• Justice has a job!  He is helping with the filming of the local high school football games.  This was his 2nd week, and he loves it!
• Speaking of Justice, he’ll be 15 in 5 days. Crazy town!
• I finally caught up with my bcf, the Kendster! We chatted for 2 1/2 hours the other day and could have gone on for another 12!  That’s what happens when we only talk once every six months.  We really need to chat more often, but between my 6 kids and her 10 kids – finding time to chat on the phone is challenging.
• I need help. I Timothy 2:15 says “Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.” (NKJV) and I can’t figure out what it means. I’ve read three commentaries, and they all said different things, and they were all pure conjecture. I’ve worn out my concordance.  I have a couple of ideas of what it might mean, but I’m not satisfied yet.  So please, if you have insight to offer, please do. I need to move on. lol (I won’t share what I think it might mean with you yet, so it doesn’t cloud your opinions on the verse.)
• We are on day 2 of a 10 day field exercise wherein the hubster can’t even call.  *sad face*
• I forgot to get laundry detergent the last two times I went to the store, and now I’m completely out.  I’ve been out for two days. Which means I have an ever-growing pile of laundry.  Must go to the store tomorrow!  (I don’t think I’ve ever actually run out before – it’s so unlike me.)
• Paige’s eye teeth need to just hurry up and cut through the gums.  She was sleeping so well, but the last couple of nights she’s been up fussing.  She usually gets a runny nose and a fever when she’s teething, but this time she has diarrhea which means diaper rash (which we are keeping under control, but still – it’s no fun)… and this has gone on for nearly two weeks.  I just don’t function properly on interrupted sleep!  Here’s hoping she sleeps all night tonight!!  I gave her Tylenol before bed, but she usually wakes up around the time it wears off, and even if I give her more, she is up for a while – last night? from 1 am to after 3 am… *sigh* (eta 9/4/10: Paige slept from 7:30 last night until 9:20 this morning!! Hallelujah!!)
• Paige has been talking more – it’s SO cute. I LOVE this age. (aside from the teething – ha!) She’s so playful and giggles when we tickle her or chase her. She gives the sweetest little hugs and kisses (and I can’t get enough of those).  Now she says “eat” as she does the sign for it.  She’s walking a little bit.  She’s still nervous about it though. 
• Jarvis is loving his soccer team – games start pretty soon.
• Jacob went on his first “friend” outing without any of us.  He is friends with our pastor’s son, and they brought Jacob with them to the children’s museum in Raleigh on Wednesday.  He left at 8:00 am and came home in the early afternoon. He had a BLAST and has been talking about it ever since. 
• Brittany has been researching colleges and has a list pretty narrowed down.  She wants to major in Anthropology (and possibly minor or double major in Art or Linguistics).  She’s all signed up to take her SAT’s in October, and I need to get her signed up for the ACT’s.  All the fun ‘senior’ stuff.
• Darby doesn’t really have much going on lately – just being busy being 9.  I’d like to get her in a gymnastics class or something of the sort so she has an extracurricular activity.  I missed the fall sign-ups (no funding was available – lol), but the winter classes start in November, so hopefully she’ll be able to do those.
• I think I’m going to start doing crossfit again.  I want to get in shape and walking and yoga are great, but I want results FAST!  I’ll let you know how it goes. 

That’s all I got for now…

I have a friend (she doesn’t read my blog) who has a lot of health problems.  She goes to doctor after doctor and gets prescribed drug after drug.  The drugs cause more problems than they solve, yet she continues to feed them to herself.  I suppose she does this because the doctors told her to take them, although the drugs haven’t solved her issues yet (in fact, she continuously gets new and worse problems).  She goes through experimental surgeries and spends most of her time trying to find new ways to be able to function in her daily life.  There was a time she asked me for advice because we shared some symptoms.  I told her she needs to change her diet.  She refused.  She loves her chemical-filled foods and her disease-causing artificial sweeteners way too much to give them up.  She wouldn’t even give it a try – she said that it was too hard and after all, the doctors had told her she didn’t have any problems caused by food (allergies, celiac, etc.).  She’d rather listen to the doctors who aren’t actually helping her – they are helping themselves buy a bigger house, and they are helping the pharmaceutical companies who are the ones funding the medical research that the doctors are reading.  Their drugs are helping her with some of her symptoms, but are causing new ones, so she has to go back for more drugs and/or surgeries.  It’s a vicious cycle she just can’t seem to get herself out of.  It’s sad. 

