The Best Day EVER!!

I am not sure why, but this year the Christmas Spirit has eluded me. It was not for lack of trying I can assure you. Weekly lesson's on the birth of Christ for my children, strains of Christmas music filled my home continually, a family was adopted for Christmas, the yearly cookie and candy making was done. Angels, nutcrackers, santa's, and various nativities adorned my home. We took the traditional drive down Christmas tree lane and "oohed and awed" over the beautiful light displays. I went to every child's Christmas program. Lots of hot chocolate with marshmallows was consumed over wonderful holiday stories. We watched every holiday movie I own... but still I felt empty and I felt sad. I wanted so badly to give my children a wonderful holiday filled with all the warmth and happiness remembered from my youth, but I felt that despite all my efforts I was failing them.
December 22 came and I still had not found that elusive feeling I was searching for. That night at work a woman came in, she was 20 weeks and 1 day. She was visiting relatives from Texas. She had spontaneously ruptured, was contracting, and her cervix was opening. She was septic and needed that baby out or she would die. Sadly the baby needed to stay in or it would die. I watched that little baby, only a week older than the small life growing inside me, die slowly on the monitor. It's little heart rate slowly dropping from 160 to 120 to a meager 60 bpm. I have delivered babies that were already dead, but this was the first baby that I actually had to watch die and there was nothing I could do about it.
At home my fitful sleep was intermingled with dreams of a tiny baby boy gasping for life and a grieving mother who held her dead child with all the tenderness she would have showered on a live child.
I thought about children and I thought about mothers. I thought about Christ and I thought about Mary. The morning of the 24th dawned. There were still so many things to be done. I had planned our yearly caroling outing to the assisted living centers as well as to our relatives that live nearby the kids look forward to that all year, but I didn't have everything done. I decided to forgo the push and the stress and just stay home. My well made plans were thrown to the wind and I settled in doing the small mundane things that make me feel more sane at home. I started washing down my walls and cupboards, swept the floor, and pulled out the mop. One by one my little children came to me to ask me what they could do to help. I handed out little tasks and watched them as they joyfully worked by my side. Several hours past, Kinsey and I went to her bedroom to sort out some laundry that she would need for the next few days. As we sifted through the mounds of dirty girl clothes Kinsey looked up at me and with all the sincerity of a five year old said "Mom, this is the best day ever."
Needless to say I was shocked, and I realized that as good as the things I was trying to give my kids were, what they really want is my time and my love. While I still didn't have the nostalgic feeling I was looking for I had found another perhaps more meaningful feeling. While I don't think I will stop searching for the Christmas spirit I think I will not be so quick to decide in what form that it comes in. The best day ever...

Still a Boy!

Our Baby, although still shy, looks to be boy as we were told by the ultrasonographer for the second time. For now we will have to go with that!! There has been a decision on his name (assuming he stays a boy). It will be Connor LaVor Plumb. In order for me to win the battle of the name game with my sweet wife, I had to give a little as well. Signed, sealed, and delivered. A deal was made between Catherine and myself in which I am being given the privilege of naming our son. She will now be the decision maker in terms of circumcision as I relinquished control of that right to get my name! Latest measurments indicate the due date as May 21, 2010. We are considering a cesearean for May 14, 2010. It is exciting. ( a girl would be Anysa Grace Plumb) Anyway, Happy Holidays to all.

Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy. . .Can you guess?

Here at last! We have a boy! Or so we are told. Catherine was a bit behind their original schedule. Our due date has been changed to May 22, 2010. Names being considered are Timothy, Jaxon, and Nicholas. We have another ultrasound this monday to confirm the sex. Either way I am very excited. (He has my nose I am told) Only time will tell.

Had to share... my family

I was very pleased to have both the matriarch and patriarch of our family in character at our party, they were very cute as Little Red Riding Hood and her Woodsman!

This was the only shot I got of the brand new parents... they were eyeballs, probably signifying that they only had eyes for Vyolet??? I don't know, but what an amazing woman Ivy is, just released from the hospital only hours before and still showed up to support the family.

The Freeman's... complete with Elisabeth's boot, she was concerned that her boots might not make it into the picture, so with the help of her able bodied "groovy" husband the boot is in it's rightful place. What a great team they are. Oh, did I mention the cutest cow west of the Mississippi?? Cami kept hitting her moo button keeping us all amused for hours.

The Hatch's... Jenifur revealed her true identity as "Super Mom" leaving us to wonder what her mild mannered alter ego has been doing all this time, I thought she was super mom. A Ghost, a missing chicken, Darth Vadar, and whoever Michael is round out our family of stripling warriors.

Neverland found us as Peter Pan, Wendy, Jon, a lost boy, and Princess Tigerlilly flew in threw our window and tried to convince us not to grow up. (I let them borrow my Tinkerbell(Allie) to make the set complete) Doesn't get cuter as a family set.

