Okay, Okay, It's About Time!

So on Sunday I had a lovely lady tell me she loves reading my blog. I smiled and said that was sweet of her and that it had been forever since I had posted, to which she replied, "Yes! This was a nudge!" Okay, okay, it is about time.....life has been, well, you know, CRAZY these past weeks. I know there are always excuses, some legitimate and others not. It never gets easy adjusting our home life to a new baby, especially while Daddy is on the other side of the World! :) I do have many things to post on but I don't want to do such a haphazard conglomeration of things. I'll need to take the time to get pictures ready and tell you all about what has been going on. Hmmm...where to start? How about the last days before Craig and Sam got back from Uganda. Sounds good to me! Here goes....

At the ER

 The Sunday before Craig got home, Julia suddenly had severe pain in her right side. After examining her, I was advised to take her to the ER as it seemed like appendicitis. She was definitely in extreme pain and we had just gone through this with Anna. They did an ultra sound and did not see anything so they sent us home. The next morning, Julia's pain was back so I called our doctor to see what he would advise. Of course, they had us come in. The Dr. was wondering why the ER didn't do a CAT scan as they hadn't even seen the appendix and therefore could not tell us what was wrong with her. So he ordered the scan and we headed over. Praise the Lord, her appendix turned out to be fine! Apparently, we all have a pocket of lymph nodes on our right side and hers were inflamed and agitated due to a cold virus! They said that the pain would go away when her cold went away. So there was much relief that no surgery was needed! Craig felt awful he wasn't here for this but we made it just fine. There always has to be some "emergency" when the head of the house is away and I am thankful this ended up not being such an emergency after all! We decided this was probably the most expensive cold ever!:) But well worth it if just to have ease of mind that it wasn't life threatening! We have all been having colds, including several bouts of strep throat and an ear infection. At this point, we are all on the healthy side....Yay! With Tirzah being the last to be sick, her cough is almost completely gone, though she stopped gaining weight like she should while being ill and we have to bring her in next week for a weight check. Her two month well baby appointment showed her as being 10 lbs 9 oz, and 24" long! (she is in the 95% for length and also for her head size!)  She had been in the 75% for her weight and dropped to the 24%. She is still an amazing baby, so happy and sweet!

Waiting for results after the scan

Sweet baby girl!

A Special Date

 One of the fun things I make sure I do when Craig takes one of our children on a missions trip is to go on a date with another one of our children. How do I choose who gets to go when I have so many? You might be wondering, but it's pretty simple really. When Naomi went to PNG, I took Anna for a girls' day out. We went mini-golfing and had lunch at Olive Garden. While Anna was in Uganda, I took Naomi out shopping at an antique shop and had lunch...at Olive Garden. So, while Samuel is in Uganda, I took Daniel out and we went bowling. This was so much fun! I've only bowled a few times in my life but I love it! We played four games. Daniel beat me in the first game but I rallied and won the next three!! Haha! (I might be just a tad competitive!) We had lunch at the China Sun Buffet. It's always fun getting to do something special with one child at a time. It is difficult for the little ones as they don't understand why they aren't invited. However, this tradition will give each of them something to anticipate in the years to come! When Daniel goes for his trip, I will then take Samuel out to do something special!

I told one friend that it is my goal to get to have that date with each of my children.....no matter what! So, while the last of my children are in another country with Daddy, our time might be spent playing Bingo in an old folks' home, but we WILL get our day!!! Hey, Bingo isn't so bad, is it?! Haha!
 I am happy to report that Tirzah was super good for our entire date! Even when awake, she was happy! Though, she must not have thought too much about our game as she fell asleep...so much for the cheerleading section! To be fair, I helped her cheer her big brother on even though I was trying hard to beat him!!!

This is what she thought of the game...

Leftovers Anyone?

Have you ever wondered what to do with leftover oatmeal? I mean, yuck! Why would you save oatmeal that has cooled into one lump of mush? Well, when you must feed an army everyday, you realize how quickly food goes! You become more frugal....I hope. Everything adds up! And, yes, I do save oatmeal! It isn't so bad if you make fresh oatmeal and, at the end, add the leftovers and stir it until it blends nicely. But, if you'd like to REALLY enjoy your leftover oatmeal, my girls found this recipe that is absolutely amazing!!!! They are oatmeal muffins!!!!