A lot of Christians are just like her.  They have a lot of problems.  They go to psychiatrists, they read self-help books (sometimes even by ‘Christian’ authors), they try this or that or the other.  They are so focused on getting rid of the symptoms they don’t like.  The Bible suggests that they change their diet, though, and they refuse to listen.  They want to fix the obvious problems.  They don’t want to make any lifestyle changes.  They’re even willing to try experimental surgeries (divorce, [prescribed] psychiatric drugs, etc.), but give their entire life to God?  No can do.  That would mean giving up some of the things they like.  They just try to treat the symptoms, and fix one problem at a time in their own (useless) power, while continuing to indulge in things that taste good, but are essentially harming them.  Being a Christian means making changes though. It means giving God all of your life – not just the problem areas that you don’t want to deal with.  It’s a constant, daily discipline of surrending all to Jesus.  That’s when real healing comes… and trust me, it tastes SO much sweeter and richer and fulfilling than any self-help method known to man.

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

1. Andy’s parents and sister came for a visit this week, and we had a blast. I definitely hit the jackpot when it comes to in-laws. And I’m not just saying that because they read my blog. I really, truly mean it. Love them!
   
   

   It was more difficult than it should have been to take this photo - lol.

   

   I had to use the flash to get a semi-decent shot. Ideally, I'd have taken this photo during daylight when everyone was all fixed up (note the freshly bathed, pajama'd three in front), but alas, I forgot to even touch my camera during their whole visit until the last possible second).

2. Darby got baptized on Sunday morning (and Andy’s family was here to see – so cool)!  So proud of her that she genuinely wants to follow Jesus. 
   
   

   Darby was too short to see much during the actual baptism, but I managed to take her photo just after.

   

   Getting her baptism certificate (I was using Andy's point&shoot camera and I have no idea how to work that thing - lol)

3. Jarvis had his first (soccer) scrimmage with another team last night and he did great. Looking forward to his games, which start in about three weeks.
4. Have I mentioned our school plans on my blog? If not, fyi (and for prosperity’s sake), we are homeschooling all the kids this year. That’ll be 5 kids. Homeschooled. Grades K, 4, 7, 9, and 12.  Once we start, if you don’t hear from me for a while, check in and make sure I’m still alive and sane, would you?   Seriously though - I’m looking forward to it. We aren’t ‘officially’ starting for a couple more weeks-ish, but are doing some things to prepare such as diagnostic testing (starting today). 
5. I went to Darby and Jarvis’ old schools yesterday to withdraw them (school started today — what? you don’t wait until the last possible minute to do things? whatever.), and my decision was just completely confirmed.  Ahhhh… feels good to be doing the right thing for your family. 
6. And please don’t take that last sentence to mean that I think everyone should homeschool. I definitely do not feel that way.  But I do know that this is the right thing for OUR family right now. 
7. I caught the Dojo Sensei in Mousehunt a few days ago. Exciting, right?
8. As you know, my iPhone got wet.  So sad.  I did manage to get it working again, but the LCD screen is all smeared and ruined. I can only barely see 1/2 the screen, and when I try to turn it on, I can’t slide the bar to get to the main menu.  So it’s useless to me.  It’s okay, you can cry too.
9. Since I don’t have a few hundred dollars set aside for replacing phones, Andrew found his 5 year old Motorola Razr L7.  We charged it, and lo and behold it works. So, I have a phone now, which is nice.  The downside is that I have to pay the iPhone $30 monthly fee until April, when my contract ends, and it’ll probably be April before I can afford another iPhone.  Oh well.  At least I can check my yahoo mail on the Razr, and set alarms on the calendar.  I’m just happy to be able to talk and text again – not that I talk/text often, but it’s nice to have the option.
10. Note to self: record Brittany playing the piano and post it. She totally rocks.
11. (disclaimer: this point includes the words ‘breast’ and ‘mastitis’… move on to the next point if you aren’t interested)… A few weeks ago, I cut down on the amount of times per day that Paige nursed, thinking that I’d wean her by 18 months.  She got down to nursing 3 or 4 times a day (at bed time, nap time, sometimes in the morning, and sometimes if she woke up in the middle of the night).  Well, then she started teething again (and no, those eye teeth haven’t poked through yet), and she wanted to nurse ALL THE TIME.  So I accomodated her since it seemed to comfort her, and my milk supply went up again.  Then, one day, about a week and a half ago, she refused to nurse.  Ever again.  She went from getting my milk supply WAY up to absolutely nothing.  With no warning whatsoever.  It was so weird. Anyway, so that led to mastitis in BOTH breasts (fun for me), which I quickly nipped in the bud with garlic, but because of the process of going cold turkey on the breastfeeding, it was kind of a long week or so.  I did pump a few times for relief, but I’ve never had much luck with pumping (and I hate doing it).  I’m finally feeling ‘normal’ and my energy is starting to return.  Thankfully.
12. I made some barbecue chicken when Andy’s family was here that turned out really great, if I do say so myself.  I’ve been struggling trying to find a barbecue sauce that we all like that is 1. gluten-free, 2. chemical-free, and 3. corn-free. Corn-free is nearly impossible to find.  The last barbecue chicken I had made was kind of gross – dry and the sauce not tasty (an organic Annie’s sauce – I do not recommend).  And of course, we had company when I made it (so sorry Pastor Josh and Trisha! I’ll make a better main course next time!  Not that you read my blog, but just in case… I really can make chicken taste good. lol).  Anyway… the homemade barbecue sauce had rave reviews, it cooked well with the chicken, which came out really moist and wonderful, and of course, I have no idea how I made it.  I did write down all the ingredients I used, but amounts?  Who knows?  I just threw stuff in there until it smelled right.  If I can replicate it, I’ll share the recipe. 
13. Speaking of corn-free… have you seen King Corn?  We watched that the other day.  Other food documentaries I’ve watched lately are Food, Inc. and The Beautiful Truth.  I recommend them all (and they can all be found on netflix’s instant play list).  Watch them, make changes, and stop killing yourself by ingesting poison.  When we’re all old and I am clear-headed and healthy (because hopefully I made my changes before it was too late – my health is slowly but surely improving), and when you have Alzheimer’s because you thought I was nuts for eating organic and not using harsh chemicals in my home?  I’ll say “I told you so!” and you won’t have a clue what I’m talking about because the dementia will be so bad, but I’ll say it anyway and you’ll say “who are you again?” and the nurse will come wipe your drool and wheel you away and I’ll go for a jog.
14. Yes, the correct spelling of ‘BBQ’ or ‘barbeque’ is actually ‘barbecue’.  In case you are judging my spelling of the word in point number 12.  Not that I’m ever very aware of grammar on my blog, but misspelled words is a pet peeve of mine.  Fragments and run-on sentences are okay though.  Unless I’m writing a book – in that case, I’d be more careful with my grammar.  Believe it or not, I do understand proper grammar.  I really am qualified to teach it to my children. 
15. That last point was FULL of terrible grammar.
16. Did I blog about Josh’s visit last week?  I think I just posted a few photos from our trip to the capitol (in the things-I-love post).  Well, Josh visited last week and we had a great visit.  Jacob thinks Uncle Josh hung the moon and gets a little hyper excited when Josh is around.  What can you do?  He’s four.
    
