"BIRDIES HERES YOUR NEW FOOD"

The girls craft project last week was to paint a bird feeder! They were so excited getting all of their materials ready for the big paint party! Things started off pretty good and clean... but then they got a little more excited about painting and soon the paint brushes were no longer needed for little miss Ava Grace, she decided that fingers of course would do a much better job!!! So the three colors we had to paint the bird feeder was cream, black and gold! In my mind I was thinking ...Oh, how cute it was going to be , our own tribute to The New Orleans Saints! My bubble was soon popped when I looked over to realize that our lovely bird feeder was now a beautiful shade of battleship grey!!!But in a Mommas eyes it was and is the most beautiful bird feeder I have ever seen! Come on look at that blending technique, ya can't get any better that that!!LOL!

The Spillway Opening

Here are some pics of the opening of the spillway!!! This is actually not very far from the house!

"New Play Equipment For The Backyard"

Thanks again to Uncle Mark and Aunt Cecile for Giving us some gently used play equipment for the backyard!!! They love climbing on the new cube and playing in the sandbox!!! Here are a few pics!!

"WAGON TIME"

Here are some pics of Rick & the girls putting the wagon together!!!ENJOY!!! Sorry these were a little late!

"Ear Infections Again"!!

Well Friday brought another visit to Janine for Emma& Ray! Both were not doing very well. In Emma's Words, "I FELL LIKE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS STOMPING IN MY EARS UP CEMENT STEPS WITH BIG SHOES WAKING EVERYBODY UP"! So with that being said, off to Dr. J. we went! Upon examining the kids,Emma and Ray have Ear infections!!This ear infection made for Emma's sixth one in a year! So she will be coming along for the visit to Dr. Cecola on the 28th of this month!So I am sure more news is to come due to this latest result!! I'll keep you guys posted!!

"NEW HAIR FOR EMMA & RAY"

While Ava was having surgery, Emma & Ray were getting a few adjustments made to them as well! Emma for quite awhile now has been begging us to let her cut her hair for "LOCKS OF LOVE"! She has seen a program on T.V. about children at St. Jude Hospital that are going through treatments for Cancer. She was so affected by the children and their stories! She was so sad for the children epically the girls that loose their hair due to the treatments. Her concern for them is so precious! The only thing she has wanted to do since that was to grow her hair the necessary 10 inches needed to be able to give a donation to"LOCKS OF LOVE"! They then take that donation and turn it into a human hair wig for children to have while going through their Cancer treatments! She was so excited to finally have had enough for her donation! Missy, our niece is a hairstylist, so she had all of the necessary things for the donation! So with our permission Emma was granted her wish to be able to help out another child! Missy also gave Ray his first "BIG BOY" haircut!! They both look so cute! Emma is so proud of accomplishing her goal! What an awesome heart of gold she has!! I pray that continues throughout her life!! Here are a few pics! ENJOY!

"SO DID YA KNOW AVA HAD A POPCORN KERNEL UP HER NOSE"!

