Thursday, April 30, 2009

I need your recipes!!!!!!

I need your help! If you somehow stumbled across my silly blog can you do me a favor?
Leave me in the comments your favorite recipe. I would really love it.
I am in a total rutt(?) right now, and I need some fresh recipes. I need to update my cooking blog too and I will totally put them on there. Come on girls I need ya.
I love sharing favorite recipes, tried and true ones. It'one of my favorite things to do. And if you all put your recipes on here we could probably get the beginings of a pretty yummy cookbook! How fun would that be? So help a desperate mom out would ya? Thankyou tons :)

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

A quote to live by!

by: David S. Baxter

"At . . . moments of crisis and challenge, some choose to abandon faith just at the time when it most needs to be embraced. Prayer is ignored at the very hour when it needs to be intensified. Virtue is carelessly tossed aside when it needs to be cherished. God is forsaken in the all-too-human yet mistaken fear that He has forsaken us.

"The truth is that our only safety, our only security, our only hope is to hold fast to that which is good. As the mists of darkness gather around us, we are only lost if we choose to let go of the iron rod, which is the word of God."

Friday, April 24, 2009

we need a little extra happiness in the house right now, and these pictures sure make us happy



Christopher being a big boy in nursery! He loved it!!! He did a geat job on the chair for snack time too. The other picture just makes us smile, he looks so cute with this hat on, he know's it too!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Christopher Update

So I have been told I need to update the bog about Christopher's progress, So here we go!
Actually there is really alot to talk about. Chris is constantly showing us that he is a fighter. He just amazes us with the things he does. He is crawling on all Fours all around the house now! He actally snuck into the bathroom yesterday and threw a plastic Easter egg in the toilet! Rob and I just thought "you go boy"! Throw as many eggs in there as you want, just nobody flush the toilet please.....:) I have never been more happy to fetch something out of the toilet, Who would have thought?
Our Pt has been wonderful with Chris, she just loves him too, and I think that makes such a difference. Chris is Standing by himself for long periods of time, and he is learning to bare(sp?) weight on each leg seperatly ( which is FANTASIC).
So the goal right now is trying to get him to go from his knees to a standing position, and He will, he will get there. From there it will be walking, how amazing that will be.
So, he is 16 almost 17 mo. old now which is so shocking. Time has gone by so fast. But, a few weeks ago I realized next month he will be in nursery!!!! That kind of got me a little nervous. All those little kids in there bonking him on the head...yikes! Then I thought about snack time and sitting at a table! I haven't even tried him sitting on a little chair like that. So we have been workng on that. He sits there really well, he has great balance. The only thing is getting on and off.
I have talked to friends about my worries and some have said " have him wear a helmet in there". ( to protect his shunt). And that scares me the most I think. But, I'm not going to make my little guy a target! So other options/thoughts were having a leader in there just working with him. I would love that, but I don't know if that would happen. He is the only one with Special needs in Nursery, so these are things people haven't thought of. But, I do really love the Nursery leader in there, and I know she will keep him safe. I just love the people in our ward. Plus, I don't think Dad will be leaving him alone in there for a while :)
So there you have it, if you are still reading this? Our Little guy is doing awesome. We never thought little things like throwing things in toilets would be so great, but they sure ae for us. Now, if Spenc, James or Em do this that would be a totally different thing of course! Christopher is really teaching us to enjoy the little things in life. Those little things sure bring us so much happiness.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

This is going to be my boy!

The Deacon with the Big Smile,” New Era, Jul 2005, 14

Zayne Callahan’s big smile reflects his brave, strong, intelligent spirit. He doesn’t let spina bifida stop him from passing the sacrament, playing the violin, and participating in school productions.

The first thing Zayne Callahan can remember is living in the basement of an orphanage in China. He had been there since he was a baby. Zayne later learned that he was kept in the basement so people who came to the orphanage to adopt children wouldn’t see him.

“I was considered an embarrassment because I was born with spina bifida,” Zayne says. Spina bifida is a birth defect that made his legs weak and prevented him from walking normally. “I wasn’t able to go to school or hardly even learn the Chinese language because the people at the orphanage didn’t think it was important to teach a child with a disability.”

Zayne was seven years old when John and Wendy Callahan—his future parents—first saw him on a videotape of Chinese children waiting to be adopted. When the photographer passed the camera over Zayne briefly, he smiled and waved. That action won the hearts of his future parents who recognized his brave, strong, intelligent spirit.

That was five years ago. Now, Zayne is a deacon in the Lolo Ward of the Stevensville Montana Stake. When he turned 12, he wanted to fulfill his priesthood responsibilities by passing the sacrament. That was a big challenge for a boy who must use crutches to walk.

Originally, Zayne tried to pass the sacrament while balancing on his crutches. When that didn’t work, he decided to use his wheelchair instead. Now Zayne passes the sacrament by placing the trays on his lap and wheeling down the aisles.

Zayne works hard to fulfill his other priesthood duties too. An older member in his ward says she was impressed when the young men went to her home to pick up rocks as a service project. She found Zayne sitting on the ground putting rocks into a wheelbarrow. He had laid his crutches down because they were in the way, but his disability didn’t stop him from serving just like the other boys.

According to his father, Zayne doesn’t waste time feeling sorry for himself. If he wants to do something, he figures out a way to do it. He played a lead part in the school production of Red Riding Hood. He was the head wolf and led a pack of wolves onstage, his crutches keeping time to the music. He is also an accomplished violinist and pianist. While playing his violin, he has to sit on a high stool rather than stand like most violinists, but that doesn’t distract from the beauty of his music.

No matter where Zayne goes or what he does, people notice his good example. One classmate summed it up by saying, “He’s that boy with the big smile.”

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Spencer Clayn Big Boy Etchells!




So My super cute, crazy 4 year old said today " mom, when will dad get home, I need him to take my little wheels off my bike"! So Dad finally get's home and take's the "little" wheels off his big boy bike, and I am not kidding you within 20 min. that kid was up and down the street all by himself. He was totally freakin us out though. He was stopping and starting back up again, ad turning around while still on his bike. I'm sorry but My kid Rocks!!!! By the way, this is the same kid that thinks he has the name "Big Boy" in his name. He think's he is Spencer Clayn Big Boy Etchells (Seriously)!!!
I think this little boy was never destined to be the baby of the family ( as I have always said). He loves to be big, and to do crazy exciting things. But most of all he loves to be the protector of his baby brother.
We are so lucky to have this little guy ( I mean Big Boy) in our family.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

spring, where the heck are ya?


Now, I am one that loves winter.I have loved the cold weather and all that comes with it. But, even I say it's time for it to go!
We thought it was gone a few weeks ago but, we got a very unexpected snow storm last Saturday. We had already put our winter stuff away. Although we had fun with it, we were happy to see it go the next day. Rob even made new shelves in the garage yesterday and stored everything away (again) and not to be retrieved for at least a year. Spring was here, the kids were playing outside and wearing shorts even. I was getting excited for warmer weather if you can believe it!
Guess what? It started snowng again today!!!!!!! And we should get more of it tonight and tomorrow. Can you say CRAZY TIMES!!!!!!!
The kids are going to have to put socks on their hands to play cuz those gloves are gone baby! We refuse to give in to this craziness any longer.