Christian Strikes Again

Honestly, I have received more of an education here at home with Christian than I ever did in school. :) He "teaches" me something new every day. Here was today's lesson:

Christian: "Hey Mom, see my puzzles? I have a wolf and an anteater."
Me: "Very cool Christian!"
Christian: "Mom, did you know that anteaters eat ants and wolves eat watermelons? It makes them grow big and strong like me."
Me: "Amazing...very amazing!"

Caroline's 1 Year Pictures

As most of you know, I had the talented Janice Stewart come over and take Caroline's 1 year pictures. What I truly love about Janice is that she captures a child's personality. There were very few smiles, but that's okay. I love the random shots! She did a wonderful job, and here are some of my favorites:

The Weekend

Since Turkey Day, we have had quite the crazy weekend. First of all, John came home on this past Wednesday from being gone for 6 days to an EMS conference in Houston. He was home all of Thanksgiving Day. Then, he worked a 24hr. shift at Pantex on Friday. He came home Saturday morning, only to turn around and leave around 2pm to go hunting with Dad. This time, he convinced me to let him take Caitlin. She has been begging to go hunting for quite some time, and after much debate, he felt she was ready (the debate was really for my sake). They spent the night in Dad & Mom's trailer in Hedley, and they got up bright and early at 5am to hunt---or sit on the deer stand and wait for one, which is really how Texans hunt. Anyway, he got his 2nd deer for the season--a 6 point buck. Caitlin watched John and Dad field dress and skin it, which is much more than I could EVER do. She says she wasn't bothered by it, so that's a good thing. I am including a much more "viewer friendly" picture, so I hope that's okay. Christian, Caroline, and I hung out with Mom, Josh, and Grandma while the others were away. Mom and Grandma were kind enough to watch the kids while I went Christmas shopping. Let's just say, it was an adventure. All the stores were still ravaged from Black Friday shopping. It was slim pickins in the baby doll section of Toys R Us. :( John, Dad, and Caitlin came home this afternoon and brought back all of the deer meat in form of jerkey, summer sausage, and more from the previous hunt. Yummy stuff! Hopefully it slows down around here for a while, because I'm barely keeping up! :)
John & Caitlin--their 1st daddy/daughter hunt

Pomp And Circumstance

Break out the cap and gown---it's graduation time!!
Congratulations to John for finishing his Bachelor's Degree! YEAH!! No more late night studying and paper-writing. You can finally sit back, relax, and enjoy your weekends and evenings. I am so very proud of how hard you have worked and how quickly you finished. It's truly amazing how you have balanced family, jobs, and school. I am so blessed to have you as my sweet husband--I love you to pieces!!

Turkey Day 2007

YEAH for the wonderful holiday known as Thanksgiving! :)
There is nothing better than the smell of Grandma's house on a day such as this. Turkey, dressing, homemade rolls, mashed potatoes w/giblet gravy, sweet potatoes smothered in melted marshmellow goodness, green bean casserole, cranberry relish, cherry pie (made by Caitlin), pumpkin pie, and pecan pie were spread out in front of me--all a huge temptation. Let's just say that I haven't eaten that well in...well...a year!
Aside from the wonderful food, I was definitely reminded this year of all of the things for which I am thankful. Just so there is no bore factor, I will just list a few:

1. My Heavenly Father who is always so diligent to provide for me
2. My loving husband, children, and extended family
3. Great friends
4. Health & vitality
5. A warm, cozy home
6. And finally---the understanding that life isn't always about me and what I can or cannot do

Oh yes, and for a blog! Hee Hee
To all of you faithful readers: may you find peace, hope, joy, love, and a better understanding of your own life this holiday season!
Blessings from the Haskell household to yours!

Baby Mia

This is a call to prayer for all in Bloggerland that pray. There is a family here in town that is desperate for the healing of their 4 month old baby, Mia. Their names are Josh and Sandy Whitney, and Josh is a AFD firefighter friend of John's. Mia went in for her 4 month well check, and the doctor discovered she had RSV. Sandy is a nurse and had been giving her breathing treatments to avoid hospitalization. Unfortunately, that didn't work. While in the hospital for that, they discovered that she has a heart defect that must be fixed immediately. To top it all off, Mia now has a blood infection. They originally told Josh and Sandy that it would be 4 weeks before they could do the surgery--and it would have to be done in Dallas. According to the latest update I received, they moved Mia to Dallas today. She is on a ventilator, has a feeding tube, and her heart is extremely weak. PLEASE pray for this sweet family. They have 2 other children--one that's close to Caitlin's age and one that is 2. I cannot even begin to imagine the struggle they are going through right now with trying to get their daughter well and missing so much work. There is a fund being set up in their names for donations and such. If any of you are interested in helping, please comment and I'll send you the information. Again, prayers are the most important thing right now. As we approach the holiday season, take time to lift them up in this time of stress.

