A work in progress!

We've been updating the house (windows, curtains, some painting, etc.) lately and I've already posted the pictures of the new windows!

This past weekend, Joe and my Dad worked together on hanging new shutters and I have to say, I finally LOVE the exterior of our house - it still needs a lot of paint - all the beige color trim needs repainting, the door and sidelights needs to be painted to match the new shutters, etc. But overall - what a difference! I'm so happy to be done with the drab beige on off white on white exterior with no real color!

Here are some pictures of the new shutters!

And for comparison - before and after next to each other:

Asthma? Small Airway?

Joshie has a chronic cough - for which he has repeatedly been given antibiotics for over the last year or so - which obviously aren't the answer. So we finally got him in to see the doctor that diagnosed Tommy with asthma -

She said that chronic cough is usually one of three things - GERD (we don't think this it but he did have reflux as a baby), small airway (for which there is no treatment other than time - he just has to get bigger and therefore his airway will broaden out), or asthma.

She said she didn't think it was GERD either, and there's no treatment for small airway (which can cause colds to be a problem - duh - seen that!) so the best thing to do is treat it as asthma, and hopefully we'll see improvement.

So Josh started on albuterol (for 7 days to help the inflamation calm down) and Flovent as a maintenance drug (which will take 2-3 weeks for us to see maximum effectiveness).

The first two nights it seemed to be working miraculously fast - unfortunately, that was a flook, because he's still coughing till he gags sometimes. We're hoping that the Flovent will kick in soon and that we've found an answer to his chronic cough.

Here's little Joshie doing his "puff puffs"

New Windows

We were blessed to be able to put in new windows today with a portion of Joe's severance check. And we were doubly blessed because my Dad works for a window company (the best in the business I think - Vytex Windows), anyway, so today was insane. But I think I almost got more work done because I wanted to stay out of their way. They arrived at 9:30am with a crew of three guys. They finished at 3:30pm. They left the house almost how they found it (a few pieces of dirt, but nothing compared to what it could have been!). And look at the difference:

Trying to understand God's message

The last week or so we've been struck AGAIN with illness - first Tommy with strep throat. Then Joshua with a nasty cold and pink eye.

I'm trying to understand what lesson God is trying to teach me - I thought I learned what I was suppose to learn back in February with the stomach bug that hit us. I learned about praising God for all that came out of that - having cuddles with my Joshie Bear, about not letting weight rule my life, about working as a team with my "partner in crime" husband, about letting go and letting God handle it. I thought I did super well and I learned so much from that two weeks of puke.

But now, this week, I'm having a hard time. I talked to my Mom yesterday and told her we were hit again with illness and she said maybe God is trying to teach you something - I told her, yeah, and I learned what I needed to learn in February - she said, maybe what YOU learned, isn't what God wanted you to learn. DUH!

So now I ask, God, what is it that I'm supposed to be learning here?

My favorite song is "Bring the Rain" and it talks about praising God in the storms. I thought I was? But this week has really been challenging me. Big time.

More little blessings in disguise

God works in mysterious and wonderful ways. He truly does. I was meeting with a lady I do a bible study with a few weeks back, and I asked that she pray that I remain close to God - that I depend on Him in good times and in bad. And that I talk with Him daily (which is so much easier to do when you are begging for this that and the other, but sometimes harder to remember to do when things are going well). Anyway, well, He answered her prayer with a stomach virus!

The Durika family got hit with the stomach bug - and hit hard. Joe had it first (see my other blog). Then Josh got it - but when we thought he was better, he got sick again - and again - and again - and again - for 7 days straight. And then things got back to normal - he went to daycare, I went to work. Then uh-oh I got it!

We're finally on the mend and we're all well - thank You God for that! But during that time, I leaned on Him, I thanked Him for the good things and prayed for the bad things. I learned alot about being a mom to Josh because I had him home with me for 7 days (longest time of one on one since my maternity leave with him almost two years ago!). I cared for him, I nurtured him and I mothered him. All the things that I busy myself with usually, had to wait. And even then, I was thankful for that time with my son. God taught Joe and I about disappointment (missing v-day, missing the marriage conference we had tickets for, etc.), team work, and love.

We're all better now, and again, every morning, I thank God for that. It's a little thing to be thankful for I guess, but God appreciates all the thanks that I give (big and little!) And I praise Him for all He's done.

Another thing that God did for me throughout these past two weeks, is that, remember my blog about my struggle with my weight? Well, as a result of all this illness, I lost the weight that I was struggling with. I believe I will maintain it too. But even if I don't, you know what God showed me? That those little five lbs don't make that much difference, and they certainly shouldn't be the reason I'm happy or sad each day. They really shouldn't.

So praise God for tummy bugs and all that a round (or two or three!) of illness can do for a person (both inside and out!).

100 days, Stomach Bug round two and Stinkbugs!

Tuesday was Tommy's 100 day party at school and I was blessed to be able to come for a little bit to enjoy the festivities. He had a great time making crafts, "hash" (like chex mix sort of) and sharing his 100 items (he chose to bring in 100 pictures that he had drawn!)

Joshie started with the stomach bug yesterday morning and puked about

fifteen times by the time it was all said and done. But he seems to be better now after a long day yesterday. He ate some today and has kept about half a liter of Pedialyte down.

He's almost back on schedule today and is napping now. Seems like he'll be back at daycare tomorrow for his Valentines Day party at "school". Now I'm praying that I and Tommy don't get it - so far so good.

While at Tommy's school on Tuesday, there was this whole discussion about Stink Bugs. And I remember my Grandmother asking me if we had stink bugs (she's from PA) and I had no idea if we had them or not. Then the light bulb went off - stink bugs were these nasty looking bugs that I keep asking Joe to kill. And sure enough, I googled them, and then saw this in the boys bathroom (in Tommy's goggles!):

Child Dedication . . . and the stomach bug

On February 8, 2009 we dedicated our children, Tommy (5 1/2) and Joshua (21 months) to the Lord. This dedication meant that we promised to raise them up in the presence of God, and that we would instill our beliefs and our relationship with God, in them. At least, that's my take on it! :-) Basically, we've committed our lives to God and having a relationship with Him, and now we've dedicated to teaching our children this and bringing them up God's love.

The day went well. We went to 2nd service like normal, but my parents joined us. It was nice that the service was part 2 of the marriage series, and this week was about "Lasting Love". After service we went out to lunch and then came back for the child dedication service at 2pm. Josh did great without a nap (he took one when we got home) and the day was very nice all around.

Of course cookies and juice afterwards is always nice too!

Then Monday night Joe got the stomach flu. He is MISERABLE. I can imagine, I've had it three times in the last few years. It's yucky. And I am praying that we don't get it. It would ruin Valentine's Day for the boys (they both have parties at school that they would miss - Josh already missed his Halloween party due to the stomach bug in the fall)). And Joe and I are supposed to go to the Marriage conference at church with Shaunti Feldhahn on Friday night and Saturday. I would be so sad. But cleaning puke off the toilet at 10pm and not getting a good nights sleep for two nights in a row (Tommy was sick with a cold on Sunday night) certainly will lower my immune system. Plus, I'm fanatical about hand washing, and Joe isn't. So he's banished to the bedroom.

I'm hoping I can snap out of the worry about all of us getting sick (and all the cleaning and laundry associated with puking kids) and try to take care of him today.

Today is also Tommy's 100 day party at school, which I'm supposed to go to. We'll see what happens.