EASTER CRAFT EMERGENCY

Martha's beautiful honey bunny bookmark

My mummy bunny disaster

I absolutely LOVE doing Martha Stewart's Crafts. I go to her website all the time for craft ideas for my kids. However, I am always a bit discouraged when my craft doesn't quite look like hers. Usually, I can get it pretty close, but Martha would probably be ashamed at the one that I attempted tonight. It's suppose to be a cute bunny bookmark and after you wrap the template in chenille pipe cleaners you glue the kids picture on the face of the bunny. I know I haven't glued the face yet, but my bookmark looks nothing like what it's suppose to - it's embarrassing. I had planned on putting it in my kids Easter baskets and then I thought it would be so much fun to make these for my Sunbeams class, but unless I can figure out how to make it look nicer there's no way this craft will see the light of day. Does anyone have any suggestions?

GAVIN

Gavin is almost 2 1/2 years old. My baby is growing up so fast. He is doing so many fascinating things and in the process wreaking havoc on almost all of my belongings - not anyone else's, just mine. He has this curiosity with the loft. The loft is "my space" where I pay the bills, go online and do all of my crafts. Gavin has recently discovered how to unlock the gate that protects my space and I am not happy with this new trick of his.

This morning I was rushing around the house getting myself ready for my doctor's appointment, making sure that Owen was ready for school and drinking the infamous Glucola for my glucose test. Normally I like it, but I think this was a flavor I had never had before. I think in the past the drink was always orange and this one was red and tasted something like fruit punch. Anyways, after my doctor appointment I went to Owen's school to volunteer in his class and ended up staying later than planned. When I got home, it was very quiet upstairs. That is NEVER a good sign. I walked through our bedroom doors and there was my husband asleep with our 2 1/2 year old playing with scissors he found in the loft. Luckily he hadn't hurt himself or anything that I can tell, but I was so mad. I yelled at Jason for sleeping while Gavin was getting into trouble. Somehow Gavin found a brand new bag of cookies and spread them all over my carpet and then crushed them. I picture him doing a happy dance on them to celebrate his independence while mom was away and dad was asleep. It was only 4 days ago that Gavin snuck into the loft and DESTROYED my activity for the Sunbeams at church with his doodles and scissors. I had to remake the entire lesson. Not to mention on Sunday after church when Gavin woke up from his nap and decided to take one of my ink pads and color our computer chair with it. Had Jason learned nothing about this child from his weekend of destruction! Needless to say, I was a little upset this morning with both boys, but this afternoon made up for all the messes from earlier.

Jason went to drop off some jobs for customers while I was feeding Gavin. After lunch, we went into the living room, turned on some music and started dancing. Gavin took off upstairs for a minute and came back down with Owen's blanket. He grabbed some pillows and layed down on the chest we have in the room. He looked so adorable all curled up underneath the blanket he brought. While I watched Gavin pretend that he was asleep, I was reminded how precious he truly is. How could anyone stay mad at a face like this.

This was taken the day Gavin decided to play with one of my ink pads.

My sweet Angel!

Today, I figured out what Gavin stands for:

G - GENEROUS

A - ADVENTUROUS

V - VALIANT

I - INTELLIGENT

N - NOISY

THE JEEP

It's hard to believe it has been exactly one month since Jason's car accident. On February 15th Jason was driving down Rt. 85 in Frederick when a deer jumped out in front of him. He swerved and ran into an electrical pole. He up rooted the pole and snapped it in half. Jason's jeep flipped several times and he was knocked unconscious. I had fallen asleep on the couch waiting for him to come home. As soon as I woke up, I knew something was wrong because it was almost midnight. I searched the house and when I couldn't find him, I went to the backdoor to see if his car was in the garage. As I reached the door, I saw Jason walking up the stairs with his friend, Scott. I asked where he had been and as soon as he told me he was in a bad car accident, I noticed the black eye, cuts and bruises all over his face. He told me he had banged up the car a little.

Jason complained of severe back pain and thought maybe he should go to the hospital, however when he called Kaiser to ask if Shady Grove was okay to go to, they told him he would have to see one of their doctor's in Falls Church. Jason's friend Scott volunteered to take him to their facility. After an hour of waiting to be seen, the nurse brought him back. She took his temperature and blood pressure and the doctor said for him to go home! Jason said the doctor literally NEVER TOUCHED HIM! I am shocked. I know my past experiences with Kaiser weren't always the best, but my husband was jostled in the car pretty good. You would think the doctor knowing Jason was knocked unconscious and complaining of severe back pain would want to examine him. He had to push them just to get a muscle relaxer and Tylenol 3. Jason came home at 4am and took a shower and went to sleep. I stayed up the rest of the night just to make sure he was breathing.

