Introducing......

Matrim Alexander Okalani
Born 12-11-11
5:39pm
weight 6pounds 8ounces
length 20 3/4 inches

Midwife was just called. Still smiling! But it's early yet.
She was smiling until about 2 hours before baby came. That's when things started getting really hard.

Just Born!

So awake and alert!!

He's so sweet and easy going he doesn't really need the pacifier much, but it was so cute! (it says Mute Button)

Kitten is self appointed as babysitter of the moment....too funny! It was all good until he started kicking and she decided his feet would be great to bat at!

Home for Good

Russ made it home yesterday evening! So good to have him home again!! He of course had to go in to the base to do paperwork this morning, but HE'S HOME!!!! (not excited around here at all!) New adventures beginning as we head for retirement this summer.

Lex is still doing very well with her pregnancy! Baby is doing great and in the right position! Just a matter of time now!

Life is never dull and always full of blessings!

Facebook Post

This was Russ' Facebook status this morning:

Woohoo! Retirement with an effective date of 1 Oct 2012 has been approved. Expect my small ceremony sometime this summer.

On to our next adventure!!

Life's curvy path

Life road has been filled with a great many blind curves this year. Stepping out in faith has been a greater challenge. But around each bend, God has been glorified!
It's been almost one full year since Russ left to go play in the great sandbox. Life was a bit more stressful than usual with him gone again but as usual we adapted and kept going. For the first few months life just hummed along at a nice even level. I began studies that would allow me to bear the title of Herbalist. And soon there after I began developing my own product line. Lots of discussing and emailing back and forth across the ocean had Russ and me truly planning our retirement. God has been clearly lighting our path. Then in April there were the wildfires and we nearly lost the house. The field to our north was lit by an ember blown in on the wind and the fire consumed close to an acre and crossed our property line. It was certainly a terrifying experience! God provided dear friends who let us stay with them, critters and all, for the night. Then in early May Lex came to me to share that things were far from right in her marriage and she was pregnant. We mourned the failed relationship, but rejoiced with the new life growing within her. God had helped her see danger before more harm could be done. July rolled around with my dad and Russ' mom both having surgery in the same week. Russ' mom had thyroid cancer, my dad had brain surgery to stop the tremors he had in his hands. Mom came through her surgeries great and has been given a clean bill of health! My dad suffered a stroke following his surgery, but after being nearly a vegetable, he has recovered enough to be back at home and continues to get better every day! God's peace and healing touch so obvious. Russ came home for two weeks in August and we had a whirlwind visit. It was definitely difficult to send him off again, and even more difficult for him to leave. But he made it both ways safely and we knew it was just a short time till he would be home for good! Lex began college courses online working toward her nursing/midwife certifications. At the end of October I got a call from my sister in law that my father in law had had a heart attack that morning. He got to the hospital quickly and they were able to stabilize him. He had surgery the next morning and a stint put in. Amazingly he was home the next day and is recovering well. Again God's provision with the right medical care and speedy recovery. Last week we had an electrical scare. We had some outlets quit working the others just suddenly stopped, and I thought we had thrown a breaker. When I checked the box it didn't seem as though any had popped. So I was then afraid we had wiring issues. That was on a Friday. Saturday morning Kerrie had gone to the laundry area to get the cats more food and came dashing back out saying frantically "mom it smells like burnt plastic back there!" And sure enough as I went to inspect things, I found a tendril of smoke coming from the lower panel of our water heater along with water in the drip pan. I quickly ran outside and tripped the breaker for the water heater to shut it off. Thank you Lord that the cats needed more food! I was getting a bit more distressed and feeling like the house was either going to fall in around my ears or spontaneously combust! I talked with a friend and she prayed peace and protection over us. I immediately felt better. The electrician was suppose to come out monday so I just trusted and waited. Monday noon rolled around with no word from the electrician so I called a friend whose husband does electrical work and he came out to check things over. Turned out that a breaker was tripped and nearly broken so it seemed like it was on and wasn't. Then the plumber came out to discuss installing a tankless waterheating system for us and what all that would entail. I got the go ahead from Russ to do the water heater. As my heart has returned to a normal speed and some of the tension has left my shoulders, I find that the timing of all of this couldn't be better! Lex is planning to do a home water birth and we were going to be struggling to keep enough hot water going with just a 50 gal tank. And what a blessing that all this happened during a season of good weather and well before baby's time to arrive! God's timing is always perfect! Life has once again returned to humming nicely. We are still without hot water, but my dear friend says we can come use hers as she already has a tankless system so there's plenty! Might just take her up on it a time or two in the next couple weeks while they work on ours! Lex was able to get permission from the dean to take her finals early since her due date is so close to the regularly scheduled time of finals. She and baby are doing GREAT! and are right on track. Mykhal and Kerrie are doing well in all areas but respectfully working together. It's an ongoing process there. But school is going well for them. They are both still enjoying their activities. And the weather has been so lovely that we get to enjoy weekly park days with friends! The icing on the cake is the short time remaining till Russ is home for good! And he should be hearing any day that his retirement has been approved!
I know that life's path will always be curvy. We will not ever be able to see everything that we will encounter. But if we keep our eyes focused on God, keep trusting Him to show us the next step, and hold on to His hand when we are afraid of where that next step will take us, then we can take those curves with joy in our hearts!
There's a fairly new song out by Casting Crowns that has the lyrics "...the only way that we will stand is on our knees with lifted hands...."