    

    Britta and Josh imitating Justice on the bench. lol

17. Darby and Paige wore matching dresses to church on Sunday – and of course, these were the only two photos that I got.  I’ll have to make them wear them again and take some real photos. Darby was the one that picked out their clothes, so don’t be all “why are you forcing your children to match” on me – it was HER idea!  (dresses are complements of our good friend Robyn who passes her girls’ clothes down to my girls).
    
    

    Paige is tugging at her face in the one on the right, which explains why her eye looks all wonky. lol

“We love the things we love for what they are.” ~Robert Frost

Saucy shrimp at Bonefish Grill. Mmmmmmm… now I’m craving it… again.

What happens when my 16 year old has a bedroom under construction, and I buy her a pack of Sharpies.

My little left-handed cutie who gets excited when he can draw on his big sister’s wall.

My All-Stars. I want lots of colors.

Funny teenagers who entertain me on a daily basis.

A father/son relationship filled with so many similarities and great mutual respect.

A creative 16 year old who thinks outside every box.

A squishy one year old to love and cuddle.

These three silly-heads.

Watching my children play.

Funky paintings by the aforementioned artist I live with.

The love we share.

My wonderfully awesome family.

And so much more…

Things I miss about my iPhone (in no particular order):

1. communication – talking and texting. I’ve been using the kids’ phone when I really need to talk to someone, but it’s not the same.
2. the GPS function – I have to look up directions before I go places now. And if I get lost (which I haven’t, but still), I’m outta luck.
3. the Facebook app – I can’t keep up with Facebook now. It was easy to browse the news feed when I had my iPhone with me at any time when I had a few extra minutes. Now I am limited to the time I’m with my laptop.
4. the Bible app – if I can’t sleep, I read the Bible on my iPhone. I also grab it and read in the morning before I get up.  I’ve read my Bible less since I killed my iPhone.
5. Safari – I use google reader on the iPhone browser. I’m way behind on reading my favorite blogs now.
6. the camera
7. the notepad – I had several things typed into the notepad that I kind of needed including to do lists and blog ideas.
8. the alarm clock (!) – I had alarms set for everything. Fibromyalgia really affects that part of my memory (time to eat, appointments, etc), so I set alarms for everything I need to remember.  I miss them.
9. the iPod
10. the Bejeweled app
11. and so much more…

Yeah, I was thinking I could just switch to a cheap phone if my iPhone doesn’t work when I put it back together, but after typing out that list, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna need to get a new one if the old one is indeed dead.