Ingredients

1c. flour

1c. brown sugar

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 c. oil

2 eggs

1c. leftover oatmeal

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees
• Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl
• In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients
• Stir together the contents of both bowls
• Stir in your add ins of choice
• Fill greased or lined muffin cups 2/3 full
• Bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean

Yield: 1 dozen muffins (double or triple recipe depending on how much oatmeal you have. You can even do the recipe up to six times over!)

This is definitely our FAVORITE way to use up leftover oatmeal! Try it and see! They are so yummy, it would be worth it to make sure you have leftovers on purpose!

Side note: This is leftover oatmeal that is the old fashioned type, NOT instant!!!

A Tradition Continued

The Deacons praying over Craig and Sam

Excitement + Exhaustion!

 A Tradition we started over 5 years ago is to take our children as teens to the foreign mission field. Naomi got to go to Papua New Guinea and ministered with the Keck family as well as the Rowe family. This was a life changing adventure for our oldest daughter, who was at the time, 13 years old. She turned 14 soon upon returning home. Anna-Renee had the opportunity to minister with the Tracht family in Uganda, Africa. She turned 14 the day they landed in Uganda. It has been our hope to bring our children one at a time soon after their 13th birthday. For some reason, God had other plans for Sam. He just turned 16 and is now, finally, on his missions trip with Daddy! He and Craig were set to go to India a year ago, when Craig's visa was denied. This was most disappointing for both Craig and Sam, and was a little strange considering Craig had been to India twice before! It was during the time that they would have been in India that Anna was diagnosed with leukemia. God was merciful to keep them home for this time in our lives.

Final goodbyes

This being said, Samuel is now in Uganda visiting and ministering with the Tracht family. It was a crazy time of preparing, with a new baby, a trip to Alaska, men's retreat, Christmas, and an Eagle Scout project to do, picking up supplies both for Craig and Sam as well as the Trachts and packing kind of got pushed to the last minute! Needless to say, Sunday morning everyone was terribly exhausted! After Craig preached, we hurried out the door and loaded up to get to the airport. Goodbyes are always hard, especially when it's going to be for 3 1/2 weeks. I know that to those military wives out there, this is nothing, but it's a long time for us! I am truly thankful for technology! We have been able to text and FaceTime with each other everyday! This has been an encouragement to me when I miss them the most! They are 11 hours ahead of us, so we "talk" either in their evening and our morning, or our evening and their morning! This works pretty well. They have a very full schedule and Craig is posting on his blog over at www.Soundpulpit.com to keep us all up to date on their ministering adventures! Please be sure to pop on over and please pray that God will use them mightily during this time! And that souls will be saved!

All Smiles and Giggles

Lookie who's smiling! Tirzah has started smiling and cooing at everyone who comes near her. She is a true sweetheart! It's so hard to believe that she is five weeks old!!!

 We are loving having this bundle of cuteness in our home and family. She has a very sweet and happy little personality already.

This picture is a very solemn reminder to not blink because if you do, she'll be grown.....

It's Christmas time......

 A Christmas time catch up because Christmas time is always so busy! We started out the season with a special Christmas party hosted by the Hem/Onc team from Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. The evening started out with a potluck style dinner, they had raffles, crafts, and of course....Santa Claus. Ok, we don't do Santa, never did, but it was fun and we reminded our little ones NOT to spoil it for the other children! So they were super good and didn't say anything about the fact that there is really NO Santa!! They met other patients and their families and they even were good sports and got their picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus...then they were given a gift.

At the craft table to make ornaments

Abby meeting another Abby!!

A very sweet baby Tirzah, all decked out for Christmas!

 A tradition I started several years ago was to make gingerbread houses. This year I knew I would not be able to make these from scratch like I usually do, so I cheated and bought village kits. Each box had four houses and the children had a blast! They didn't seem to mind at all that I hadn't slaved over the oven all day for this to happen. Phew! After just having a baby, I really didn't feel like being on my feet for that long. ;-)

A full choir

 Our children's choir had a big performance this year. It was a great way to invite folks out on a Wednesday night for entertainment with a Salvation message and cookies with punch or coffee. It proved to be a very special night for everyone. We had a full house and the children did a stellar job! I was so proud of all of the children, but must admit I was especially proud of the five Houston's that were a part of the program. Michael and Julia both had parts in the play and were quite the actors! Abigail sang a duet of "Away in a Manger" while Lydia and Zeke sang with the rest of the choir. I honestly think the choir sounded better than ever...not because of the Houston children being in it, but as a whole. Just thought I'd clarify as it sounded a bit arrogant! At the end of the play, Julia sang a solo part in a beautiful song about adoption. Bravo to the whole cast!

