Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

We wouldn't consider ourselves big fans to the point we have to see every episode, but we do enjoy watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. We particularly enjoy the variety of stories the families have. The things these familes have went through and experienced, are heartbreaking. It is very rare for me to make it through an episode without tears.

For last night's episode the team had travelled to Keller, Texas to help out the Augustin family, whose house had been destroyed in a flood. Their story touched our hearts in so many ways. Brief Summary: Their youngest son, Lane was born premature and spent several weeks in the NICU. Throughout those weeks there were many days the family was told it could be his last. Through this time, the family had taken hundreds of pictures of their baby boy. They are blessed to have Lane with them today. The mom had always wanted to be a photographer, and after her experience with Lane, she wanted to use it for good. She began using her gift by taking pictures of premature babies, babies in the NICU, and stillborn babies. They showed some of her pictures on the show, which were beautiful, along with testimonies from families whose child she had photographed.

What a precious gift this woman is giving to so many families. I admire her strength and heart to be able to take these photos. It is an extremely difficult and emotional situation to a part of. These pictures are something the family will treasure for the rest of their lives. The photos we have of our triplets mean so much to us. It is a way of keeping our babies near to our hearts, for them to continue to be a part of our families, for us to remember every perfect detail about them.

Needless to say, I wept through the entire episode, but it touched my heart in so many ways. Little things that people have done, helped us through the difficult loss of our babies. For example, at the hospital we received tiny crocheted hats and blankets for each of our babies. The nurses made plaster imitations of each of the babies hands and feet. I still have all of them, each of them a precious treasure.

When my heart is ready and able, I fully intend on crocheting hats and blankets to donate to hospitals for this specific purpose. We are also planning on getting involved in March of Dimes. Their mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. They carry out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health: prematurity, birth defects, low birthweight.

To watch this episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, go to their website at http://abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome/index?pn=index. Make sure you have a box of tissues at hand--you will need them, I promise!

To find out more about March of Dimes or to find out how you too can get involved, visit their website at www.marchofdimes.com.

Valentine's Day Banquet

Each year the youth group at our church puts on a Valentine's Day Banquet to raise money for their trip to the Christ in Youth Conference during the summer. This year I eagerly agreed to help!

We met at the church Saturday morning to decorate. They seriously go all out on the decorations. They even have heart shaped salt and pepper shakers! So we spent the morning decorating 20 tables to the nine in Valentine's day decor!

After a short break for lunch, we began cooking. My aunt (mom's sister) was in charge of the dinnner, so it was fun to cook with her and help her out. We served salad to begin with then each person could choose either chicken cordon bleu or finely sliced roast beef with gravy. With the main dish we served texas potatoes (the hashbrown casserole that has a hundred names!), green beans, corn, and homemade dinner rolls. For dessert we made blackberry, apple and peach cobblers that we served with vanilla ice cream.

We cooked it all, and it was the youth's job to serve it all. It works out really well and is a great way for the youth to raise some money. We served 187 people!! It was a long and exhausting day, but totally worth it! I love doing that kind of stuff. Unlike most, it doesn't stress me out, and I enjoy every minute of it!

Spring!

I love all seasons, but I think Spring is my favorite, at least for this year. Here are the top five things I love about spring.

1. Perfect Weather with Sunny Days
2. Rain and Thunderstorms
3. Everything becoming new again, coming to life.
4. Easter
5. Colors-especially in blooming flowers!

For us this year, spring is a new season in our lives as well. Losing our babies has been the hardest thing we have ever been through. There is no way to describe the pain and the emotions we have experienced and dealt with. So much of me has been dead the past 7 months. I know I haven't been myself. But as spring awakens the earth, I feel like it is waking me from my slumber of grief. It is a new season, a new time in my life. Yes, there will still be storms of grief, that is for sure, but I am finally starting to feel like myself again. I feel like smiling, I have energy, I have a desire to get to know people, I feel like having people into my home again, I feel like cooking and baking, I am ready to stop seeing black and gray, and to see colors again, I am ready to live once again.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Matt's 27th birthday. As I write this my mature 27 year old husband is playing Mario Carts on the Wii he got for Christmas/birthday. =) Boys never do grow up, do they?

We don't have anything special planned for the day. Here in a bit we'll go to lunch at Red Robin, one of his favorite restaurants. Then we're heading to Columbia, where we'll meet Becca for coffee and some time to chat. Eventually, we'll head up north to my parents house for the night. We're going to watch my youngest sister's basketball game tonight. Matt is thrilled, lol.

