Happy Father's Day

Hubby and  I just got back from vacation and so during the transition of coming home, preparing for our weekend Father's Day events, doing laundry and unpacking, I have not been able to post anything. So, here is a LATE Father's Day blog! This is from our lovely Brandy, from CWB (Cooking with Brandy). Enjoy!

Instead of a traditional Father's Day Card.... Photo-Cards

What to do:
1. Snap a picture of your child
2. Then add "text" to the picture

1. a list of what you like about your dad
2. a cute phrase ("Swinging your way, to wish you a Happy Father's Day")
3. finish the the following:
1. Daddy loves_________________
2. He is good at_________________
3. My favorite thing to do with my dad is__________________
4. I love my daddy because ____________________

4. Then print them on photo paper.

This is cute and very personal! I did one from each girl... I used Microsoft wod and printed them on my home computer... - Brandy

I was blessed with not only an AMAZING dad but also an AMAZING hubby who turned out to be an AMAZING DAD. I appreciate his incredible dad skills!!! Well, I hope all you wonderful dads get spoiled today.

Andrew's Story

During the summertime when pooltime and water games is a must in this heat, I wanted to remind you all to be super careful in the water. I stumbled onto this article about a 9year old who drowned and was brought back to life. This is from loveinthehouse.

Andrew’s Story

My nine-year-old son Andrew drowned.
It’s still hard for me to say this out loud, so that is why I put it first. It’s been four weeks and six days since it happened.
My son drowned and was brought back to life by strangers who had CPR training.
He was brought back to life.
He is alive.
We are so blessed. God had everybody where they needed to be for Andrew’s life to be saved. I can’t tell you how destroyed we would have been if anything had gone differently that day. My heart came so close to being obliterated. Even now, it feels like shattered glass in a picture frame. It’s still there. It’s still whole. But shattered, nonetheless.
I’ve been feeling the need to share Andrew’s story. With summer coming and people spending more time in and on the water I’m feeling nervous and afraid for everyone. I want everyone to know that drowning is not like in the movies with splashing and waving.
It happened so fast and so silently.
Water safety has always been important to my husband and me; therefore our kids have taken swimming lessons for the past several years. We spent half of last summer in a pool. Our kids are familiar with and not afraid of water.
This story begins with a family weekend get-together. Every year, we get together with Michael’s extended family the weekend before Thanksgiving at a place we call “The Lodge.” Between 40 and 50 of us gather and we always have a blast and truly look forward to it every year. My kids usually start asking for a countdown in March and pack for it in July. After this long, cold winter we all decided we missed each other and that we should get together for a weekend this spring.
We decided to go to Sioux Falls, SD to a hotel water park the last weekend in April. Parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles could sit around and chat while kids are entertained with water and cousins. Friday evening was spent just so, cocktails in hand, catching up on everybody’s news and counting kids as they ran by.
There was a 1 ft deep pool with a really cool pirate ship, a couple hot tubs, a 5 ft pool, and a two-story waterslide that emptied into a 3.5 ft pool. Our older three kids spent the entire evening on the water slide. Dutch hung out mostly at the pirate ship.

