Miami Boy

Miami FL. -- A seven-year old boy was at the center of a Miami courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulations requiring that family unity be maintained to the degree possible. The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents and he adamantly refused to live with her. When the judge suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried out that they also beat him. After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him. After two recesses to check legal references and confer with child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the Miami Dolphins, whom the boy firmly believes are not capable of beating anyone.

HA!

Ok, so that was funny. I didn't make it up, but I received it in a forward and had to pass it on. Poor Dolphins. Anyway, there are a few new features on the side. I have included a "Word of the Day" to help with the expansion of everyone's vocabulary, and a "Bible Verse of the Day" to help encourage anyone with a daily verse. Also is a link to one song, but I will expand with more songs in the near future.

And that's it. Oh wait, BRRRR. Florida brace yourselves. A cold front is on it's way. When you wake up Tuesday morning its gonna be chilly. Its going to be a high of only 75. BRRRR. I think I may need ear muffs. JUST KIDDING WENDI!! :) But seriously, this is GREAT NEWS. I am totally excited about this. Fall is FINALLY beginning, even if it's only one day of beautiful weather. Another front will pass through a few days later, around Sunday. But at least this is the start of some relief from the heat. I was appalled that I saw that it was 94 (accodring to my van, and it sure felt like it) yesterday. I mean seriously, its OCTOBER 22 already, and its 94?

Give It All Away

I believe music is a very powerful tool that the Lord uses to minister to our hearts. It is also something very close to my heart, and in a perfect world, I would be one of those people that He uses in some sort of music ministry setting. I dream of serving Him in that aspect, but in all honesty, I don't think I deserve to be someone who ministers to others through music nor do I feel that I am qualified to do so. I can, however, point you in the direction of music that someone else has created, and in turn perhaps that is my music ministry. This song by Aaron Shust is called Give It All Away and it is a song that I think can minister to anyone in any situation, which is why I am posting it on my blog tonight. I heard it the other day and was blessed by it, and I wanted to pass on the blessing to others. To listen to the song, please click on the title below.

Give It All Away- Aaron Shust

Search my heart, search my mind, search my soul
Make me clean, make me new make me whole

Chorus:
All of my plans, all of my dreams, I lay them down before Your feet
All of my time, all that was mine, I now submit to Your design
'Cause You are the one who can make my life complete
You are the one who can give light to my feet
You are the one and only one who dared to give it all away for me

You are my strength, You are my God, you are my King
You make me laugh, You make me dance, You make me sing

Everything inside, everything outside, I give it all away
You never change, but You rearrange my heart more everyday

Studio Pictures

Here are some pics that were taken recently at a local studio:

Nate on video

Here is a video of Nate laughing hysterically:

You Always Do

Ok, my new favorite song is called "You Always Do" by a new group Three Cord Wonder. I think their first album will be released later this month, at which I am very excited, if not for the whole album, for just this song. I really, really like it, and thought I would share it with you. I haven't found a sample that I could link into my blog's background music, YET (and I sat yet, because I will find it!) but for now you can just click on the link I will provide below-it will bring you to Three Cord Wonder's Myspace site- and then you can click on "You Always Do" and hear it. They have three other songs there you can listen to as well. Click here to listen. Here are the lyrics:

YOU ALWAYS DO

I FIND MYSELF IN DISREPAIR AND WONDERING HOW I GOT HERE
WHEN CLEAR AT LEAST TO ME ITS NOT MY FAULT
AND OVERWHELMING IS THE TIDE OF THOUGHTS I CANNOT LEAVE BEHIND
WHEN ALL OF MY CONFUSION LEADS TO DOUBT

CHORUS:
WHILE I DONT ALWAYS KNOW WHATS GOING ON
YOU ALWAYS DO
WHILE I DONT ALWAYS KNOW WHATS GOING ON
YOU ALWAYS DO

IM WALKING DOWN A LONELY ROAD WHERE EVERYBODY SEEMS TO KNOW
HOW TO SOLVE MY PROBLEM-RIDDEN SOUL
I CAN FEEL THE PAIN IN ME TURNING TO HYPOCRISY
WHEN ANSWERS THAT I GAVE NO LONGER HOLD,

I FEEL LIKE I AM INCOMPLETE LIKE FEAR WILL GET THE BEST OF ME
AT THE VERY TIME THE LIGHT HAS COME
BUT EVEN WHEN THE DARKNESS SEEMS STRONG ENOUGH TO STEAL MY DREAMS
I WILL LIFT MY EYES BECAUSE I KNOW

Miscellaneous Pictures

Today's blog serves no other purpose other than to share some miscellaneous pictures with you, and to let you know that if you ever want to win a game of slaps, just play Nate. I beat him everytime.



