Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I have a problem. A couple of years ago, Kaitlyn had started having sleep overs with one of her church friends. It was fun for her and we felt comfortable with her at their home. Then, she began getting invites from friends at school. We did not feel comfortable with her spending the night with families that we did not know. We did not want anyone getting their feelings hurt knowing that she can sleep at one person's house but not theirs. So, in order to make a fair playing field, we decided to not allow anymore sleepovers. This has been fine until recently. Kaitlyn has found our loop hole. A couple of weeks ago, I was out with some friends. when I got home, Chris told me to go check on Kaitlyn. As I walked in her room I noticed that she was sharing her bed...who could that be?! It was her friend, Whitney. As I came out to ask Chris why we were having a sleep over, he said, "I couldn't deny her being a missionary." You see, Whitney is not a member of the church. Kaitlyn had invited Whitney to go to church with us. Whitney said that she could go if she could stay with us overnight. Since church is early, it was easier for her family if we were the ones who got up and got her ready. Darn that little missionary of ours. Do you see my dilemma? If we say "no" to the sleepover will her friend just say never mind to attending church? Are we missing out on a missionary opportunity to share our values and beliefs? Is Kaitlyn actually old enough for sleepovers? What to do. What to do. I do not want to be a flip-flop parent who keeps changing my mind and house rules. I want to be protective, but I don't want to be so constrictive that she will rebel later on. What should I do?! I think we have opened Pandora's box.

Nightmare

Saturday morning Kyle ran into our bedroom panicked that he couldn't breathe. During the night he had come down with croup...Fun! Fun! To add to that, Kyle has had extremely large tonsils for the past year. So big that when the ENT saw them she couldn't believe that he doesn't choke on his food or have sleep apnea. (The doctors haven't removed his tonsils because they are not infected...just gigantic!) Anyway, when he said he couldn't breathe ,I wasn't sure if it was his tonsils or the croup. Chris, of course, was gone playing flag football. Why am I always by myself in a crisis? :) I got Kyle, told the kids I had to go to urgent care and to watch t.v. until I got back. I arrived at urgent care as soon as it opened and told immediately that it was a three hour wait. What?! Of course, while we were waiting there he began feeling better. He was junpimng from chairs, singing, and not acting like a child who couldn't breathe. This was definitely a waste of my time...so, I went home. Skip now to Saturday evening. We put the kids to bed and about 2 hours later Kyle comes downstairs panicked that he can't breathe. Not again. So, we did what any good parents are suppose to do. We bundled him up and took him outside in the cold air. After sitting outside with him for an hour or so, we decided to take him to the emergency room. We were dreading going to the e.r. knowing that we would be sitting there for hours. Ha! To our surprise, there was not wait. They took him right away. After checking him out they decided to give him a steroid shot. The very nice nurse told Kyle that he had to give him a shot and then would give him a surprise. How fun. Kyle immediately asked if it was a sucker. After the shot the nurse handed him a stuffed animal. Not only was it 1:00am, but it was not the sucker he was waiting for. Kyle then preceded to yell at the nurse, "I want a sucker!" and threw the dog at him. The very nice nurse said he didn't have a sucker but could get him a Popsicle. We said that would be great and off he went to get the Popsicle. He quickly returned with a sucker that someone had found and offered it to Kyle...isn't that what he had wanted? No, now he yelled, "I want a Popsicle!" and threw the sucker down. What a sweet boy. At that point we decided to just exit the building as quickly as possible. Chris and I were ready to crash when we got home...but not Kyle. He stayed up the majority of the night. He watched movies, wanted to play basketball outside, and was ready for breakfast. It was a LONG night. Even though, we still love him.

Engaging Behavior

It is one of my fondest memories to recall the feelings of falling in love with Chris. It's those feelings of excitement and butterflies in your stomach when you see them. You think the world is perfect as long as you're together and that life is simply blissful. You can think of no one else except that one, nearly perfect person, that you are so very interested in. Although those thoughts are slightly coming from a dream world, they conjure up the sweetest memories. I love the entire engagement process and wedding planning. It is the thought of bringing two lives together to become one unit. It is knowing that you are beginning something brand new and will discover everything that life has to offer together.

After much anticipation, I was so happy to hear that my sister, Elise, and her boyfriend, Chase, are getting married! Good job Chase. We love you guys and are so happy for you.

The Beginning

I have been toying with the idea of joining the 21st century and creating a blog like everyone else, but have been reluctant knowing that I will probably not keep it up to date as much as I would like. I enjoy getting on other peoples blogs and reading about them and everything going on in their lives, so....yes, I finally am going to do it! I have been so impressed with all of the topics people write about and only hope that the writing creativity begins to pour out of me. So far, I have realized my life is much more boring than everyone elses. I have never had a good habit of writing in my journal but am determined that I can use this opportunity to document the highlights of our family. Wish us luck!!!