I'm still alive...

I know that I have such a huge following, and you've all been worried sick wondering where I've been. The truth is there's several reasons, the least of which is that our camera's been in and out and back in the shop. We finally got it back today, so I promise to get back on track asap! Until then, I will have to update you with little to no pictures.

The highlight of my week had to be when my mom and I went to visit my grandfather in the hospital. Here is the short(ish) version that I sent in an email, I think it sums it up best...

First I wanted to thank all of you who have lifted my grandfather up in prayer the last few weeks. I wanted to also update you on his condition and some of the answers to those prayers as well as some new ways you can pray. Here is a quick re-cap of his condition:

After falling and breaking his hip, he had to have surgery on it. While recovering from that, the Dr.’s realized that he was having issues with his bowels (which he’s been dealing with for months if not years) so they ordered a colonoscopy. It was through this procedure that they discovered that he had colon cancer. They then decided to do another surgery to remove the tumor and run further tests on it to see the type and severity of the cancer. We are still waiting on the pathology reports from those tests. That was almost two weeks ago. He was recovering well enough for them to send him to Health South late last week for rehab care. It wasn’t long after that he began having trouble breathing and they discovered on Tuesday that he now has pneumonia. They were very concerned for him and were afraid he wouldn’t make it long.

My mom and I went to visit him today and bring him some pictures that the boys had painted to cheer him up. My mom has been burdened with our lack of assurance regarding his salvation and asked me to pray before we went into the hospital. I prayed that he would be alert and able to communicate with us with a clear mind. I prayed that he would be receptive to what we had to say and that his heart would be ready to receive Christ. He was raised catholic but never really even a half-hearted committed Catholic, had a very difficult childhood and spent much of it in an orphanage, and has been very hard and closed minded about our evangelical faith. My mom has tried on several other occasions to share the gospel with him, but his response has been anywhere from a blunt ‘I don’t want your Jesus’, to ‘That’s nice for you, hun.’ But, lately we’ve all seen a little softer side of him as he seems to be realizing his mortality.

My mom began talking to him, and presenting the gospel in a pretty straight forward way. She was trained with the “Roman’s Road” evangelism many years ago, and was doing a good job, but I was afraid some of the terminology was lost on him. After letting her talk for a few minutes I walked over and asked him what he thought about what she was saying. He answered by saying, ‘Well, I think I have a lot of changing to do.’ To which I said “Why do you think that? Do you feel like you’re not good enough for the grace that she’s talking about?” ‘Well, no..I guess not.’ he said. I went on to explain to him that it didn’t matter what he’s done in his life, that there’s no difference between him and a five year old coming to Christ. A five year old hasn’t done much in the way of sins, at least not compared to someone who’s been around 80 years or more, but God comes to you and forgives you the same way he would that five year old child. He loves and accepts you just the way you are. All you have to do is ask for his forgiveness and He will do it. I asked him what he thought about what we were saying and he said something like, ‘Well, that’s good.’ And my mom asked if he would want to pray right now and he said, ‘Okay’….I was in SHOCK! My mom lead him through the prayer, and we were able to lead him to Christ, right then and there! It still seems a little sir-real to me, mainly because I never thought he would be that receptive, that willing to listen, let alone actually pray the prayer!

It’s like I told my mom…even if he doesn’t have full comprehension of what that commitment means, I believe that he heard, understood and received God’s grace and forgiveness. This was also the first family member that I’ve had the privilege of being a part of their salvation process. It’s not something you can put into words.

I know this has been long-winded, but I hated to just say he received Christ and leave it at that. Please continue to pray for him as he thinks on what his decision really means and future conversations we hope to have with him.

