Just call him Jack Bauer!

Trek just sent this to me.

In case you are confused about what you are looking at, this is the view Trek had of the SWAT team pulling up with weapons drawn to take the criminal down.

Wow, what an exciting life my Jack Bauer...I mean Trek leads. Now that I think about it...he does kind of remind me of him...hmmmm.



Mental note: Christmas present for Trek...Two tone Sig 228 pistol.

But I don't have my shopping done!

Here is the crew...bundled up in 15 layers of clothes for our town's annual Christmas parade. Brrrrr!

Count Your Many Blessings

I'm reminded of a song I learned years ago in worship that says "...count your blessings name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done." I feel compelled to write them down now, maybe not for the three of you that read my blog, but for me to see how God has worked over and over again, never leaving us alone.

To summarize...


1. Ice Queen goes to school






2. Trek gets laid off






3. House sells









4. Move to new house
5. Trek gets new job 200 resumes later...in city 3 hours away...can anyone say "4:1 kidlets to parent ratio 5 days a week!"









I sit and recall the happenings of our life over the past few months and cannot help but be so thankful....

School is a challenge but is exactly what I had hoped it would be.

Trek lost his job because of the housing slump but with the loss came the loss of so many worry lines on his face.

The house sold after 4 days on the market in an economy where NOTHING is selling right now. I realized in the process that the house is made of just wood and bricks...we took our 4 treasures with us.

We moved to a different house that is a little rough around the edges, but is located where help with little ones is literally steps away.

Trek got a new job 3 hours away...but we are SO thankful for a job! It holds promise of new experiences, new challenges and new adventures! We don't know where the road will lead, but we know it will be interesting along the way.

George had a great first football season. He learned the game from a committed coach that taught him so much about respect and teamwork.

Twirl continues to be challenged to learn more difficult dance routines and more difficult art techniques.

Halloween was a nice reprieve of family time with loads of chocolate in the midst of our crazy life!

Turkey Day was spent with wonderful friends that we came to know because of Hurricane Katrina. Sometimes the best things in life come from the worst of times! This Thanksgiving we were introduced to a strange new bird called Turducken...don't know what it is?...LOOK IT UP! The real question is...does it gobble, quack or cluck?

The road is still bumpy and I solicit your prayers. There have been a lot of tears and worry over the past few months, but I can honestly say that God has been faithful. I have seen his presence over and over. I don't deserve his blessings, but am so thankful for them.

I have SUCH an exciting life!

Here is just a few of the heart stopping highlights from the past month...

I gave blood on a bus that reminds me of




Instead of getting a pizza dinner like Shaggy...I got a XXXXL t-shirt and two huge bruises on my leg. (I'll save you the visual) They took a hammer and beat my leg because I flinched when they came at me with the 75 gauge shotgun...I mean needle with which they intended to remove my blood.


(Okay, sorry that's not true that's just my fiction writer wanna be alter ego coming out.)

Back on track...here's the facts

• pizza dinner - did not get

• XXXXL t-shirt - kind of true, it may have been an XL but it was big enough to put on all four of my kids...AT ONCE

• bruises on leg - true but not from a hammer but from yours truly Ms. Graceful running into the huge metal thingy protruding from the side of the bed that they hang the blood bag on

• 75 gauge needle - I don't know but it was a big mama needle and felt like 75 vampires sucking on my arm
  

But all discomfort and bruises aside, I want to give a shout out to the two awesome vampire women that entertained Monkey and Little Bit while I was laying on the bed willing myself to hang on for the reward...the XXXXXL t-shirt!

Another day another story....

I decided today that I should be an instructor for the "I have a huge family and I'm trying to buy for the entire year, okay month, and I will NOT submit to filling one cart and parking it at the front and starting on another one but WILL fit everything I need in this one cart that barely holds enough groceries for one person...balance, balance...stop looking at me like I'm an alien fellow shoppers" class.




Classes start Monday...cost of enrollment...my grocery bill!

Happy Birthday Gabrielle!

Our dear friends from New Orleans spent part of the week with us when Gustav came to visit the coast. Gabrielle turns 14 today! We are very proud of the sweet young lady she is becoming.

"That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay."

She rocks!

Minneapolis-St. Paul...She put the competition in their place and took the house at the RNC.

Grey's Anatomy...Here I come!

After much paperwork, begging, and grovelling...I have been accepted! I didn't share with very many people that I had applied because they only take 8 students per year for the program, but I got in!

So...I doubt I'll see any Dr. McDreamys

(I have one of my own at home)









but I plan to see plenty of this...and I am so pumped!!!