On Saturday morning, Michael and I took our four kids (Andrew – 9, Josephine -8, Eleanor – 6, Dutch – 4) to Walmart to buy a life vest for our youngest. We ended up letting each of the kids pick out a water toy. Andrew decided on a mask and snorkel set because he doesn’t like water in his nose.
Back at the hotel, the kids resumed their play from the night before. This time, Dutch, armed with his life vest, took on the water slide. His siblings took turns helping him over to the side of the pool to get back out and do it again.
Michael’s cousin Joy and her husband Ryan, who live in Sioux Falls had just bought a new house and invited us to go for a tour. We were all excited to see it and about 12 of us decided to carpool over. While Mike stayed behind to watch the kids, I hopped in the car with Joy. Right before I left, I gave Michael some ibuprofen from my purse, because his back molar had been aching and bothering him the last couple of days.
Michael was sitting near the end of the water slide, watching our kids and their cousins go up and down, up and down.
After a while, some of the kids ventured into a nearby pool and started playing a game. Andrew and Josephine joined them. Dutch sat on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water. Since the kids were further away, Michael got up from his chair intending to go to the bar (that was closer to the pool the kids were in) for a glass of water to take the medicine and to find Eleanor.
As he walked past the five foot pool that three-fourths of our kids were playing in, he paused at the far corner trying to locate Eleanor. She was supposed to be playing in the pirate ship pool. When he could not see her, he looked back at the deep pool trying to see if she had jointed her siblings. He saw Josephine swimming across the pool, Dutch sitting on the side, Andrew using his new mask, and 13yo Mitchell and some of the other cousins were playing water games. No Eleanor.
He looked back at the pirate ship, then back at Andrew. He was thinking it was surprising that Andrew was in the deep pool, he hadn’t really liked deep water last summer. This raised his suspicions.
Looking closer at Andrew now, Michael could not recall seeing him come up for air. His goggles had come above the surface of the water but not his mouth. Something seemed off, so Michael walked up the side of the pool to get a closer look at the kids.
By this time, Andrew had shifted from the center of the pool and was closer to the side. He was now face-up as if looking at the ceiling through the water. Even now, Michael still thought Andrew could possibly be playing, but thought it was weird that he hadn’t seen him come up for air yet. Had he missed it when he looked away?
Then he saw bubbles and Andrew starting to sink.
Michael was now scared something was really wrong. Since Andrew was within arms reach of Mitchell, Michael had him pull Andrew up from underwater and Michael lifted him out. As soon as Andrew broke the surface he knew something was very, very wrong. He was blue in the face and completely limp.
Michael can still hear Josephine’s terrified scream when she saw her brother coming out of the water.
He wasn’t breathing. He had no pulse.
He was dead.
Mike gave him a couple breaths but nothing happened. People started running over. Two strangers, who had medical training, took over CPR and revived Andrew. After one round of CPR, Andrew vomited and water started gushing out of his body.
Andrew was brought back to life.
EMTs arrived, although we have no idea who called them.
I hadn’t been gone even ten minutes and never actually made it to Joy’s house; we got a phone call about the situation and started coming back immediately. I was so glad I was with Joy who knew her way around the city. She drove me straight to the hospital where I waited for the ambulance to arrive. What was minutes seemed like hours.
The medical staff assured us we had the best outcome possible. They called him Miracle Boy. Reviving a drowning victim on scene is the best case scenario. We were so lucky. We are so blessed.
They were concerned about pulmonary edema so Andrew needed to stay in the hospital overnight. Mike’s parents and sister took care of our other three children so that we could both be with him. He was put on hi-flow oxygen to help dry out his lungs. He was alert and talking but still didn’t seem to be himself yet.

When we could talk to him about what happened, we got the story from his perspective. He said that he got into the pool and pushed off from the side, got to the middle and put his feet down, expecting to touch bottom. The pool was deeper than he had realized and his body panicked. It was as simple and gut-wrenching as that.
He had gotten in at the 5ft end of the pool, not the 3.5ft depth that he’d been in the whole time we were there. His head went underwater and he never resurfaced.
He had touched the bottom of the pool with his foot but couldn’t get back up to the surface. He tried reaching out for a cousin but couldn’t make his body move.
He was in a pool with half a dozen kids who know and love him and no one knew what was going on. It happened so fast and so quietly.
Andrew’s night in the hospital went smoothly and by morning he was back to his usual self. It was such a relief to see him, the real him, again.
We are so lucky and so very, very blessed. And yet there’s a grief that has its grip on my heart. Grief for what did happen and grief for so what very nearly happened. I have my son. Our family is still complete. I am grateful beyond words.
I know I can get through anything, even this strange grateful-grief, as long as I have them.
I consider Michael, Mitchell and those who performed CPR on Andrew to be earthly angels. They are heroes to me. Michael won’t hear that, will not believe that of himself. He’s too filled with dread for how closely things were timed. What if he had gotten to the side of the pool even 30 seconds later?
I have many more stories and many more things to say about the incident. The phone call we got in the car and the anxiety I feel every time the phone rings now. How family members took the younger cousins back in the pool, one-on-one, later that day so they wouldn’t be scared of water. Dutch’s warning when we took Andrew swimming the next week, “Don’t go underwater and die!” The tears and pain in my husband’s eyes when he whispered, “If we had lost him, how could you ever have forgiven me?” Would not only our son, but our marriage have been lost, too?
Those are stories for another day. But for now what I really want to say is this: Please, please, please keep an eye on your kids in the water. Take a CPR class. You can’t prevent every bad thing from happening but you certainly can be prepared on how to deal with it.

