The Winds of Change

Well, it has come to our nation whether we wanted it or not, Change! and not for the better. It was heart wrenching to watch the speeches last night. As Obama made his acceptance speech I fell to my knees in Prayer and Tears for my country. For the first time in my life I am not proud to be an American, for the first time I questioned my ability to recite the pledge of allegiance. I listened in horror as thousands chanted "Yes, we can! Yes, we can!" I thought of the days ahead and wonder just what they would hold for me, my family and my children. The fervor of the crowd reminded me of the videos I have seen of Germany when Hitler rose to power, and quite frankly it scares me, I wonder how soon it will be before Christians will be hauled away for speaking out against Homosexuality, how long will it be before my children are ripped from my arms because I chose to teach them the truths of God's Word and educate them at home, how long before free speech disappears? I must remind myself that God is still in controle and no matter what happens He will take care of me and my loved ones. As I morn my country taking another big step in the wrong direction, I can only pray, "Lord Jesus come quickly!"
~Lydia

The Lamentaion of America

America, America what have you done?
You've turned your back on God's own Son
America, America what did you do?
You've turned your back on God, now He's turned his back on you?
America, America what have you become?
Once a christian Nation, now you follow the "rising sun"
Babies are abandoned and left alone to die,
No one to see the tears no one to hear them cry!
Men marrying men - a most unsightful thing
and all of this in the name of Change!
Let's tax the rich to feed the poor,
let's take and take and take some more!
We can all get along, we can all agree,
as long as you think like me!
America, America, oh, why did you not heed?
The messages of warnings that God gave to thee!

Steppin' Out Quartet in Concert!

Well, I've done it again, I have been negligent in my blogging. But to be honest we've either been too busy to write or nothing interesting was happening. Malachi celebrated his first birthday with cupcakes and ice cream, family and presents, like most kids he loved the icing most of all.
I'm busy as can be baby-sitting, running a home, taking classes for Block, and work at church. Master's Club is in full swing and keeps us very busy.
Matt is busy with work, several free lance opportunities and his Quartet. Yes, he has finally done it, he has found three guys who not only love Southern Gospel as much as he does, but are good singers too. They sang at our Church's Old fashion Sunday a few weeks ago and then One of Matt's co-workers invited him to bring the Quartet to their church to sing for their revival. Which they did tonight, it went really well and the pastor not only want's them to come back but also wants to pass out their business card to other pastors that he knows. Not only that but the preacher who was there for the revival got thier information and want's them to come to his church sometime too.
Another good thing about tonight is that the church was so nice and we were able to do a mini photo shoot of the guys, and got some really good pictures for thier profile.
Yes, they have a MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/steppinoutquartet so go check them out. And if you'd like to have them sing at your church contact them at steppinoutquartet@gmail.com.

~Lydia

PS: I also learned tonight why Quartets usually travel alone... it is so hard to corral 2 kids by yourself. LOL

Vacation 8/29 -9/5

Well, Matt and I both took the week off and had planned on going camping, but because of finances being the way they are, we decided against it. We ended up staying home and doing a bunch of stuff around town.

Friday and Saturday we also went to SDC for some great southern gospel music, Friday was the Mark Trammel Trio and the Blackwood Brothers, Saturday was Gold City, awesome music both nights.

Monday, Labor Day we hung around house and played with the kids.

Tuesday was our Anniversary and Mysia's first day back at Co-op, we got up fairly early I got the kids dressed and made breakfast while Matt set up the tent in the backyard after he was done setting it up I went out a decorated it a bit, as we were going to spend the night in the tent and I wanted it to be a little romantic, then we took Mysia to Granny's to go to Co-op and Matt and I headed for the store I was getting an manicure and pedicure done at the nail salon and Matt was doing some last minute shopping we went home and put Malachi down for his nap and I showed Matt what I had done with the tent he liked it, we moved the tent closer to the house since they were calling for rain. We got dressed up so we could go out for dinner and a show, we dropped Malachi off at Granny's, they were back from Co-op and headed to Branson. It was starting to rain, it poured the whole way up there, a couple of times we found it hard to see the road. We ate dinner at the Plantation, it was good. We also went to see the Duttons (one of the finalists on America's got Talent) It was a very good show we loved it and since we had gotten such a good discount on our tickets we went ahead and bought a video (it was taped that night so we are in it, a nice memory of the fun we had) We drove home that night and tried to sleep in the tent it was a little damp in places and very muggy, so about 7 am we got up and went in to sleep on our own bed.

Wednesday we went and picked up the kids from Granny's, came home and got ready for church.

Thursday we went to the library and found a bunch of books to read and movies to watch.

