Questions, questions

I recently had bladder surgery...a bladder suspension, but better known today as a bladder "sling." One little prick and I came home with a catheter for 5 days. Okay, you can only do so much with a plastic bag of urine hanging out of you...in hopes that 3 curious little ones don't pick up too much with what is going on.

At first, Keaton was confused...all she knew is that mommy went in to "fix her belly" (if only that were the case) and now she can't hold her babies for at least 6 weeks. This was devastating to Keaton...my little nurturer who cries every night just thinking about not being held. She woke 2 days ago with her grand idea of "holding me." Every since I came home she won't let me go 2 steps without running and grabbing my hand to "help me." She is my caregiver...so sweet.

Caleb, on the other hand, is my brave one whose lip trembled as we prayed the night before my surgery. I overheard him dishing out orders to the girls about how they were going to have to help me around the house because "mommy had something in her belly that fell!" Mind you, as he is telling this story with his hands, it looks as if my bladder fell completely to my knees. :)

And then there is Bailey...sweet, little, chatter-box Bailey. Like her brother, she can not accept yes or no answers. Here were just some of her questions...

*What's in that bag?
*Where is it coming from?
*Where does that tube go? (as she is lifting my pj leg) I simply replied...my belly
*Does it hurt?
*How far does it go in?
*Can you feel it in your belly?
*Can you go poop-poo?
*What made your belly fall? (okay, I could have many answers for this one, but I simply said that while she and her sister were in my tummy, they crowded out everything else and pushed things into places they weren't supposed to be.)...what was I to say...Everytime mommy sits, sneezes, coughs, picks you up, throws a football, talks on the phone, etc., etc., etc., she pees on herself? Could you imagine the questions that would follow that one?



These questions were never ending, and all seemed to be asked within a 3 minute time frame. I finally had to tell her to shut-up. Politely. She was making my head hurt.

And so now I am recovering, catheter free, on the couch with my three little ones gathered around like chicks. Caleb wanted to know what I did with my catheters because he thought it would be a good idea to keep them in case someone else needed them. :) :) Always thinking of service! :)

A Mom Moment

This happened last Friday, but is too good to let go by without recording. Last Thursday night Caleb informs us that Friday is(was) Storybook Character day and that everyone was to dress as a storybook character. A little miffed that it is 8:30 p.m., I am trying to recall as many characters as possible. I vaguely remembered getting something in his folder a couple of days prior telling us of this special day. So at last moment, he decides to go as "Huck" Finn. Simple enough. So Friday I send my precious little Huck off to school...brown suede loafers with no socks, jeans cuffed up, a plaid shirt buttoned wrong, and of course, the straw hat. We were in a hurry that morning, (as always it seems) so I kissed him and practically pushed him out the door. Later that day Caleb comes home with his folder and a note from his teacher which simply reminds me that Character Day is Feb. 20th! :)

Poor Caleb. :) :)

God Speaks!

God is so awesome!!! I have just started the Beth Moore study, Esther. Tonight after church, I was doing the last day of the study (because we meet tomorrow morning), and my niece Shantel calls. Just calls...out of the blue. The phone is handed to me in the midst of me underlining a profound line in the study...a line that wasn't completed until after my phone call. Long story short, over the phone at 9:45 p.m., Shantel gave her heart to Christ. What a moment for the both of us...I have prayed for this for so long, and I long to see Shantel's true potential that only Christ can give! Things have been tough for her, mainly due to her bad choices, and to be quite honest, I wondered if God was still working with her or not. After the phone call, I realized that I needed to finish the day's lesson, no matter how excited I was. I needed to finish underlining the sentence I left in mid-stream. This is what was underlined before the phone interruption: "...train the eyes of your heart to see how an unseen God works in similar ways in your own life experiences and remind you that He is never more present..." After the phone call, the underlining is finished with "...than when He seems strangely absent." WOW! It blew my socks off! So, may this be a reminder to those of you who have prayed and prayed and prayed for loved ones...

...that God is never more present than when He seems strangley absent.

To God be the Glory!!!

A Day in History

I have to admit, I was stuck watching the Inauguration yesterday...it intrigued me to watch history being made. No matter what your views, or if you voted for Obama or not, you have to agree that yesterday was a great day for our country. The girls and I watched as he took the Oath, and they had lots of questions...like, "Why is he placing his hand on the Bible?" "Why THAT Bible?" "Is it really cold there, 'cause we see smoke coming out of their mouths?" and my favorite, "Why is she wearing THAT hat?" (referring to Aretha Franklin). Yeah, that one I couldn't answer. :) ...which brings me to the fashion of the day...