Ick Factor of 1,000

We are never without drama at the Haskell household. I swear, if it can happen, it happens while Daddy is away. :) Yesterday, I got up to get ready for the craft show and have breakfast. I opened the pantry only to find that several packages of food had tiny bite marks in them.
Yup. I think we have a mouse. In the 9 1/2 years that I have been on my own, I have NOT ever had a mouse in the house. Being as we live right next to a field, and given the fact that we are now a catless household, we will probably deal with this from time to time.
*Doing the willies dance and sticking my tongue out in disgust*
So I called Mom and asked her to bring some mouse traps over when she came to babysit. However many there are, they are SO DEAD!
I set the traps last night before bed and hid them in 3 places. When I got up this morning, Caitlin said that she checked the traps and we didn't get anything. I guess she forgot about the one under the kitchen sink. I opened the cabinet to get something, and there he was. I literally jumped sky high, my eyes rolled back in my head, and my skin crawled. I couldn't quit writhing in disgust.
Eventually, I got Caitlin to come and use 2 plastic baggies to bag him and then take him to the dumpster...trap and all. I don't know what I would do without her! :) I swear, mice are the ickiest things on the planet!!!

To Jill

*singing*
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Biiiiirrrrttttthhhhhdddddaaaaaayyy dear Jiiiiiiiiiiiiillll....
Happy Birthday tooooooo yooooouuuuu!

We hope you have a blessed day and get some very cool gifts! :)

Sufficient

This post is kind of different. It's not about something cute or funny that one of my kiddos did. It's not about one of my accomplishments, or even John's. It's not about some huge catastrophe or wonderful event. It's simply about an understanding.
Lately I have been struggling to balance children, marriage, bills, my business, etc. It seems like with the holidays fast approaching, I can't seem to get a handle on the days/weeks/months that are spinning out of control toward the new year. I am constantly pre-occupied with something.
I dropped John off at the airport this afternoon (he left for an EMS conference for a few days), and I found myself crying on the way home. Why in the world was I crying over that?!? I think it was because I was afraid---afraid that something would happen to him, the airplane, us...
I have never liked to stay by myself for long periods of time, and especially at night. I can stay up until 4am sewing, just so I don't have to close my eyes. Eventually sleep wins out though.
As I sat here in my recliner taking a break from sewing, I was faced with a question: Do I really trust Him with everything? My prayer was simple. "Lord, remind me that YOU are sufficient. Your grace is sufficient, your protection is sufficient, and your love for me is sufficient."
I hope this is an encouragement to my friends in bloggerland. Have a blessed weekend!

Hallelujah!

YEAH!!! I am back online!! Woohoo!!
My laptop has been having some issues for days now, and I have had blog/ebay/email withdrawals deluxe! I think people on the Yahoo Instant Messenger assumed I had dropped off the face of the earth. :) John made a comment that the house hasn't looked this clean in a long time. See, when you don't have access to the world wide web, a lot more gets done. I guess it came at a good time. I have been busting my hump to get ready for the upcoming craft show, and I needed to focus on sewing rather than surfing. Speaking of the craft show, here are the details:

HOLIDAY PRODUCTIONS CRAFT SHOW
NOVEMBER 17th & 18th
AMARILLO CIVIC CENTER
SHOW HOURS: Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 12-5
ADMISSION: $4.00
THERE WILL BE OVER 100 QUALITY BOOTHS WITH ALL HANDMADE ITEMS

Please come see my booth (Tosslings & Things) and Misty's booth (MJ3 Boutique), and while you are there you can shop around for great Christmas gifts!

Recalls

I am just going to blog about something today that hacks me off to the fullest extent. I am sure that everyone--including those that don't have small children--has heard about the massive recall of toys made in China. They are recalling everything from Sesame Street bath toys containing lead paint to Aqua Dots containing the date rape drug. Sadly, just about every toy these days has a "made in China" stamp or sticker on it. The question now: what IS safe for my children to play with? The recalls have hit the Haskell household, and yesterday we had to give up a very loved toy--a stuffed Curious George. We actually have 2 of these, but one has a soft cloth face (the one Tina gave Caroline for her birthday) and it is not affected. The one that is would be Christian's Curious George fireman...the one he got for his 2nd birthday. It has a hard, plastic, painted face, and they recalled them for having high levels of lead paint. I had to sneak it out and hide it in a closet last night so Christian wouldn't see. I am now waiting for the company to send me packing material and a full refund.
SO SAD.
As for the Sesame Street bath toys--yup. We had those too. Bye bye cool bath toys. :(
I have learned how to make some fun baby toys out of fabric, but nothing cool for ages 3+. Is it going to come to that? Are we just going to have to make our own toys from now on? I am not only saddened but frustrated that I cannot be 100% sure that the toys I am buying are safe.
I guess the kiddos will be getting clothing for Christmas! HA!
Also, what about major things that we use every day that come from China (dishes, soaps, clothing, etc.)? Are they truly safe?
Ok, that's my opinion. Any suggestions or other opinions are welcome! :)

A Day Of Firsts

Today has been quite hectic. I think we squeezed as much in as humanly possible--but we survived. :) Like the title says, it was a day of firsts.