This is the first real face picture Grace ever drew. Not to shabby, eh? This was about September 2005

This is a pic of a cow that a local car dealership has used for years for advertising. I took this the last time I was down that way, however, when I passed the dealership yesterday, I did not see the cow. This is a very sad day. Ok, ok. It's not really, but it has been a landmark for at least the last 22 years of my exisitence in south Florida. And it brings back a lot of memories. (this pic is dedicated to Wendi and all the Minnesotans)

This Grace and Nate in the living room. I took this pic from my camera phone, not bad, eh? Nate is also wearing basketball attire for the first time (in Heat colors, no less)!!

Nate swinging at the park. (This is his third time EVER in a swing-also taken by camera phone)

Another camera phone pic of Nate in the swing.

Chem Exam Grade

I forgot to post my chem exam grade..........now, while I am not thrilled with my grade, I am ok with it. I got an

Citizens, Lend Me Your Ears.....

So, as I have mentioned before, Ray has TWO ear infections. Nate is probably over the one he had; his ten days of antibiotics is finally up. I never guessed that at 6:10am this morning I would be awakened by the familiar little morning whispers of Grace, this time saying, "Mommy, my ear huwts weewy badwy." "Oh no, " I think. "Not another one." And yet another trip to the dr needs to be made. I swear, even though this is a BIG practice, those people probably know me on a first name basis by now. Since July, between the two of them, I have been there between 7-9 times, includuing today, but not including Nate's recheck set for next Wednesday. Now don't get me wrong, this is not a complaint, but more of intrigue and empathy towards my sick children. I hope they are better soon and that no one else gets sick around here for a while.

Bits O' Honey

Okay, well, this isn't really bits o' honey.....it's little tidbits from me, but since I'm sweet, it's almost like honey, right? Ha ha JK. But really, here are some tidbits from my life right now:

• Nate likes tomatoes.
• Grace won't even eat ketchup because she saw a tomato on the bottle and figured out it was made with tomatoes.
• My dear, wonderful hubby has not one, but two, that's right TWO ear infections. Poor guy. He's put off going to the doctor, and now that he has finally gone, his ears are hurting like crazy.
• Some words I think Nate says: Ba ba (for his bottle OR sippy cup, I think he uses this when he wants a drink), Mmmm Mmmm (I know this sounds funny, but I think he uses that when he wants "more" of something), Upp Upp, more maybe it sounds more liek Pupup (when he wants up), Ma ma, and Da da.
• Nate has not teethed in a while. He does, however, have 6 teeth.
• Grace just asked me, "Mom, do you know how to say blue in Spanish? Azul!" Wow! Dora the Explorer has a purpose. She can also almost count to 10 in Spanish.
• Nate cannot speak in Spanish.
• Nate did take a couple of steps the other day, and he has repeated this a few times. He's still pretty unsteady, so I don't forsee him walking independently anytime soon.
• Nate slept until 9am today, YIPPEE. Although, that was after waking at 11pm for food, and at 6:45am for food. He's learning young that boys eat their parents out of house and home. (But hey I got to sleep in a little)
• Hmmph. Nate likes my lasagna.
• Hmmph. Come to think of it, so does Ray and Grace.
• I'm halfway through my sememster, and so far it's going well.
• Grace is obsessed with Fall and leaves changing colors and falling to the ground, and she insists that it does this in South Florida. She also thinks it could snow here. Poor kid.
• My van needs a washing.
• I think that concludes my tidbit blog.

But hey, if you get a chance, check out this site: its sponsored by Xerox and you pick out a postcard, fill out the info and they send it to U.S. Military Personnel overseas. Its called Let's Say Thanks. Oh and it's free and takes only about 2 minutes.

Testing, testing, 1, 2...........

So I have this exam in Chemistry tomorrow, the second of five in the semester, and as I am supposed to be sitting here studying, I find myself blogging about studying instead. For some reason, that sounds a lot more interesting to do. I have never been a studier. I'm terrible at that, and at taking tests. When I read something, my ADD mind wanders and I have to re-read everything several times to "get it." So in high school, I usually opted down the path of least resistance and didn't study. I don't say this to brag, because I certainly wasn't one of those who did NOT study and still manage an A. I did this in certain subjects, however, like English and Math (because really how could you study for a test in those subjects?), but I had a lot of trouble in subjects like History (I am AFWUL in this area) and Science (who knew, with me being a meteorologist and all). But as I sit here, I am trying to figure out HOW to study for my Chem test. I just keep reading and re-reading my notes, hoping that it sinks in. My first exam, which according to the syllabus, I figured would be my only "A" exam, and I only received an 85. Ugh. An 85 on measurements......man, how did I mess that one up? The good thing is that we can drop one exam grade from one of the first four exams; the fifth exam, which is on Biochem, counts no matter what. So I guess I'd better get back to it then, being that its already 12am and I must wake up in less than 6 hours now.........I get my exam back on Wednesday, so depending on my grade, maybe I will post an update. =)

