I'm done being CRABBY today!

Our sweet neighbor called around 11:30 today to see if he could bring lunch over to the girls but they were already in their chairs eating so he said he would make it a snack for them for later...I asked what it was and he said "oh just some Maryland crab cakes"....I just froze.
I did NOT grow up eating seafood. I do NOT like the smell of seafood of any kind. I did NOT want him to bring it over here...but I DO love George dearly and it was such a special offer. So, 4 hours later he called over here asking Lily to come over to help him get here (since we have snow on the ground and he's very slow going) so off she went and I was VERY grumpy here at the house just waiting for it to drift into the house. I was busy in the kitchen making the Pioneer Woman's Olive Oil Cakes and trying to not think about the little fishes that were about to enter my house....ok, crustaceans...whatever!
Well, in they came and sick I quickly became from the smell (my pregnant body is in total morning sickness mode right now!) so Doug herded the girls to their chairs and I quickly retreated to my room to regain composure. I didn't want to hurt his feelings...I came out and decided I was going to at least take a bite...and then another bite...and then another bite...and WOW I liked them!!! The smell I could DEFINITELY live without. It was like a wet dog smell mixed with a sick child smell....THAT defines the smell of seafood to me....but I can get a clothes pin or something...I mean, crab is really great stuff! He prepared them so nicely and served them with tomatoes (like they do in the restaurants he said) and he brought a big bag of potato chips because he couldn't find french fries....what a sweetie! I thanked him over and over again and told him I never would have tried them otherwise. The girls mostly enjoyed them...Holly and Sage took a few nibbles but mostly scarfed down the tomato and chips...Lily and Aspen LOVED them...I know Doug ate some so I'm assuming he liked them too.
So, this is my survival of the fittest story for today. I did learn a lesson in trying new things.
I think you all should go out and have some crab cakes today! If you come visit me, I'll try to make them!
Thank you George!

How many arrows does a quiver hold anyway?

Does your quiver look like this:



Or like this:





4 weeks ago Doug and I were surprised to find out we were expecting our 5th child!!! The truth is, I cried immediately and spent several days numb to this whole idea. We did want more children but due to some personal circumstances in my life that I'm not one to really blog about at this time and also due to the change in our financial situation at our current job, this wasn't the best of news. I had a tremendous amount of guilt over the tears. I love children. I want a lot of children. But the reality of this new baby coming scared me tremendously. Doug woke up a few mornings later and told me, "Lisa, it's time to get excited about this new baby!" So, we spent several moments talking about if it would be a boy or a girl and what names we would pick and how exciting it was going to be. I decided to call some friends and tell them the news although it's still very early to be sharing this news. Lily was thrilled to hear that she would be a big sister again but she's very upset that we won't find out the sex of the baby until it's birthday. She's so funny about that!
Doug and I talked about Psalm 127 where it says
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.