Caitlin had her first volleyball game, and it was so much fun to watch! She absolutely loves playing, and she did a great job. Her team didn't win (very disappointing) but there's always tomorrow! Her team's name is the Volleygirls--appropriate I guess. A funny story from this: we were eating dinner and Caitlin pipes up, "Hey, did you hear what the other team's name was? It was the dodo birds! How stupid is that?!?!" I had to correct her. "Actually, Cait, the team's name was the Pink Panthers...but you can call them the dodo birds if it makes you feel better." Total misunderstanding on her part I'm sure. lol

John and Dad went on their first deer hunt of the season, and John got a deer! He was so excited---and I was very excited for him. They left at 4am, which if you ask me is way too early for ANYTHING..lol..but they had fun. I am definitely looking forward to eating the delicious jerky and jalepeno summer sausage that comes from this successful hunt. Hopefully no one is offended by the following picture. If so, all hate mail should be directed to John! HA!

And finally, Caroline had her first birthday pictures taken by Janice, a wonderful free-lance photographer whose husband works with John. She took Caroline's pictures when she was 3 days old, and they were terrific! It was fun to have her back to see how much Miss C has grown and changed. The funny thing was that Janice had a crazy time trying to get her to look at the camera and smile. Something about being told to sit down, hold this, wear this, look this direction, and pay attention was not what Caroline had in mind. However, the shoot went well and I can't wait to post the end results!

I hope all of you have a great rest of the weekend!

The Party

We ended up having Caroline's birthday party Sunday evening. I was gone Friday and Saturday to the Women Of Faith Conference in Oklahoma City (thanks to Keri & Teresa for inviting me!), so we had to wait until Sunday. We had a hamburger/hotdog cookout--mainly to have an excuse to have people over. :) We LOVE to have get-togethers, so it worked out perfectly. There really was no theme, but everything was decorated in hot pink & black, including the 3 tier cake. I made the cake with the help of my wonderful brother-in-law Nathan. He's the best cake saver on the planet! Ha! We had 6 families come over (15 kids in all!), including my parents and grandma. It was a TON of fun, and Caroline got some awesome gifts. Thank you to everyone who came over and made Caroline's 1st birthday party a complete success!
Caroline & Pappaw chillin' on the couch--check out her birthday rompers I made!
Misty and Phoenix playing with the farm set (p.s. we missed you Rob!)
Jill holding Mason and Keri holding Alexis
John doing his dork face, Steve, and Cameron--woulda been a GREAT pic--thanks honey! lol
Mimi w/Caroline, Caitlin, Jazmin, Cannon, Jacey, Christian, and Gracelyn eating out on the patio
John w/Tina & John Randall (p.s.-we missed you too, Randy!)
singing "Happy Birthday"
oh yeah--that's the way to do it!

One Year Checkup

Caroline went for her one year checkup this morning, and what Dr. Young told me was NO surprise: my child is tall and skinny. She weighs 19lbs 8oz (25%) and is 31 inches long (95%). Basically, she's healthy, happy, and right on schedule! :) The doctor said she'll be walking without any assistance very soon, which means I need to rethink the gate for the bottom of the stairs (basically, we need one-HA!).

The Big 1

It's official---Caroline Grace is 1 today!! I can't believe my baby is that old...really. They say time flies when you're having fun right?!? On each of my children, it has ZOOMED by. I know I can't make her stay little forever, but it would be nice! :)
*singing*
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday Caroline Sunshine....
Haaaappy biiiiiirthdaaaaay---tooooo---youuuuuu!!!

I love you baby girl! You have definitely brought sunshine to our home. I love to watch you play with Christian and "talk" to Caitlin. You are such a little scrapper when it comes to play-wrestling with them. You have wrapped your daddy around your finger, and you have made my heart so happy! I pray that you live a blessed and wonderful life!
We will be having a party in the near future, so watch for pics! :)

Fire Training And Costumes *Warning: Picture Heavy*

Yesterday was quite busy! John had live fire training out at the training tower, and he invited me, Christian, and Caroline to come watch for a while. We really couldn't see the fire because it was inside the building, but the smoke was impressive. Christian gave Caroline a talk on the way out there about how she had to stay in the car so she wouldn't burn herself. LOL Of course I had to take my camera. :)
Then, the kids put on their costumes and we visited Tina & Randy, Mom & Dad (who were sick and had to leave the candy outside--hope you 2 feel better soon!), Grandma Duke, and Plum Creek Fellowship Church where Jill & Keri attend. It was fun to see all of the cute costumes! Caitlin was a mouse, Christian was Buzz Lightyear, and Caroline was a big fat goldfish. Man, it was cold! We were only out for about an hour, but we still froze. Here are some pics from the day:

Lt. Haskell reporting for duty
An awesome father/son picture by the Pantex firetruck
Caroline couldn't quit staring at Daddy's gear long enough to look at the camera
Getting ready to go in--John is on the far right putting on his mask
Caitlin, Christian, Caroline, and John Hare (Tina's son--he was a tootsie roll)
Jill hanging with 2 mice and a goldfish
Buzz Lightyear hanging with John and Steve Crum
A sweet family picture
Jill & Alexis, Me & Caroline, and Keri & Mason-aren't their costumes cute?!?