On Wednesday we were up and ready to go very early! We were supposed to be at the hospital for 7:ooa.m. Things seemed to be a little rushed as usual to actually get out of the door. Once we were in the Family Truckster and headed to Children's Hospital we realized we weren't going to make it there on time due to the stopped traffic on the I-10! I Called the short stay unit and told them of the delay and they told me that things were very busy there and it would be just fine! We arrived at the Hospital about 7:10 a.m. Things did move pretty quickly in the beginning! I have to say they really have the stuff together! As an observer you can see everyone has their job and are doing their job to the best of their ability! No complaining could be heard! EVERYONE was so nice and just so attentive to Ava! She wasn't nervous at all! Anything and everything they told her to do she did without a whimper!! I was so proud of her! She really is quite the trooper!! Once she was given a room, she was given a change of clothes of course!She loved it. It was covered with all sorts of fish, etc. After her change a child care specialist came in to gift Ava with some really cool toys! It was all sorts of cool hospital stuff for her to play with ! She had a ball! I guess I should tell you that we did have to wait quite a while before her surgery! She didn't seem to mind though! She kept herself very busy! First Dr. Cecola or as she calls him "DR.COLA"! Not to be confused with his brother, "DR. PEPPER"! LOL!He came in and explained to all of us about her procedure. I have to pause here for a second just to say how wonderful he his! He is so personable. And he really seems to care for each of his patients! Rick and I like him a lot! Thanks Dr. J. For a wonderful referral! Anyway after Dr. Cecola left we were joined by the anesthesiologist. He introduced himself to all of us and explained to Ava how she was just going to take a little rest and when she woke up , we would be there! He was very nice as well! There was a little more downtime after we met with the doctors, so Ava made the best of the situation by adopting the closet in the room for "HER HOUSE"! She would climb inside and close the door , then have us knock and every time she was someone new! For instance she was Dorothy and inside was OZ, She was Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory was behind the door! She was so cute! After a while of playing ,the nurse came in and brought Ava some Versed! I really do wish I could have a vat of that "goofy juice" as they call it at the hospital! It really did relax Ava and she was quite calm! After about thirty minutes or so "MR.MACK", a very nice gentleman came to escort us down to the surgery area! Once in the surgery area the only complaint Ava had was that she was cold! She just kept singing "I SLEEPY, I SLEEPY" over and over! After about only 10 minutes Dr. Cecola And Ms. Jennifer(the surgical nurse) came in and carried Ava into surgery! She went so willingly, no confrontation at all! The whole process took exactly 44 minutes. That is from them putting her to sleep, the surgery,and her waking up in recovery!! After the surgery we were told that Dr. Cecola would come find us in the family waiting area to discuss her surgery. So when he was finished he open the doors and the first thing he says to us rather loudly I might add is "SO DID YA KNOW THAT AVA HAD A POPCORN KERNEL STUCK IN HER NOSE"? At that moment the only thing I could think of was"WELL, DID YA REMOVE THAT FOR US"? The whole waiting are is chuckling at this point, but then it was down to business. He stated that her ears were so full of very thick fluid, it was almost jelly like. He did say that he had never quite seen this in someone so young! Dr. Cecola also said that her adenoids were also very large and infected as well.That was confirmation for all of us that the surgery was indeed necessary!We were able to go in the back to be with Ava as she was waking up. She did great, she was asking for something to drink,and was not complaining at all!She was a little nervous for the little boy next to her who was screaming quite a bit! It was making her as she said"MOMMA HE MAKIN ME SAD"! She was more concerned about that little boy, than what just happened to her! After about an hour in her room upstairs and one Popsicle later we were able to leave! She of course had to leave in the hospital gown!! Typical Ava!!!Rick and I are just truly blessed!! Thank you heavenly father for not only the gift of Ava but for her healing!!Thank you Father for her wonderful attitude and your comforting hand on her through this time! What an AWESOME God we serve!!!

"BUT I LOVE HER SO MUCH"!

The Tuesday night before Ava's Surgery was Quite an adventure in it's self!Rick went and served at Alpha while I stayed back at the house to get things ready to bring Emma &Ray to Missy for around 10:00p.m.She had to work late, so that is why we were bringing them so late! All was going well, I had everything ready for when Rick got home, we were ready to go!!We dropped Emma & Ray and as we were leaving Ava had a complete meltdown! She has never , as far as she can remember,spent a night away from Emma! She was so sad,and just couldn't understand what was going on. I felt so bad for her! She just kept crying "I NEED EMMA, I JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH"!I am glad to see that they truly do love each other! But on the other hand, she didn't cry at all for Ray!I guess that may have something to do with the fact that he beat her up in the tub earlier that evening! Lets just say, he actually sent Ava running and screaming!! Ava running and screaming? Yes I know I had to do a double take myself just to make sure it really was her!!LOL>She was pretty upset so I tried snuggling with her until she fell asleep which wasn't til after midnight!!! I think I actually fell asleep before her!

