collapsed lung

clint has been having some pain in his lung for about 10 days or so. yesterday he finally went to the doctor and found out he has a collapsed lung. crazy thing. he just needs to take it real easy for a while, check back with the doc every 3 days to make sure it is getting better and not worse, and hopefully his body will heal itself like it is supposed to.

well tonight, barrett turned to clint and said,
"Dad, I would give one of my lungs if I could."
clint replied, " Thanks Barrett, but it isn't like that...I don't need a new lung."
to which barrett said,
"I know Dad. But I would give you one if you needed it."
sweet sweet boy.


(funny thing is... for those of you that know barrett, he really does have plenty of lung and always has! that kid was born screaming LOUD!, and has hardly quieted down... some days we wish he would give one of his away.... only kidding of course!)

** update on clints lung... as of september 11 it ws 50% improved!**

on my mind...

it's amazing how connected we can feel to people through this wonderful thing called blogging. i, like so many others, have been reading this wonderful blog for quite some time. when i came across her blog i was hooked. she is an amazing mother, wife, and daughter of a heavenly father who knows who she is and centers her life around it. she has an amazing zest for life and is so in love with her little family and it shows in everything she does. if you don't read NieNie, you really should. she is inspiring.
so when i checked a couple of days ago and heard about this, i was so sad. i am in shock and just so sad for this tragedy. even though i haven't ever met her, i feel as though this news came about a close friend of mine... right now all we can do is pray, pray and pray some more. you can get updates
here - her sister's blog.

this is the second major tragedy to hit "acquaintances" of mine in a month.
really gets you thinking...
life is short.
the Lord is really in charge.

makes me want to live each day with
a little more faith,
a lot more love,
and full of things that are really important... (much like Stephanie lives her life)...
i am hoping and praying that they will recover and that this little family will soon be back together loving their beautiful life.

"that stinkin' toothfairy"

there is a problem in our home. the tooth fairy is consistently late and forgetful. almost always it is days and sometimes weeks before she actually remembers to visit the kids when they have lost a tooth. usually the kids have given up looking under their pillow each morning by the time she actually makes it here. well today i think cameron may have discovered the reason for her behavior. this morning, when i was informed that she had, once again, forgotten to visit cameron, i said "that stinkin' tooth fairy!". cameron then said, "mom, don't call her that. i'm sure that is why she isn't coming. she doesn't want to be in a house where my mom is calling her names." so, dear tooth fairy, i am deeply sorry and hope that you will make a visit to our home soon...

fairy-tale cake

remember that cake the 3 fairies tried to make in sleeping beauty without their magic? well, we were lucky enough to experience that cake for real! here's to
my-super-crafty-talented-domestic-
I-don't-know-how-we're-even-related-sister
who just knew her chocolate cake could beat out mine! while she was here visiting, we both made cakes and i'm pretty sure she must have left her magic wand in seattle. i definitely took the cake on this one -- if you know what i mean! just the other day i was making this delicious cake again and ethan was begging me to make the sleeping beauty cake instead. i had to explain to him - i just didn't have that magic touch...

and of course, for your sweet tooth, the recipe to my award-winning chocolate cake!

favorite chocolate bundt cake

1 (18.25 oz.) pkg. devils food cake mix without the pudding in the mix

1 (4 oz.) pkg. instant chocoalte fudge or other chocolate flavor pudding mix

4 eggs

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, sour cream, and water. Beat with an electric mixer on low until just blended. Beat on medium speed 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour into a well-greased 12-cup bundt pan. Bake 50 - 60 minutes. Let cool 10-15 minutes in pan, then invert onto a serving plate and let cool completely. Sift powdered sugar over top.

Enjoy!

hello again, hello!

I'm thinking it's about time to update the blog!

Life

has been crazy busy, I'll use the ole' "we moved" card, but it has been much more than that. In all our many many moves, this goes down as the hardest...I'm not sure why... let's see...could it be we have 4 kids now, we built this home so we were and are so exhausted that we don't even want to unpack, we haven't "settled" into our "own" home for over 3 years...I think I forgot how to put a home together, plus there are still so many unfinished projects haunting us, we spent last month potty training a laid-back 3-year old who couldn't have cared less, it's now summer so the kids are home all day and that keeps me busy busy... I think it's
just life.
I am going to try really hard to keep up on the blogging stuff. I get so behind that it becomes overwhelming...you know like the old scrapbooking stuff. I am not going to let this overwhelm me to the point that I don't even know where to start to catch up. I am just going to start from today. I will probably back post for the past few months, just for my own documentation, since this is the closest thing I have to any journal or scrapbook... anyway, here is a picture of our "cute-iful" 6 month-old Savanna... cameron made up that word "cute-iful" and it stuck!