5 Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

So, how full is a quiver anyway? I have had many families tell me over the years that 5 is a full quiver but just today I had someone tell me that her husband is an archer and it's 8 that make it full. My research is showing me that some carry 2 or 3 and some carry 15.
I've had a lot of people tell me I'm crazy to be having another child and that I must never want to sleep again. I've had people say "WHOA" or "GOOD GRIEF WOMAN"...I'm never one that does well at hiding my responses but seeing as I definitely take the cake in hearing the most ridiculous comments as a pregnant person, I've gotten very good at biting my tongue. But these comments have got me thinking and I've finally decided how I really feel about this whole thing.
Children are gifts and rewards from God, not burdens. They are not just a result of sexual intercourse. Nowadays, man thinks he can control conception by abortion or using fertility treatment or even natural family planning methods of counting your fertile days, etc, but the Bible teaches that conception is truly a gift from the Creator, Yahweh.
Who decides how full your quiver is? I'm here to suggest that you allow the Creator and the originator of life to continue doing what He's always done best. He knows our days (Psalm 139:16) He knows the plans for each one of those days (Jeremiah 29:11) He knows what we will come up against and gives us a measure of faith to use to help us (Hebrews 11:1) He promises to help us in our time of need and exhaustion (Matthew 11:28)
I'm not suggesting that you and your spouse never use birth control or have 18 kids but I am suggesting that you seek God with this decision just like you do with all the other decisions of your life (hopefully). I think a lot of people trust that God can answer their questions regarding jobs or schools or homes or friends or finances but they don't trust God to show them the plan in this area. I can think of countless people who have told me "I wish we had decided to have more children!" but their child bearing years are long gone. Society seems to say how many kids we can have based on our income or status in the community, etc, but why is no one asking God what His plan is?
I had a friend recently tell me she was "weak" because she only wanted 2 children and it really tore me up. Does that make one weak? I think if someone believes God has spoken to their situation and said "your quiver is full with two" then that shows great strength.
I encourage you to seek the Lord regarding this topic. Forget about the job you have or the paycheck you don't have or the house you live in (or don't live in) or the stress you have. God does give us the responsibility to manage our life and to make decisions in our life so there is no shame in deciding how many children to have...or is there? I'm seeing it demonstrated that the family that has 1-3 children are looked at as more responsible than the family that has 4-18 children...I'm done trying to figure it out. I don't know how full a quiver is but we are up to 5 it looks like and I'm thankful for each one of them. It's a blessing to have them. It's not more spiritual, it's just more opportunities for blessing through them and because of them.

Arachnophobia

Ok, I hate spiders as much as I hate frogs which is saying a lot because I HATE frogs. Anyway, Lily and I have had this game going for over 3 years now with a fake spider that looks real...at least to me it does. I'll attach a picture to this post so you can get a good laugh out of me and roll your eyes if you want at my "realistic" spider..!!!
Anyway, so the game is we are allowed to hide this spider on each other and there are no rules...it can be anywhere...even in food! So, we have had a lot of good screams and laughs over the years. I think Lily's best so far was hiding it in the refrigerator on top of something..I can't remember what but I owe that one to my sister Rachel. She caught wind of this game and gave Lily some pointers. The ONLY rule with this game is neither of us are allowed to hide any other sort of fake creature at all...NOTHING. No fake snakes or bugs or anything and since I hate to be scared (LOATHE IT) we also are not allowed to scare anyone in this house. Period.
Well, since our move I haven't seen the spider. I've thought of it over the past 7 months or so but never knew where it was. Until today.
I went to put on a pair of shoes and felt something...I immediately pulled my foot out and threw the shoe across the room (no screams yet) and sat and pondered what to do. Doug is at work so I knew I MUST do something otherwise whatever the mysterious monster was would be on the loose. I got my courage together and picked up the shoe and hit it against the floor and out came the spider however in MY mind it was a REAL spider and I screamed so loud and felt my heart stop all at once. I HOLLERED for Lily to "GET YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE YOU ARE SO DEAD" and she came running....by the time she got to me I was laughing but poor Lily burst into tears when she saw that I was kidding with her. She literally thought I was mad at her..!!! So we both collected ourselves and she walked away feeling pretty proud of herself. She said "mom I did that A LONG time ago!!!"...she had even forgotten about where the spider was!!!!
I called Doug to tell him this story and he said that we must make the spider go "bye-bye" so that he doesn't come home from work one day and find his wife dead from heart attack. I don't know if he's serious or not...we'll see. But WOW...I've had enough excitement for today.
Ok so don't be getting any great ideas all you cyber friends...if you scare me, you might not be my friend anymore...ha!