"Follow The Yellow Brick Road "

So before Ava's Big surgery day, I wanted to get a few things we needed from Wal-Mart! While we were there I wanted to get Ava some new "jammas" as she calls them and a new prize /DVD for her to watch when she came home!So when I asked her what DVD would she like to have, and without hesitation she screamed out"WIZARD OF OZ, MOMMA"!Upon looking though all of the titles Wal-Mart has to offer, we didn't see Wizard Of Oz anywhere!!So off Daddy went to find a friendly sales associate! When Daddy came back with "MR.FRANK",he told us that he had just seen a copy in between two t.v.'s so he went to search for it! Well to our Surprise Mr. Frank came back with the DVD in his hands!! Ava was beyond excited!! I have never seen her so happy!She was singing and dancing through Wal-Mart! She was telling everyone she saw about her Wizard Of Oz DVD! Things were going GREAT, until....(This is a Mayeaux story so you know that something has to go, shall we say...Interesting!LOL) Rick notices that the DVD seems to be opened.Upon further investigation, it has indeed been opened and #1 of the2 DVD set is missing! And of course the DVD that is missing is the actual movie DVD! So trying to be as calm and loving as possible Rick tries to explain to Ava that he has to take the DVD back to Mr. Frank so that they can look for the missing DVD. Well in that moment lets just say: "ATTENTION WAL-MART SHOPPERS:A BREAKDOWN IS NOW OCCURRING IN THE CENTER AISLE NEAR THE BABY DEPARTMENT""THE LOUD PIERCING SIREN YOU ARE HEARING IS NOT AN EMERGENCY ALARM""IT IS JUST THE SOUND OF A PRECIOUS TWO YEAR OLD WHO HAS JUST HAD HER HEART BROKEN"! Of course in typical Mayeaux fashion, the original DVD is nowhere to be found AND none of the Wal-Mart stores in our immediate area have a copy either!!! What are we going to do? A lovely woman "hearing" our plight recommended for us to try a Blockbuster Video Store that is down the street from Wal-Mart! Why surely they will have it right? So in order to get Ava to leave the store, we explain that we will be going to a store nearby to get the movie for her! Well don'tcha just know it "I'M SORRY MAM, WE DON'T HAVE ANY IN STOCK RIGHT NOW! WOULD YOU LIKE FOR ME TO ORDER YOU ONE"? As I am smiling at this very nice salesman I am thinking "ARE YOU KIDDING ME, YOU ARE A MOVIE STORE"! But I am actually able to calmly verbalize, "CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHERE I CAN GET ONE TODAY"? So the young man suggests BEST BUY in Metairie! So off we go in the family truckster down the YELLOW BRICK ROAD (O.K. just the 3-10) to Best Buy! On the way into town Ava of course fell asleep. Emma & I got out to go on our adventure quest into the Best Buy! Row by row we go , looking and looking,then all of a sudden Emma yells loudly,"HERE IT IS MOMMA"! "AVA IS GONNA BE SO HAPPY"! So after our purchase of our very own NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK, back to Norco we went! I placed the DVD on Ava's lap so that when she woke up she would be surprised, and she was! We have now seen Wizard Of Oz at least a dozen times, including the beloved BONUS FEATURES!! I guess we've gotten back all of that time & money in just pure enjoyment! Ya can't beat that, Right?

"WEE"!!! THANKS AUNT CECILE!!

Ray just loves his new swing from Aunt Cecile! Rick put the swing up on Sunday! He laughs the whole time he's on it! Enjoy the ride with Ray though these pics!

'SEE YA LATER ALIGATOR"

On the way home with our wagon take a look at the Aligator we came accross! WOW !! The pleasures of living in Louisiana!!It was getting a little angry with us and started to arch its back and tail! I hope you can see it!

THIS JUST IN: The Mayeaux's Now Have A Wagon!!!

