My oldest friend...

Yes, I can say that my oldest friend is Rebecca Joy (Swanson) Rankin or Becca, as she has been called for years. I cannot remember a time that she has not been in my life.

Her journey with cancer over the past three years is here at http://beccarankin.blogspot.com/

This past week I have been flooded with memories of her! This may end up being a little random, but I am going to try and get them all out in cyber space. I need to write this as part of my therapy from the news I am have been getting about her health over the past week.

She was the first friend I had a sleep over/slumber party with. Her house had a jungle gym in the basement, and a hideout under the stairs to play house in! I remember on one night that I stayed, she had to ware this great looking head gear for her teeth. I thought she would not be able to talk to me after she put it on, but no, she could and we talked late into the night, so late in fact, her Dad, had to come in and tell us to quiet down! Her house in Grimes also had baby chicks at one time! So much fun! We also got the chicken pox from each other!

As we got older, her birthday sleep overs moved out to her Grandparents farm. This allowed me the pleasure of riding on a four wheeler for the first time. Of course I was to chicken to drive it, so Becca did and I rode on the back and held on for dear life. We flew across the farm land and I still cannot believe how fearless she was. I was amazed that she could handle it! I was so scared, but not Becca! At these birthday parties she also introduce me to two other dear friends, Anna and Erica. Becca was so good at picking friends that we all became very tight. Because I loved these friends so much, I had them meet Heather. Heather and I joined at the hip in 4th grade. They loved her from the start! All four were in my wedding 12 years ago.

We were in the Little Pilgrims 4H club growing up. Demonstrations, cooking, serving, the Polk County Fair and Iowa State Fair were SO much fun to do with Becca.

I took my first plane ride with Becca. Des Moines, Chicago and then landed in Indianapolis for a two week music camp. On our way back we had to RUN across O' Hare because we only had a few min to catch our flight to Des Moines. If she had not been my guide on this first plane trip, I may still be in O'Hare waiting for my flight home.

All five of us went to Chicago twice and Lake Okoboji once. First trip to Chicago was with Erica's parents. I had never been, so seeing Lake Michigan, the Sears Tower, eating at Michael Jordan's restaurant and attend Moody's church on Sunday morning will always have Becca in them.

On the trip to Okoboji we read Joshua Harris' book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. We all took turns reading in the car and then we realized that Becca had the BEST voice for reading out loud. She lost her voice in fact! Always the servant, being willing to do and help others.

The second time to Chicago, we were out of high school and could go on our own. First road trip without parents!!! We drove to see Anna, who was living there at the time, and got lost trying to find the hotel. The hotel was also a dive, oh my! On the way home we hit a HUGE snow storm. We were all scared to death. We did stop and stay at a relatives of Becca's for the night. Once again a savior, she knew how to get there off the interstate in the blinding snow. Heather was driving and I know she remembers how hard that was!

I was house sitting once and had all the girls over for a sleepover. John and I had just broken up. (This happened twice during our time before engagement.) Becca was having some boy troubles of her own at the time. We were young and wanted to be married and were wondering just who we would end up with. Becca and I stayed up till the wee hours of the morning talking about men. This is one of my fondest memories with her. Open hearts, holding nothing back. I will always cherish that. Because we had stayed up half the night, when we made breakfast in the morning, let's just say not one of our finest moments, but so funny! We could not even make cream cheese frosting together, and the kitchen was a mess. Good times!

We nannied the McCargar kids for a week once. We felt so "old" getting to be the adults for a few days. Doing this with my servant friend was such a breeze! We took turns driving the new mini van! We enjoyed that!

When Becca married Dustin, they got a house in Ankeny, IA. John and I moved to Ankeny later on in our marriage. When I was pregnant with Emma, and Becca was pregnant with Gabby, we were due about a week apart. We met several times to compare pregnancy notes! One being at a late movie. Still remember sitting at the theater with huge belly's laughing away and discussing names!

I must also say how thankful I am for being able to meet with Becca about every time I have come back to Iowa this past year and a half. She was always ready for lunch or a play date to catch up. This loyalty is a treasure to me.

Summer 2004 right before Becca's wedding. L to R, Anna, Erica, Becca and me.

Blogger would not let me put a space in between these last two pictures, sorry!

First picture is Becca's wedding Summer 2004. Heather is on the far left. All five of us were able to come! What a blessing. 

The next picture is at my home in Ankney with Emma and Gabby, our twins. The girls are 15 months old here. They are eight days apart in age. These pictures show how my life has moved with Becca's. Sisters, in Christ and life.

