*Disclaimer: This post is a bit delayed. Ooops.
This Thanksgiving holiday I am reminded of so many things to be thankful for. God has blessed us with an amazing family that is incredible supportive. They are our rock and they love Chris, Ethan and I so much. I am so grateful for the job that I have. Although I do complain sometimes, I truly love what I do. I love working with children, counseling them, testing them to help them find a way to be successful in school. It is great. I am also thankful for Chris' job. The economy is not so hot and being in business for yourself can be stressful at times, but God has truly provided for us with keeping Chris busy. I won't lie, his business has felt the economic crunch but God has provided jobs and clients right when we needed them. We are so fortunate. I am also thankful for Chris, he is a great dad and a great husband. I am so thankful for Ethan. He has brought so much joy to our lives that we can not even put into words. We learn so much from him, and hope we are instilling God's love and grace in him. I am thankful that I have a roof over my head. Yes I do complain about that at times, too, but I am reminded that right now too many people are losing the roof over their head. I am grateful I have a roof. We are also thankful for our church family, who has walked beside Chris and I, and later Ethan, over the last few years in the trials we have experienced. Those trials have taught us a lot and have created so many bonds and friendships that we never would have had.
There are numerous things to be thankful for. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and got to relax a bit.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
A WEEK OFF!!!!!
I am pretty excited to have this next week off work. So what will I do to fill the time:
1. Take Ethan to his 1, 2 and you gym class at the Y
2. Bake the desserts for Thanksgiving dinner
3. Black Friday shop with friends while Christopher goes fishing with said friends spouses
4. Hold one work related meeting (I am too nice)
5. Finish my 25 days of Christmas scrapbook (so excited!)
6. Organize my house
7. Clean out Ethan's toys and hand some down to his cousin Madison
8. Sleep
9. Workout (we shall see if I actually accomplish this)
10. Blog
11. PLAY with Ethan and hang out with Chris.
I love breaks it gives me time to hangout with my boys and do the fun stuff I love to do. I'll have to do a few blog post about my above mentioned activities. Should be a busy entertaining week!
I hope you all enjoy this holiday!
1. Take Ethan to his 1, 2 and you gym class at the Y
2. Bake the desserts for Thanksgiving dinner
3. Black Friday shop with friends while Christopher goes fishing with said friends spouses
4. Hold one work related meeting (I am too nice)
5. Finish my 25 days of Christmas scrapbook (so excited!)
6. Organize my house
7. Clean out Ethan's toys and hand some down to his cousin Madison
8. Sleep
9. Workout (we shall see if I actually accomplish this)
10. Blog
11. PLAY with Ethan and hang out with Chris.
I love breaks it gives me time to hangout with my boys and do the fun stuff I love to do. I'll have to do a few blog post about my above mentioned activities. Should be a busy entertaining week!
I hope you all enjoy this holiday!
Monday, November 9, 2009
Random Thoughts Making a Quick Apperance in My Mind
1. God is amazing (don't believe me check out this blog about this little guys amazing medical journey)
2. Sammy Sosa looks way lighter than he did playing baseball, what is up with that? Is he okay medically? Did the steroids make him look darker? hum....
3. Why won't Ethan sleep with a blanket in his crib? Instead he freaks out until I remove it.
4. When do single parents, or parents whose spouse is on deployment, take a shower? Currently taking that at night. Little afraid of what sort of trouble he could get in if I took it when he was awake...
5. How will the newly passed government health plan affect Ethan and his current medical treatment plan? I like the current set-up; nervous about this change.
**Told you it was random, this is what happens when I don't have much grown-up conversation (except for work). Have you had any random thoughts lately?
2. Sammy Sosa looks way lighter than he did playing baseball, what is up with that? Is he okay medically? Did the steroids make him look darker? hum....
3. Why won't Ethan sleep with a blanket in his crib? Instead he freaks out until I remove it.
4. When do single parents, or parents whose spouse is on deployment, take a shower? Currently taking that at night. Little afraid of what sort of trouble he could get in if I took it when he was awake...
5. How will the newly passed government health plan affect Ethan and his current medical treatment plan? I like the current set-up; nervous about this change.