After church yesterday we went and ate"HINEESE" as Ava calls it or to you and I we call it Chinese! LOL. After they ate their fill of broccoli, chicken, noodles, crab rangoon, and of course the famous Chinese Ice Cream! LOL. We were off to find The Mayeaux Family Wagon!!!So off to LAJOUET Toy Store on Airline Drive!The kids were so excited to FINALLY get their wagon! Upon browsing through all of our wagon choices we didn't see the wagon that we wanted! We wanted a wagon that we saw online! We wanted it to have straps, and a storage area and large wheels for easy turning! Are we asking too much?I asked the lovely saleslady for assistance! She knew the wagon we were speaking of , so off to the back she went!! After what seemed like an eternity of the sales lady being gone we allowed the children to go and play with a few of the toys in the store! O.K. I know what you are thinking,"BIG MISTAKE", Their gonna want to take those toys home too! Well let's just say Ava Fell in LOVE with All of the babies for sale! Especially the babies that had price tags of $30 or more! Along with two of these babies she fell in love with this $85 double stroller for those babies! Emma was of course distracted by the huge display of assorted sizes and varieties of animals! Ray is yelling "ZE-BA"his new favorite word(ZEBRA)! He is also loving playing with a ball of course and some crazy hats Rick is trying on him!! So eventually the lovely sales lady comes back and lets us know she has our wagon!!!CAN I GET A PRAISE GOD!!! Yey!! We finally have our wagon,and it wasn't a fortune!! Thank you , MOE MOE & POE POE!! So now the big issue at hand was to get the children out of there with just purchasing the wagon! The two younger ones were fine with that, we told Ava that she could pick out something a little more reasonable at Wal-Mart later that day! She said "O.K. MOMMA,LETS GO"! This was going better than I thought it would! Ray just was distracted with some fruit snacks from the diaper bag and he was good to go! Next was Emma, Well that didn't go as well as the other two! She wanted to purchase a family of plastic style tigers. As she was pleading her case "SHE NEEDED THOSE TIGERS & THEY NEEDED HER TO CARE FOR THEM,SHE NEEDED A MOMMA,DADDY &BABY TIGER"!After MANY QUIET TEARS, she was very quiet in her pleading , in which I appreciated,we told her that if we purchased the family of tigers she would not be able to get a prize from Wal-Mart! She stated she was fine with that and off to the front of the store we went to get our wagon! After purchasing the wagon to the van we go so proud of our new purchase when we realize, "HEY HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THIS THING HOME" We have all the kiddo's and their car seats inside the van, "UH OH"! Well after a couple of yards of rope later, and with the wagon now strapped to the top of our"FAMILY TRUCKSTER" off to Norco we went! The Girls were so excited to have the wagon! We will be putting it together so that we can take it for our first stroll thought he neighborhood!!

"UH OH,RAY'S AT IT AGAIN"!