I had no idea of the severity of the accident until the next day. I really thought that there may be a chance the car could be repaired, but after seeing it in person, I knew there was no way the insurance company would even consider repairing it. So the next day, Jason and I went to the gas station where the Jeep was towed. We drove around back to where they dropped it off and I asked Jason, "where is it" and Jason said "it's right in front of you!" LOL I had no idea!!! It didn't look like what I thought it would at all. So we got out and approached the car from behind. I remember saying, alright well that's not so bad - I can see the insurance being able to fix this, however as I start walking around the vehicle, the damage got worse and worse. I was completed stunned! There was not one side that wasn't destroyed! By the time I walked around to the front, I was trembling at the idea of what could have been. The role bar that's suppose to protect you (which it did for Jason) was completely crushed on the kids car seats. Thank Heaven's they weren't in the car when the accident occurred. I told Jason, you didn't just bang up the car a little honey, you totaled it! I am so grateful my husband was able to walk away from this!

Crash Closes MD Route 85, Re-Opened After 11 a.m.

Jason was still in a lot of pain on Thursday - understandably so. He wasn't able to be seen until the next day. I made sure I was with him for that appointment and the ones that followed. I brought in pictures of the Jeep to show to the doctor that he was in a severe car accident and he needs stronger pain meds! I'm not sure if the doctor had sympathy for Jason or if he's really a good doctor, but he was thorough. He admitted that what the other doctor gave Jason for the pain would not be strong enough given his size and we got him to take x-rays of Jason's back and side because it sounded like he could have easily broken some ribs. The x-rays came back fine, but the doctor said that his ribs were probably badly bruised and it would still take at least 6 weeks to recover.

Last week Jason went back to the doctor to see if he could have a MRI (because of the back pain) and a CAT scan (for the chronic headaches). The doctor didn't see the need for a MRI. He said if something was wrong that didn't show on the x-ray he would have pain running down his legs. The doctor was concerned about the headaches. He said if there is a slow bleed, it would begin to show signs around now, one of the symptoms being chronic headaches, however Jason doesn't have other symptoms such as pupils dilated or blood in the ear. We won't know anything until the doctor calls us with the results. We are still in negotiations with the insurance company about how much the car is worth. Lucky for us, Jeeps hold there value well.

I do have a confession to make. Before the accident, most nights I would rush to get the kids in bed so I could go lay down, so I had been skipping the kids prayers. The night of the accident, Owen came out of his room after Jason left and said he heard something flying around. He refused to go back to bed, so I went in with him and I tried everything to convince him that there was nothing there, but he wouldn't let me leave. After some time had past, I asked Owen if he thought a prayer would make him feel better and he said it would. After I was done praying for Owen, I included Jason in the prayer just as I always do to protect him and bring him home safely and I think Owen added something like please watch over daddy and then Owen said he felt better so I went downstairs. The next day when I was getting Owen ready for school, I explained that Daddy was in a bad car accident, but luckily he's okay. Owen's response was, "Mommy, our prayers were answered". It was the sweetest thing to hear my son say! It still makes me tear up when I think about it. I don't know why this accident happened, but this experience has been a blessing in so many ways. It has strengthened our faith, made us realize what's important and it has made all of our testimonies stronger! Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Our family is so touched by our family and friend's generosity.

UPDATE

I just realized it's been months since I've posted anything on my blog. Facebook has made it so convenient to upload pictures and connect with friends that I neglected my blog. We had an exciting summer with 2 trips to the Outerbanks. Once with almost all the Kemp's which was busy and then again with Jeremy, Jennifer and Linda (a family friend). It was so much fun to get to go to the beach and relax.

The boys are closer than ever. They have really become the best of friends. They are always playing together and comforting each other. It's is so sweet to watch them cuddle whenever we have movie night. Lately, Gavin only goes to bed for Daddy so on the nights that Jason has a late appointment, Owen has been a great substitute.

Owen is doing so well in Kindergarten. His teacher was so impressed with his test results at the beginning of the school year that they tested him again as a 1st grader and he received the highest scores as a 1st grader. So his teacher has been pulling him aside with some other students and going over 1st grade work. I have been so proud of him. He is learning so much!

4 days after Gavin turned 2 years old, I found out I was pregnant with our third child. I am so excited and really enjoying being pregnant. It's been so easy this time. I've hardly felt nauseous and I've had so much energy. I look at it as a survival thing. My body knows I can't be lying in bed with 2 very busy boys to tend to. From the beginning of this pregnancy, Jason warned me this might be the last child despite what I say, so I decided not to find out what the baby would be. Just goes to show you how much will power I have because as soon as the technician asked if we wanted to know, I gave in and said yes. Jason was quite surprised. It took the technician a long time to figure it out, but both she and the doctor agree it's A GIRL!!!! I've been having dreams about the baby being a girl, but I thought that was just me wanting a baby girl. So one of the first things I said to Jason was my dreams were right! Jason said he figured it had to be a girl because of how modest the baby was. LOL! I keep seeing all of these adorable baby girl clothes and blankets, but I promised Jason I wouldn't hurt his wallet and I hope to stick to that promise....... but they are so cute!

Well that's catching everyone up to speed! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I promise to be better about posting on my blog!