But tomorrow, tomorrow Matt will check off one of the things on his bucket list, his list of things to do before he dies. We, along with my youngest sister, will be making a day trip to Lawrence, Kansas. We have tickets to the KU vs. Colorado basketball game that afternoon. Both Matt and Becca (my sister) are huge KU fans. I wouldn't classify myself as a fan, but I do enjoy watching them play. They are a very scrappy team, who understand the meaning of hustle. Even though they start a junior, a sophomore and three freshman, they have surprised everyone with their talent and success. So it won't be misery for me to tag along! If we can find our camera, we'll take pictures!

Snow Days!!

So the past two days have been snow days here in the Saint Louis area. I had to work on Tuesday, but I had today off, and I loved it! It was snowing heavily when I went to bed, and I woke up to a beautiful winter wonder land! I love winter because I love snow. Until now, its just been cold and ugly, and I have not enjoyed it. But snow makes all the cold worth it. It is so amazing, how each unique flake is formed and gently drifts to the ground. But my favorite part of snow is the breathtaking (and blinding) beauty of it laying on the ground with the sun making it all sparkly. Our God is a beautiful creator. I also love to play in the snow and then come inside to hot chocolate and warm cookies out of the oven. However, we didn't play in the snow today, 1-we don't have appropriate snow attire, 2-my mom wasn't here to make us cookies. I have decided I will have to look for snow attire on sale in the coming month or so, along with a good sled or two!

I wanted to take pictures of our snow day, but our camera is MIA. Now that we no longer live in Europe, we find few things to take pictures of....

Well...

Its been a while since I've last written something, but honestly, there's not been much happening in our lives to write about.

This past weekend we were home for the entire weekend, so I decided we'd finally do some painting. I have been wanting to get rid of our builders paint for quite some time, but couldn't decide how to paint. We have a very open floor plan, our dining room, kitchen and living room are all one open room. Plus we have all vaulted ceilings. But I finally picked some colors and we ventured out painting. I really like the way it all turned out, it would probably be a bit too colorful for many, but we feel like it really fits our personalities. We still have second coats to do on all areas but the kitchen, but Matt declared today a day of rest. He's been sick with a cold/sinus infection since Tuesday, and he really does need the rest. I will just deal with my house continuing to be in disarray until Tuesday. We're hoping to finish up Monday night, so I can put things back to normal and clean Tuesday on my day off.

Matt has successfully kicked off all of his new programs for the kids. Today was the second Sunday with the programming, and the kids and volunteers really seem to love it. It is such a blessing to see kids having fun worshipping God and loving adults investing in their lives through small groups.

We had thought about sending out a Christmas card/update letter just to let everyone know how we're faring. However, I was worried it would be lost amongst the many cards people receive. So I think I am going to do an early Valentine's card/update letter...it should be fun! I will hopefully get it written this week so we can get it mailed out! Nothing too special, just a cute picture of us (maybe--if you're lucky!) and a quick note to let you know we're doing okay.

Christmas Reflections

Let's be honest, Christmas this year was very bittersweet for us. I love Christmas because I love spending extra time with people, especially my family and close friends. Yes, the shopping and gift things are fun (for the most part!), for me, Christmas is about time with those you love. For us, those we love, was incomplete without Eli, Isaac, and Micah. So although there were a fair share of tears, there was also plenty of smiles, laughing and celebrating.

Remembering and celebrating the birthday of Jesus was different for us this year. I felt on some level like I could begin to relate to the feelings God must have experienced in sending his only child to earth. I think about the difficult emotions we have experienced in giving up our only children to go to a place where we know they are loved perfectly and completely. Where they are able to live a perfect life, to be free of sin and the burdens of this world. Yet no matter how perfect of a place I know they are in, it doesn't take away the pain of our separation. The pain and sorrow are unreal. Then I think about what it must have been like for God. To give up your child to go to a place where you knew they would be kind of loved by a few, but mostly an outcast--rejected, scorned, hated, and murdered. I cannot imagine the dispair of such a separation, the heartbreak and pain, and the love involved in such a gift. This Christmas as we have dealt with the painful separation from our children, we were able to see and appreciate the gift God gave us in Jesus, in a whole new way. What a beautiful, amazing, selfless gift he gave to us.

For God so LOVED the WORLD that he gave his ONE and ONLY SON.......

Christmas Candy!

Christmas candy is a big deal in my family and I grew up making it every Christmas. It used to be a big family afair, when all of the aunts and girl cousins went to Grandma's house and would make candy all day. Normally us little girls stuck to creatively decorating the sugar cookies, I suppose we were best "helping" yet "out of the way" with that job. I miss those days, spending time with family and making yummy candy. Those times are some of my most cherished Christmas memories.