SO TODAY WAS A BUSY DAY AS USUAL EXCEPT FOR SOME REASON RIP VAN WINKLE HAS LEFT THE BUILDING!!FOR THE THIRD DAY NOW THE CHILDREN HAVE NOT RESTED IN THE AFTERNOON FOR THEIR NAP TIME!! YES FOLKS THIS INCLUDES OUR PRECIOUS RAY ANTHONY! IF HE SLEEPS FOR A HALF HOUR OR SO I AM LUCKY! ANYWAY I WAS TRYING TO GET THE CHILDREN FED FOR LUNCH AND WHILE DOING SO I WAS TALKING TO MOMMA ON THE PHONE. THE GIRLS WERE "PLAYING" AND RAY WAS IN HIS PLAYPEN. JUST AS I WAS FINISHING UP MY CONVERSATION EMMA COMES ALONG AND SAYS "MOMMA IT STINKS IN THE LIVING ROOM"! I GAVE HER ATTENTION LONG ENOUGH TO SAY THAT I WOULD BE RIGHT THERE.I COULD SMELL THIS AWFUL SMELL SO I TOLD MOMMA I WOULD TALK WITH HER LATER,RAY MUST HAVE A REALLY BAD DIAPER! OH, IF IT WOULD HAVE ONLY BEEN THAT EASY! AS I GOT CLOSER INTO THE LIVING ROOM THE STENCH WAS OVERWHELMING!!AS I LOOKED TO RAY, I SEE HIS DIAPER IS OFF AND IN FRONT OF THE PLAYPEN! IT GETS BETTER FOLKS!! AS I LOOK INTO THE PLAYPEN AT RAY AT FIRST I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHAT IS ALL OVER HIM! I REALLY DON'T THINK I WANTED IT TO REGISTER THAT WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY SEEING WAS POOP ALL OVER HIM!! WHEN I TELL YOU ALL OVER HIM , I MEAN UP HIS NOSE, IN HIS EARS, BETWEEN HIS TOES, YOU GETTIN THE PICTURE? THEN AS I LOOK IN THE PLAYPEN IT IS ALSO ON EVERY TOY,BOOK,AND EVEN THE MESH!! I WAS SO GROSSED OUT! OLD CHERIE, BEFORE BABIES WOULD HAVE BEEN THROWING UP! BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD! HE PROVIDE THAT MOMMY SHIELD OF PROTECTION DURING THESE GROSS TIMES!WE MOMMAS ARE ABLE TO DO THE THINGS WE NEVER THOUGHT WE COULD! THEN WE TEMPORARILY FORGET ABOUT IT TO STILL SHOW LOVE FOR THEM!!AFTER RAYS SCRUB DOWN AND A PRAYER FOR WHAT HE MAY HAVE INJESTED, THINGS WERE NOW BACK TO NORMAL!AVA WAS CLIMBING ON THE ENTERTAINMENT CENTER & EMMA WAS PRETENDING THAT SHE WAS A VET TREATING A WOUNDED TIGER IN THE JUNGLE WHO HAD A THORN IN HIS PAW! LOL YEP, NORMAL WHAT IS THAT ANYWAY?

"ICED BROWN SUGAR SHORTBREAD COOKIES"

Yesterday we again attempted to make a new cookie! Well of course in Mayeaux cookie style we had an incident! Everything seemed to be going well until the phone rang! I should not have left the room , because when I came back, well,Flour was everywhere! But overall the actual being able to help was much better! You can see in the photos that everyone was able to participate!! The cookies were good as well!

"THOSE ARE SOME PRECIOUS CHILDREN"

COURTNEY THIS IS FOR YOU!!

POCAHONTAS INSPIRED US TO MAKE A DREAM CATCHER! THANKS TO THE BONUS FEATURES!!!

I thought you guys might like to see our craft we made yesterday! I should preface this with the fact that Emma & Ava LOVE to watch "THE BONUS FEATURES" on our DVD'S! I think sometimes they actually enjoy the bonus features more than the movie!! We watched POCAHONTAS yesterday! And as usual when it was over, the excitement was abounding when "THE BONUS FEATURES" were played! While watching the extras there was a crafting segment that showed two crafts!Once the girls saw the "DREAMCATCHER" craft, it was GAME ON! I went throughout the house and gathered all of the materialswe would need! The girls were very excited to make their "DREAMCATCHER"! It really was a cute craft for them. They were really able to "HELP"!Now if they only would sleep long enough to be able to have a dream for it to catch!LOL And If that dream could actually take place in the room with the "DREAMCATCHER" would be priceless!!LOL Enjoy the pics!!

"Rip Van Winkle" Was Spotted In The Mayeaux's House! Or Was It Ava?

