Trigger

Have you ever had a conversation in which one word 'triggers' a chain reaction in your brain and you go off on another completely different subject?.......no...well, ok. I do it and I do it well!

Last night my hubby gets up out of bed...
Me: "Where ya going?"
LW: "This pillow is killing my neck. I'm going to trade pillows with one of the boys."

This statement alone woke me up. Trade with one of the boys- NEVER! (does he know they drool?)

Me: "Uh..OK"
LW: "This pillow is flat and if I put the hiney pillow with it- it's too fat. I can't sleep"
He leaves the room to go do his trading thing.

I begin giggling.

In case you missed it, 'hiney' was the trigger.

We have a temper pedic neck pillow. It is funny-shaped and cream colored and very squishy. We have a son who thinks in a totally different manner than anyone I know. He sees the world like no one else. At a young age, he had an extensive vocabulary and a LOUD voice. He used both VERY frequently. When referring to the temper pedic pillow he chose to NOT use the words, funny-shaped, cream or squishy. He used the word "hiney".....sure enough, after a thorough investigation. The little "Temper Pedic Man" made into the fabric of this pillow is asleep on his side with apparently no clothes on and his you guessed it facing us.

So we now call it the hiney pillow, too.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, I say.

So back to why I giggled....it wasn't over the pillow. It was over "Hiney Candy"

Ok. Ok. Here's how THAT story went down.

Every summer, our church has 'Campmeeting'. Every evening before and after church there is a concession stand with hamburgers, candy, chips and cokes. One type of candy that the kids enjoy is these little plastic fruit shaped containers that have flavored powder in them. You know like banana, cherry, strawberry and grape. Cute. So, one evening Peyton is repeating a phrase over and over. My exasperated Mom comes to me....

Mom: "Sondra, WHAT is this child saying!"

(note the exclamation mark-she didn't ask)

Me: "Peyt, what are you wanting"

PW: "Hiney Canney. Hiney Canney"

Mom: "It sounds like he's saying hiney something."

Her voice sounds like she is accusing me of saying bad words in front of my children. By this time, Peyton is crying and getting REALLY loud. (he's really good at it, too)

Me: "Peyton, show Mommy what you want."

He walks over to the candy window. Points. Says, "Hiney Canney....Hiney Canney". I kneel down so that I can see what he is seeing. Sure enough, from his little toddler veiw. The little plastic cherry candy container looked like.........A Hiney.

He got some Hiney candy,

And I got to giggle at midnight!

Love this kid.

2010

So it is 2010. I'm pretty excited about this year.
I know of 5 weddings we will attend. A few of our friends will become parents! (Yay!) Casey will graduate and Gavin and Peyton will begin new adventures of their own in school. It's all exciting to me.

I don't usually set New Years' Resolutions.....it's just not my thing. This year, I am, however, setting some new goals for our family. Our sons are all growing up, therefore the things necessary to 'grow them' in Christ are constantly changing. What worked last year simply will not work in 2010.

So.....we are challenging our family to minister more. There are so many ways to minister to those around us, and we want to show them to our children. We have lacked in this area, I am afraid. Sometimes we get so busy 'being Christians' that we simply neglect to 'be a Christian.' We don't know how to do it perfectly, but intend on trying until we get it right. We have three wonderful sons with unlimited potential and it is our solemn responsibility to bring it to fruition. I am very excited by the possibilities this year brings us. Very EXCITED!

This New Year brings Hope in the treatment of our Heidi and her fight with Leukemia. During this year, she will finish the current phase of treatment (Consolidation), be reevaluated and begin the next phase. We are HOPEFUL, in faith BELIEVING that all will go as expected and Heidi will soon be Cancer-free! We are so very HOPEFUL for not only Heidi, but so many other brave little souls we have met since October with these dreaded diseases. We constantly pray for these children and ask all our friends to do so as well. Even if you don't know all their names, God does.

We will be welcoming a new member in our family at the end of this year....and not how some might think. Our Casey is getting married!!! We are so very excited about this. Christiane is a wonderful girl, already our daughter in so many ways. She fits into our family wonderfully in a way that only God could have orchestrated. The only thing I dread about them getting married is that they won't be eating supper here every night.It makes me sad thinking about it.

"The Wedding" as it is referred to around here- is going to take place December 4, 2010. We are busy planning and dreaming. Very exciting. We never thought we would have this much input in any of our children's weddings since we have all boys. I must admit- it is SO FUN! We are praying that God will help us to provide for this wedding the way we would like. Marriage is so honored in the sight of God and we are so happy and proud of Casey & Christiane. They are both devoted Christians....and we want so much to honor this on this very special day.

I plan to blog more about this year, so that we can remember some of the crazy times we had planning the wedding.

So- no resolutions, just LOTS and LOTS of BIG PLANS!