So much. Too much.

There is so much to blog about. I don't even know where to start or have time to make sense of it all. I will list all the things I would like to blog about but can't get them clear or straight in my head and maybe, just maybe I will be able to revisit this blog and pick something to clearly write about.

1. My husband, my God and Crazy Love
2. Over and over again, it continues to happen, and it breaks my heart
3. Christmas
4. Permanent marker
5. Avon
6. Fair weather friends
7. Not so fair weather friends that are probably tired
8. Heartbreak and anger
9. Dyslexia, for sure
10. Wishing I could really make my heart be happy in Illinois
11. The Beach
12. A pair of jeans that fit
13. Enjoying the little things
14. Laundry
15. Knowing true love

See my issue, why I can't really blog? BLOG. Because Life is On-Going, and doesn't wait for me to write about every little thing. Because I can't clear my head.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3htOCjafTc

Is it bedtime yet?

Kellin got  his tubes in this week. I guess maybe with all the fluid he has in his ears and for as long as he had been carrying around ear infections he hasn't been running at 100%, maybe about 60%. Well, to be completely honest, I am not really convinced I can handle Kellin at 100%. I'm beat.

This week was busy. In fact it was so busy I cannot hardly remember Monday. So, I will look back on my calendar and give you a run down of the highlights that I am sure you are just dying to hear about. Not to mention it was the big kids first full week back at school, whew.

Monday opened up a door. Possibly a door that I could plunge through and make some things happen. I just am not convinced it is the right door. Still pondering and praying for guidance.

Tuesday was my Tuesday morning Bible Study. I love love love my Tuesday morning Bible Study. I don't ever want to give that up, ever. The ladies are awesome. The encouragement is amazing and I learn so much.

Wednesday is our Awana day. The kids are half way through their school week at this point, and I am beginning to remember the Wednesday morning shuffle. It is hard, and they needed some encouragement, so they got to eat some Halloween candy before I took them to school. You are so welcome public school teachers, I am that mom. Awana night in the nursery was especially fun this past Wednesday. I am pretty sure it had something to do with the chocolate cupcakes provided by my sweet friend Cara, of which I ate 4. Yes, 4. And I am not ashamed in the least. I am pretty certain they were fat free.

Thursday was tubes day for the red head. He did not care for the entire situation at all. He was a nervous wreck from the moment we walked into Proctor. After he woke up from the anesthesia he was hysterical until he was sure we were far away from the hospital and well on our way home. Poor kid. But after a good nap he was in rare form and wired for sound. God please help me. Please.

Thursday also included Mahala's eye exam. Her vision has gotten significantly worse, not better. Disappointing. Good news is Komtasu's Vision Service Plan rocks and saved us a ton of money, so she can at least get the glasses she so desperately needs.

Thursday also holds my favorite shows. Greys Anatomy and Private Practice. Unfortunately the story line for both has turned into something that I just don't really consider enjoyable at this time in my life. War, PTSD and rape. No thanks. Got some pondering to do on that subject as well considering one of my most FAVORITE people in the world takes hours out of her Thursday each week to come eat dinner with me and the kids and watch those shows with me. Ugh.

Friday was awesome. It was a MOPS Friday. Probably my most favorite 2 days of the month are MOPS Fridays. We packed boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I found out who my Mentor Mom is going to be. And we played a very fun game at MOPS. All very encouraging. Not to mention I came home from MOPS to a clean house. The only things at my house were a husband, 2 cats and a dog. Yep, you guessed, I pretty much have the most amazing husband ever. Ever. Really, ever, you have no idea, most amazing. Ever.

Friday also gave me some answers I was seeking in another area of my life and I have started the ball rolling on that. It is funny the answer to some needs we have had has been sitting in front of our face for a while, and it just now occurred to both of us that this might be the answer we have been seeking.

And Kaleb just lost his other front tooth. The tooth fairy is real, and I know she loves our house because we keep her gainfully employed. HOWEVER, if by chance the tooth fairy were not real and it was just us parents. We would be broke and running out of creative ways to try and show the kids that each tooth they lose is just as unique and special as the last, especially since the last one was just like 2 weeks ago. Of course, that is only IF the tooth fairy wasn't real. And we all know that she is.

Although I am tired of sitting at home on Friday night alone with four kids, and yes, that is possible to be alone with 4 kids, and my back is hurting me very very much I had an amazing week. I have a chiropractor appointment on Monday. Hope that will help with the serious back pain I have been having lately.