At my house, we would make Christmas candy to give as gifts. We made all sorts of goodies, from candy to cookies to cinnamon roll wreathes. Since I love to bake and be in the kitchen, I decided I would carry on this tradition in our home. I realized I couldn't make all of the candy I grew up making on my own, so I chose some of my favorites. On Monday I began my endeavor of making Christmas candy to give as gifts....

I began with...
15 pounds of sugar...
10 pounds of chocolate....
2 pounds of caramel
Lots nuts pecans and peanuts...
Cream Cheese...
White corn syrup...
Candy Canes...
Oreos...

I ended up with...
20 pounds of three chocolate and dark chocolate fudge...
100ish peanut clusters...
80ish turtles...
60ish oreo truffles...
50ish divinity...
2 pounds of peppermint bark...
and a ton of cinnamon candy!!!!

It provided to be a lot of fun, work, and dishes, but I loved every minute of it. I am blessed to have a husband who was willing to lend a hand--he even became pretty good at making the fudge! I took fudge to both nights of the living Nativity, and it disappeared in 20 minutes or less!Today we took big trays to the other 4 ministers on staff, the church secretary, and my aunt and uncle who live in town. Tomorrow we're delivering another one to Becca--weather permitting! And of course, I saved some for our family Christmas with Matt's family this weekend!

A Few Things...

1. Friday I went shopping all day with my mom. It was the first time I have spent that much one on one time with my mom in forever!! It was great! Except for the part where we saw triplets.... probably toddlers, they were in a train of plasitc wagons, three of them all hooked together, two boys and one girl...and so cute. I managed to keep it all together until bedtime when I was telling Matt about it and I totally lost it. But all in all, a great day with mom!

2. Saturday I got even more girl time with one of my best friends, Becca. We met in the cutest little German town to go to their Kriskindlmarkt (Christmas Market). Even though we spent most of our time sitting in the coffee shop chatting, it was so good to really talk with her. By the time we left the coffee shop the market was closed down, so we browsed a purse shop. We both bought cute purses, hers plain jane and mine super colorful and bright, of course, which finished out our perfect day!

3. Saturday night was the living nativity at our church. It was advertised on the local Christian radio station and they even broadcasted live from the event. Matt and I turned down the star roles of Mary and Joseph, but I volunteered to bring a snack instead! I made fudge because every time I have been to one of these types of things there has always been fudge. Needless to say, all SIX pounds of my fudge was gone in 20 minutes. Amazing. We had an incredible turn out, with 300ish cars--and that was just the first night! I wanted to take pictures, but I forgot my camera--story of the weekend.

4. Today was obviously church...which is always good. The church is all decked out with its christmas decor, and I love it! Lunch with friends, a lazy afternoon, making more fudge, and then living nativity again tonight.

5. We did go to NYC Dec. 3-6. Dec. 6 was our due date, so we knew we'd need a huge distraction, and we thought a huge city might do the trick. It did an okay job, but needless to say, its been a really hard few weeks, and I imagine its going to continue to be hard through the holidays. But I don't want to depress you with my depressing thoughts, so back to the city! We went with no plan (I know--so not me) but we managed to happen upon many great things! Including the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefellar Center Wednesday night. Other than that, my most favorite part was all of the window displays, they were amazing! Plus we did the usual tourist things, Empire State Building, Times Square, Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, Macy's, Tiffany's, Carriage Ride through Central Park (Third Favorite), Dylan's Candy Bar (Fourth Fav), shopping, great food and lots of walking!

T-Day

I cannot believe Thanksgiving has come and gone, and December is here! Time has flown! We had a great Thanksgiving with Matt's family. They came to our house, so it was nice not having to drive anywhere! I cooked the entire Thanksgiving dinner by myself, and had a blast doing it!

I fixed a sweet potato souffle, mashed potatoes and gravy, homemade stuffing, homemade rolls, corn and green beans. I found the recipe for the turkey, but Matt did all of the work with that. We soaked it in a cider based marinade all night and then grilled, yes grilled, our turkey using indirect heat to free up my oven. The turkey was amazing, very moist and delicious! All in all, we had a yummy Thanksgiving feast.

Friday we did some black Friday shopping. Thankfully Matt convinced them to leave around 7:30 instead of the crack of dawn! I didn't really buy much, although we got some great steals on dvds! Saturday, some went to a St. Louis Blues game, while Matt, his mom and I stayed home. I put up my Christmas tree and started decorating the rest of the house too!

Sunday after everyone left we got the house back in order, other than sweeping, mopping and finishing up some laundry. I am off work today (thankfully) so I am hoping to finish up the cleaning...in which I'd better get started...Happy December!