We're reaching high!!

Heart Of Motherhood Enrichment Retreat

Heart of Motherhood Enrichment

We invite you ….

H.O.M.E.

Heart of Motherhood Enrichment

Friday, February 3, 2012- Sunday, February 5, 2012



1 Thessalonians 2:7 “…we cared for you the way a mother

cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just

pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. (The Message Bible)



“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest Walk with me and work with me, watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message Bible)



If you occasionally need a “pick-me-up and “fill-my-cup Lord” weekend, then join us as we look to God to give us a clearer, burden free path of raising and discipling our families. God desires for us to have peace, joy, and even rest on our motherhood journey! The Heart of Motherhood Enrichment retreat is a retreat for moms that need to be encouraged, inspired and uplifted by the Word of God. Join us this year as we welcome a group of Godly women as our speakers: Elaine Russo, Vanessa Simon, Kristi McClellan, Cindy McCloy, and Nola Jones, and Julie Zesch.



Where: Heart of Texas Bible Camp, Brownwood Texas

Cost: $110.00 This cost includes: your lodging, 6 meals (Dinner Fri. evening through Lunch Sun. ) many blessings and a retreat packet. Registration deadline is January 20th . Earlybird registration $100.00 – due December 31st.

Unable to attend all weekend, consider coming for the day on Saturday. The cost for one day will be $50.00



As a part of our ministry we believe in feeding your body with God given healthful foods. Our meals will be served with whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, preservative free, home-baked, nutritious and delicious!!!



What to Bring: Bedding, toiletries, free time projects, ears to hear, a heart to receive and your Bible.



Friday:

5:00 to 6:00 Arrival

6:00 Welcome

6:15 Reception Dinner -prepare to be pampered

7:00 Praise and Worship

7:30 Session#1

9:00 Tea Party and Style Show!





Saturday:

8:00 A.M. Breakfast

9:00 Praise and Worship

9:20 Session#2

10:30 potty break

10:45 Session #3

12:00 Lunch

Free Time

3:00 Session #4

4:30 Open panel discussion

6:00 Dinner

7:00 Praise and worship

7:20 Session#4 -

9:00 Prayer and candle lighting



Sunday:

8:00 Breakfast

9:00 Praise and Worship

9:30 Session #5 –

10:30 Testimonies and sharing

12:00 Lunch - Pack up and head home!



We will have a selection of helpful books and nutritional supplements available for purchase!

Registration Information:

Please e- mail your registration information to HeartofMotherhood@gmail.com

include your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. e-mail for payment options



We do have a scholarship fund. Our desire is for anyone wanting to attend to be able to. Contact Julie for scholarship information.