I'm still in shock when thinking back on this whole scene. I am thankful beyond words that I was able to be a part of something so amazing. I'm sort of ashamed to admit that this is truthfully my first time to really "witness" to someone and then have them make a decision right then and there. You see, I've always thought of myself as the "live by example", "witness to everyone, and if necessary use words" kind of Christian. But when it comes right down to it, I'm terrified of literally presenting the gospel to people. Even in this case, after I'd said all I could say, I tried to let him off easy and was like..."Well, you just think about it, and talk to God about it and he'll tell you what you should do next." or something to that effect. But my mom was like..."Would you like to pray right now?" Oh, if I could have a tenth of her boldness! Now he has an eternity that he might not have had if left with my-don't feel pressured, take as much time as you need, don't want to push him too hard-approach. The craziest thing about it was, it all came so naturally, flowed right out of my mouth and the things I was saying made perfect sense. Looking back on it, I realized how present and real the Holy Spirit was! Giving me confidence, clarity of mind and a way of explaining exactly what he needed to hear. I give myself none of the credit. All I know is...now that same spirit is alive and active in my grandfather's heart and life and nothing is ever going to change that! Praise the Lord!

My prayer is that not only did the Lord plan this divine appointment for my grandfather's eternity, but that it was also to create in me a new found confidence and willingness to share my faith with others.

UPDATE: As I was working on this post I got an IM from my mom. She said that my dad was at Kindred (the new long term care hospital he was moved to) and was able to see the doctor. He told my dad that his pneumonia was improving rapidly and that he should be able to go home in two weeks to a month. This was shocking on several levels for my dad. First because we were told that it would be unlikely, due to his aggressive form of cancer that he would ever be able to live on his own again, that he would need constant care up until the end of his live. Because of this fact, my dad and uncle had just moved all my grandpa's belongings from his apartment at the assisted living place, back into his house that they were in the process of cleaning out in hopes of selling it soon. So now they will be moving him back into his apartment...he was super thrilled about that prospect.

Now for the most shocking and amazing part...After hearing this news, my dad asked when we were going to be getting the pathology report(s) from the oncologist? "You won't" he said. "What do you mean, why not?" my dad asked. "Because there is no cancer. The oncologist has been taken off of his case." WOW! Our God is AWESOME! From what I understand, the tumor and the cancer were self-contained and after numerous tests, there is not cancer in his lymph nodes nor anywhere else in his body! Crazy huh!

When my mom saw him a few days later, she asked him what he thought about all this good news. He said, "Must have been all those prayers and Jesus." I'd say that would be a great increaser of my faith, only days after putting my trust in him! Thank you Lord and thanks to all of you for your continued prayers for him.

Even though that is a tough act to follow, here are a few highlights from the past several weeks, and a taste of what's to come;

Day worked with Cooper on learning to ride his bike w/o training wheels. He did pretty well so long as he didn't have to turn or slow down;)

Off to a good start!

Look at him go!

Needing a little pep-talk!

Practice makes perfect...

Finally I wanted to share our picture with Santa. We have a tradition of going to the Gaylord hotel to visit Santa and take in all the beautiful sights, lights and trains. I believe this was our fourth year to go. I thought you'd enjoy comparing this years to the one we took two years ago. We all look pretty different, I'd say! We didn't get to see Santa last year because he had already gone home for the day.

2006

2008

Trick or Treat

Halloween was very tricky this year. Somehow we've gotten away from the traditional trick or treating and it has become something very different all together. We didn't really start "doing" Halloween until we had kids, but even then it's always been at a church 'carnival' or something similar, never the door to door knocking, etc. I know that most of that got lost in fear over tainted candy or child predators, but it seems now that it's a little safer than it once was.

Well, now our church has stopped having their annual carnival and challenged their members to get out in their community and meet their neighbors and invite them to our church using special made candy boxes. Our Sunday school class has taken it a step further and for the past two years, we've organized our own little mini-carnival at a couples house that's in our class. We have a bounce house, carnival games, candy (of course) and this year we had cookie decorating and a photo-opp set up for people to get a cute picture taken in their costumes. We handed out nearly 200 boxes and met lots of new people, and took those opportunities to invite them to our church. This was great and a good opportunity to share Christ with others, and yet I feel like the kids are missing out on the novelty and tradition of Trick or Treating...but I also think it's important to teach them to serve and care about others. So my delima is, what I will do next year...we'll just have to see.

We also try and visit my grandma and grandpa who both live at an assisted living center and cheer up all the old people. This was also tricky this year and we didn't actually make it over there until Sunday night. (Two days after Halloween...oh well, most of the people who live there don't even know what day it is, so they were thrilled to see them in their costumes.)

