Cardboard Testimonies

I am not sure what I did before youtube, probably more housework and cared for my children. But, now I have discovered a whole new way to spend (waste) time. Who needs clean clothes? As for my children, they ate yesterday so they will be fine!!! Just kidding.

Seriously, check out this video. It makes you think hard about what your cardboard testimony would be and whether you could stand before everyone to share how God really saved you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

Perspective

Those of you who know me well should know that exercise has never really been my thing. Up until about 4 months ago, I relied heavily on my good gene pool to stay in shape. Now that the girls have been a food source x3 and my belly resembles a balloon that got blown up and then slowly leaked air but never fully deflating (you know, slightly bigger than its pre-air day and now wrinkled and when you press on one area, it forces the remaining air to blow up another part of the balloon.), I decided that genes were not enough. So, I have begun going to an exercise class called Bodypump and I really love it. As often as I can, I go because it makes me feel better and they have child care. I will do anything for 2 hours if someone will watch my children!

Anyway, so I took the boys to the gym, and then we raced over for Will's second t-ball game of the season. When we arrived at the field, we found out that the game had been cancelled due to rain this morning. Normally, I would have praised the Lord for making rain and cancelling the game but I had already dragged my three children and all the gear that they and a t-ball game require out to the ballpark. So, as not to waste all of our efforts, the boys and I decided to play at the playground nearby for a little bit. I will remind you that it had rained this morning and now the sun was out which was creating quite the steamy evening. Oh well, we were having fun and I was already sweaty so no big deal, right?

After as much of a sauna session as we could stand, we hopped in the car and headed out. Well the boys wanted to get some dinner which seemed fine because we looked and smelled like normal fast food clientel. Unfortunately, when I asked the boys what they wanted, Will jumped in with The Marketplace Grill. I was at first surprised because he informed me the other day that The Sizzler was his favorite restaurant and Dennys is second. I think he is an old soul! Anyway, I thought why not? It is Kids Eat Free month at Marketplace so this would be as economical as any other spot. So, Will, Sam, Isaac, and I went on in to the Marketplace. The boys were amazingly good. I mean they are good boys most of the time but they are still boys so the quiet that was our table was really impressive. They ate well, colored pictures, and even gave me their steak knife as soon as they discovered it instead of first trying it out on the tablecloth. We were a sight. I was such the proud mom. I think at one point my head could have exploded from all that pride. We left without incident not even when the boys asked for ice cream and I declined their request.

As I drove home, I was still beaming so I gave my mom a call just to tell her of my awesome parenting moment and that I was certain that I would be the talk of the restaurant. She agreed that we probably would be the talk but maybe for other reasons that I had believed. She reminded me that I did go to a real sit down restaurant in my tank top and exercise shorts with my three sweaty and slightly dirty children on the Kids Eat Free night without a daddy. Hmm, kind of sad really. I bet the next time I go there, they will have a collection can with our picture on it requesting donations.

My Madness

I try to make sure that I only write when I have something interesting to say or a funny story of the boys. I guess my hope is that one day I will print all this off as little trinkets of thoughts for Will, Sam, & Isaac. Well, today I am breaking my rule and just writing because my brain is so frustrated that I must vent and you all get to hear the madness in my head. So, here goes!

As some of you know, Will has a leg length discrepency of about 7/8 inch. We have known about it for a few years now so each year we take him to the Orthopaedic doctor to have him remeasured to see how it is doing. This year we also took him to Shriner's hospital in St. Louis to have a second opinion. I don't think that we doubted our doctor here, we just wanted to know that we were doing all that we could for the time being. (As a side note, I do want to say that if you ever get a chance to support Shriner's Hospitals, please do so. The people and the work they do there is amazing and it is totally free.) Anyway, we have been told that besides our periodic visits for x-rays and measuring, we will just wait until Will is in his early teens and if the length discrepency has not improved, then he will have to have a lengthening procedure that is crazy and as Will's mommy, I cannot think about because it makes me cry.

So, in the mean time we are doing our best to make sure that we do all we can to give Will every advantage and opportunity and this is where the madness begins. Oh, but let me first say that this length issue does not in the least bit hamper Will. He has a lift in his shoe that just makes him more comfortable and really gets his hips level but outside of that he is as rowdy as any little 6-year-old! Now, back to the madness.

We took Will to a chiropractor simply because when a person has such a large difference, we figured that his poor back has to be taking a beating and we wanted him to feel great! It's hard because Will has always had this difference to some degree so he mostly feels ok because well, this is all that he has ever known. For instance, until August, he didn't have a lift that made his hips level and he rarely complained of discomfort. Now that he has the proper lift size, he won't go without it. He now knows the difference and how much better it makes him feel. So, this was also the logic behind taking him to the chiropractor, to help him see how great he could feel.

Well, it all seemed like a simple and great idea. But, nothing is simple when insurance is involved. Our insurance company denied Will's visits saying that chiropractic care for spinal manipulation in children under the age of 12 is unproven or "experimental". Now I can go to the chiropractor for spinal manipulation when it is much more difficult to fix because my bones are old and they will pay for that. But my child who has the chance for tremendous improvement is "experimental". How frustrating it is to pay every month into a system for healthcare that really only cares about treating the current problem and sees little value in preventing future ones. Maybe they hope we will be with a new provider by then.

Regardless, whether the insurance company pays their part of not, if we feel that this will help Will, that is what we will do. He is our child and we will do everything possible to give him a great life. And I promise you, if a year from now Will's spine is straight and we can attribute it to these chiropractor visits, this stay-at-home mom will be marching her 3-child-bearing hips to the steps of United Healthcare with my x-rays in hand to share with them my thoughts on their policies and what is included in my Certificate of Coverage. Ooo, I am SO scary, huh? Well, it will make me feel better anyway!

A Good Laugh

Ok, so people send funny attachments and links all the time, and I am thankful for that because I usually do get a good giggle and life should be filled with as many laughs as possible. So, now I ask the same of you. Please take the time to click on this link. I would bet a fair amount of money that you won't be sorry;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_apWD7a4ZLk