If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund you can when you register. If 10 ladies contribute $10.00 you will bless someone with a full scholarship to retreat.

God Encounters

God IS.....God is vast....God is present....God is, was, and ever will be...God is beyond the ability of the finite human mind to imagine.....but God encounters don't have to be. Sometimes, we get to be the bearer, sometimes the recipient. God encounters come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it's a smile or a touch, sometimes a word or card or email, and sometimes it's a jaw dropping, eye opening experience...but it's always a life changing experience even if we don't notice the changes immediately.
I had a GOd encounter tonight. And it was one of those where I got to be the encounter bearer, and the recipient both! I have spoken in the past here and on my other blog about a sweet small boy J and his siblings who have all been in foster care. We had the privilege of being J's foster family for a short while. We had to put him in a mental hospital because his needs were far greater than a family could mend. His siblings have gotten to go back home to their mom. Their mom, A, has found her way out of her abusive marriage, and into the arms of God. She has found, utilized and implemented the help she needed to bring her kids home.
As we joined a larger group for a time of worship and fellowship this evening in a nearby town I got to see J's siblings again and meet their mom.  The difference between those children in foster care and now was like night and day!  There is peace within them now, it just glows around them.  THey also shared with me that J is no longer in the mental hospital but is transitioning through another foster home to be able to come back home.  He is healing!  What joy is in my heart!! Their mom thanked me over and over again for all that I had done to help her son. She had been afraid when she met me that I would shun her as other foster moms have, and I was nervous that she would despise me for putting her son in a mental hospital. Instead God spoke to both of us, opened our hearts and eyes to see the person He sees. We shared, we hugged, we cried together, we loved on the kids, and we worshipped together. I feel beyond fortunate tonight to have been both the giver and receiver of God's gracious blessings. I drove then 45 min home with a smile on my lips and overflowing joy in my heart. God IS....AMAZING!!!

Semper Gumby

Found this quote today and was reminded how important flexibility is:
Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
~Anonymous

How flexible are you? Do you have your own rigid expectations that guide your life? or are you open to being led where God leads even when that path seems far from what is familiar? Do you hold yourself too stiff in your "rightness"? or Do you answer God's call to Love and Forgive even when the pain remains?
God calls us to be His Light in the world especially in the shadows, He calls us to Love even in the midst of pain, and He calls us to Forgive even when that chip on our shoulder clouds our view.
Getting all bent out of shape is a choice. Not to say that we should not react emotionally to anything, but which emotions we allow to control us, and to what degree is a choice. I am guilty of getting bent out of shape now and then as we all are. I also strive though to be quick to apologize, forgive, or just let things roll off my back when it's not something in my control. Being flexible means that we don't break easily and are able to take the curves that life throws in our way even when they are sharp and fast.
Semper Gumby. It takes prayer. It takes conscious effort. It takes willingness.
Semper Gumby,
God Bless!

Pizza!

Yesterday we were going to have burgers for dinner but while I was hiding out in my room for a bit of alone time with a book, a sudden small thunderstorm blew in. This was nowhere in the forecast, but hey we will take any bit of rain any time! So Mykhal for some strange reason didn't want to get out with the lightning next to a metal grill....just don't understand him HAHAHAHA! I told him to either cook the burgers inside or come up with something else for dinner. So he decided to fix pizza..YUM! What you have to understand though, is that he had to grind the flour first, then fix the dough from scratch, make the sauce, cook the meat, THEN assemble and bake. But he did it! He had a little help from Lex with finding recipes and how much of what seasoning to add more of, but he came up with the idea and followed through on it all on his own! and you know what? IT WAS YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMY!!!!!

Maybe I'll start hiding out more often......

Happy Birthday in Heaven

Five years ago today another precious baby boy was placed in my arms.

Happy 5th Birthday Nathan!