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P.S. You may have noticed the lovely song I've managed to put in the background of the blog. The song is by Relient K called "Let it All Out" and it is a GREAT song. I am posting the lyrics for you below:

Let it all out (get it all out)
Rip it out, remove it
Don't be alarmed, when the wound begins to bleed

'Cause we're so scared to find out (what this life's all about)
So scared we're gonna lose it
And knowing all along
That's exactly what we need

And today I'll trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
But tomorrow, upon hearing what I did
I will stare at you in disbelief
Oh inconsistent me, crying out for consistency

And you said "I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse.
If the burden seems too much to bear,
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

And I'll let it be known (at times I have shown)
Signs of all my weakness
But somewhere in me, there is strength

And you promised me (that you believe)
in time I will defeat this
'Cause somewhere in me, there is strength

And today I'll trust you with the confidence
of a man who's never known defeat
And I'll try my best to just forget
that that man isn't me

And you said "I know that this will hurt
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse.
If the burden seems too much to bear,
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

And you said "I know that this will hurt (I know this will hurt)
but if I don't break your heart, then things will just get worse. (things will get much worse)
When the burden seems too much to bear, (seems too much to bear)
remember, the end will justify the pain it took to get us there."

Reach out to me
Make my heart brand new
Every beat will be for you, for you

And I know you know
You touched my life
When you touched my heavy heart
and made it light

All things bloggy.....

Ok, so it's been a while. But back by popular demand........PICS!! But first, a little update in our lives. I took Nate into the doctor's office on Thursday 9/21 because of red spots all over his body that had spread. There were even some that looked like ant bites; however, I knew it was not ant bites. There were too many; it was entirely impossible for him to have bitten by that many ants and me NOT know about it. So the doctor looks him over, runs a CBC and says it's Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (for more info, click on the link). No biggie. Works like chicken pox..........its contagious until the red spots blister and burst. So, he is FINALLY not contagious when what do I hear? A cough. Ugh. He's sick again. This was Tuesday 9/26. Sunday 10/1, we wake up, and Nate cries for like 2 hours straight, which is so unlike him. I called the doctor's office and after the nurse told me to just give him Tylenol and see what happens, I worked it out so that we could come in. Good thing. Nate had an ear infection in his right ear, plus, I told the dr. that I thought his coughs were a bit wheezy, and since last time he was sick and was diagnosed with bronchiolitis (click on the link for more info), I was concerned. Sure enough, there was wheezing........the dr. even let me use the stethoscope to hear it (Wow, that was soooooo cool, unfortunately though, since it was Nate's lungs that sounded like that). So he's been on neubulizer treatments since Sunday (since it was the second time he's had this happen), and antibiotics for his ear infection. Now we just have to keep close eyes on him each time he gets sick to see if this happens again. Hopefully not. Anyway, Grace is also sick, but shes a tough cookie and has an immune system that is as strong as an Ox.

Not much else to report. I will end my boring blog here. Without further ado...........your pictures!

This is Grace getting ready to walk out the door on her first day of school

Grace in our kitchen getting ready to leave for the first day of school

Grace playing with blocks on the floor

Grace after getting her face painted at her birthday party at McDonald's in September

Just Nate, exploring around

Nate again

Nate in his Marlins attire

Migraine Mania

Last night I can honestly say that I had truly experienced all that a migraine has to offer. I have had severely bad headaches in the past; however, the one I had last night was probably one of the worst, if not THE worst, headache I have ever had in my life. I have always thought whenever I've had a really bad headache, "Is this a migraine? I wonder what a mirgraine would feel like. Maybe this is, maybe this isn't." Last night there was no question. I knew. Even in a room with all the lights off, the TV was much too bright for my headache.

Usually I hate the pain "scale" doctors and nurses will use to ask us how bad the pain we are feeling. I think this is because I am absolutely horrible at estimating anything to do with numbers. I am always way off. Plus, I always think that I could be in worse pain, I am sure, so how could I give this pain a 10? I think some of the nurses put some confusion into this, too, because I think some ask you to rate the pain based on, "Is this the worst pain you've ever felt?", while others ask you to just rate the pain itself. At any rate, last night I gave my pain a number. I know, I know. You are probably surprised at this. Ray laughed when, out of the dead quiet room, I told him that I thought this was an 8. I have to revise that now and say that it might have been a 9. I'm not sure I could ever give anything a 10, because as I said before, there is probably always some worse pain to be felt. But this puppy sure deserved the 8-9 rating it received. I think it acheived its rating status partly due to the fact that I hadn't taken anything for it until it was much too late. That is a problem of mine that, after 29 years, it's still hard for me to learn. I hate taking meds and I am very bad about taking them. Last night I finally gave in and asked Ray to get me some Tylenol. He asked me how many I wanted, and I told him 17. He asked me again how many I wanted, so I asked him how many I was allowed to have. He said, "Probably three." So three it was.

