Noah turns 5!!

Noah turned 5 on March 9. It was a beautiful day so we went to the park and played!! It was wonderful.

On Saturday, we celebrated with the family and had a couple of friends over to spend the night. My mom made the Pirate cake and it was perfect!!:)
James, such a cutie!
Noah, Peter and Ryan. 3 buddies getting ready for a FUN night!
Noah modeling his pirate bandana.
Peter giving his best Pirate, ARRRGGGG!
Ryan was a calm Pirate, at this point in the evening. He is such a sweet boy.
Pirate Collin, trying to look tough.
Time for a craft.
Peter and Noah working on their Pirate ornaments.
All of our party Pirates showing their telescopes and swords.
After crafts, bingo, pin the tail on the donkey and dinner, we settled in for a movie.
Lights out!
Sunday morning was fun too! We all go to church together, so they were able to play together until we got to church.
There were some highly competitive games of ring around the rosie going on!
A few more minutes of extreme cuteness.
The next day, Grandpa Jim started to assemble the gift from my parents and sister for Noah and Collin's combined birthday present. So much fun!!
They love it!! The best part is that we are constantly entertaining our neighbor kids. I spoke with Noah and Collin last week about how important it is to tell our friends about Jesus. Noah started witnessing to his little friends the first day they came over. What a blessing and a challenge to this mommy.
Happy birthday. I love you so much Noah. You are an amazing boy.

The winner is.... Lucky Number 13!! Jen your family is going to the circus!! I will contact you to tell you how to claim your prize! Thank you to everyone who entered my very first giveaway! Check back, in the near future I will be hosting another circus giveaway! :)

Wishing I could freeze time

Today is one of those morning when I wish I could freeze time. Let me show you what I mean...

First Collin...

Noah...


I am truly blessed to stay at home with my boys and experience these precious moments. Precious moments.

The Circus is COMING to town!

Know how I am pushing away the winter blues?? I am hosting a give away!!

The Circus is coming to town!!! I am happy to partner with MomCentral and host a give away for tickets to the upcoming Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey "Zing Zang Zoom" Circus. The tickets are for the opening night show in Cincinnati, Ohio March 10. Not only will one of my lucky readers win a family 4 pack of tickets, the "All Access Pre-Show" is FREE for all ticket holders and begins an hour before showtime. If you aren't the winner of the give away, here is a coupon code for you! Go to www.ticketmaster.com and enter the coupon code: MOM. The code is valid for four tickets for $44 for Monday-Friday matinee shows (any additional tickets are still priced at $11), and $4 off Friday night and all weekend shows.

Cincinnati Show Dates: (US Bank Arena)

Wednesday March 10: 7:00pm

Thursday March 11: 7:00pm

Friday March 12: 7:00 pm

Saturday March 13: 11:00am, 3:00pm,

7:00pm

Sunday March 14: 11:00am, 3:00pm,

7:00pm

To enter simply leave a comment on this post! The drawing will be held Feb 25, 2010 at 10pm.

*You may enter once a day if you'd like!

*Please include your e-mail address so I can notify you of your win. OR check back here on 2/26 to see if you are the lucky winner.

Where have I been??

Why the Debbie Downer Face?
Well, honestly I haven't been hiding, just processing. I will fill you in, but try to be brief.

Where to begin?? Perhaps a brief summary will do the trick.

For the last (almost) 10 years I have dealt with some pretty extensive back problems. The truth is, I am in pain everyday, but it is part of me and doesn't warrant discussion. In December my back went out. When I say went out, I mean I couldn't walk. I went to the doc, got an script for prednisone (steroid), vicoden, and a shot in the butt of cortisone (steroid). This worked wonderfully at first. In fact I felt better than I had in a long time and enjoyed an amazing Christmas holiday and New Year's Eve. However, that was a gift from God and a couple of weeks ago the pain came back. My leg started hurting terribly and I began to experience numbness and tingling. YIKES! I will not try to explain this pain to you because unless you have personally experienced it, you cannot fully grasp the immense pain that it brings. Last week an MRI revealed a pinched nerve and a worsening of my degenerative disc disease all. My problems are in L4,L5 and S1. I have 2 bulging discs and one herniated and the disc disease is all over that area. So on Wed next week I will meet with a surgeon (again). I have not seen a neurosurgeon since 2002 so I am interested in what he has to say.

So I don't get comments about how this is the LAST resort, I will state what I have done for treatment over the last 9 + years since the onset of my back problems...

*Cortisone Epidural Injections - 2 times, each is a series of 3 injections - under x-ray - with a GIANT needle of cortisone into the epidural space.

*Physical Therapy - 4 different series of PT appt's over the 9+yrs.

*Chiropractics - 4 different docs with different approaches, multiple sessons (all resulting in worsening my symptoms).

*Many massages

*Steroids

*More steroids

*Pain management drugs

*Anti-inflammatory meds

*Muscle Relaxers

*Anti-spasmodic meds

*Yoga

*Pilates

*Weight training

I didn't want to jump into surgery, but honestly I have tried so many things, I am weary. I want to have a healthy back and if that means that I need to have surgical intervention, I am ready. Mentally, emotionally, physically and financially. I will let you know what the surgeon says. I am also prepared for him to say there may be something else he recommends. I covet your prayers and support as we venture into a new phase of this journey. Thanks!!

How yummy does this look?

Okay, I am a terrible food photographer. In fact, you may be saying, "what the heck am I looking at anyway???". Well, as some of you already know, I am out of commission. My back has gone out and I am waiting to hear back from the people who schedule MRI's to get the test that will direct us one way or another. As for now, I am left in a lot of pain. Crawling, shuffling and trying to function throughout my day. Yes I said crawling. back pain is not for weaklings. So, today Noah made dinner. The above pic is the Chicken-Broccoli-Cauliflower-Cheddar Casserole that Noah made for dinner tonight. When I say Noah made it, I mean NOAH MADE IT. He put the chicken in the bakeware, added a bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower and Campbell's Cheddar Broccoli condensed soup. Then he dumped a sleeve of Ritz crackers into a large Ziplock bag and beat them to a crumb with his fist. Then he melted a couple of TBSP of marg and added it to the cracker crumbles and dumped it onto the chicken mix. Then he evenly spread the crackers out with a spoon. Here is what the chef thought:
He said it was DELICIOUS! He couldn't wait to tell Daddy that he did this all by himself. I am so thankful for my little chef. Seriously people, he did the whole thing, only leaving the putting in the oven and taking it out.
Little brother doesn't look to thrilled!:) I assure you, he loved it and ate most of what you see on his plate!

Before...

So I recently came across a few old pics. I thought I would share them with you. Enjoy and please be kind...

This pic was taken on Nov 19, 2006. 7 days later I started making big change for a healthier lifestyle.

2004 in Disney World! Outside of MGM!!!
Happy New Years in 2003 at the Magic Kingdom!
Goofy at Epcot!
Gatlinburg 2002.
Also in Gatlinburg, with my cousin Michael and his wonderful wife Rebecca.

I hope you enjoy! It really feels like a lifetime ago!