(this was on his second birthday)

Been awhile

So life has kept us hopping around here. During the summer both Russ' mom and my dad were scheduled for surgery. Mom J for thyroid removal, and Dad M for brain surgery. My dad suffers from severe tremors in parts of his body similar to Parkinsons, and there is a surgery that puts leads into the brain that are then connected to battery packs that produce electric impulses that stop the tremors. Dad had this surgery on July 19 and Mom had her surgery on July 20. This turned out to be the first half of surgeries for both of them. Mom had a follow up surgery just over a week later and everything was great. She even got cleared to go on the cruise they had booked! My dad however suffered some complications involving bleeding in the brain creating the equivalent of a stroke. The first couple of weeks following the surgery were really tough. We had no idea how much dad was going to be truly affected but we knew his left side wasn't responding. He couldn't swallow fast enough and so they had to put in a feeding tube directly to his stomach. He was then moved to a nursing facility just a few miles down the road from their house. Once therapy began there, improvements and healing began to show by leaps and bounds! His left side has come awake again, his swallowing has improved enough that he is starting to eat again, and as of Friday the surgeon and dad's other doctors agreed that he was doing well enough to have the battery packs for the leads put in at last! These will go in by his shoulders. Dad already has a stimulator similar to these in his back and it has helped him immensely! We know from a test they did in the OR when they inserted the leads that he will get great results from these stimulators as well. We are so very excited for Dad to finally be having the rest of the surgery done and we are rejoicing that his recovery is moving along so well and so quickly!!
Mykhal and Kerrie finished their schooling before Russ came home for his 2 week break.

It was great to have him home! We got to spend some time with family both when he arrived and as he left. In between time we were at home getting a few things accomplished and having some fun. Our main project was a mini-makeover of our bedroom. We decided we wanted a new headboard that was comfy to lean against, and thus we needed new curtains which of course necessitated new bedding too! I don't have before pictures, but here are some after:

LOVE our new look and the cushioned headboard is so comfy! The lamps are perfect, and we are using these swivel side tables that hook under the mattress to put our alarm clocks and such on. Our kitten of course had to get up on the new bedding to investigate and get in the photo. She is such a funny little thing!

Lex had moved out of the front room and so Russ and I are reclaiming the space for a library/office. So the kids and I repainted it before he got home. The curtains that had been in our room will go PERFECTLY in the newly painted front room now and so I grabbed the old rods from that room to use in ours. Worked out great! Come monday some friends are coming over to help us move some furniture around and rip up the carpet in the front room. We plan to paint the concrete in there and throw some rugs down. Lex is going to take the other half of what use to be the garage that we had turned into a bedroom. It's a small space, but will be adequate for her and baby for a good while.

Russ is due back near time for baby to be born. Lex will be doing finals for her first college semester at that point also. Going to be a busy time. I'm working toward having major household projects done by the end of this month, then a couple of other personal projects done by the end of October. I really want to be able to focus on getting things ready for Russ and Baby in November. Life is never dull around here for sure! Wouldn't have it any other way!!

She's 12

Kerrie turned 12 years old yesterday and we had a nice little party for her. We went to our local CiCi's pizza place and invaded! We counted up that we had 17 kids ages 15 down to 1 hrs old and 4 "adults". And that was three families plus a few grandkids minus a big kid or two. Fun was had by all as there was no shortage of food!

You can almost see everyone

The "adults" plus one of the littlest ones

Birthday girl

A monkey for our monkey

Making her beautimus

Cool craft kit

More monkeying around

Earrings of course

And the iPod shuffle she's been crazy to get!

After the party and some shopping to spend birthday money Lex and I dropped Mykhal and Kerrie off at home to watch movies of Kerrie's choice while we went for Ladie's night out. Kerrie says it was a wonderful birthday!

Birthday surprises

Kerrie is turning 12 this week! As part of her gift she is allowed to get her ears pierced. We were at Walmart last night and decided to surprise her with getting it done a few days early. So.......
One VERY happy girl

With adorable birthstone butterfly earrings filling two more holes in her head

* * * * * * * * *
In other news, the drum on the dryer quit turning on Saturday....the upside is that I was able to get a repairman to come out here tomorrow morning!
For today we are painting Lex's old room and beginning the process of turning it into a library/office. This process will overflow into a masterbedroom partial makeover as well as turning the side bedroom into a workout space. With workout equipment in the house I will then have a spot in the craft building for my herbal crafts.