Despite the objective from my husband, I thought Michelle Obama chose the right dress for the Inauguration. I thought it was classy, and so much better than the black and red one she wore in November. Paul thought it looked like one of his grandmother's doilies. That made me laugh, and yet I stuck to my opinion. Until...I saw the dress she chose for the Ball(s). Okay...so she traded in the doilie for the crocheted dress Granny made for her porcelain dolls-toliet paper covers! What was she thinking? She is 5'11", and quiet honestly, could probably pull anything off...anything but that! Oh Michelle! (as I am commenting wearing my pjs, a sweatshirt and ball cap...but hey, I'm laundry lady today...not The First Lady!)

At the end of the day, despite the verbiage blurp, horrible ending to prayers, the President doing the "bump", and Michelle's 'What Not to Wear,' the day was truly eventful. A Day in History...a day in teaching our children that although we may not agree with values or policies, we can change the history of a country if we just do what God wants us to do...give our leaders respect and our prayers. We can't expect our children to show respect to authority if we all they hear are our degrading opinions on our new leader. I definitely agree with Huckabee when he said that we don't have to respect his morals, decisions, or policies, but we must respect and pray for our New Leader....a New Leader who may have the biggest historical influence on our children! Have you prayed for him today?

Daddy or Hero?

There are so many things in my day that I take for granted...this is just one that grabbed my heart this morning. My loving husband always starts my van on his way out the door so it is defrosted and warm before we load up to take Caleb to school. A huge deal...no, but a loving act of kindness...YES. It was nice and toasty by the time we actually took Caleb to school (we were running a little late...a typical Monday). On the way home, Keaton had noticed that we had a slight freeze last night and wanted to know if it had snowed. Let's just say that trying to explain the difference between snow and frost to 2 four-year-olds is a task...I finally got them to understand a little...I think...anyway, Keaton didn't realize that Paul had warmed up the van, and so she was confused at why it was so cold outside and not inside. "Daddy loves us so much that he started our van for me so that all of us would be nice and warm this morning," I said. Her eyes grew big (she is a little animated anyway) and she said with awe..."that daddy of mine is like a HERO!" At that very moment, my heart smiled as I silently prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for Paul, and for the kind of dad he is. At almost 40, I am still learning what that kind of dad is like, and although I didn't have that kind of father to teach me what a hero should look like, I am SO THANKFUL that my kids...my girls...will know that kind of love from a daddy. And that one day, that kind of love will be revealed in how they look at our Heavenly Father. For showing them that kind of love...Paul is MY Hero. I am so blessed!

The Christmas Virus!

Would you expect anything else from the Graber household? I mean, seriously? We all normally get something strange right around the time Paul is to go out of town on business, or when the inlaws come to visit. Yeah, inlaws are in, and you guessed it! Caleb slowly opens all presents, throws them to the side before even seeing what they are, and then spends most of the morning in the bathroom. His stomach is cramping so bad that we could hardly hear the holiday music for all of the "OOOOOHHHHHs!" coming from my poor sick child. Luckily, it was only the "stomach" thing and he was ready to ride his bike by the afternoon. Bailey, however, was now running a temp and saying her tummy hurt. She threw up all over our new comforter(which has to be dry cleaned) and couldn't get to the bathroom fast enough before the "stomach" part started hitting. It hit, and hit, and hit, and just slowed down tonight. Paul has been on the couch every since he helped me clean her up the first night, and now is full-fledged into the virus himself! Keaton has been congested since Christmas Eve and started screaming last night with an ear ache. Of course, I haven't gotten much sleep just because of Mommy Duty, running back and forth from bathroom to bathroom...dishing out wet wipes, tylenol, and ear medicine, and now my stomach is beginning to rumble. :) Lovely!!! The inlaws are loaded up on Vitamin C and Lysol Spray in hopes of not contracting this ugly little bug. Merry Christmas Grabers!

SNOW in TEXAS!

Yes, you heard right. I can't believe it either, but it happened...finally happened. We woke to 3-4 inches of snow yesterday. For those of you not from this area, you have to understand that this just does NOT happen where we live. If the weathermen do say something related to the "S" word, they are in major trouble because the news station's phone lines will be busy all day. Honestly, they don't actually say "SNOW," but they say, "there is a slight possibility of the 's' word". Funny. Well anyway, their forecast was right on yesterday. However, they said that it would be just a light dusting, and that it would melt off by morning. Wrong! It didn't completely leave until 1:30 and we had a day full of making memories. The whole neighborhood was out by 6:15 a.m...children and adults, as well, all throwing snowballs and making snowmen! What a sight it was. We went through 4 changes of wet clothes, because you know we will all be sick, and so I have lots of extra laundry today. But, it was well worth it. Makes me miss the Chicago area even more. We will take 3-4 inches ANY time. There is a Santa after all!