So, maybe next year we will just pass the candy boxes out door to door as we go trick or treating? We'll just have to wait and see. Until then, here are some pictures of Sir Cooper the knight, Super Why (Conner) and Carter my sweet little candy corn (this was Trinity's costume that Tracy made for her a few years ago.)

Super Why to the rescue!

Don't you just want to eat him up!

My Knight in shining armor!

Too cute to spook!

Conner and G.G's dog Kiki

Pumpkin Patch Pictures

I had to make a special trip to the pumpkin patch this year so that Cooper could be in the pictures. I had matching outfits and everything:) Anyway... I think we moms should get paid extra for attempting to capture adorable pictures of our kids. I stole an idea from my friend Carrie's blog where she cofessed to using smarties...one at a time...to attempt to bribe a smile out of her little one. So with a butt-load of smarties in tow, off we went to the pumpkin patch.

Carter will forever be my difficult child, and this was NO exception. I must have picked him up and set him back down at least 30 times, and his blood sugar levels were most likely off the charts by the time we left, but by golly we got some cute pictures.

My favorite part was listening to the other moms nearby, using any tactick they could think of, talking in octives that only seeing eye dogs can hear, trying everything short of standing on their heads to get their kids to smile. We just looked at each other with armloads of sympathy, and yet an expression of "Why the h#%* do we do this to ourselves" looks on our faces.

Oh well, I did get some pretty cute pics, dispite the yelling, threating, making a complete moron out of myself, my kids are actually pretty stinkin' cute!

Field Trip To Green Meadows Farm

Cooper had his first official field trip last week, and Day and I both were able to go with him. He was so excited that we were going with him, but he was super excited about the fact the he would be riding a REAL school bus!!! AWESOME!!!

Anyway, we spent the day at Green Meadows Farm, which is right off of Joe Pool Lake. It is a really nice facility, that is basically just a huge petting zoo of farm animals...oh, and one random zebra. Each type of animal had it's own pin that you could go inside of and chase, pet and feed them. There were chickens, ducks, goats, pigs, horses, baby ducks, baby pigs, baby cows...and a zebra. Needless to say, we used gallons of hand sanitizer, and yet were filthy from head to toe.

Mostly I enjoyed watching Cooper interact with some of the friends I've heard him talk about. I also got to know some of the other moms a little better. The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time. Cooper's favorite part was getting to milk the cow. He wasn't to sure at first, but he was brave and thought it was really cool.

I couldn't help but using another slide show, just because there were so many pictures...hope you don't mind.

Fall Fun at the Dallas Arboretum

On Monday we took a trip to the Dallas Arboretum. This was our third year to visit during their pumpkin festival on Mommy and Me day. They had a small petting zoo, face painting, carnival games, and endless beautiful landscape! It was a little chilly at first, but it warmed up to be a beautiful day! I had so many pictures that I had to use a slide show. It was a little sad to do all of this fun stuff without Cooper for the first time, but I also enjoyed having some more focused time with the other boys. When Cooper got home from school and saw the pictures, he actually started crying, saying.."I wanted to go there tooooooooo!" He was very upset that we went without him, but I reminded him that he had a field trip coming up on Wednesday that we would be going with him on. (Post of that soon to follow.)

So, enjoy the great pictures I got of my beautiful boys!

My sweet little angel, Conner!

I had to share about a conversation that Conner and I had yesterday.

A friend of mine, Jessica, is nearing the end of her battle with cancer. I keep up with her and pray for her through her blog. Yesterday I was reading some letters that some family and friends had written to her three young daughters, and was crying. Conner noticed me crying and this is how the conversation went from there...

C: Mommy, why are you frying?

M: One of mommies friends is very sick and she's about to be with Jesus in heaven.

C: Is she going to die?

M: Yes, baby. (And I held him up to the computer to show him her picture with her daughters.)

See..I said, this is my friend and these are her little girls.

C: So, there not going to have a mommy anymore? (Sounding very sad and concerned.)

M: (Fighting back even more tears) That's right baby, isn't that very sad. We need to pray for them so they wont be too sad. Wouldn't you be sad if mommy wasn't here anymore?

C: No. (Very matter of fact, and without a second thought, he says...) I would ask God to give me wings and I would fly up and get you and bring you back home.