As most of you guys know we haven't been getting too much sleep here in The Mayeaux House! It has truly been a struggle for the whole house to "REST"! Last night we went to Covenant Group!Which was an awesome time of discussion and prayer! We discussed the message from this weekend on "OUR HINDRANCES"!We had to be time sensitive because Sophie(who watches the children) had testing this week! So Dennis suggested that we go get the kids and come back to fellowship! Well we did and the kids had a "GREAT" time playing with everyone! Ava has fallen in love with Miss Lauren! Look out Mrs. Gwen I think you have some competition!LOL Ray was lovin playing with the guys and taking their hats and putting them on his head! That boy just loves him some hats! And of course his favorite hat was Mr. Burtis' L.S.U. Hat!! He would throw down Mr. Gus & Mr. Daniels hat and run over to Mr. Burtis and say "HAT"! He had such a wonderful time! Emma was enjoying playing with Veronica! They were playing with "Big V's" stuffed puppy and just running around in general! Well I have to say when we left we weren't even out of the neighborhood yet and the kiddo's were dropping like flies!!!LOL How AWESOME is the Lord that he chose this night to "CALM THE STORM" of the sleep battles!! Thank you God!!! When we got home we calmly put the kiddo's in bed! And yes we did put them in bed in there clothes not their P.J's! I wasn't gonna mess with this gift !!!LOL Well they "ALL" slept through the night till around 6 or so when Emma & Ava came into our bed! Then they both fell asleep again! Around 7:15 or so Ray woke up and Emma soon followed! Ava on the other hand, slept until 9 o'clock! Yes I said 9 o'clock!!! WOW!! Thank you Lord for the gift of rest!!!!

"PLAYDOH TIME"

After the Cookie experience I felt a little bad that the kids didn't really get to participate! So this morning I decided to give it another try on doing a family project! We decided to make homemade playdoh! It actually went great! the kids enjoyed it! Emma was just a little confused! She asked me "UM MOMMA WHY ARE WE USING FOOD INGREDIENTS TO MAKE PLAYDOH"? I am excited that she was paying such close attention! I explained to her that you can use these ingredients for all kinds of things! She was so excited to be able to make something that she could also play with! Ava of course was interested in making a monster, Ray was more interested in eating it, and Emma wanted me to make "Bambi in a thicket"! WHATEVER! With all that said they had a blast & the recipe is so easy and cheap! Enjoy the pics of the playdoh time!

YUMMY! PEANUT BUTTER MIDDLES!!!

So today The Mayeaux's wanted to do something fun!So I decided that we would bake cookies.So I looked in our plethora of cookbooks and came across a very interesting cookie! Peanut Butter Middles. A chocolate cookie with a peanut butter middle similar to a Reese's candy!How yummy would that be? So upon reading about the cookie, the woman stated that "her grandchildren love to make these cookies with her"!So how can we go wrong, a actual kid friendly recipe! Well add a couple of Mayeaux's in the mix, and things will definitely turn interesting! As usual with any recipe you of course mix the dry ingredients first in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. In doing this I let Emma & Ava "help" mix the ingredients! Things were going really well with the girls "taking turns" pouring the ingredients in their proper bowls.So here comes the big moment when you combine the two types of ingredients together! So I pour some of the dry mixture in the into the bowl with the wet! Before I could even place the bowl down, One of my "HELPERS" decided to turn on the mixer "FULL FORCE"! This of course sends "POWDER" everywhere! I do mean everywhere! I even had it up my nose!LOL After cleaning up the mess, I decide to "ALLOW" the Helpers to continue! So for the next stage you take that chocolate mixture and roll it into little balls,40,to be exact! How fun would this be? This couldn't go wrong , right? Well the girls fully enjoyed the rolling process a little too much! Ava just kept eating the dough and licking her hands! While Emma was trying to roll the dough into balls, but she was rolling too hard and it just became chocolate smear! I don't think I need to explain what this all looked like, just use your imaginations!!LOL So at this point Daddy took the girls out of the kitchen, and on to other things! So this left me alone doing our children friendly cookie recipe! I sat there and rolled all 40 chocolate balls! The next step was the peanut butter middle mixture. After mixing that up I had to roll 40 peanut middles as well! To make along story short you then take a chocolate ball and cover the peanut middle and of course roll it again!!! I swear it didn't seem this complicated when I read it! So for the final stage Rick and the girls came back into the kitchen! So my "HELPERS"were all anxious and ready to be of some assistance! The final stage consists of placing the cookie on the pan, dipping a glass in sugar and then pressing the cookie down a bit. As I started doing this Ava started getting upset and screamed " NO NO MOMMY, YOU MAKIN THE COOKIES DIRTY"! The girls enjoyed helping with the last stage and were very proud of their cookies! So it did make the whole experience worth it, just seeing their smiles while watching their cookies bake. After about 3 hours of cookie making I have to say the cookies taste awesome!! If anyone wants to dare and try it I will give you the recipe!