After a good night's sleep, it feels A LOT better, yet it is still lingering around at a much lower pain rating.

United 93

Two nights ago, Ray and I watched the movie United 93. If you have not watched this movie, I recommend it; however, I must warn you that if you are emotional as I am you will cry. There were two things that really made me lose it. The first thing was seeing the footage of the planes hitting the towers. This actually surprised me because I knew what was going to happen. I had seen it so many times before over the years, yet the moment the planes struck the towers, I lost it. Perhaps it has something to do with what caused me to lose it, reason number two: Here you see all these people talking on the phone, making plans, not realizing that soon their lives would be over. Yes, it happens everyday; most people have no idea when they will die. We all make plans, call our families, and tell them we're on our way home, and some of us don't make it. But I knew these people were about to die, and that affected me. It really put things in perpective how special our "today" moments are, how special "now" is to us, how precious our life is.

Today we remember the lives of those lost that day and remember how important today is in our own lives. Hug someone you love and tell them how much you love them. You never know if that will be the last time you ever talk to them again.

Freecycle

Not sure if any of you have ever heard of this, but Freecycle is a group of people with things that they don't want that they offer to others for free. It is also a place where people that want or need certain things can go to try to find them. Go to the website: Freecycle and then you can click on your region of the US on the left hand side. Tthat link will bring you to another page of states within that region listed in alphabetical by state and then by cities within the state that are available. In order to receive emails from your city's group, you must be a member of Yahoo and join that city's Freecycle Yahoo group, but it is worth it.

Anywho, just wanted to pass on this info that I had come across to share the knowledge.

I promise, more pics coming soon.

=) <><

I Hate UPS!!

OK, so yeah, I haven't blogged in a while. Its been crazy. Grace started school on Aug. 14th, I started school on Aug. 21st. In between that, we went for a visit up at Eglin AFB and and a visit up at Tallahassee. Then we had a Tropical Storm that was supposed to make it to hurricane strength, but then it widdled down to nothing and syked us out. So, in a nutshell, I've been busy!

Ok, so why do I hate UPS, you may be asking? That is the title of my blog today, thanks for noticing. Well, thanks to my scholarship and financial aid, I have enough money leftover to buy a laptop. Ray has been inundated with paperwork and is usually on the computer every night to work on it. I am taking an English class, which of course, requires you to write. Yes, I can handwrite a paper, however, due to technological advances, teachers now require you to type these papers before handing them in. This creates a dilema. How does both Ray and Gabbi use one computer the same way? Answer: They don't. They get a new one.

So, we order a laptop from Dell. Great! Shipping date originally was going to be 8/31. They build it earlier, ship it out on Saturday and I am due to receive it Tuesday. I even get an automated call from UPS saying the delivery date was updated and I would be receiving the package on Tuesday, 8/29. Fantastic! I am, as they say in Cali, stoked. Ernesto freaks everyone out and everything shuts down Tuesday so, there goes that delivery date. No problem, I can handle that, not UPS' fault. No biggie. However, the status all day said it was, "OUT FOR DELIVERY" until about 5:30pm, when it said, "THE PACKAGE WAS LEFT IN A UPS FACILITY CAUSING THIS DELAY;FORWARDED TO THE FACILITY IN THE DESTINATION CITY"

Wednesday comes, no package. Status according to UPS, "THE PACKAGE IS DELAYED DUE TO EMERGENCY CONDITIONS BEYOND UPS' CONTROL"....not sure which emergency conditions they were talking about.

Thursday comes, Oh I get a package from UPS, but it is the free printer I got with the laptop, which was not shipped out until Wednesday morning and I received that already. Ugh. Yet, still no laptop. Today's status message was the same as Tuesday....it was left or something like that.

Friday comes, Gabbi's mad at UPS. I called them, however, you cannot call the center that delivers your packages directly, so I have to call the general number. They tell me they can have the center call me back, but that can be anytime between now and 7pm. Yikes. Well, they actually called about 11am and said that the package is on the truck and will be delivered today. Yippee....but we'll see about that.

Well, thanks for listening to me complain. I know you looked here for some pics. I tricked you. Sorry. But I feel better now, if that means anything. =)