Day...oh who cares we are so close to him coming home!

Holidays.....which ones to celebrate and which ones to not.  Well, I gave into my inner child and decided we would do christmas this year, even after telling the children we would not.  It's hard to cast aside traditions of our youth, even if our minds know it's the right thing.  So we put the tree up, and at first I was all in the christmas "spirit", making cookies, doing crafts.  Then it came time to celebrate Hanukkah.  Our family does celebrate this holiday.  It's a beautiful holiday.  The more I sat and really evaluated the two...I just kept coming back to a few things I know.  I know the same God that kept the lamp burning and delivered the Israelites is also my God.  I know that of all the years on the planet, Jesus never once told us to celebrate his birth.  Yes, he didn't tell us to celebrate Hanukkah either, but it is clear in scripture that he celebrated it, and took it's fundamentals of light and taught about how HE is the light.  That light outshines darkness, it runs from light.  That we should share that light with others so they too can have it.  Hanukkah envelops all of these things.

What I know about christmas is this....Jesus was not born on December 25th...not even in winter.  A shepherd watching his flock by night would not be doing this in the winter.  Christmas was founded by the catholic church to be the last day of Saturnalia, the pagan holiday that ends on December 25th.  Christmas trees and greenery were actually a thing that would be brought into the home to be reminded that spring is coming.  They would also be worshipped in hopes that spring would come.  I could go on but my point is this...there is NOTHING biblical about christmas.  Christ was not born on christmas.  Every custom of christmas has it's roots in something VERY unbiblical.  So, as for me and my family, I think our christmas celebrations are over.  I have lost my christmas spirit...it is gone.   Every night that we light the menorah my joy for Hanukkah and the lights and MY LIGHT grows!  I see the transformation in my children.  


Am I any less of a christian because I don't celebrate christmas...well answer this, is christmas even a christian, Jesus approved, holiday?

So to you I say

Happy Hanukkah!!

Day 94....let him run.

Finally fall has come to live in the black hills!  Stuart has had a cold for about three days now but no fever. So I thought a trip to the park wouldn't hurt any.  We have a park right behind our house that recently was cleared of the brush and cleaned up.  It is more ideal than the one across the street because the equipment is shorter and more his level.  So, we got our jackets on and I released the boy.  Once he saw the park it was hard to keep up.

He had a great time sliding, swinging, and playing with a car that was left by some other child.

When it was time to go home I decided I would let him lead the way.  It's more fun to be led around by a toddlers impulses.  First we had to stop and try to pick up some rocks....

Next we had to go investigate what could be living in the tree line....this part made me a little nervous since we do live in rattlesnake country.

Did I mention from this time one he had to run up and hug/kiss all the trees?  He is a lover of nature that is for sure.

We had a great time running around in the fields until we finally got home to eat lunch and take a nap, only to do it all over again tomorrow!

day 86....opportunity lost

Two days ago my washer broke.  Let's stop here and look at the irony of this.  I bought this washer 7 years ago.  Back then my husband was deployed and our washer broke beyond repair so it needed to be replaced.  While I cannot tell you where he was deployed, please note that it is the exact same place he is now.  So, lesson is, before husband deploys to said place, have a "washer will break" fund.

This new replacement washer started making this horrible clanky sound on the spin cycle.  It sounded like something had broken off and was now tumbling around in the bottom of my washer.

     Being a woman of curiosity I thought I should give a little look-see to the inner workings of my washer...this was my first mistake.  Needless to say after about three hours of disassembling and reassembling my washer I FINALLY found out the problem.  A broken spring on the tension pulley.  I then did what anyone of the digital generation would do..yup, I googled it.  Soon to find out that this little spring is quite easy to replace.  I should save my money and do it myself.  So, I order the part, select 2 day shipping and wait.  Today the part came at 12:30.  I was excited!  I had a photo session scheduled for 4:30 so I had PLENTY of time to dig right in and fix this thing. Second mistake was thinking this.

