where to start on that one) and I even got a few hours of sleep last night.

We did a nice job of combining thankfulness to God with one of the cardinal sins (glutany) for a whole day. There were 9 adults and 7 kids and only one incident involving blood...and it wasn't even my kid. I don't think that one would have even happened if Alicia hadn't told Colby not to hurt his face because they had already had to postpone family pictures once. Of course, he laid a rasberry all the way across one side of his face. Go Colby!

Everyone got along nicely and the food was fabulous. The kids were happy and we got to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Go Mike!). In short, I'd do it all again...but not until I've rested for a day or two.

The Herzogs are here in town to see their kids and we're going to try to see them tomorrow. I am seriously excited about that. Part of me wants to gather all sorts of things to send back to Montgomery but the rest of me just wants to enjoy John and Linda and not worry about it....that part will probably win out. I know you're not surprised about that.

One thing I learned today: cookies without the baking soda equal flavored silly putty. Don't do it!

And I'm thankful for you!!!

A little news

Todd finally submitted his resume and letter to the Legacy Church of Christ in North Richland Hills. He sent it with return receipt turned on so he knows that it has been opened by 6 people. We're assuming it had an auto-forward to all the elders or something.
Just something specific to pray about.

www.legacychurchofchrist.org if you want to check them out. We haven't even visited.

Remember what I said about the lottery?

Quote

The Kingdom of God is not what you do,

It is who you are.

And when you understand who you are,

What you do will be the Kingdom of God.

-Brad Cecil (in the sermon yesterday at Axxess)

Feeling Deep?

I just finished reading Greg Newton's blog. I know I've mentioned before that I read his blogs but never comment and, sure enough, I didn't comment this time either. However, I really think you should read it, especially his blog from yesterday, November 15....at least I'm pretty sure that's the date on it. It's an epistle to the saints in Dothan. The whole thing really embodies what "emergent" church is striving to be. I know it's a term we use alot and I can never really explain what the movement is about but Greg does a good job of it on a really regular basis in his blog.
Don't try it if your brain's not turned on, however. It's not light weight skimming material.
www.travelersjournal.blogspot.com

Just for a little background, Greg and Marsha and their kids were in Mwanza for 8 years or so. They were there when we arrived and we overlapped for one month. He was also overseen by the Homewood Church and they were in Birmingham when we came home. They are now ministering at the Disciple's Fellowship in Birmingham. He's been a good friend and mentor to Todd.

P.S. Josiah is doing great but has a dentist appointment in the morning. PRAY!

Finally!

Now this is what autumn is supposed to look like. I was growing weary of waiting for it. It's quite nippy here, just like it is in Montgomery. I was so pleased this morning when I woke up and it was warm in my house. I knew it was really cold outside and we had not turned on our heater. Our little house holds its temp and I am glad, considering gas prices right now.

It's supposed to be in the 60's most of Thanksgiving Day next week. I think the high is supposed to reach 70. Perfect! Especially since we're hosting the Thanksgiving feast in our garage, which is the size of a small banquet hall. I'll let you in on all those plans at some later date. Just know that the boxes are going into the attic and that my muslin will finally be put to good use. Now all I need are some rugs....and candles...and maybe some Prozac.

Oh, I promised I'd be better at letting you in on the rejections....Todd did not get a call back from Verizon. For answering phones! What's the deal? Is he just overqualified?

I keep telling him that God is working something really big. Is He? I wish He'd let me know, but that's not how He works is it? Doesn't it stink? If He'd just let me know how long this is gonna take I could know how much beans and rice to stock up on. Of course, we can't live on beans and rice because Josiah can't eat rice! I also try to limit his potatoes and corn. sigh. We can't even afford to be poor. Oh well.

Todd is subbing today and I'm about to call a dentist so we can all get our teeth fixed before our insurance runs out along with our severence at the end of the month. You know what I bet? I bet this December is our best one ever. I just have this feeling....Maybe it's my hope returning. Inexplicable as that is, I think it may be back. I hope so, I've missed it. Is that odd? I'm hoping for hope.

Life is odd but...

God is good.
All the time.

All the time.
God is good.

Amen and Amen! 

The dress!

Yes, I am a thrift queen!! This dress, which I purchased for my niece, cost $3! It is organza and has little silver buttons shaped like flowers up the back. Darling!!! Even if she never wears it for Easter or even for church, what a dress-up dress it will be!

Happy wearing, Ashley!

Love,
Aunt Teresa

P.S. should I save it for a Christmas gift? Maybe.... 

All Better!

Josiah went to school this morning all smiles and bounces. He took a shower and is feeling great! We're so pleased, and so is he from what I gather.