**Told you it was random, this is what happens when I don't have much grown-up conversation (except for work). Have you had any random thoughts lately?
Friday, November 6, 2009
A Quiet Night
Tonight it is quiet in my house. Chris is WAY down in Mexico and Ethan just went to bed. So my house is probably the the quietest it has been in a very long time. So I am just thinking about my boys and looking at photos. I thought I would share a few you tonight.
Our little Family
Ethan enjoying his first sucker; he thought it was awesome!
One of my favorite pictures; Ethan giving his cousin Madison a kiss.
Ethan-Charlie Brown and Madison-The Ladybug
Ethan in his Charlie Brown Costume
Our little Family
Ethan enjoying his first sucker; he thought it was awesome!
One of my favorite pictures; Ethan giving his cousin Madison a kiss.
Ethan-Charlie Brown and Madison-The Ladybug
Monday, November 2, 2009
Life's Journey
About a month ago I had an opportunity to go to a pastor's wives retreat with my pastor's wife. I was excited and gladly accepted the invitation, however I did not feel like I exactly fit the definition of a pastor's wife. For those who don't know, Chris and I been leading the youth group at our church for a while now along with another couple. We have had this attitude, of gratitude to be able to be working with these great per-teens and teens, but we just thought of this as something that fell into our lap; we were not really recognizing a calling on our life.
Life is a great journey and there are things that seem as if we control and make them happen, and other times there are thing that it seems just fell into our lap. The reality is, at least in my opinion, that God is always in control and nothing just happens for not, or just because. While at the retreat I had a lot of opportunities to examine my heart, my family, the roles we have been playing in each other lives and in others. I came to the conclusion that I have, we have, been in denial about the calling God has placed on our lives. I have always had this picture in my mind of what a pastor and a pastor's wife looked like, what they did, how they carried themselves and I do not fit the mold. They don't get frustrated with their husband and children, raise their voice when they are upset, they always know the right answer to every question, they have the whole bible memorized...you get the idea, the basic stereotypical picture, they are perfect. I am not worthy, at times I feel I am just not worthy of God's love, I am severely flawed, but I am striving to be who God wants me to be.
As I look back over my life's journey in the last 5 years, I see that God has had a strong hand on my life, and used the good, the bad and the ugly for his glory and to bring me to this place where I am now. Those events that I thought were just circumstantial, or just happened with no meaning where in fact used by God to shape who I am today. I am not perfect, I still struggle to have daily devotionals, struggle to give it all to God, but I am striving and trying to answer the calling he has placed on our families life. We firmly feel God has called our family to be in ministry in some way, and at this point in our life it is in ministry with the youth group. At a time in our life, when Chris and I were really searching for and needing the support of a church body, we were brought to our current church (thanks Silla and Jacob). We have made a commitment to follow God and to actively seek his will for our life everyday and I am so grateful for the blessings he has given us and excited that we are open to his calling. And I...I am a continual work in progress trying to become who God wants me to be and I hope as a mother I can convey that to my child.
Life is a great journey and there are things that seem as if we control and make them happen, and other times there are thing that it seems just fell into our lap. The reality is, at least in my opinion, that God is always in control and nothing just happens for not, or just because. While at the retreat I had a lot of opportunities to examine my heart, my family, the roles we have been playing in each other lives and in others. I came to the conclusion that I have, we have, been in denial about the calling God has placed on our lives. I have always had this picture in my mind of what a pastor and a pastor's wife looked like, what they did, how they carried themselves and I do not fit the mold. They don't get frustrated with their husband and children, raise their voice when they are upset, they always know the right answer to every question, they have the whole bible memorized...you get the idea, the basic stereotypical picture, they are perfect. I am not worthy, at times I feel I am just not worthy of God's love, I am severely flawed, but I am striving to be who God wants me to be.