M:(Not speaking at all, just admiring this precious gift from God, thanking Him that I'm not leaving, at least not today, and squeezing his little heart out!) (More tears...)

As I've been sitting on the far sidelines of Jessica's battle (she and I are not close friends, more like acquaintance), I am heartbroken over the thought of leaving my family behind. I know that God is equipping them with every strength they need to make it through the next breath, and yet I am devastated at the thought of myself being in her shoes. I could ask the questions, like why her, she's an amazing woman of God. Why those precious girls, they need their mother. Why will her husband have to carry on without her, that's just terrible. I could ask many more questions, but my answer would be the same, even if it were me instead of her. Our God is awesome and powerful and mighty and paints on a canvas so much bigger than the small picture we see. I trust beyond any form of understanding I could muster that He is doing His best in Jessica's life. That no God of mine would bring about such hurt, heartache and pain without having a much bigger, more glorifying plan in mind.

Oh, Conner, how I know that Jessica's girls wish it were that easy, to just put on some wings, fly up to heaven and bring their mommy back home! I love that you would think to come up to heaven for me! I love your honesty and simple way of seeing the world. You made mommy feel like no one could be more loved on this earth! And yet...I feel like I couldn't love anyone more.

Please lift up the Kaylor family today and take some time also to squeeze the ones you love most!

Playgroup Halloween Party...

Several of my other playgroup friends posted this picture, so I had to follow suit!

btw...mine are the two cuties front and center:) That's C3 & C2, from left to right ;)

Here they are...all 16 of them (actually, you'll notice that there are only 14 in the picture, but we are missing baby Christian and baby Claire who were too little to join the chaotic scene:) Our Halloween party was very crazy this year. We try and maintain traditions like having parties at each others houses, but after this one...we may have to rethink our 'traditions'.

For some reason there was lots of screaming (not crying...just random acts of screaming), loud playing of various instruments (ie...guitars, harmonicas, etc.), fighting over pretty much anything we felt like yanking out of someone else's hand, strawberry stains on the stairs (thanks to my sweet Carter, using the strawberry to help him crawl his way up the stairs), and the not so gentle roar from them just having to get louder to hear each other over all the insanity! It was a day to remember, that's for sure.

We sat around and joked about the 'good ole' days' remembering when we'd just lay them on the floor, let them roll around and the only worry we had was them drooling or puking on the carpet or on someone else's toy. Back then, there were only 5 or 6 kids each week. Now that we've all added to the digits of our family, it's no longer the playgroup of ole'. I personally love the chaos, it didn't seem to bother me this week at least. Maybe it's because I now realize how fast the days go by, and come next fall we will lose 3 more of our friends to Kindergarten. This will be the largest our playgroup will ever get...pending anymore surprise baby's in the next year:) (better not be me!!!)

Yes, it was loud.

Yes, it was crazy.

Yes, our husbands would have checked out after 2 minutes.

No WAY would I trade it for anything!

Just in case you were wondering how many moms go with this brood of babies...there were seven of us. That's a pretty good ratio, I'd say!

UPDATE: Actually there are 8 moms...I somehow forgot to count myself. That makes for two kids each. Actually, I have the most with three, but Cooper is no longer a playgroup friend, so I'm left with two...still a weird feeling, I might add.

WW-Coming or Going...

On Monday I had to get a picture of this hilarious scene! Conner had put his shirt on backwards and then headed outside to play with Carter. They were both wearing the same shirt, and while I was watching them play I started cracking up thinking how Conner looked like either his head was on backwards or he was running backwards. So I had them stand next to each other, and it was too funny to see them side by side. Who's coming & who's going???

Check out more Wordless Wendesday at 5 Minutes for Mom

or Wordfull Wendesday at SevenClownCircus

Carter Turns Two!

Well, it's official...no more babies at our house! Now he's not only sleeping in a big boy bed, he's a two year old! Although, he is still wearing diapers, I guess that still makes him a baby, but that is the last milestone we have to cross to be a true "big boy"!

We celebrated his birthday on Saturday, where we had a fall carnival themed party at our church. Complete with pumpking painting, face painting, a bounce house and a few other carnival games. The kids seemed to have a great time, and it was pretty layed back and stress free! My kind of party!

Here are some pictures from the day!