I know you like to hang out here, but you have overstayed your welcome.  You give me headaches, make me stiff and sore, and put my brain into a fog.  On the rare occasion that you step out for a day or two, I get so much done!  I think clearly, am able to communicate without forgetting normal words, and can even go up and down the stairs without feeling like an arthritic 80 year old lady.  It’s nice, and I want to feel like that every day.  So, please leave, and take your squatter friends Myofascial Pain and Celiac with you.  Actually, I don’t even mind if Celiac stays – he’s easily controlled by not feeding him gluten.  But you and Myo are not welcome anymore.

Sincerely,

Petra

Jarvis got his hair cut short recently. He doesn't generally sport a faux-hawk, but it's pretty cute.

•  Jarvis started practices for soccer.  Games don’t start until September though.
• I’m not as sarcastic as I used to be.  Out loud anyway.  And I’m finding that this is making me pretty boring. 
• Paige still isn’t walking (she’s 16 months, 3 days).  She took 6 steps in the nursery on Sunday (I was in there with her, and she walked to me), and then later that day, Jarvis said she took 8 steps.  But she hasn’t done it again.  I know she CAN walk, but she refuses.  She’s just way too cautious. 
• My brother, Josh, is coming tonight and staying until Saturday. It’ll be good to see him.  The kiddos love it when he visits (especially Jacob).
• The three oldest kids spent last week at church camp and had a total blast.
• I need to gain like five pounds.  I guess that’ll probably happen once I stop breastfeeding Paige though.  Maybe.  Still, I’d rather be too thin than too fat.  So it’s all good.
• If only being thin were synonymous with being in shape.  I was on a roll working out, but then I got sick and haven’t gotten back into the swing of things. 
• It’s been WAY too hot to go for walks though.  A treadmill is on my wish list for days that are too hot/cold/rainy. 
• Paige is teething again.  She had been doing really well sleeping through the night after she got her molars, but now the eye teeth are bothering her.  I hope they don’t take too long to come in… :-/

Britta got her bangs cut (by me), and she looks super pretty with them. She's one of those people that looks completely different with different hairstyles!

•  Have I mentioned that Justice is taller than Britta?  He passed her up a couple of months ago.  He’s probably around 5’8″ now.
• I love my children! They are all so awesome. If I had better pregnancies, I think I’d probably try to have a dozen kiddos.
• I’m sure I have more to update, but I can’t think of any of it now.  

(click over and read the post… I’ll wait)

I have recommended books to people and they were like ‘eh, whatever’, and people have gone on and on about certain books that I couldn’t even force myself to finish, let alone be inspired by.  The opposite has happened as well.  Some recommended books have literally been life-changing for me.  There have even been times when books were given to me, but they just sat on my shelf for months, maybe even years, until I finally picked them up and read them at what ended up being the exact perfect timing of when I needed it (this has happened at least 3 times that I can think of).  And I have sometimes recommended books that the recipient has told me how much they needed it and loved it and it changed their life.

Anyway, I was curious if any of you has a book you want to recommend to me and the other readers of my blog.  Or one that you want to let us know that you hated?  

By the way, regarding the controversial book The Shack: I have friends who have read it and said they loved it, and it was life-changing (in a good way), and they said I should read it immediately.  I have other friends who said they hated it, that it was blasphemous, and they told me I should never read it.  I actually haven’t had a chance to read it so I don’t have an opinion on it.  In case you were wondering “what does Petra think of  The Shack?!”  Well, now you have your answer.  Petra doesn’t think anything because she hasn’t read it.  But she does think she may be facebooking too much because she’s now referring to herself in the third person.

If you don’t usually comment, nows the time to start (not-so-subtle hint about how much I like comments) – let’s talk about books.  And they don’t have to be Christian books, but of course, they can be.   :)

I’m so thankful that God chose to work a miracle and keep our family together six and a half years ago, even though we were seemingly determined to destroy it. We have learned so much about what a husband and wife are supposed to be, and it’s truly a beautiful thing when both spouses are committed, loving, and working hard to be the spouse God wants us to be.

Before our absolutely fabulous date on Friday night (the day of our anniversary), we tried to get Britta and Jarvis to take a picture of us. Here’s what we got…

Um, yeah, none of our children plan on becoming professional photographers. lol