ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS...

My kids are always asking me...."what do you want for Christmas, Mom." I always tell them..."You already know." They will say...."we know...we know....PEACE, LOVE and HAPPINESS!" And then they will say..."But what do you REALLY want?" And I always tell them..."that IS what I want." I can honestly say that I am very happy with my life. I have everything that I could ever possibly need and want. I have a great husband that works extremely hard to give us the things we want and need. And...he loves me and puts up with me...that should say it all!!! I have 3 healthy, WILD kids. A nice house...nice cars..and so much more. Am I saying that my life is perfect??? haha...FAR FROM IT! My house is a mess, my kids fight with each other all the time. My oldest DRIVES ME NUTS with his mouth! My kids don't do anything to help with out me totally nagging at them...then it turns into a fight. And I am exhausted a lot of the time because my husband lives away from home during the week. And that means I have to help with the HOMEWORK...WHICH I TOTALLY HATE!!! With that being said...I am so fortunate to have a husband that works hard to provide for us...even though he has to live away from home during the week. Even though my house is a mess most of the time...I am fortunate to be able to afford a nice house! And even though my kids make me want to scream and pull my hair out....I do have 3 great healthy kids.

You may be thinking...why I am talking about this. Well...this weekend a little boy who was 14 years old was hit by a car and killed not far from our house. My son who is 13 did not know him...but knows a lot of his friends and the teachers he had. He was out walking with some of his friends and it was dark...the car didn't see him trying to cross the road. Today was his funeral. I can't stop thinking about his parents. My heart aches for them. I know they are wishing that their son could drive them crazy just one more time....or forget to pick up his clothes off the floor.....or to hear his whine just one more time when they ask him to do a job. :(

Also...with the economy lately....I know of some people that have lost their jobs. Lance has been laid off before. We had 3 kids...a house payment...cars....etc. I can't even describe how frightening it is to wonder how you are going to make it. Therefore...even though Lance is gone during the week...I am so fortunate to have a husband that has a job.

So...when asked..what I want/need for Christmas my answer is....I don't NEED anything....but unfortunately what I WANT for everyone money can't buy....PEACE, LOVE, and HAPPINESS!

Daily Quote:

"True friends are the people who brighten your smile everytime your with them"

SLACKER!!!!

My name is Jen and I am a SLACKER!!!!! LOL I can't believe that its been almost a month since I posted!!! You know its bad when people start to call you to see why you haven't posted in a while. Even my husband called today and said...."I keep checking your blog to see what you have been up to....and there is never anything new on there. " So I thought...I better get on it. This last month just flew by. I have NO idea where it went or what I have been up to. So...I thought I would look at my calendar to see what on earth I did this last month. :)

First of all...Cole got sick...AGAIN. Cole has gotten what the doctors call "croup" every year since he has been born. It is always the same. He starts to lose his voice first...then he has difficulty breathing...gets a seal like cough....we usually end up in the ER getting a breathing treatment and steroids. For a couple years now the doctors have been saying..."he is to old to get croup...the next time this happens we need to do further testing." Each time it would happen they would just give him a treatment and steroids and say the same thing. It didn't help that we have moved and changed doctors quite a few times during this process. So finally I decided we need to get to the bottom of this. So...we went to an ENT who said that is it possible that his esophagus is to small and that he could also have vocal cord issues....but we wouldn't know unless we did exploratory surgery. OK...not an option. So...I decided to take him back to the allergy and asthma center when the school calls me and tells me he is having a hard time breathing and I need to come in to get him. I took him in and they ran a few test and started him on treatment. Well...by the next morning he is worse....so back we go. They start him on steroids....same ol thing that he gets every time this happens. Seems to be the only thing that works. And...they send him for a cat scan of his sinuses. That comes back clear and they are baffled. Loooong story short.....they decide to get him well with all the meds. and do a Methacholine challenge test. This will determine if he has asthma. Sure enough....he does! And this "croup" is the way his body reacts to it. FINALLY we know what this is!!!! Sooooo....now he is on a preventive dose of meds every night. We go back to the allergist Thursday for a check-up. So far all is good. Hopefully this will control his attacks and we can stay out of the ER this winter. So that is part of where I have been. :)