I had so much fun watching my family what great people you all are. Thank you to everyone for making our Halloween party such a success.

Halloween at Home?

There were bones, fingers, toes and Brew. There were so many monsters I didn't know what to do! Along with the serving of witches fingers and troll's toes, we were treated to some of Mom's boiling brew full of floating eyeballs. It was great!

Dinner was served al a pumpkin style. Yummy, just like my mom used to make growing up.

It was a great success! Way to go Mom and Aunt Elisabeth for a great family get together, not to mention a bit spooky!

The Costume Parade

Only Time will Tell

What is coming . . . ? The word is out! Revealed none other than Halloween night amongst our family during a party hosted by my wife, I let the cat out of the bag so to speak. We are indeed expecting a new addition. What will it be? A boy (Jaxon LaVarr) or a girl (Anisa Grace)? Only time will tell. One thing for sure though, I will keep you updated throughout the process. I am very excited. It was hard to wait this long. Our tentative due date, May 14, 2010.

School pictures of my angels

Allison Hope

McKinsey Kay

Brendan Charles

Roman Wade

Seena Marcia

Taylor Wade

Alec Jeremy

I stand all amazed...

Have you ever looked at your children and had to stop to catch your breath at the beauty of them? Not physical beauty necessarily, although I do think my children are beautiful, but the beauty of that unique son or daughter of God with all the endless potential that entails.

I had one of those moments with Seena the other day. She was helping me make Halloween sugar cookies and I stopped and watched her and I was so moved by her gigantic spirit that I got emotional and teary. "What's the matter mom?" she asked.

What do you say to that? "I am just overwhelmed by the very power of you."I think this plan of children and families and parenting is amazing and I feel my soul grow every time I allow myself to see my children as my Father in heaven sees them.

Fraggle head

One of the joys of being a mother to girls is to do funny things to their hair.

Allison doesn't get as much of a kick out of it as I do, and she fights me every step of the way.

This latest creation was very fun to do even though she didn't like it.

And it didn't last very long. She pulled out every one of my twists which is how she was aptly christened fragle head.

McKinsey

McKinsey is truly a joy.

She makes me laugh with the funny things she says and does.

Today she was standing next to me jumping up and down full of her unquenchable energy. "OH, MY HEART IS BEEPING" she gushed breathlessly.

I love her.

I'm a Weblos

I've always thought that "weblos" was a funny name for a group of scouts, but none the less, my sweetheart is a weblos and earning lots of pins. I think these were a fitness pin and a citizenship pin.

I am very happy with how involved my boys are in scouts, not that I have a huge amount to do with it, but I know the good things that can happen to a boy when he is involved in scouts. Hooray for scouts.

General Women's Broadcast

Apologies for the blurry pictures, they were taken with my phone. Just illustrations of the wonderful evening the five of us were able to share. My mother, my sister and my two wonderful sister in laws, an evening of good food, great spiritual uplift, fabulous company and 18 inches of ice cream. Who could ask for a better night.

Something to be Proud of

Here they are! Our three eldest children all with awards from the school. Isn't it grand? Taylor and Seena both scored very well on the state compentency exam. Seena was above average in language arts and advanced in math while Taylor was advanced in both. The state wide average is much lower so kudos to our kids for bringing those averages up! It makes a father proud. Alec has been working very hard this year to improve his grades. He brought home his first report card of the year with the highest grades he has earned overall since he came to us. We are so proud of him. In fact, Alec was able to be entrusted with his coveted first cellular phone. "Uh Oh!" He is on our mobile network . . .Not to fear! I have included in our services the ability to restrict when and to whom he may call. You have to appreciate technology sometimes. Anyway, I wanted to share this with all our family and friends because it is something to be proud of.