Friday we went and had Family pictures taken at Sears it was rather hectic as we didn't have a suit for Malachi and had to go to several stores before we found one, but the pictures turned out great, as you can see. After we were done with pictures we drove out to Nixa to visit with my grandma and give her the pictures for her calendar and let her see our new family pictures. After that we stopped by both of my sister's places of work and let them see the kids, we got home rather late that evening, ate supper and crashed.

Saturday was Matt's quartet practice and I made some cinnamon rolls. We did some house-cleaning and got ready for church on Sunday. And Monday it was back to work.

Sometimes I think I need a vacation to recuperate from the Family vacation, since Mommy really doesn't get a break, since food still has to be made and clothes still have to be washed ect. Oh, well that is life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
~Lydia

A Day Outside!

On Saturday, after a full nights rest, I got up and moving. My chest pains had subsided. I made breakfast, and Lydia got the kids ready. We ate and then when outside. We ended up spending most of the day outside.

Lydia and I pulled out the box that contained her swing. I opened it started pulling out the pieces. I got scared at first... I couldn't find the instructions! After searching everywhere, I opened the seat and there it was. Whew...!

Lydia studied a bit for her H&R Block classes relaxed at her lawn table (under the shade of the umbrella) while watching the kids. Malachi played a bit in the yard, got to swing for a bit, and took naps inside. Since the weather was pretty cool, we just set up his baby monitor in the window during his nap so Lydia could tell when he woke up. Mysia played on her fort, had some fun on her swing, enjoyed her slide, and took some markers and drew on the cardboard from Lydia's new swing.

All of that time of their fun, I spent putting the swing together. It was quite a task! Toward the end, Lydia helped with the swing part, after I had gotten the frame put together.

During one of the breaks, during Malachi's nap, we ate ice cream!

After getting the swing completely installed and put together, Lydia got out the water hose and sprayer. She started spraying Mysia and Malachi with a mist. Mysia liked it and squealed in delight... Malachi screamed. He didn't like it at all.

Lydia let Mysia play with the water, while she gave Malachi a haircut. I needed one too, so Lydia cut mine as well. After I was finished, I took the hose and washed all the hair clippings off my head. Lydia then sprayed me, getting all the loose hairs my shoulders and arms. We ended up squirting each other. Mysia sure enjoyed spraying us!

I then got a cool idea... I put the sprayer at the top of the slide, and told Mysia to slide down it. She did.... she flew off about three feet! After a few times, Lydia added to the idea by grabbing the semi-inflated toddler pool and putting it under the slide. With that, Mysia ended up sliding out of the pool!

With our neat idea put into play, it was Lydia and I to have a turn. Hey... we had fun! During our turns, we each slid out of the pool as well! As the pool started to fill with water, it stopped Mysia from going to far. Malachi just stood nearby and watched. He did not go near the pool. When Lydia tried to get him in, he screamed.

We had a blast. And as it was nearing 3pm, we decided to pack up everything up and go inside. Mysia hadn't had a nap, and we wanted to give both kids a bath. Mysia was first, then Malachi. Mysia ended up taking a nap on the couch. Dsuring this time, my chest pains were still present, but not super intense. I rested a bit, and Malachi played.

We had been invited to our Sunday School Class's activity that evening, so we dropped both kids off at Lydia's folks! Lydia and I then shared a great evening with our friends playing games, eating great food, and enjoying fun conversation...

A busy day, but a lot of fun!

~Matt

More Severe Chest Pains!

Yesterday (Friday, Aug. 22), after biking home from work, I played with Mysia and Malachi while Lydia finished making supper. My upper stomach started to hurt, but I just pushed it aside, mostly thinking I was hungry or that food would fix it. While we ate it worsened... it felt a little like heart burn or indigestion. So at Lydia's suggestion, I took some Tums.

Had I thought about it earlier, I should have taken my high dose ibuprofen (800 mg). Why, you may ask... well, for those who didn't get to read my incident during the bathtub installation (the post is here), let me go into detail.

Tietze's syndrome, also known as costochondritis, is a benign inflammation of one or more of the costal cartilages. It was first described in 1921 by the German surgeon Alexander Tietze (1864-1927)

The doctor had told me earlier that it can be caused by stress, heavy physical activity, and lack of sleep. We believe my lack of sleep the last two weeks has taken a toll on my body! I hate that I occasionally get these pains. At times, like last night, the pain can be so intense that I collapse to the ground while having difficulty breathing. That's why, according to online reports, it is often mistaken as a heart attack. The symptoms are very similar.

I can usually tell when my chest is acting up, and take that strong dose of ibuprofen before it really gets inflamed. Unfortunately, I didn't catch it in time last night! So, I spent the whole evening in bed, trying to get comfortable, hoping the pain resides. I feel better today... so far

~Matt