With everything that is going on right now in my life, I have to be confident in Christ and who HE is! Only in HIM can my Hope be found! I love this worship song! To me it expresses my heart right now!



In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found)

Words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease.
My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless Babe!
This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones He came to save.
‘Til on the cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid; here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay, light of the world by darkness slain;
Then, bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand;
‘Til He returns or calls me home, here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Update On The Tribe!!!

I Took the kids today back to Dr. J. She says that Emma & Ray still have fluid in their ears, but it is clear! So Praise God! We are finally on the road to recovery after 4 weeks!! Janine also said that she feels as though they are all suffering with severe allergies right now! So she wrote RX'S for Allegra,Singulair and a new creme for Emma's Eczema! She also gave me samples of Z Cough for them as well! I spoke with her regarding the other sleep issues and Emma's wetting the bed . She Feels as though the children are experiencing a reaction to the cough and cold medicine that they have been on these past couple of weeks! The reaction is called "REBOUNDING". It takes place a few hours after the medicine is administered! So with removing that medicine "SHOULD" help in these areas! So "THERE IS LIGHT AT THE END OF THIS TUNNEL"!

O.K. I am now gonna take a little time to let off some steam! I am SO TIRED! I am going on week 4 of all three of the children being sick! We have had difficult times of getting them to go to sleep,and all of the other fun things that come along with children being sick! Each day I pray for a better day but unfortunately the days seem to be getting longer and harder right now! It might have something to do with the fact that I am not resting enough either! Ava's going to sleep is getting worse also! She just absolutely refuses to go to sleep! It doesn't matter if it is for nap time or bedtime! She just doesn't want to go to sleep! In the afternoon it has been a three hour or so fight to try and get her to rest! Even with that she still doesn't fall asleep! At night for bedtime, lets just say that if she is asleep by 11 that is early! Once she does fall asleep , she is waking up at around 4 or 4:30 wanting to watch t.v. and be up for the day! During these struggles with Ava, we have also started having "wetting the bed" issues with Emma! No joke, she has wet the bed EVERY night for almost 4 weeks! Needless to say I also have a literal MOUNTAIN of laundry! I am sorry for this rant but I thought if you guys knew what was going on you could pray specifically for these issues. I am praying for strength and alertness during this time and for me not to experience any seizure activity due to the lack of rest! It is very hard for me to go to sleep and then wake up every 45 min or so ! So just lift up our precious family for some much needed rest! Rick has been such a trooper , he tries to help with them during the night as well , but he of course needs his rest to be able to go to work and do his job well! I wish I could just go put on my "SUPERMOM" costume, and laundry would be done, dinner fixed, the house clean, be able to play with the children,get them to rest, and still have a little extra time for me! But that is only in make believe! So I will now end my little pitty party with this latest blog and just GET OVER IT & MOVE ON! So DONE!!! I'm Better now! Thanks for your prayers and listening!