There is actually so much more to tell, but I have found that blogs lose their interest after about the first 2 paragraphs if there isn't a great writer on the other side of the key board or a very funny story taking place. Neither of which is happening in this particular blog so I'm gonna go.......

But first, here is one for good measure because I promised in the last blog that I would post a picture of our newest family member, Pumpkin.

Oh the struggle

So God has provided a way that we have been asking for. A way to get caught up on some stuff and maybe, just maybe get a little ahead with our finances. This is a rare opportunity living off of one income with 4 children (not to mention all of the medical bills.......).

Anyway, I have had 2 opportunities fall into my lap. One requires childcare, which I am unable to find as of now, and it has a deadline of tomorrow. The other requires hard work and determination, neither of which I am afraid of AT ALL. One will have immediate returns, but is possibly only temporary and requires me to act fast, find suitable childcare and be a little less free and flexible then what I prefer, and what is really required of my family. The other offers flexibility, long term return, lots of time invested initially, but as much flexibility as I need and want.

I am praying, and I am sure God will provide the answer in His time. Please pray with me, I would really appreciate it!

Love, M.

3 is the magic number!

I have 3 followers!! Woo hoo!!

Today was a great day. We had an awesome church service, in which WE actually invited people to come to church with us, and the sermon was great, and very fitting. God is good and knew exactly when our friends would come to church and what message they would need to hear to encourage them to come back. God is so cool.

Then we had an awesome lunch with a bunch of the people from our church and all their kids. It was like a 3 ring circus, I love every minute of it.

Afterwards we came home and the newest member of our family was delivered......pictures to follow soon. I found a kitten rescue in our area that rescues kittens, pays for them to get fixed and pays for them to get their shots and then they find loving homes for them. Well, we have lots of love to go around. So, we got an orange tabby kitten, she is a playful little 5 month old, the same age as Colton, and we named her Pumpkin because we got her on Halloween!! The plus is she really likes dog food, and our dog barely eats her dog food, so she isn't gonna cost us a dime at this rate......AND she won't get put to sleep or left outside to die this winter.

The the rest of the afternoon went by in a blue. We started getting ready at 3 p.m. for pictures at 4 p.m., then some dinner and Trick-or-treating at 5 p.m. The kids had a great time. I had Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe (Kaleb), a kitten (Mahala), a Monkey (yep, you guessed it right, Kellin) and a tired turtle (Colton).

They lasted about an hour and had a great time. I have been steadily throwing away candy when they aren't looking, you know that stuff that they can't have anyway because of those precious baby teeth (Milk Duds, Airheads, etc). I know, I am so bad.

Here is a glimpse for your viewing enjoyment! More Halloween pics to follow soon! God is so good!

Mahala wanted to be a white kitty, with a little imagination and help from my friend Cara....mission accomplished! Well, pretty much.

Here is our recycled Turtle costume from Kellin that he never got to wear because he was only 3 weeks old on his 1st Halloween! It fit Colton perfect, and he really does look good in green!

I just love this picture. It speaks volumes to me!!

My very own red head

Today consisted of me actually getting out of the house, somewhat dressed up, on time, wearing make-up and doing a grown up activity. Without children. And my husband only called me one time in the 4 hours I was gone, which is VERY impressive in my book considering he was home with all 4 children. Not too shabby. Although after it was all said and done I need a bloody Mary to recover from the Women's Lifestyle Show at the Peoria Civic Center. Next year I do believe I will drink that bloody Mary before I venture into that madness.

Of course, last night was not quite as smooth. Kaleb stayed the night at a friends house, lucky boy. Mahala woke up at 6 something ish a.m. surely wondering why she had not been bombarded by her little brother yet. Colton is pretty much the easiest kid ever and only makes a teeny tiny bit of noise when he is absolutely starving to death. He gets the pecking order around here, he is number 4. He only cries out for help out of sheer desperation, other then that he tries to fade away as to not get trampled by the mad chaos that regularly ensues at our house, or anywhere we go really. We come in large numbers. Well, then there is Kellin. Ah yes Kellin. His name means mighty warrior, I am beginning to think he is the warrior, and mighty, and I am the war? Or the enemy? Or I am the obstacle in between the warrior and his enemy and I am going to get mowed down in the process of this fight. But he sure does me make me laugh. A LOT. But usually not until later after it is all said and done.

