My talented sister came over with her family to spend the 4th of July with us and blessed us with some of her beautiful photography. Thanks, sissie. Your amazing!!!!!

Below are some of the shots she took.

And yes we use a wheelbarrow instead of a stroller around here. Now that we have chickens, we're just THAT kinda country.

Shep went to the cardiologist today. Everything looked about the same. The narrowing in his heart remains the same. We are praying it will grow with him as he grows but I don't think the doctors are holding their breath. They mentioned again today the possibility of another heart catheter and/or the possibility of open heart surgery. It was the first time they had mentioned going into the OR as a possibility in a while and I must admit it was more than little unnerving. 

We want so much for this chapter is Shep's life to be over, to move on to being a healthy, happy little boy. But if we've learned anything, it's that Shepherd has a God that loves him and his parents very much and he can be trusted with these kinds of things.

So it's just  a matter of watching and waiting to see what will happen. 

I also talked with the airway folks recently and they plan to schedule his bronchoscopy for August/September. At that time, if everything looks good, they'll simply take his trach out and put a bandage over the hole, while they watch him in the hospital for a couple of days. As long as he can breath good on his own, he's good to go.

Please be praying for this. If for some reason, during the bronch, they don't think he's quite willing to de-canulate (take his trach out) then we'll have to wait for another 6 months to try again. They don't usually let kids de-canulate during the winter months because of all the illnesses that go around during the winter.

Other than that, the really BIG news is that my 3 1/2 month old who has not EVER EVEN ONCE had the chance to nurse is, as of today, nursing like a CHAMP!!!! It's almost like he's got some sort of divine help or something. Weird.

So I don't plan on getting much sleep for a while but I am DELIGHTED at this answer to prayer. At our appointment today they took him off of the special formula he was on. Hopefully, his chylothorax is completely healed and we will not see the likes of that $200 a can (that lasts 4 days) formula again. Dr. R (our cardiologist) also took his diuretics down again. He would really like to get  him off of those completely, as they are hard on the kidneys and can even cause deafness in babies who are on high doses for long amounts of time. 

So that's it. I would call it a successful day- that is if you measure progress by victories and not by cleanliness. 

And I am looking forward to a weekend!!! Oh, how I love that Friday feeling, knowing my honey is gonna be home all weekend. (Speaking of my honey- he recently taught a short class called "Loving Discipline"  at our church. I hear it was pretty good. If your looking for some encouragement, check it out here) Just look under The Gospel Centered Home classes and look for Noah Joyner.

 We already started the weekend off with a family movie night. It was a great Western called "Seven men from now." 

I love making a pallet on the floor full of blankets and pillows and letting clean little boys whose hair smells oh so delightful cuddle up all around to watch a movie. Ahhhh, weekends.

And you gotta be kidding me with this!! Are you dying right now? I am already dead. 

They are SOOO adorable. Don't you wanna cuddle up with blankets next to these sweet things and just soak up whatever moment you can get? 

Well chances are you can't cuddle up with these three, but I am sure there's someone you can cuddle up with to savor a moment.

A moment like this one, one the fourth of July. 

Savoring this moment only cost us approximately 225 mosquito bites to get.

And this moment with my BFF/sister. Ohhhh soooooo swweettt! 

Love you sissers.

I hope you all have a great weekend, seeing the joy God can bring into any season of life. Sometimes it seems like it lasts forever, sometimes we struggle to find even moments- but they're there.

Just ask Him to show them to you.