Bless The Broken Road

I've always enjoyed this song and I believe my sister danced to this in her wedding...either way, it's a great song and so many are familiar with it and have claimed it as "their song". I don't have a song with Doug. We didn't dance at our wedding...in fact, we've never danced together. Doug doesn't like to dance. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, at least not now. I just enjoy sitting together with him over a cup of coffee or hot tea. I enjoy lounging on the couch while we talk till wee hours of the morning and he rubs my feet. I often wonder how we don't run out of things to talk about. He truly is my soul mate. I don't spend time thinking about this much at all but recently I was thinking about my past with relationships. I've been through so many broken hearts I can't even believe it. I had a high school sweetheart that I thought I would marry, I married once before and that lasted less than a year, I was engaged again after that...and sprinkled in between all those heartaches were other boyfriends. I have learned that those relationships were a quest to find true fulfillment and love....two things that can only be found in a relationship with God. It wasn't until I fully surrendered my broken heart and broken life to Jesus Christ that I was even in a position of having eyes to see what real love is all about. I "wasted" a lot of time and years on boys and men that were meaningless. I don't mean to say that those people were meaningless because some of them are great people and I was guilty of hurting some of them...but because my heart was not surrendered to God, those relationships didn't stand a chance. I pray often for my girls and pray that they will be secure in who they are in Christ and that they will not follow in my footsteps. That's another topic all together...shew! Anyway, I wanted to post these lyrics to a song that just sums it up. It sums up how I feel about my relationship with God first..but it also sums up the love and appreciation I have for my marriage to Doug and I'm so thankful that God has honored me in such a way as to bring us together. Doug was hand carved for me. And I was hand carved for Doug. I often wonder how God would have brought us together had I just remained single my entire life until I met him...it's just a mind game I play sometimes for fun...the "choose your own adventure" kind of thing..wondering how our paths would have crossed...but anyway, you get the point, right?
This picture was from our honeymoon spot in PA. Hope to return there someday...feels like we've been together forever. I love you Doug!

"Bless The Broken Road"

I set out on a narrow way many years ago
Hoping I would find true love along the broken road
But I got lost a time or two
Wiped my brow and kept pushing through
I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you

[Chorus:]
Every long lost dream led me to where you are
Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars
Pointing me on my way into your loving arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

I think about the years I spent just passing through
I'd like to have the time I lost and give it back to you
But you just smile and take my hand
You've been there you understand
It's all part of a grander plan that is coming true

[Chorus]

Now I'm just rolling home
Into my lover's arms
This much I know is true
That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you

That God blessed the broken road
That led me straight to you.

Values...

I love having Doug around. I really would be "ok" with him being home all the time...heh...of course we wouldn't have food to eat or money for rent...hmm...too bad you can't live on love. I've heard women talk about how irritated they get when their husbands are home too many days in a row, but I don't really understand. Don't get me wrong, sometimes Doug is gone for the evening and a teeny tiny part of me enjoys that I don't have to cook. The girls and I are HAPPY to eat peanut butter and jelly, in particularly me, since it's my favorite thing in the world. When Doug isn't home, we eat sandwiches and fruit for dinner..or perhaps just chips or something...(yikes!) Doug likes a good hot meal on nights he is home. Ok, back to the point of my post...
When I met Doug he was working about 13 hour days and many weekends. This became a big problem for me when we got married. At some point, it was cut back to about 10 hours and occasional weekends. Before we left Florida, he was working 8 hour days and never on the weekends....yes, this might sound nice, but the thing that was retarded was he was salary so back in the day when he was working 13 hour days, he was making the same as when we ended that job and he was there 8 hours a day....
Ok, now we are in Maryland...not only is he doing a job he loves and that he is MADE for, he is home SOOOO much more. We all eat together every morning and he's home in time to watch the girls while I make dinner. He has 2 days off a week and Sundays he just works during church hours...needless to say, we are together a lot as a family. It's such an amazing blessing. This might not last forever. Perhaps his job will become more involved or perhaps he'll have to get a second job if the economy keeps going down...or perhaps he'll change jobs entirely and life as we know it now will change. For now, we are enjoying what we have and we find ourselves thanking God weekly for it. We would choose family time and unity and peace in our home over the big bucks ANY day. I mean, if he could make a ton of money working a 35 hour week..fine, we would happily receive (ha!) but from what we've observed...the people making the big bucks are working considerably more than that and they are taking their work home with them and seem very distracted most of the time. This post is in defense of the comments I have gotten about his lack of drive, etc. The way I see it, Doug DOES know what he wants, and he's ran after it hard..and it's got eternal rewards.
The truth is, I don't know a more hard working father/husband than Doug. He's by far the most hands on father I've ever seen or heard of. Not to say there aren't others like him, I just don't know of them. There are many times when I think that he knows more about the girls than I do. Yet, he still feels like he doesn't do enough or that he's not a good enough dad, etc. It blows me away. Perhaps it makes ME lazy or unmotivated...I want to be like Doug when I grow up...