As I stumbled out of my bed at 6:30 a.m. to feed the baby this is how the conversation went:
Mahala: "Where's Kellin"
Me: "In my freakin bed where he has been all freakin night. Why on God's green earth are you up so early." (note this was not a question but rather a complaint as to why any creature in my house finds it acceptable to get up before 8 a.m.)
Mahala: "Why is Kellin in your bed? Is daddy sleeping? Can I go in there?
Me: "NOOOOO! Please don't even WHISPER within 10 feet of my bedroom door. Kellin was up 172 times last night and Daddy didn't get to bed til 2 a.m. because he took the late feeding with Colton. In fact, don't even breathe. Why are you up so early." (Again - not a question, not even a complaint at this point, but an accusation - WHY are YOU up so EARLY)

So as I gracefully stub my toe and walk downstairs with the bottle I get to thinking. What can I do to make this go as smoothly as possible? AHA, I've got it. I brought Colton upstairs, put him in the bouncy seat, dug out a Yoo Hoo from the fridge, shook it real good, got a straw, turned on cartoons and bribed my 6 year old to feed the baby while I showered and the red headed monster and daddy slept peacefully (and more comfortably now that I was out of the bed).

I managed to shower, get out of the house and did not get a phone call until 10:30 a.m. when Mic woke up. Mahala and Baby Colton were watching Saturday Morning cartoons, each with their respective drinks of formula and Yoo Hoo chocolate drink polished off at this point. Kaleb came in about 11 a.m. from his friends. When I got home they were eating lunch, Kellin still in his pajamas, which he stayed in all day until his bath at 7 p.m. after which he was immediately placed in a clean pair of PJ's, why make more laundry for myself right? As if 18 pairs of clothes a day isn't enough for me to wash.

The various other antics of Kellin are far too great to write about in one post, and those are just for today. But I will post a picture of one...... came down to check on him while I was cooking dinner and this is what I found................yes, I have my very own red head.

In case you need a little help deciphering this picture - this is Kellin, in Colton's crib, with his football, pulling off my wall decals. Yes, he has his coat on because he WAS outside playing football, and YES, as I stated, those are his pajamas underneath his coat. It's okay, no need to nominate me for mother of the year, I am a shoe in whether I have your vote or not.

And so it begins....

Blogging you say? Read my blog all the details are on there. Yeah, I put it on my blog. What? You didn't read it? Oh those pics, yeah check out my blog and you can see them there!!

Having these convos makes me feel like my mother, except with blogging. My mother feels this way about all "techie" things, like texting, or how to make a smiley face on an e-mail with the colon and a parenths. I just feel blog inadequate, although I have a few a follow, okay, 3 that I follow I figured why not me? I have a lot of important stuff to say and not nearly enough people to say it to, or enough hours in the day to say it to all the people I need (okay maybe not need, but want) to say it to. So, I will blog about it. Maybe it will make me feel better. Maybe it will make me not talk so much when I am around the people I like being around and I can work on becoming a listener instead. Hmm, maybe that is why I will start am starting my blog....I can enlist about 3 of my friends to read it, probably the same 3 whose blog I read and then I will feel like someone is listening, or at least laughing at me, and with me during this adventure called being a Smith.

So, the title of my blog. Is that changeable? It took me about 4 and a half seconds to come up with my blog title. Why? My name is Melissa Smith. I have been named Melissa Myers, that was my maiden name, then I was Melissa Cuttin, that was my practice marriage name. Now I am Melissa Smith, and so proud to end up where I finally have with the amazing husband that I have. But really, my last name is Smith. I get asked at minimum 4 times a week how to spell that. Seriously? Seriously. Seriously! Smith. S. M. I. T. H. That's it, just Smith. Spellchecker doesn't even highlight Smith, but it does Myers and Cuttin. Why this seems so funny to me I don't know. I think it goes back to the listening thing. If people actually listened when I said "Melissa Smith" they would probably figure out that it is a pretty simple name.

Well, I don't know how you are supposed to start a blog, but this is my first post. I have no idea how often I will be blogging. Maybe once a day, probably more like once a week. So we will set a goal for once a month without any guilt what so ever if I never post another blog.

But in the meantime, here is a picture of what the center of most of my blogs will be about. God love them. They are fearfully and wonderfully made.