Isaac is also happy. He has been wanting to watch Happy Pooh Year and had to wait for Josiah to go to school. Not because Josiah doesn't like Pooh but because Isaac really, really wanted to watch it in French and Josiah did NOT want to watch Pooh speaking in foreign tongues. I'm still not sure why Ike was so determined to watch it in French but he's sitting through the entire thing, totally glued to it, which he never does in English. Maybe he'll pick up some French. Pooh French.

When he's done and Todd gets home we're going to finish watching Monk. He borrowed the first season from the library and we're loving it! I'm enjoying it a little more than Todd. He says it's like watching What About Bob. I disagree. I couldn't sit through more than 15 minutes of that movie. Monk, on the other hand, I could (and did) watch for hours.

Todd's at breakfast with the youth minister from Heritage today. He called Todd yesterday and wanted to get together. I'm not sure what to think. I tend to suspect the motives of people I don't know. Todd said he just wanted to visit and maybe talk about him helping with the youth. We'll see.

By the way, Tigger speaking French is quite an interesting experience.

This morning

Josiah is better this morning but still not up to full speed. His fever is significantly lower, 99.9 last time I checked. I'm still having trouble getting him to eat or drink and he occasionally says, "Mom. I'm sick again," and lays down for a little bit but I'm hopeful that he'll be fine by this evening.
I'll keep you posted.

Josiah is sick

My sweet Josiah has been sick all weekend. It's what I get for bragging, I guess. I knew it was going to be rough when something finally did break through his tough immune system. He had a fever all day Saturday that just kept getting higher and higher despite the ibuprophen until about 11:30 Saturday night when it reached 103.1. At that point I thanked my Heavenly Father for a friend in another time zone and called Bob Kiser. I received good medical advice and then visited with Geraldine for an hour. After which I battled a 9 year old's fever for what felt like eternity. Eventually it slackened and he woke up all perky....for a while. Then he threw up twice and we had a yo-yo day between fevers and medicine doses.
His fever went back up to 102.3 tonight but as of now he is sleeping soundly and sweating profusely, which means the fever has broken. He still won't be able to go to school tomorrow but he should feel much better. We've already mentioned to him that he won't go to school and he's confused but not at all unhappy about getting to stay home. That may change when he sees Hunter riding off to school in the morning. We'll see.
I'll keep you posted.

Fairly self-explanatory...

 

Brothers hangin' out.

 

About Josiah

I often sit down to blog and can not for the life of me remember what it was I intended that morning to write about. Today I seem to be remembering it all, but I don't want to just keep switching topics so radically every other paragraph (like I did this morning). I have decided, therefore, to just post a seperate blog.

We received a note from Josiah's teacher this morning (it actually came yesterday but I found it this morning). It was from his teacher's aid, Mrs. Lowhorn. It reads:

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas,

Josiah accidently hit my elbow. He bent down, kissed my elbow and said, "I love you." I almost cried! He has come so far and I could not be prouder. We are so lucky to have him in our class.

Sincerely,
Michelle

We too are proud of Josiah! They called us from school the other day to let us know that he had calmed himself down during a tantrum and was able to continue his work. I think they really called to explain the bite-shaped bruises on his arm but he had calmed down and was proud of it so they let him hear the call and couched it all as a proud moment instead of trauma.

His tantrums are becoming fewer and farther between. He rarely "loses his mind" these days and only hits his brothers when he's exceptionally annoyed or playing too rough.....like all brothers do.

Why? It's another one of those "crazy, wacko, fanatic, hippy" things we've tried over the years. It's called Mangosteen juice and Dr. Corbier mentioned it to us just before we moved as a possible way to help Josiah with dopamine regulation. It was the second of three things he mentioned. The first didn't help and we had really decided this didn't either but then I didn't give it to him one day. Wow. Right back to the screaming thing. His teacher said all his problems came in the afternoon so I upped his morning dose and he's been doing great! We're so skeptical of "complimentary medicine" that it surprises us when it works. We're still willing to try, though.

We're talking about trying Hunter on it. I've put him on the vitamins Josiah is taking and so far he's not gotten sick. It's still early in the season so I'll keep you posted on that one. We may all be popping those "wacko, hippy" pills before long. Hey, if it works....

Isn't it cute?

It's my baby gravy fairy. It's what I was trying to upload a picture of the other day but didn't know how. Todd told me and I promptly forgot to upload it for you. Her name is Lump and she is a "familiar", a pet that helps me adventure in Kingdom of Loathing.