I started writing this blog about 12:30 today. Becca's went to be with her Lord and Savior at 12:50pm.

She was on this earth for 33 years. The same as Christ. And, as Heather reminded me today, Christ started his ministry at 30. This is about the time Becca started having health trouble. The past three years her life and blog have ministered to me in so may ways. Her peaceful, humble and calm spirit during that time are a testimony of Christ in her life to me. 

This past week my emotions have been up and down. Sadness, anger, happy for memories, peace and now some joy. I am thankful that as I sit here, Becca is sitting at the feet of Jesus, praising and worshipping with Him for the first time in three years cancer and pain free. God is good!

 My heart and prayers are with her husband, two little girls and her family. 

Rebecca Joy was a joy in all of our lives and I am so thankful and blessed that I am able to say she was my friend.

A silver hair...

This was a funny find. Ean has one silver hair upon his head!

Now, I thought you had to be just a little older, or maybe have given birth to get silver hair? I started getting some right after I had Ean, at 25! But at 7?! Well this verse came to my mind a short while later.

Provers 20:29 NLT
"The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old."

So maybe Ean is already benefiting from experience? Hmmm? He is a very smart boy! Who knows maybe he is wise beyond his years. I am glad he thought it was funny to have a silver hair.  Because I did too!

Music...

One thing that I do not get into much is new music. I am a fan of KLOVE and have it on in the van most of the time. Some "pop" will also make it in at times, but I am driving with the kids most of the time and really don't like to have "scary with words songs" come on.

I heard this song the other day and fell in love. Voice, words and music caught my heart. This is me and I think a lot of us as we go through life. It's always the little things that get us off track.

Francesca Battistelli http://www.francescamusic.com/ is wonderful.

The Elf on the Shelf...

Santa left a gift for the kids this morning. An Elf! He is going to watch over the kids and report back to Santa on how they behave. As this Advent season has progressed with the Lego Advent calendar being opened early, they are not waiting each day to open one door, and Emma is still refusing to be potty trained, mommy is very glad that Santa thought of this.

Our Elf, now named Scout, came with a book that explains his rules. One being that he cannot be touched or his magic will go away and he will not be able to fly back to Santa to report. This is very important because he goes back each night. Then the kids get to find him each morning in a different spot. Scout's favorite game is hide and seek. Next year mommy is hoping he comes with Advent verses from the bible as well!

We were told to register Scout with Santa at the North Pole. Santa has set up a really cool 3D web site with interactive pictures of the North Pole. http://www.theelfontheshelf.com/ It also shows how the Elves train all year long to get ready to watch the kids during the Christmas season. They are hard workers!

Santa also sent us a letter saying how he is pleased that we named our Elf! He loves the name Scout! He is praying that the kids are good this whole month!

Here he is "Scout". Mommy is praying for kids that begin to follow the rules and is also hoping

that her kids get a good report each day!



Thanks G Connie for having Mommy ask Santa for an Elf for our family!
www.barnesandnoble.com also helps Santa with his delivery's! Search for The Elf on the Shelf!

Two things on my mind and heart...

First, Emma...




FIY this will contain some TMI...sorry!




For the past year Emma and I have worked hard on potty training. It has not taken. Her will will not give in. Since the beginning she has decided that she will hold her poop in and not let it out. She does this when we are working on using the potty and when we are not. She has a fear of it. We have been to the Doctor and have medicine, but even with help she continues to be very stubborn. I could cry. It's one thing to have a child that will not use the potty and refuses to tell you when she has to go, it' another thing to have her hold in her poop and be fearful about it. I do not want to end up in the hospital. This is a mind problem. Everyone tells you not to discipline and be very understanding. But after this long, it can drive a person nuts. Give it up already, Emma. Sorry, I am tired of it. I see all the cute panties we could buy and it makes me sad. She is so smart! John tells me to pray and keep also praying with her, I am. But even that gets old. I know God will help us through, but I want results. And I feel for her when she is in pain. Please pray along with me. I just want her to wake up and go Mommy, I want to wear panties today. I have to go poop on the potty, Mommy. I want to hear these words more that I love ,Mommy, or you are beautiful, Mommy. I need help!









Second thing...