As I look back over my life's journey in the last 5 years, I see that God has had a strong hand on my life, and used the good, the bad and the ugly for his glory and to bring me to this place where I am now. Those events that I thought were just circumstantial, or just happened with no meaning where in fact used by God to shape who I am today. I am not perfect, I still struggle to have daily devotionals, struggle to give it all to God, but I am striving and trying to answer the calling he has placed on our families life. We firmly feel God has called our family to be in ministry in some way, and at this point in our life it is in ministry with the youth group. At a time in our life, when Chris and I were really searching for and needing the support of a church body, we were brought to our current church (thanks Silla and Jacob). We have made a commitment to follow God and to actively seek his will for our life everyday and I am so grateful for the blessings he has given us and excited that we are open to his calling. And I...I am a continual work in progress trying to become who God wants me to be and I hope as a mother I can convey that to my child.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The DuFour's and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
I have been wanting to do a post for a couple of days. I have had lots of ideas for some new blog posting, but nothing has come to fruition. It has been a busy couple of weeks (who are we kidding, month) in the DuFour household. So I apologize but tonight is not one of those happy fun blogs, there are just too many other things running through my mind. So tonight I will share with you all the story of The Dufour's and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (this is the reader digest version, so much more went on, but I don't want to bore you with all the nitty gritty details).
Yesterday started out as any normal Wednesday. My work day was a little hectic and I ended up in an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting in Escondido, which about 45 minutes from home. At the end of the meeting I got a message saying Ethan had fallen and hit his head and there was already a bump on his head. Meanwhile Chris was having some struggles with many of his work projects, minor things but annoying nonetheless. Chris had also printed a new shirt and was trying to release it on the Cross Your Heart online store. He had recently switched the online store subscription to a new company and when people logged into buy shirts, nothing was working. No one could buy anything. He was also having computer problems.
We took Ethan to the hemoc (hemotology/oncology) clinic at Children's Hospital; what we thought would take 2 hours turned into 4 hours, which abruptly turned into 6 hours. He ended up getting a shot of factor to ensure that if there was any bleeding internally it would clot; they also decided he needed a CT scan (for his age that means anesthesia to knock him out). His CT scan was supposed to happen at 6 but because he had ONE bite of cheese at 3 they made him wait until 9 (a whole six hours with nothing at all to eat or drink). One bite of cheese at 3 and before that he only ate a few bites of his lunch. Poor little guy was starving and very angry. Thankfully the CT scan was totally negative and there was no internal bleeding on the brain. Praise God, He watches over this kid! By the time we left it was 10:15pm and we got there at 3:30. Ethan was wide awake (after his nap, induced by anesthesia), we were all starving. So we tried to go to McDonald's (oh so healthy, but what do you do at 10 pm, you have a very angry child who is starving and has had multiple nurses poking his body with needles). Only the drive-thru was open so we had to drive through and continue home and eat our dinner there, by now it is 11pm. Ethan ate so much and was still so awake. We put him to bed anyway, he talked to himself for about an hour before falling asleep. It was a very tiring night.
Today was a better day, things were looking up, Chris's work stuff was going well. I had a meeting that went a bit late and I ended up picking Ethan up a little late tonight. When I got in the car to leave her house, my car would not start. Chris came to try and jump my Jeep, but it would not be jumped. AAA came out and my battery was very very dead. He replaced it. Our babysitter (whose is also good friends with us) entertained us all while we got the Jeep taken care of. They even got us pizza. We had some very nice fellowshiping that we had not planned on having tonight, thanks to my Jeep.
Everyone has days, weeks, months, years that just don't go the way you want them to. All the little things went wrong over the last day or so, but the important thing is God was there carrying the burden with us and in the end all the things that mattered went right. Ethan's head is just fine, we are all happy, healthy and provided for, plus we have each other. But I am still very tired and emotionally drained over the last couple of days. How are you all doing this week?
Yesterday started out as any normal Wednesday. My work day was a little hectic and I ended up in an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting in Escondido, which about 45 minutes from home. At the end of the meeting I got a message saying Ethan had fallen and hit his head and there was already a bump on his head. Meanwhile Chris was having some struggles with many of his work projects, minor things but annoying nonetheless. Chris had also printed a new shirt and was trying to release it on the Cross Your Heart online store. He had recently switched the online store subscription to a new company and when people logged into buy shirts, nothing was working. No one could buy anything. He was also having computer problems.