Date Night

During Noah's week out of school, one of the things we decided HAD to happen was a date night with the kids. Specifically, I wanted to go with Aslan. Since Haddon is younger, Aslan usually spends a lot of one -on- one time with Daddy, and I wanted some for myself. I really wanted to take him to his first movie but there weren't any out. Yet, it worked out so beautifully. We made wonderful memories, which is the point, right?  Aslan and I set out for dinner and a fun event.Haddon and daddy set out for an unnamed adventure.  First I thought go-carts because he has been asking about them every time we pass them at the Factory... but they were closed. But quality time together cannot be deterred!!!! Not this momma!!! So what else? Well, we were already at The Factory. So Aslan and I snuck into the ice rink and got to sit on the bleachers in the cold and watch hockey practice! It was soooo MUCH fun!!!! It is a little know fact about me, but since I grew up in Alaska, ice rinks are very nostalgic for me. It was TOTALLY free. They said we could come in any time, so I figure Aslan and I have a great new date spot. All kids aren't the same, but if you have a little boy (or girl) who likes watching sports, go for it. We were the only people in the stands, so we could spread out. And Aslan could have sat there all night watching them skate around and hit the puck. Next time we will bundle up. IT was cold!!!  So we did the only rational thing. We went and shared some nachos, dinner for two under $5. Then we got Starbucks and went back to the rink for a little while. We had the sweetest time. Those times are so important. I can't wait to see how that quality time continues to change and grow as he gets older. I hope when he is 20, he still wants to go sit at the ice rink with mom, and then share some great conversation over Starbucks. 

But most of all, I value these relationship building times because I really want my children to trust me with the gospel. Just like any relationship, we learn each other and he learns how much I care for him or how trustworthy I am during these times.  Dr. Aiken once told Noah that he made a deal with his sons early on. " I will go to every baseball game of yours if you will come hear me preach on Sundays." I think the point is that sharing the gospel and raising our children involves a whole lot more than just "telling" them the truth. I want for my children to have such a rich relationship with Noah and I that when we are telling them the treasures of God's word, they are being laid on the foundation of deep trust that has been built over years. I hope that will be valuable in their later years when so many others vie for their trust, also. So with LOTs of prayers and TONs of dependence on God's grace and the work of the Holy Spirit... May date night continue!!

What are some of your favorite ways to spend quality time with the kiddos? Do you notice they are much more receptive to your instruction when you are spending special time with them?

You can't get to heaven on roller skates

"Oh you can't get to heaven on roller skates, cause you'll roll right by those pearly gates"

Yes... these are actually words to a very popular child's christian song. One that I fell asleep listening to as a child. One that is on a CD I let my child listen to falling asleep. This is a problem. You truly can not get to heaven based on your recreational footwear. But there are bigger problems than that with this song, which goes on in further verses to describe other things that won't get you to heaven, none of which include... YOU!!! Yes, you know... the truth! So I have decided to reconsider the "christian" influences for my children. In our feeble attempt to literally teach our children the truth about GOD, THEMSELVES, and THE WORLD (no pressure), I need to take seriously the songs and books that my children listen to. Especially "Christian" ones making blatant claims about God, Heaven,and their spiritual state. We forget that especially at young ages they believe EVERYTHING they are told. This means my child could actually believe getting into heaven has something to do with roller skates. But most importantly, they will miss the REAL BIBLICAL truth, which is Gal 2:16 "yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ..." They may miss or confuse the most important thing we can ever teach them as mothers, Jesus Christ is THE ONLY way to heaven. 

Mabye we can all have a purging session. Just look through your "Christian" children's books, songs, bibles (yes, even children's bibles) and make sure the truths therein are consistent with what the bible teaches. If you feel intimidated by the process, you could ask your husband or a discerning friend to help. 

And as a somewhat entertaining, somewhat horrifying example of this problem, I present to you a "Christian" children's song that I recently found while looking for a song to teach the children in our small group. I don't know, you tell me, is this problematic?

Adam was a gardener

copyright 1999 KIDiddles.com

Adam was a gardener 

And Eve, she was his spouse,

They lost their jobs by stealing fruit (Is that all they lost? their job?!?!?!)

And went to keeping house. (And THIS is the wage of sin! keeping house!)

There it was a quiet one

And peaceful in the main, (REALLY?!?! I could have sworn SIN had just entered the world)

Until they had a baby boy and

Went to raising Cain. (now, that's just cheezy!)

Young folks, old folks

Everybody Come.

Come on oe'r to our place

And make yourselves at home.

But please check your chewing gum

And razors at the door, (YUP! what more can I say?)

We'll tell you bible stories

That you never heard before." (Oh, I don't doubt that for a minute!)