Be prepared! Remember, it's very quick and quiet, so be alert and know were your children are and what they are doing. -rejoicing in the present
 

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

As some of you may know, Baby A is in ISR swim classes. I'm a BIG proponent for equipping your children and yourself. So, I will be doing a blog once his classes are done. In the meantime and over the next few days I will be sharing some articles I came upon about being careful around water.

Here is and interesting article that was being passed around on FB. It's from slate.com

Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning

In many child drownings, adults are nearby but have no idea the victim is dying. Here’s what to look for.

By Mario Vittone

The new captain jumped from the deck, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the couple swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine; what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not 10 feet away, their 9-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know—from 50 feet away—what the father couldn’t recognize from just 10? Drowning is not the violent, splashing call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew know what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response—so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the No. 2 cause of accidental death in children, ages 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents)—of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. According to the CDC, in 10 percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch the child do it, having no idea it is happening. Drowning does not look like drowning—Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene magazine, described the Instinctive Drowning Response like this:

1. “Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble—they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the Instinctive Drowning Response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long—but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs—vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder

So if a crew member falls overboard and everything looks OK—don’t be too sure. Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning. They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck. One way to be sure? Ask them, “Are you all right?” If they can answer at all—they probably are. If they return a blank stare, you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them. And parents—children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

Equip your child, equip yourself and keep your eyes open! - rejoicing in the present

Great Girls your Daughters should meet...

Recently I fell upon this article from MollyMakesDo and I thought I would share it with you. I really like most of the list and so I want to share them with you. I have added to her list and taken away a few as well.

I'm not a huge fan of the Twilight Series of books - long story short, I think they have little literary merit (due to equal parts poor writing, poor plot development and poor character development) and are marketed to too young of girls for my taste. That kind of literary fluff concerning the topics central to these books are best left to beach reads for older girls and women at best. My friend Haley does a great job at expressing her dislike of the series and I can't say I disagree. *as you read her letter please remember there is a difference between allowing a child to read what interests her and encouraging certain materials over another*.

The following is a far from complete list of some of my favorites - they are warriors, scholars, mothers, daughters; they can be wildly in love and impressively practical; they are a little too perfect and incredibly flawed. Most of them have happy endings, some of them don't. In an nutshell - these are girls who act like girls:

1. Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden
2. Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy from Little Women
3. Sara Crewe from A Little Princess
4. Laura, Mary and Ma Ingalls from the Little House on the Prairie Series
5. Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables
6. Ramona and Beezus from the Ramona Series
7. Lucy and Susan from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
8. Jane from Jane Erye
9. Lizzy Bennet and her Sisters from Pride and Prejudice
10. Eleanor and Marianne from Sense and Sensibility
11. Anne from Persuasion
12. Eowyn from the Lord of the Rings
13. Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing
14. Kate from The Taming of the Shrew
15. Hester Pryne from The Scarlet Letter
16. Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird
17. Princess Buttercup from The Princess Bride
18. Charlotte from Charlotte's Web
19. Sarah from Sara, Plain and Tall

Not to mention some really great ladies from the past and present:

1. Not to mention...Lydia, Ruth, Esther and Mary from the Bible
2. Mary from Mary Slessor: White Queen of the Cannibals
3. Gladys Alward from The Little Woman
4. Korie Robertson from The Duck Commander Family
5. Katie from Kisses from Katie
6. Lisa Beamer from Let's Roll
7. Cassie Bernall from She said Yes

Feel free to add to the list - Rejoicing in the Present

Do your part

Our pastor shared this story in church on a Sunday morning. It's a sweet story but it is also gospel thought-provoking.

My 9-year-old's last-second request surprised his doctor and taught me a valuable lesson about sharing the gospel....Tina Blessitt

Last fall my 9-year-old son, Austin, had his tonsils removed. Before the surgery, Austin’s anesthesiologist came to start an IV. He was wearing a cool surgical cap covered in colorful frogs. Austin loved that "frog hat."

The doctor explained that he had two choices. He could either try to start the IV, or he could wait until Austin was up in the operating room. In the OR the doctor would give Austin some "goofy" gas, and start the IV when he was more relaxed.