We took Ethan to the hemoc (hemotology/oncology) clinic at Children's Hospital; what we thought would take 2 hours turned into 4 hours, which abruptly turned into 6 hours. He ended up getting a shot of factor to ensure that if there was any bleeding internally it would clot; they also decided he needed a CT scan (for his age that means anesthesia to knock him out). His CT scan was supposed to happen at 6 but because he had ONE bite of cheese at 3 they made him wait until 9 (a whole six hours with nothing at all to eat or drink). One bite of cheese at 3 and before that he only ate a few bites of his lunch. Poor little guy was starving and very angry. Thankfully the CT scan was totally negative and there was no internal bleeding on the brain. Praise God, He watches over this kid! By the time we left it was 10:15pm and we got there at 3:30. Ethan was wide awake (after his nap, induced by anesthesia), we were all starving. So we tried to go to McDonald's (oh so healthy, but what do you do at 10 pm, you have a very angry child who is starving and has had multiple nurses poking his body with needles). Only the drive-thru was open so we had to drive through and continue home and eat our dinner there, by now it is 11pm. Ethan ate so much and was still so awake. We put him to bed anyway, he talked to himself for about an hour before falling asleep. It was a very tiring night.
Today was a better day, things were looking up, Chris's work stuff was going well. I had a meeting that went a bit late and I ended up picking Ethan up a little late tonight. When I got in the car to leave her house, my car would not start. Chris came to try and jump my Jeep, but it would not be jumped. AAA came out and my battery was very very dead. He replaced it. Our babysitter (whose is also good friends with us) entertained us all while we got the Jeep taken care of. They even got us pizza. We had some very nice fellowshiping that we had not planned on having tonight, thanks to my Jeep.
Everyone has days, weeks, months, years that just don't go the way you want them to. All the little things went wrong over the last day or so, but the important thing is God was there carrying the burden with us and in the end all the things that mattered went right. Ethan's head is just fine, we are all happy, healthy and provided for, plus we have each other. But I am still very tired and emotionally drained over the last couple of days. How are you all doing this week?
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Fall
Fall is wonderful. I think it is my favorite season. Although we live in San Diego so fall is a little more subtle than it is in other places; I wonder if I would like it as much if we lived in a state that gets "real" fall. I don't know.
But fall is a wonderful time. The colors start changing, God's creation is beautiful with all those colors, pumpkin is the greatest flavor (especially the Pumpkin spice latte), there is all sorts of local festivals, and you get to wear your sweaters you have had packed away (I love fall and winter clothes).
This past Friday we went to Oktober Fest out in La Mesa. It was a fun evening of people watching, bratwurst eating, funnel cake tasting, checking out cool things to buy and watching this ride that spun around super fast (Ethan loved staring at that ride).
Funnel Cake
This was the cool spinning ride that Ethan loved staring at.
Ethan and his mommy
Ethan and his daddy
We are thinking about selling the beanies for $12. Do you think that is too much? Give me some feedback.
Thank you, hope you all have a good night!!
But fall is a wonderful time. The colors start changing, God's creation is beautiful with all those colors, pumpkin is the greatest flavor (especially the Pumpkin spice latte), there is all sorts of local festivals, and you get to wear your sweaters you have had packed away (I love fall and winter clothes).
This past Friday we went to Oktober Fest out in La Mesa. It was a fun evening of people watching, bratwurst eating, funnel cake tasting, checking out cool things to buy and watching this ride that spun around super fast (Ethan loved staring at that ride).
Mmmm Bratwurst (Love Germany food)
Funnel Cake
This was the cool spinning ride that Ethan loved staring at.
Ethan and his mommy
Ethan and his daddy
Do you like Ethan's hat? I love it! My mom is starting a little boutique called Bethadee Zoo (really long story, but when I was younger I called elephants Bethadee's and insisted that was their name no matter what anyone told me). She is very talented and makes all sorts of cool things. This hat is a little something she made. She will be making some more for us to sell on the Cross Your Heart website and there will also be some for sale at Justice Day. She is going to make them in different colors and is going to make some with skulls and hearts alternating on them; perfect for little girls.
We are thinking about selling the beanies for $12. Do you think that is too much? Give me some feedback. Thank you, hope you all have a good night!!
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