I am continuing to work toward my goal of running a 5k. The process is slow but it's going. Kids are nearly done with this year's schooling. The kitten needs to be renamed Mischief. And my project list seems to be growing instead of shrinking.
Life continues to never be dull....wouldn't have it any other way!

My Very First Garden

I have not ever in my 20 years of marriage had a garden of my own until this year! And I almost waited too late to get things in, but it's doing nicely. It's a small container garden and I have learned TONS about spacing and such with this garden. I placed it in a semi protected area. Living in West Tx the wind never stops and the heat gets INTENSE! But our house is "C" shaped and so I have a small courtyard in front of my kitchen window on the East side. It's been the PERFECT spot! I took two old tractor tires, and some small plastic bins, a trash can for the potatoes, some rich soil from a friend's farm, a watering system, and some decent looking plants and TA-DA.......

The pvc tubing you see holds up the bird netting I placed over the garden. It stands 5 ft high.

Tomatoes

Cantaloupe after I pruned the dickens out of it! and we wills till have melons out our ears if all the blooms make!

Zucchini

Basil

I also planted potatoes that didn't make, strawberries that needed more shade and died, the greenbeans got choked out by the cantaloupe, the yellow squash didn't stand a chance against the zucchini, my cilantro was overwhelmed by my basil, I do have jalapenos planted, mexibells (hot bell peppers) are producing, other bell peppers and cucumber are at least still alive, and one of my blackberry plants got uprooted by a nosy dog. But we have already enjoyed several small roma grape tomatoes, and the zucchini is starting to come in. This is the first one we got and it's 29.1 oz! That's an inkpen next to it.

I'm already starting to plan for a larger garden next year!

Mini vacation #1 Summer 2011 - LOTS of photos

We left here early morning June 17 and drove to my folks house. Saturday was a fairly restful day but we did go get my mom's new lounge chair. Sunday morning we rejoiced with Lex's baptism! My dad did the honors at the church that Russ and I were married in 20 years ago when he also did the honors! Then Sunday evening almost the whole family joined together at Chilis to celebrate Lex's graduation!

Monday we moved over to Russ' folks house. Tuesday Lex enjoyed spending the day shopping with them while I took the younger two to Six Flags. Kerrie had earned free tickets by participating in Discovery's Read to Succeed program. Any child K-6th can earn free tickets to Six Flags by reading for fun for 6 hours! Homeschoolers were welcome to join as well so we did! Kerrie got a free ticket and so did I as her teacher. We got Mykhal a discounted ticket through the base and so it didn't cost much at all to get us in! What a treat!

Their first coaster of the day....Kerrie's first coaster ever!

All locked in

Big smiles and bouncy steps say they are ready for the next one

The Runaway Mine Train

Away they go!

Rolling back in and on to the next one

The infamous double looper

Approaching the first climb

The first loop

That was awsomer than the last two

Mykhal was solo on this one

He spent a long time telling Kerrie about the fun she missed

Time for a cool off at the Aquaman Splashdown

Floating away

The splash they made

Refreshing!

Waiting to get wetter

The splash that got them

Soaked ALL the way through...squish squish squish

We slowed down a bit after some lunch. The misting fans all over the park kept things from being unbearably hot but it was still HOT.
Kerrie driving

Mykhal driving

They did the splashdown again then Mykhal went solo on this while Kerrie did the splash down AGAIN

The cars on this were free spinning with the centrifugal force plus the weight placement and tilt of the tracks.

This one nearly got him

It was back to the Judge Roy once for Mykhal and twice for Kerrie then they ended the day with a spectacular view up on the Chutes. Wasn't fast enough to get more than the top of their basket as they came down.

It really was a fabulous day and though I didn't ride anything this time getting to hear about it all as they came off one ride running for the next was awesome! We ended the day after a little more than 8 hours in the park and went to Denny's for dinner. Then it was back to Grandparent's house for baths and bed!
We just rested the next day and then drove home. What a GLORIOUS week we had!