There are also some really fun little brain games at www.eyezmaze.com . There are keypad games and puzzle games where you click and drag different items into the "box" or "world" to see how they interact. The puzzles are called "Grow" and are my fav's! There is a specific answer to each puzzle but it may take some time. Warning: if you have a life, do not attempt these, you will get sucked into playing them for long periods of time.

"For Pete's Sakes"

It's what Isaac told me yesterday when I told him I don't like McDonalds. He said, "You don't like it like Grandpa? For Pete's Sakes!!" I almost fell over. How cute!

Todd is headed to an interview at Verizon today. It's for a job answering questions over the phone. Not what we really need but..... He's applied so many times. I don't do very well about updating you all on all the rejections. No return call from the gas company on reading meters, no return call from History Maker homes for a second interview, no call back from APD (just that nasty letter), etc., etc. Today as he left he said, "Maybe God will let me win the lottery." "Are you buying tickets?" I asked. "No. If I win I want it to be truly a miracle." Goober. He's managing to keep his spirits up and I'm proud of him. After he left I thought, "Maybe God will work a lottery miracle by having a church we've never heard of call him for an interview."

He's come full circle in ministry and faith in a way I never thought I'd see and in a way that never would have happened had we not been "canned". He's applying at churches of Christ. All the men he seeks counsel from are CofC-ers and we are attending a church of Christ. He still doesn't quite fit, but he's decided to make his journey from where he is and see if anyone wants to come along. How Bob Kiser is that?

Total change of topic....we watched Big Fish the other day. I really enjoyed it but didn't see anyone I knew. Give me some hints people. Which scenes were you in? What were you wearing? I think I may have found Miss Mathew's car (she was our neighbor) but I'm not sure. Clue me in on your movie debut folks.

On that note, we also borrowed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Highly entertaining. Johnny Depp's got nothing on Gene Wilder as Willy but other than that, I really liked it.

O.K. I think I may be done rambling. On with your lives, people!

Singing

I was going to blog this morning and then couldn't remember what it was I wanted to say.  I remembered tonight while we sat in on the Praise Team practice at Heritage. 

 

I miss our praise team from Montgomery.  They butchered a song here Sunday morning.  I can't even remember what it was, except that Terri Baker wasn't there to do the base line and I almost cried.  I'm crying now just thinking about it, isn't that silly?  That's the problem with going to a CofC here, it's too much like Grace Pointe to be blissfully unaware of how much I miss you guys.  Todd was miserable after church.  He is aching so much for his kids from GP, he just wanted to go get coffee so badly.  Sometimes it's harder than others.

 

Still no job news for Todd.  I'm signed up as a sub at the pre-school at Heritage.  We'll see how soon they call me.  Todd is enoying subsitute teaching so much that in his latest resume to a church near here he asked to be given a smaller salary and be allowed to continue subbing.   It's an interesting concept.  Maybe it'll catch their attention.  I hate to even hope any more.  Now I'm praying our landlord will let us out of our lease so we can find a two bedroom. 

 

 I know.  You don't even have to tell me.  I'm just trying to be honest.

 

I know he does amazing things with broken spirits, I'm just not used to being the broken one.

I don't know how to tell you this....

but Todd quit his job yesterday.  I really can't explain why that is so comforting to me.  I should be upset but I am so relieved.  Is Faires Jones the only man I know who listens to his wife?  Well, he says he does anyway.  I'd have to check with Eula for verification on that.

Todd has several other jobs he's applying for right now, two of them ministry positions.  I have put several things into my mouth this morning but from this point on I am fasting and praying about the job situation.  I will fast until tomorrow, at least.  I do better if I tell someone else.  Don't let me forget.  The feeling I hate the most when I'm fasting is realizing that there's a taste in my mouth, that I've eaten a bite of something and I can't even remember what it is because I popped it in without thinking at all.  When I fast regularly, it doesn't happen as much.  Maybe that's why God is making me wait for my sense of security, so I'll learn to fast like I should. 

Todd is substitute teaching today.  He trained and went through the whole process with Keller ISD a long time ago and this is the first time they've called him when he didn't have to work.  They call all the time,  just always when he's working.  They never called on days he had off.  It was the strangest thing.  Today, however, he is working.  He can make twice what he made at Radio Shack subbing.  Go figure.

 Could you just let me know you're reading my blog?  Click on "Comments" and then type your name in the big box, click the "anonymous" option on the right (I know, it's oxymoronic) and then type in the weird-shaped word you see (it protects me from advertising comments).  Then click the "Publish your comment" button.  That's it.  It will put your name on the comments page and also send me an e-mail.  Give it a try.  It's exciting!