5 years ago when John told me I needed to go back to work, I almost lost it. It would be nice to get out of the house some and make extra money, but I could not think of a place that would hire a stay at home mom who could only work for a few hours a week. Well, God took me to Kohl's. It has worked out to be there and they have worked with me on my hours, what a blessing. Now, I want to be done. After working there for 5 years and having done retail off and on before that, I am coming on 7 years or so of it. I hate retail at Christmas. I could go on about all the things that I don't like, but those of you who have done it know. This past year has also been very different because I have had to learn how this store in San Antonio works. It is a busy store. It is in the heart of the city in between two others. This means we get returns from all the stores, we make calls to other stores to find different sizes and colors for customers. We are also right at the intersections of the two major highway systems. Very easy for people to get to. I just can't get over now people just seem to come out of the wood work, they just appear out of thin air. I. Am. Not. Kidding. And with issues of payroll and I am sure the economy, they only have one person in customer service all the time. Very hard to keep up.




This brings me to going back to school. I took one class in DSM and really liked college. But we moved and I had to put it off. I feel I am being called into the health care field. With good pay and I hope some flexible hours, I feel this would be a good fit for our family. Last week I had "phlebotomist" come to my mind. Getting blood samples from people in a doctors office or clinic sounds fun! I am praying about this. The course I am looking at would only involve going to class one day a week from 8 to 4:30pm for 16 weeks. Then a month of clinical working four days a week from 8 to 4:30pm. The month of clinical would be hard for our family but I think we could work it out.




Before I get to ahead of myself, I do want to list the blessing that Kohl's has been to me.




I have perfect hours.




I am making good money for retail.




The coworkers are nice.




My supervisor is wonderful.









So, right now I will be sticking with Kohl's and continue to pray for a good attitude when I am there. With the hope that in the new year, Lord willing, maybe I can go back to school.









Please pray with me about these two things. Emma really needs it! Thanks for letting me vent. I don't know what God is doing, but I am praying for answers soon. Maybe we will win the lottery! Ha!







Also, I just read an update on my good friend in Iowa who is 32, and married with two beautiful girls. She has cancer...and I complain about my job. Wow, get a grip, Jayne! I love you Becca, you are in my prayers!

New look...

I have been seeing some really cool looking blogs over the past few months and decided it was time to update mine. I love www.shabbyblogs.com they have cute things!!! This is the one I liked for Fall it's called "autumn sunshine". I also may use "shabby brown" and "emma" in the future. And being the wiz at computers that I am...not...I can't remember how to change the background of my text and header. Wish I knew everything, but I don't. Oh well, I will keep trying to fix that. The colors don't go together any more.
I am also thinking about taking a "Nikon" use your camera class. John could teach me, but we all know how that goes. When to make the time. Plus I think a class would get you started from the beginning, and that's what I need. As I post pics from my little "Sony" I am not happy with the quality of the photos.
Just short and sweet update today. Have to head to work. I did get a rest in today, that was nice! After working out, school, Pumpkin Spice Latte and shopping! See ya!

School...

Well, I decided to get the office ready for Ean and Evan. I was going to do school on the dinning room table, but I never seem to have that clean. John told me a few days ago that it's a good idea to have the kids always study in the same place each day. It helps them to know that when they sit in that spot it's time to study. I had already got our shelf ready, so I got a card table out and decided to make that the desk. It fit right next to our shelf. Perfect!

I even put their names on the table! Just like I have seen in all of my friends pics on FB of their kids going to Kindergarten.

The shelf with all of our school stuff on it. It's organized right now! I still don't know how to turn pic in blogger. Ugh. Sorry!

Emma's "desk" complete with her name. She wanted to sit with me, but I cannot hold her and answer the boy's questions. Plus, after each problem, Evan has to tell me he is done. It was a busy day. Emma cried when I told her she needed to sit at her table. Hoping she gets the idea soon!

Ean's first day of 1st grade!

Evan's first day of Kindergarten!

Abeka has you record the kid's height three times a year. The kids are all 3 in apart! Very funny! This is Ean's page.

Here is Evan!

Emma at her desk before that melt down. She is 3ft tall today.

Working hard on math.

On Labor Day, I was really down about starting school. Being really tired from work and just feeling like I have to do everything for everyone. I did not even want to think about school. Am I even qualified to teach them? Satan really has a way of beating a person up. But, I got the table around and that helped a little. In August I had ordered books and organized the book shelf. I was very glad that was done early! Then, we all went to bible study this morning. At the end of our discussion groups we break up into prayer partners. I got a lady of wisdom, and she was very excited to pray for my request. My request was prayer for getting school started this week. Her prayer almost made me cry. What a blessing to have that encouragement on this day! She also told me how proud she was of John and I. That we were willing to take this task on. She was wonderful! After being home schooled myself and always feeling different, and now going back to that, I really needed her this morning! God is so good.

The boys did well. We are still getting used to working together. It is exciting to see them learn. Still praying for the rest of the week!