     Long story short, in the process of pulling the pulley off of it's mount, I lost the retainer ring.  So when I finally got the new spring on and loaded, I had nothing holding it up.   I tried everything!  Remind you I am doing all this while laying on my laundry room floor.  I do believe at one point God and I had a "come to Jesus" where I asked Him what exactly I had done wrong that He needed to teach me a 5 hour long lesson.  I think He and I had this conversation about 3 times before I ended up a crying mess on the floor.  I don't give up though.  I get the pulley on there, get the belt back on and give this thing a whirl.  Both washers fall of but the pulley stays in it's place.  The tension of the belts is holding it on....PRAISE JESUS!  NOOOOT to fast.  I being Sean Huetson's wife realize that if I use my washer and it does fall off due to my "quick fix" it could do more damage.  UGH, why do I have to be responsible?  Why do I have to worry about having funds to replace it if it does break.  So, I get on the computer and tell my husband to hop on skype hoping he will have some grand way of teleporting through the computer and fixing it for me.  It pretty much just takes the site of him for me to become yet another puddle of crying Pattie.  In that moment I just wanted him to rescue me.  It was crazy.  I usually get upset with him when he steps in and tries to help.  I see it as him saying I am weak and can't do it myself.  This time was different.  I cannot put into words how much I wanted him to come fix this for me and make it better. Both the washing machine and myself.  You know what he did while I sat there and cried....exactly what I have always wanted him to do.  He sat there silently, let me have my moment.  Not trying to tell me what to do, or verbally fix it.  He listened, knowing that's exactly what I needed in that moment.  Waiting for me to let it out then move on.  OH how I love that man!  After talking it over and him saying hello to the kids, I got a second burst of wind and went to try using safety wire where the retainer should be.  By this time I had already called Sears and ordered the retainer (it will be here friday).  But I needed a fix until then.  My laundry was multiplying and threatening to pull off a mutiny.

     So I am laying there trying to get my fat fingers with the pliers in this thing and it just isn't working.  Then the thinner washer falls off and it hits me.  I need to make this thing smaller.  I grab my metal cutters and snip a portion of the washer off.  It now looks like a "C" so I then use pliers to bend it to look like an "O" I say a prayer (one of about 100 during this ordeal) and snap it on....and it stays!  I take my nails and try to pull it off to make sure it's secure.  It doesn't fall off!  I plug the washer in and start the spin cycle.  No clunking AND it stayed on.  I do believe at this point I kiss the washer and high five the girls.  We put the door back on, and I start doing my laundry.  All is back to normal.  No more excitement for me please.

     So now as I sit here and think about today and all the times I questioned God.  Asking why it wasn't working, why it was so hard, why are my hands getting scrapped and cut for this, I am humbly reminded of a man name Job.  Who even in his darkest hour, far worse than anything I had gone through today, he praised the Lord.  He gave him glory, not grief.  God gave me this opportunity to praise Him and instead I questioned Him.  I have so much to learn.  Thankfully I have a great teacher who is willing to spend 5 hours teaching me.............

1 Thessalonians 5:18

     Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Day 73......sin? or no sin?

Something has been on my mind a lot lately, not just my mind but my body.  I am over weight...I am obese.  I am 309 lbs of ick.  Yesterday something came to my mind.  Is my over eating and unhealthy lifestyle a sin?  God calls us to have no other gods above Him.  If I spend more time eating than I do praying or teaching my children about Him, have I allowed food to replace God?  The first 21 years of my life went swimmingly!  I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever, and as much as I dared.  My body handled it.  Then came children.  Yes I know it sounds so cliche.  "I had kids and that is why I am fat"  I am NOT saying that.  I am saying, pregnancy changed the mechanics of my body.  And instead of aligning my habits with that change, I simply ignored it and pressed on.  After gaining about 100 lbs the year after having Sera I found myself pregnant with Grace weighing 240 lbs.  Then it just went from there.

     The question that bugs me the most is....am I any better than my alcoholic, drug addicted biological mother?  I am addicted to food.  My addiction to food has the EXACT same effect on my children as my biologicals mothers addiction to alcohol and drugs did on me.  What makes me different I suppose is if I change it or not.  So today I printed out my weight in big print.  I wrote things all around the "309" that I have worth living for.  Because after all, I could die from being overweight. I hung one from my pantry ceiling.  It's gonna smack me in the face everytime I open the door.  The other is on the fridge.  Next time I eat a cupcake or ice cream or burger I might as well look my children in the eye and say "You aren't worth me sticking around for".  Yes, some of you will say "Oh, don't be so hard on yourself"....well I don't need, deserve, or want those comments.  I need the friends that say "HEY FATTY....get it together!" So, here's to me getting it together.

Day 72

If I look around my house I think day 72 is telling me to pull it together!  I'm struggling keeping my home running.  I wash laundry, but find no motivation to take it upstairs and put it away.  I haven't made my bed in probably two weeks.  I have't vacuumed upstairs since last Monday (not yesterday). I have a pile of socks all matched up just sitting on the bar because that is where my 9 year old put them last night before dinner.    There are dirty dishes in my sink and my backyard needs mowing.  UGH, don't ask how clean my master bathroom is either, cause it's not.  We have not observed shabbat the past two weeks.  We have not done devotions since school started.  I have gone from "I can do this" to "I just have to survive and keep the house from burning down, and the children from killing each other until January."  So, anytime you find a quiet moment in your day, I humbly ask for some prayers.