The actors performing

One last performance

Lydia posing with that bouquet! A happy girl!

 Days before Christmas brought one more wedding at Westside Baptist Church. A lovely couple had a beautiful wedding......and guess who "caught" the bouquet?! My eight year old daughter, Lydia! I told Naomi and Anna it looks like they will have a LOOOONG wait for their turn at the altar! Haha, they made sure I knew that they are NOT superstitious! I think they hope to be married before Lydia's old enough!

Another shot of sweet baby

Showing off her new pacifier!

Zeke, the star bearer

Amongst the hustle and bustle of the holiday, Tirzah has continued to grow. She is still an amazing baby, very good natured and starting to show her smiles.

We also had a blessing......as we were unable to go out and cut down our own REAL tree, the children were all feeling a bit down. The reason for this is because Anna's immune system is still very young and we are not able to have real plants in our home for a year. This includes trees, Christmas or other. Well, with no tree in the house, it just wasn't feeling very "Christmasy". I heard that there was a family who had a spare fake tree. So I sent them a text and by Sunday night, we had a "tree" for the week. This definitely brought a spirit of excitement into the house! Selah jumped up and down and cried out, "It's Christmas!"

A much needed trip through the drive thru!

Christmas Eve we had a candle light service. It was a full house and a very special night. The atmosphere was beautiful and full of the real Christmas spirit....the spirit of Christ. The singing, the message, the fellowship of believers, the reminder of what this season is truly about. Remembering that Jesus really did come to Earth as a human baby so that He could lay His life down for our sins. A sobering thought. It was precious to sing praises unto our Savior!

After the service, we headed home to a wonderful dinner with dear friends. It was a late night full of games and chatter, friends, and family.

Christmas morning arrived and we enjoyed family time together in a warm house with the fun of presents and yummy food. It was a lazy day just enjoying time together. Now, we are tidying up the house, clearing it of some of the Christmas decorations and preparing for the end of 2013. It has been a full year. We've had the blessing of trials and triumphs. We are thankful that Anna is cancer free now and that baby Tirzah made it into the world without any issues. We are blessed to have come to the end of the year a bit stronger in the faith and, hopefully, ready to take on the new year! I hope you all had a blessed year as well! May we all think back on the moments and recount the areas of growth, maybe even where we needed to grow but didn't (counting this as a lesson learned), and count each blessing that has been bestowed upon us with thankful hearts full of worship to the One who deserves it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

November Birthdays.....

Here are our November birthdays! Finally! I hope you all understand that I've been recovering from having our precious and newest November baby and then I was hit with strep throat! I am on the mend and now taking a few minutes to post this in honor of all five children born in November.

We start with Naomi, born on November 4th.....then Michael's special day is the 7th, Abigail is the 13th, Samuel is the 20th, and Tirzah Hope was born on the 26th. For Naomi's special day, Daddy and I each got to go on our own special dates with her! I took her to the salon to get her hair cut and styled, and then we went for a bite to eat. What a blessing to be able to enjoy time with one of my very best friends, my 19 year old daughter! Michael enjoyed crepes for breakfast and his special request of chicken curry for dinner...Yum! Abigail had the opportunity to go with Daddy and Mommy to one of Mommy's doctor's appointments, but afterward, we took her to BluBerry for a special frozen yogurt treat! Samuel got to celebrate a little bit for three days in a row! Busy schedule was the reason, but it was definitely fun! We went to Happy Teriyaki for his dinner and the chef whipped out this amazing fruit sculpture! Then, Last but certainly not least.....Tirzah made her appearance via c-section in the early morning of the 26th. Her special treat was meeting her Daddy, Mommy, and all 11 brothers and sisters! She got to feel the warmth of being in the arms of those who love her very much and are so blessed to have her here- healthy.

Well, here we have it folks! These are the last birthdays in the Houston family for 2013!

Happy first day of winter everyone!