"IS THIS A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME"

Hopefully the above photo is not offensive to anyone! If it is get over it because I need it to help you get a visual of last nights "Situation"! With that said, last night Rick went and worked Alpha,so that left me with the kiddos! After their bath time & dinner I started to do my usual"getting them in bed routines"! This consists of 2 sippy cups for the girlie's and Ray still takes a bottle just at bedtime,putting in the movie of choice for Emma & Ava. Before putting Ray into his bed for the night I changed his diaper of course .But before I could get his p.j. pants back on, I heard screaming from the girls room! So I quickly put Ray down in his bed to go and see what all of the commotion was about! Don't get alarmed folks, "I just forgot to press play on the DVD"! Yes, I'm sure you guys all felt the earth stop at that moment too!!LOL So I go into the kitchen to get Rays milk bottle , when I hear him giggling so hard it is making me laugh as I am going into his room! What is he laughing about you say? Well I walked into the room only to see that he has taken off his diaper, he is now in the position of the above photo, and laughing hysterically as he his peeing on the floor through the slates of his bed! LOL I know that I maybe should have been a little more upset with him , but I just couldn't stop laughing myself!! So from now on I guess I need to remember To make sure Ray has pants on at ALL times!

Update On Ava Grace's ENT Visit!

Alright guys,Ava and I went to her ENT(Dr. Cecola) this morning! And Of Course in Mayeaux Style there was an "INCIDENT"! Life is just so full of "LITTLE INCIDENTS" these days! Ava was so excited about going to the doctor! This morning she couldn't wait to get dressed, brush her teeth,and get in the car! We get to Dr. Cecola's office and she is still very excited!She reads magazines, plays with toys, we of course go on a required Field trip to the restroom! (A must in any building, any situation) Then finally we hear "Miss Ava Mayeaux"! She yells "THAT'S ME MOMMA","IT'S MY TURN"! She was so excited! I was excited too to see her so calm! Mrs.Gloria brought us back to the exam room and showed Ava "The Princess Chair" For her to sit in. Ava jumped up on the seat at sat very tall and said,"I'm A BIG GIRL U KNOW"! Mrs. Gloria said,"I SEE THAT"! Mrs. Gloria let "Princess Ava"know that if she continued to be a big girl, she would be rewarded at the end of the visit with stickers & a sucker! Well needless to say "Princess Ava" was delighted! After Mrs. Gloria left the room Ava Began to act odd! All of a sudden she became EXTREMELY clingy and rather whiny!If I only knew what was to follow< I would have been a little more prepared!! Dr. Cecola walked in, introduced himself! To those of you who know Matt Mason from church, he looks similar, but taller! Not very intimidating at all! Very friendly! As Dr. Cecola begins to ask "PRINCESS AVA" a question, she proceeds to turn beet red,and SCREAMS uncontrollably! She is so upset that she actually throws up everywhere!! The only thing I could do was to keep apologising!He remained calm and sought some more help (wet rags)! They waited for "PRINCESS AVA" to calm down a bit. When he finally got the opportunity to check her, he did see that ,as he put it"her ears are horrible"! After a few questions from Dr. Cecola, and upon my answers to those questions he came to the conclusion that She would need surgery for tubes in her ears and to remove her adenoids! I called Children's Hospital to make the appointment! She is set up for her surgery for Wednesday April 16th! I pray that this will help "OUR LITTLE PRINCESS AVA" to not be in any more pain, and to allow for her to REST! The doctor stated that he feels as though she is just used to pain now! That is why she doesn't really complain!
To add a little something extra to the story I will let you guys in on Emma's reaction to the news! While I was driving Ava and I back home, Rick decided to tell Emma about Ava's upcoming surgery!When hearing the news she grew tears in her eyes! When Rick was trying to reassure her that this was the best thing for Ava, Emma became even more concerned. Rick asked her why she was so sad and Emma replied: "DAD,I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO LAUGH AT AVA WITH THOSE TUBES COMING OUT OF HER EARS", "SHE'S GONNA LOOK FUNNY"! Well, since that statement I went online to show Emma the type of tubes that will be placed in Ava's ears! So Emma is now satisfied that no one will see Ava's tubes and laugh at her! Gotta Love the fact that Emma feels so close to Ava!