Day 16....oh day 16, why????

Well, here's a little back story!  Sean's parents gave him a car when we moved here.  The car has a remote start installed......I have a 2 year old obsessed with daddy's keys.  So far I have been fairly diligent in watching and making sure he doesn't get them and start Sean's car.  Yesterday I was online paying some bills so I got my purse and put it on the floor next to my chair.  Next thing I know, Sean's car is trying to start.  I am thinking "No big deal, it hasn't been started in 2 weeks so it probably needs to run a bit".  I take the keys then go out to shut it off.  I cannot get the drivers door open (I later learn there is a accent chinese secret to opening this door)....so, I go to the passengers side and try to find the button I "think" is suppose to turn it off.  I am hitting buttons and switches but nothing.  At this time, my foot that is still on the ground outside becomes wet.  My first thought is "Why is Sean's car leaking water?"  then I smell it.  It's not water, it is gas, and it is not leaking it is pouring out!  At this time, I am standing in the middle of a fairly large gas puddle with a running car next to me.  I run over to my neighbor and bang on his door, I also call Sean's parents to see how to shut the car off.  My neighbor looks at me and I tell him "I don't care how you get it off, I don't car if you just start pulling cords.  It's got to shut off".  This car is about two feet from my front door, right next to my house where my 10 year old is still sleeping, and my 9 and 2 year old are at the back door ready to run out incase anything happens.  So, one by one my neighbor pulls the spark plugs, by pull number three it shuts off.  BUT THE DARN THING TRIES TO START AGAIN!  So he pulls the last one, because every time this thing tries to start, more gas pours out.  It's not done, it tries AGAIN!  So finally we find some pliers and pull one of the battery plugs off.  TRY TO START NOW!    It wasn't until about an hour later that I realize how very very very much God loves me!  About 2 weeks ago Sean wanted to leave the car in the garage while he was gone.  There was a gas odor in the garage when he parked it so I asked him to move it.  I didn't feel comfortable with it in the garage.  Had the car been left in the garage, the fumes would have built up from the gas leak, and when my neighbor pulled the spark plugs....let's just say it wouldn't not have ended well for any of us.  I am so thankful to have a God who protects me even when I am not looking.  Who loves me enough to give me common sense, and for putting such great neighbors in my life!  Here's to praying day 17 is completely boring and void of any excitement!!!!!!

All washed down and airing out!

Day 2.....

I feel kind of silly being so upset over a deployment.  Thousands of wives go through them everyday, and for way longer than 6 months.  I am really trying to keep my emotions together in front of the kids, and so far I haven't done too bad.  Today I wanted to stay more busy than yesterday.  I think I have done a bazillion loads of laundry, about 5 loads of dishes and cleaned my kitchen at least three times.  On top of that we finally go to make some home made play-dough!  Not just any play-dough, it was PINK!

We tried to let Stuart play with the dough but being a toddler, he would rather eat it.  So he ran around making us all laugh!

Day two was faster and better than day one!  We are closer to him coming home than we were yesterday!  Love you honey!

Deployment Day 1

this stinks.....THE END.

Boo Boo turns 2!

Tomorrow my baby boy will be 2....I don't know if I should put an exclamation point after that or a sad face.  He is getting so big, but I am enjoying him learn and grow every second of everyday.  He has stolen my heart!  Who knew I would love being the mom of a boy so much!  So, since his favorite character is Mickey Mouse, I thought I would be ambitious and make a Mickey Mouse birthday cake...and here it is!

For my first cake, I think it turned out all right.  I am sure he will love it!

There is no place like NEBRASKA!

We decided memorial day would be a great time to go see family.
So, for memorial day my parents took all the big grandkids with them to "Camp Sunshine" for grandparents day.

While they were off running through the trees, building bird houses, and dressing Grandpa up, Sean and I took Stuart to the cemetery to pay tribute to Sean's grandfather who served in the US Navy and his grandmother Jackie who was an amazing woman!

Our week was full of fun time with Grandma and Grandpa and lots and lots of cousins!  It was never a dull moment!

And what trip to Lincoln would be complete without an afternoon at the children's museum?

 Meow!

Stuart wasn't happy in the big chair

I have a picture of Sera on this horse at 4 years old

On Friday we traveled to Bellevue to light the shabbat candles and enjoy the evening with our friends Amy, Clint, and their AWESOME children!  (they swear Andrew is still alive and kicking but since I haven't seen him for a few years I am starting to believe he might be the Lock Ness)  We had dinner at spaghetti works, did some shopping and had a wonderful night of fellowship!

