Sunday, February 12, 2006, 6:19 a.m. (YAWN!)~

Dear Journal~

This morning finds me getting the kids ready for the day. The reason I am up so early this morning (got up at four) is because we have to be ready by the time we leave the house. Our goal is to leave the house by seven.

The last of the kids have had their bath; now all they have to do is get ready for church. We go to Christ Community Assembly of God Church every Sunday (two services in the morning, one in the evening; it's our big "church day"), and we spend a good portion of Sunday at church. My hubby and myself want our children to look their best, so this is why it takes a while. Also, it takes a while because there's over 40 kids to worry about!

Before church, we often go out to eat, to get some nourishment, so we can be ready to face to day. We either go to Golden Corral or Fire Mountain for breakfast; both places serve excellent food, and they are the perfect place to get our minds focused and have a little devotional time besides before church! We also visit with friends who are there at that early time of morning, and we have some terrific food!

Yesterday, the kids were at the zenith of their creativity: they had a "mini-Olympics" of their own, and they were pretending to be athletes representing the U.S.A. There were even "medals" being handed out (gold, silver, bronze), and they all had a wonderful time getting some needed exercise out in the snowy landscape. There was mainly skiing, snowboarding, and ice skating; we don't have the proper landscape for luge or bobsled (and there is NO way on God's green earth that I would allow them to go THAT fast!) It's bad enough that some of the older kids were doing aerial stunts off the ski jumps they concocted; I was sure I would have a heart attack when I saw them doing flips and getting major airtime! But fortunately, no bones were broken, nobody was hurt, so for that I can thank the Lord for keeping a good, watchful Eye on them! :)

Arjun is coming home from the hospital either tomorrow or Tuesday if the doctor sees to it. He is improving day by day, and yesterday, he even managed to eat a little. So his appetite is coming back, which is a very good sign. He also filled his diaper, which is another good sign; it means that he isn't dehydrated. His breathing has improved, and today, the docs are going to take him off the oxygen. It seems that the medicine and the oxygen they gave him did the trick. Now when he comes home we will have to make sure that we try to protect him from the cold or germs and make sure that he takes his medicine the doctors will probably give him.

We had a lot of snow: at least eight inches; it snowed some more last night (one inch), so now we have NINE on the ground. Still, it is no problem for us; at least we aren't buried under two feet of snow like the LAST storm we had a year ago! Speaking of snowstorms, the East Coast had a major blizzard; they got upwards to one to two FEET of the white stuff! Glad it wasn't HERE..... *giggle*

I heard from my friend in Kansas, Jerilyn Lotz, who lives in Lawrence. She and her husband, Doug, have four little boys (Danny, Miles, Peter, and Nigel), and they keep her busy. She also happens to be unsaved. Oh, she believes in God, but not much else. She doesn't particularly care for people who are extreme about their faith (like me), but that is her choice. She still wants to be my friend, and she has so far enjoyed writing to me (as I have her). I still have to get to my other unanswered email; I have not been a good friend. I would't be surprised if some of them stop writing to me. But when you have fifty three children to take care of (PLUS work full-time) AND take care of a house and a husband, it's next to impossible at times! I also write, and that only adds to the fun! (I do my writing whenever I can catch a break, but I do most of it at night, when the kids are in bed. For me, it isn't uncommon to get as little as four hours a night, SIX if I am lucky! LOL I am like the Energizer Bunny: I keep going and going and going and going---I just keep praying to God for the strength to get me through the day; so far, He has NOT disappointed me! :)

Well, I had best get off here; want to read some of the Bible (and spend some time in prayer)  before we head on out. Take care, dear Journal, and God bless you always!

Love, your friend, Louie May. :)

P.S.: Just heard that Michelle Kwan has withdrew from the Olympics; her hopes for a gold medal dashed forever perhaps. Now the pressure rests on Sarah Hughes, who won the gold four years back in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hopefully she (or one of the other Americans) can medal; the world wonders and waits in anticipation---such a shame for Michelle Kwan; I feel so bad for her, but she knows that it was the right decision on her part. Still, a lot of people are going to be disappointed--