A Lesson Learned

How did we go from then till now, and not know how? I just had to write a story for one of my classes at the college about an event that taught me a lesson that impacted my life in a major way. I wrote about my experience with Allison's birth and a hard learned lesson in humility. As most of you know when she was born, she came to us with a heart condition known as PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus). It is a small opening in the heart that did not close after birth as it should. It causes breathing problems and eventually bigger ones leading to death if not treated. There are two treatment options: treating it with a medicine called Indomycin that constricts the vessels in hopes of helping the opening to close on its own. (doesnt usually work in full term babies). The other option is open heart surgery to close it by way of suture. I was very upset and I struggled with all of this news as well as with the reports of Allison losing weight and aspirating. Our baby seemed to be losing the battle. In my frustration I gave Allison a blessing and tried to force my will, but the Lord had another idea in mind. Allison continued on the same path. Then came the day to start the medicine and I will forever be grateful for what happened next. On our way out of the NICU that evening I was feeling very angry and I was at wit's end. As we were about to exit the unit we stopped at the double doors and could not help but notice a family in mourning through a small opening in the door to the consultation room. The doctor had just informed them of the death of their child. Something hit me at that moment with such force that I felt as though I could not breath. My attitude went from hateful to grateful in less than a second. Even though my sweet little angel was stuck in the children's hospital with some struggles, she was alive. And in spite of her condition she was one of the biggest and healthiest babies there at five pounds and nine ounces. I began to very grateful to my Father in Heaven for sending me Allison and started to act the way I should have from the start. That night I asked Michael to assist me in giving Allison another blessing and this time asked that the lord's will be done. The next morning as we arrived to see Allison we were greeted with the report that miraculously she had recovered after a single dose of the medication!!! It usually didnt work after three in full term babies. I was so overwhelmed that I needed to remove myself for a moment and allow my emotions to escape. It was a lesson I will never forget. Today Allison is doing great with no signs of the PDA.

Evidence of the Moment

This year I took my wife to dinner at Flemming's for her birthday. The food was great, but the company was amazing. I have been blessed to have found someone so amazing who completes me. Even though I try and do something spectacular for her each year on her birthday, I feel like a complete failure. I could not ever return what she continually gives me each day. So in light of this I wanted to give her something to remember this time. I am not a fan of pictures that are of me, but my wife specifically asked for pictures of us together doing things so she could have evidence of the moments. Here it is. This year's birthday dinner!

A "Great" Photo is not a "Good" Photo

Families are so special. It is hard to get them all together some times just for a moment to capture an image that will show everyone something that is dear to me. Even after they are all assembled we have wiggles and giggles, sad faces, and kids out of places. Yes, it can be a trial to do something that seems so simple but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love my family and I am always very proud to show them off. This is not a good family photo, but it display's all the most important people in my life. In my recent photography training (and I did not take this picture) I learned about what a good photo consists of. This would not qualify as a "good" photo. I however, have come to a greater knowledge about what makes a "great" photo. It is all about the content of the material, not the clarity or lighting or color. This represents the most important aspects of my life and I could not ask for more than that.

Favorite read of the summer

Mark of the Lion a trilogy by Francine Rivers far and away was the best thing I read this summer. The first book was the best and it made me question what "love" was, not romantic love, but real love, love of the Savior, charity. It also made me think alot about forgiveness.

I have read a few other books by this author and some were okay, and some were down right corny but the Mark of the Lion touched my heart and I would reccomend it to any one.
Since I gave you the best read of the summer I guess I also have to give you the worst. The Shack and I can't remember off the top of my head who the author was, but I know that it was a NYT bestseller. It tries to talk about God and forgiveness, but it misses the mark so completely that it made me almost uncomfortable. I think it is probably in the Spirituality for beginners section and perhaps that was what made it a best seller, but I had a hard time finishing it except that I had started it and that darn compulsion to finish what you start wont let me leave my books half read. (Close second worst Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult, definatly not her best book)

First day of Kindergarten, first day of school

First day back to school is exciting, but not as monumental when it is the first day of kindergarten.

Kinsey was so excited to be a big girl and ride the bus, she woke up early and got dressed with the other kids even though she didn't go till 11:00. What a wonder it is to be going to school for the very first time.
Allie on the other hand was not excited about anyone going to school. She stands outside and waits for the bus everyday with Kinsey, and she waves and waves till the bus is out of site. Then she turns around to sadly come back in the house with boring old mom.

Moment of note

Alec recieved multiple awards at Scouts. We are very proud of the effort that he is putting toward scouting. And I am enjoying all the pretty mother's pins.

Brendan turned six

He wanted a Cars cake, you know with Lightning McQueen, I called Elisabeth cause she is good with things like that. We plotted while I was at work and she met up with me after my all nighter. We made this cute Cars cake and I was quite pleased with how it turned out, but my birthday boy was less than impressed. The other children thought it was awsome, but when I brought him in to see his cake all he could say was "oh, that's it" Needless to say I was a little crushed. Someone said "he's just six" and that is true, but it made me think, maybe we all have a bit of "brendan" in us, and maybe we all need to be a little more aware, a little more gracious, and a little more thankful for the things that are done for us.

My Brood

Quintessential summer is the stinging smell of chlorine, the relentless heat of the sun beating down on you from above as well as rising up from the pavement below, and sweet sticky rivers of strawberry, cookies and cream, rocky road, or mango sherbet streaming down your hands because you just can't lick fast enough.

To Ohio

It was time to take Kiki and Brendan back to Ohio.

So we got in the car and drove and drove.

and drove and drove

and drove some more.

Over 36 hours straight between daddy and me. Can you say exhausting?