"So, Austin ," he asked, "which do you want?"

Austin replied, "I'll take the gas."

But when the doctor started to leave, Austin called, "Hey, wait."

The doctor turned. Yeah, buddy, what do you need?"

"Do you go to church?"

"No," the doctor admitted. "I know I probably should, but I don't."

Austin then asked, "Well, are you saved?"

Chuckling nervously, the doctor said, "Nope. But after talking to you, maybe it's something I should consider."

Pleased with his response, Austin answered, "Well, you should, 'cause Jesus is great!"

"I'm sure He is, little guy," the doctor said, and quickly made his exit.

After that a nurse took me to the waiting room. Someone would come and get me when Austin 's surgery was done.

After about 45 minutes, the anesthesiologist came into the waiting room. He told me the surgery went well and then said, "Mrs. Blessitt, I don't usually come down and talk to the parents after a surgery, but I just had to tell you what your son did."

Oh boy, I thought. What did that little rascal do now?

The doctor explained that he'd just put the mask on Austin when my son signaled that he needed to say something.

When the doctor removed the mask, Austin blurted, "Wait a minute, we have to pray!"

The doctor told him to go ahead, and Austin prayed, "Dear Lord, please let all the doctors and nurses have a good day. And Jesus, please let the doctor with the frog hat get saved and start going to church. Amen."

The doctor admitted this touched him. "I was so sure he would pray that his surgery went well," he explained. "He didn't even mention his surgery. He prayed for me! Mrs Blessitt, I had to come down and let you know what a great little guy you have."

A few minutes later a nurse came to take me to post-op. She had a big smile on her face as we walked to the elevator.

"Mrs. Blessitt, I couldn't wait to tell you something exciting that your son did."

With a smile, I told her that the doctor already mentioned Austin 's prayer.

"But there's something you don't know," she said. "Some of the other nurses and I have been witnessing to and praying for that doctor for a long time.

After your son's surgery, he tracked a few of us down to tell us about Austin 's prayer. He said, 'Well girls, you got me. If that little boy could pray for me when he was about to have surgery, then I think maybe I need his Jesus too."

She then recounted how they joined the doctor as he prayed to receive Christ right there in the hospital.

Wow! Austin had played a small part in something wonderful. But then, so did the nurses who prayed and witnessed.

I thought about John's words in his Gospel, "One sows and the other reaps"
(John 4:37 ).

Austin 's experience taught me that, although we never know which role we may be called to play, in the end it doesn't matter. What's important is that we remain faithful in sharing the gospel.

Tina Blessitt, a freelance writer, lives with her husband and four children in Kentucky ..."Don't tell God how big your troubles are--tell your trouble HOW BIG YOUR GOD IS

Paul says "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.- I Corinthians 3:6  It's not your work but it's God's work through you that produces a new believer.  You don't know if you are planting, watering or weeding, but all are needed for a seed to become a child of God.  Are you doing your part?

If those nursing had not done their part, the heart of that doctor would not have been tender for the little boy to plant the seed.  You may never see a soul come to the Lord but that's not your duty. You are to be faithful in sharing.  You may be the 10th or the 1st person to witness to a person, you never know.  Matthew 28 says "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."  Do your part and let God do the rest. - Rejoicing in the Present.

Cooking W/ Brandy - Corn on the Cob

This is a recipe our pastor's sweet wife Julie shared with me. This is from foodnetwork.com. It will make a corn on the cob lover out of anyone! Delicious! - Brandy O

What you need:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 ears yellow corn, husked, halved crosswise

What you do:

• Heat the oil in a heavy small skillet over medium heat.
• Add the garlic and saute until tender and fragrant, about 1 minute.
•  Remove the skillet from the heat and cool.
• Set aside 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese and stir the rest into the garlic mixture, along with the parsley and salt.
• Cook the corn in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
• Using tongs, transfer the corn to a platter. Brush the cheese mixture over the hot corn and serve.
•  Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese on top of the corn.

ENJOY~

Baby A is ONE!!

Here are some adorable pictures from Avery's 1st Birthday. I used a white sheet for the background and got a little creative with a balloon and some blocks. If you have other ideas for a cute baby picture shoot, please feel free to leave comment. If I could go back, I would have ironed the sheet. :-) I hope you like!! - rejoicing in the present