Retail time!

He kept yelling "Heeee-yaaaaw"

Shabbat Shalom

Then it was time for the main event!!!!!  Gracie's birthday at the Henry Doorly Zoo.  And we had so much fun!  She had no idea it was at the zoo, and we had convinced her that it was just going to be the five of us since everyone else had stuff going on that weekend.  Little did she know all her Weber cousins, grandma and grandpa, and the Howard family would all be there!  She was completely surprised and informed me that this was the best birthday "EVAR"!  First we visited the indoor desert.  Bellow the desert is a swamp, it is very authentic and had our bayou baby crying because she misses her Louisiana.  We had lunch with everyone and walked around the most amazing zoo we've been too.  It was fun to share these memories with them that I had as a child going to the zoo.  Gracie rode the Sky Safari with Sean.  It is a ski life that goes over the animals.  Sera is not a fan of heights so she and I  hoofed it up the hill to the aquarium where we met up with the rest of the family and enjoyed all the sea creatures.  Next off was to the indoor jungle.  One cannot imagine how cool it is until you are inside.

 Gator Bait!

 Cupcakes from PJ's in Lincoln

 Leela and Gracie

 Friends FOREVER!

 She loves her daddy!

 Oops, walked over a vent

 Jelly fish!!!

 Headed to the jungle!

 Two little monkeys swing'n on a a vine....

 This was funny watching Sera try to help Gracie on his back.

The end of a LONG but fun day!

Many thanks to those who played host to our family on this trip.  We had such a great time and made memories we will forever laugh about and enjoy.

Update

We have been so busy!  Our trip to nebraska was such a great relaxing time.  I got to glean some gardening tips from my sister in law, enjoy my entire family, see some folks who had such an impact on my walk with God, celebrate my baby Gracie turning nine, and observe shabbat with friends we've known from our station at Barksdale.  It was a wonderful visit!  More to come with pictures.

Home

Nebraska, the good life!  We are a hours away from heading out on a week long visit with family and friends.  I always look forward to going home.  It's like that big comfy chair waiting for you at the end of a long hard day.  There is NOTHING like being outside in that sweet Nebraska air.  It has a mix of corn, milo, and on a lucky day a hint of rain.  Nebraska is soul washing for me.  It helps me de clutter my life, my mind, myself.  There is no place on earth that makes me feel this way.  A lot of this is because my family is there.  Both my family and my military family.  We get to not just enjoy parents, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, but I also get to enjoy and soak up  life long friends, who have been through war with us....real war.  Who have felt the same worries of safety for their husbands.  We've called each other on those days where we just don't know if we can handle one more second.  We've made extra dinner knowing that this meal there will be a few more around the table.  Because a husband has left today on a plane, and his family doesn't want to be alone tonight.  So....I am so ready to go get my soul washed.

What it's not Friday???

This week has been VERY long!  Sean's parents arrived Sunday afternoon.  We had a great time visiting with them......well, I forgot what else I was going to say because I just looked to my right and saw the cutest most adorable child sitting on the couch.  I could watch that baby for days!  He got his hair cut on Saturday, I know I know!  Everyone loves his longer hair but it's hard to keep it out of his face.  He looks so grown up with that short little do....I digress.  So, the in-laws came and we had a great time.

  Took the girls to the "Journey  Museum".  It was quite interesting.  Starts off with stars, then dinosaurs and mammoths, then onto indians, and ends in the early 1900's.  The girls LOVED it!  They tried on period clothing and really go into the history.  Stuart was not too fond of the large rawring dinosaurs.   That night on our way to town we were talking about baptism.  Grace says "You are dunked in water and it washes your sins away"....

Sera: So who throws the ball?

Me: Ball??

Sera: Yeah, if you are dunked do they throw a ball?"

Me: No, no one throws a ball.

Sera: OOOOH so someone just goes up there and pushes the circle?

(at this point I realize she thinks baptism is like a dunk tank at a fair)

Me: NOOOOO!

Sera: So let me get this straight.....no balls are involved!?!

It took everything in us to answer her question seriously.  Now she knows, that there are no balls involved when you are "dunked" under the water to be baptized.

Monday was the best day weather wise.  We got to go outside and really enjoy the sun, but not so much the wind.  The kids ended up making chalk paint art all over the driveway....and on some other things!

And then we got creative.....

It was a great week....what do you mean it's not over yet?  Seems like Friday is never going to get here!  OH, our calla lilies are now growing!  It seems they grow an inch a day, it is very fast.....well, off to go spend some time with that cutest most adorable boy of mine!