Aunt Theresa and Hannah

For those of you who don't know...I am an identical twin. So the picture you see here is not of me and Hannah but of my sister and Hannah. Theresa came over to play with Hannah while Jennifer was napping and Christopher was at an after school activity. It made Hannah's day. It always astounds me how the simplest things please our children.

They do not need fancy presents and entertainment. All they really need and want from those who love them is a little time, a little listening and a little understanding. So here they are having a grand time playing with Hannah's littlest pet shop toys. The fact Theresa used your silly voices to make the little critters talk made it all the more special. I don't know if Theresa would be thrilled I put a picture up of her in a toboggan but:

Littlest pet shop toy: $14.00
time spent playing: 60 minutes
the joy she gave my Hannah: priceless.

Dear Mr. President/President Elect/congress

Do ya'll really get what it is like to live as the "average American"? Your definition of middle class is far above what my family recieves. Yet, my husband and I and our 3 children try to eek out an existence in a economy that is reeling. You all say we are not in a recession. That does not compute. When a parent has to choose between feeding their child, buying groceries or paying a bill, that my friend is a recession. I am a stay at home mom, yes, by choice. However, that choice is made because to put my child in day care would cost most of what I would make. You say you know what it is like to live on little. Somehow, I do NOT believe that. I do not believe you have ever skipped meals so your children would have food in their mouths. I do not believe you ever had to let your child go without birthday presents or Christmas presents. Yet thousands in this country to. My kids, thankfully get to eat every day. Yet there are some children in THIS nation that go to bed hungry. There are children in THIS nation that have no shelter, no bed, no warm coat. Why? We are supposedly the greatest nation on earth. Where is the proof? I have a medically needy child. I have insurance but it does not pay enough to help with my child's needs. We stopped therapy because insurance would only pay a small amount. Countless families with children who have greater needs than my own, go without. In a nation, where we delcare we are free, families are entrapped by debt beyond their control. I am not talking consumer debt. I am talking medical debt and the sheer effort to keep their family, clothed, fed, and sheltered. While congress and high government officials get raises we get nothing. Why can't people who are making 6 and 7 figure salaries take a pay cut instead of laying off the people on the bottom of the ladder. It does not make sense that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. What is our national tragedy? That people in our nation have to scrape just fo feed their families while they are "just above the limit for assistance". Maybe one day, all children can be equally fed, equally clothed and get equal medical care. But then again, maybe not because only the rich deserve cars with the highest rated safety standards. Only the rich deserve the best insurance and medical care. Only the rich deserve the best education, while the rest of us are not worthy. Sad isn't it. But then again, do you really care, after all you will not go to bed hungry or cold tonight.

A Little about Us

I have had this blog up a while and thought perhaps it is time to let people know more about us for those of my readers who don't "know" me.

My husband and I have been married 8 years(well tomorrow...is our anniversary). He works at a pharmace as an assistant manager and is also a licensed pastor but we do not have a church to pastor at the moment and left our 1st position as associates in July. (LONG story, not important at the moment). He is a loving husband and father and loves the Lord. He is human, forgets where the sink is and that dishes can acutally be put IN the dishwasher. But hey he does a mean load of laundry.

Our firstborn is a son, Christopher. He was born October 21, 2000. He has life threatning allergies to any kind, form, component of dairy, eggs and peanuts. He has asthma and has an oral sensory disorder that further limits his diet. He is very small. Part of this is simple genetics and part due to his diet. He is still wearing 3t-4t clothes, weights about 32 lbs maybe 33 if we are lucky. He is short in height as well. Most people think he is 3 years old, until he opens his mouth. He is very bright, very energetic and has more faith in his little finger than I can describe. We have almost lost him to death on several occasions due to his medical issues. But God raised him up and returned him to us. He loves school, hotwheels, robots and all those little boy things.

Our second child, Hannah, was born November 14, 2003. She is all girl. Thankfully she has no medical issues. She likes to play princess and tea party. She likes to pray for people and sing praise songs. She loves church and her favorite song is Jesus loves me. She is very verbal and carries on long elaborate converstations with people. She used to be really shy, and while not quite as outgoing as her brother, she is friendly and gregarious. She makes friends easily and has deep compassion for others. She wants to be a nurse teacher princess when she grows up. She loves learning and wants to attend school so badly, but wants her school to have sparkles on it. She too is like the sunshine, so bright and happy and full of life and love. She is small as well and (at almost 4) wears a 2T-3T.

Our 3rd child and last, was born July 8, 2006. She is a power house of energy, verbalosity and mischief. She can already speak in some sentences, which quite frankly freaks your brain out. She is a good mixture of the other two and thinks she can keep up with them. She has had minor health issues and had her adenoids removed this past July. She is petite as well and wears 3-6 months and some 6-9 months clothes. She is a drama queen and will probably win the academy award for tantrums when told the word NO. She is shy with strangers and prefers mommy and daddy to all others, especially daddy. There is NO ONE like her daddy to her. She loves babies and animals and will stop in her tracks when she sees either. In the nursery, if another baby, and it is crying she will try and comfort that baby. She likes both boy toys and girl toys and really LOVES her brothers toys if she can get into them. She is not afraid of heights! Not necessarily a good thing cause she is turning into a real climber. She walks....no makes that runs everywhere.

All 3 of our children are very loving and generally obedient. They are respectful of others for the most part. They all love church and the Lord(well as much as they can at thier respective ages). They bring joy to our lives.

My husband and I hope to pastor a church some day where he is the head pastor. We are letting God bring that about in His time.

We have a happy, normal marriage with life's ups and downs. I am a stay at home mom which makes the income even tighter. But we trust God. I tend to be a worried and God is working on that in me. God has brought us through so many harships and trials. The key word is THROUGH. He is our source, our strength and the center of our home. Without our Lord I do not know how we would make it in the world we live in. So there you have it, a tiny snap shot of our family.