Happy Anniversary to US!!!!

WOW, I'm so terrible at updating this blog!!!! I think I'm W-A-Y addicted to facebook and it sucks all my energy/time..haha. No but seriously...tonight Doug and I went on a date to celebrate 4 years together! Our anniversary was yesterday but we had the pleasure of having friends from Florida stop through for a visit so we went out tonight. Before we left Florida, I had 2 friends tell me that they were beginning to pray that I would meet great Christian friends here in Maryland and find someone quickly that I could trust to watch my kids...and find someone I could share my heart with, etc...I'm sure there were others praying but I specifically remember 2 friends telling me that.
WELL, God answered that prayer...I've actually met several really great folks here that I could ask for help but the one friend in particular, Kristen, is just exactly the kind of person and friend that I truly prayed for...She was a real gem tonight (and her mom too!) and I was able to go out with my sweet husband and enjoy a really nice dinner and some shopping and just some quality time talking..we laughed because it was our first date in 4 years without a nursing baby in tow or a baby in my belly...haha!
We went to PF Chang's...our favorite...!!!..then we continued on to REI (YAY!!!) and then of course, Walmart..I don't think we can go on a date without hitting Walmart!!!
I just want to say that I feel like the luckiest girl alive to have such an amazing husband who is so involved in my every day life and loves our girls so much and is attentive and excited to be with us as much as possible. He's truly a gift from God and I can't believe it's only been 4 years. I feel like we've walked together for many many years. Our relationship is such a picture of God's grace...we both have quite the past behind us...stories of brokenness and heartache and sin and disaster...but we lay awake just about every night basking in the beauty of our relationship. It's not typically all mushy and lovey dovey...but the way we communicate and interact is truly a gift...I know I take Doug for granted most of the time and I thank God for anniversaries to really make us stop and thank HIM for the blessing of our relationship and to reflect on all we are so graciously given through one another. I hope our relationship is a light to others...to our children first and foremost and then to friends and relatives and even strangers.
Walking with Doug is a blessing...it's comforting...it's relaxing...it's safe...it's undeserved and I'm so thankful...
"Thank you God, for every minute that I'm able to spend here on earth with this man. I hope to honor you, O Lord, through my relationship with Doug..."

All about me...according to my 8 year old daughter, Lily

I shared this on facebook too but since it was time for an update on my blog, I figured I would post this...I'm lacking the creativity to come up with something new!
I'm sure you'll figure out that my private comments are the ones in parenthesis!
Enjoy!

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"Be quiet the babies are sleeping!!!!"

2. What makes mom happy?
"when someone babysits us and you can go on a date with daddy"

3. What makes mom sad?
"when the freezer door won't shut"

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
"when she starts breakin' down in the kitchen" (oh my goodness!!! busted, trying to dance!!!!)

5. What was your mom like as a child?
"goofy on christmas morning"

6. How old is your mom?
"32"

7. How tall is your mom?
"I don't know that stuff!!!!"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
"laying out in the sun with me"

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"clean and take care of babies"

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
"basketball"

11. What is your mom really good at?
"cooking"

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"ooh that's hard! nothing really..." (Lily must be easy to please!)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
"stays home and takes care of us"

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
stonewood grill (decent guess but not exactly the case)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"when she drives us safely to virginia and back" (Lily doesn't know about my speeding ticket since it wasn't a cop pulling me over, it was the photo type)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"something awesome!"

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"cook and schooling"

18. How are you and your mom the same?
"we like to bake goodies and we look alike"

19. How are you and your mom different?
"you like math and I hate it" (um...I hate math too..shhh!!!)

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"because you take care of me"

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
"rita's" (um..i've been once)