Dear Mom, Thank you for being so smart, so beautiful, so wise and so talented. It's nice to know that I have the potential somewhere in my genetics to possibly one day be as special as you.
1 Comment
Duh duh DUHHH!!!! #suspensemusic ****Disclaimer: Being the perfect-pastor-kids-angels we are, we would NEVER actually do ANY of these things. Never. Ever. Amen. 1. Breakfast consists of hot dogs and hot chocolate. And hot chocolate for every meal after that. We did actually feed them a really nice breakfast, but they were still hungry. 2. Do any thing we can to get out of school. The bananas were going to rot!!!! I mean, why a waste good food when you can make it into banana bread??? 3. Bribe the two year old with chocolate to clean the basement. By herself. We had to clean the basement anyway, we had the chocolate, the baby wanted them, so we gave them to her:) 4. The first thing you do when they walk out the door is yell "PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" As soon as we said that, they walked back in because they forgot something. Oops:) 5. You put the kids to bed at 6 and tell them they have an hour to read. We didn't feel to guilty until Serenity said "You guys are going to be the best parents ever when you grow up!" It's a good thing she didn't think to look at the clock:) 6. Drink straight lemon juice with three heaping spoonfuls of sugar in it. HYPERNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7. Give a break on school because the house is really, really, really messy. Like deep clean everything. So it takes hours and hours. And we can't finish school because its 5:00. 8. We pretend that folding laundry is an amazingly awesomely fun job-almost like going to Cedar Point-so the two year old and six year old immediately volunteer to do it. 9. You make everything into a race. "I need a pencil....on your mark, get set, go!!! *thirty seconds later* WOW you guys are SO fast!! Thank you SOOOO much!!" 10. You randomly break for song time around the piano. Choir, right? 11. Pick all the unripe peaches from the trees and see who can throw them the hardest at the other trees. 12. Push the tire swing up to the tree and let the kids climb the tree and get on the tire swing. Then let it fall. This is actually really fun...if you don't hit the tree that is. *****Disclaimer #2: For all those who knew that our parent's were away this weekend, we did have an adult (Thanks Lisa!!) here and we didn't do any of these things. Promise. ish. CarissaFaith:)
Hello Ya'llses!!! (That's plural for "ya'all:)) We were at a conference for a week and we just got back on Saturday. The conference was at Falls Baptist Church in Menominee Falls, Wisconsin. I wasn't really expecting it to be much colder than it is here in Ohio because the temperature has mostly in the negatives or at least below freezing all winter. But as it turned out, it was FREEZING up there. The actual temperature was sort of cold, but the wind made the difference. We older kids had to stay in the college dorms (they have a college too). To get to the girl's dorms, you have to go across the parking lot, up the boardwalk, up three flights of stairs and then you're there. It was so cold that the ends of my hair froze ;) Ok, enough about the weather, as you saw from the last post, my mom is pregnant again. Do you like the header?? Yes, that's us and Yes it was freezing outside:) Charity(on the end) is a little blurry because she was talking the whole time! I think she was telling someone that she was freezing and needed a coat. But no children were harmed in the making of that picture. Except for some frostbite. Just kidding:) When we left for the conference, it was raining here. When we came back, the snow was gone. When we left for church on Sunday, the snow was still gone. When we came back from church on Sunday, there was at least three inches on the ground. That's the view from the back steps. Isn't it pretty!!!! I took that picture outside in the snow without a coat on. You're welcome:) And lastly since this is random, here's Charity. CarissaFaith:)
Recently we put a new banner up on the Blog. Have you noticed it? I wanted to announce our new addition at 12 weeks, but because I obviously am showing and people were guessing we put the banner up early. I am now 11 weeks. Many questions, WHAT? You are pregnant? I thought you were done? I thought you could not/should not have anymore. Let me answer some of those questions the best we can. God has graciously given my husband and I the privilege of having 9 living children. I have enjoyed each one that God has given me. But you will notice that I DO NOT brag, or make a big deal about the number of children we have. I’m not saying it’s wrong to talk about how many children you have in your home, but I’ve talked to so many grieving ladies who would love to have ONE baby or they have one, but have never been able to another…that my heart grieves for them. We never sought to have a lot of children, God has truly given each one of them to us. My prayer is that each one will learn the reality of salvation, God will change their lives, and because of Christ in their life, many others will SEE Christ and learn of the Saviour. Many of you know that my husband is on different medications for certain illnesses God has allowed him to have. He has bad days and good days. One particular medication he is taking is not good for pregnancy. I AM NOT supposed to get pregnant or be able to have another little one…because the medication could harm the baby. I am. God has given me another. Yes, we were surprised. Yes, we did use prevention. I also believe that MY God is the giver and taker of life. He is the Creator of every life, including the little one that is growing in my womb. John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Paul writes: .But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace," Galatians 1:15 God knew David before he was born: For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. ~Psalm 139:13-15 God knew Jeremiah: "Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." ~Jeremiah1:4-5 I love how God sees children. Unfortunately the world sees children in a negative light, but God LOVES each little one. "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. ~Psalm 127:3 Scripture even tells us that we are created in the image of God. What an awesome thought! Bottom line: God has given a beautiful little life for me to carry these nine months. Please pray for this little one. Because of Michael’s medicine: God could call this little one home, God could allow us to have a special needs child, or God could give us a miracle. It is not an easy thing to wait on Him. Believe me, the blogging world may look like a world of perfectly decorated homes, great dinner ideas, loving families, and a home that runs smoothly in every way. But reality looks completely different. Not one person or family is perfect or “has it all together”. Only through the Grace and Mercy of Jesus can the reality of a Godly home even start. The truth is my house is not clean... No one has been harmed. My homeschool is running... But the kids are being VERY self sufficient. Meaning, they have been on their own, and I don't feel great, yet life still continues. People are still being fed, no one is starving, yet it is not gourmet meals. I am getting grumpy and irritable… The truth: my attitude is really what matters in the whole scheme of things. I need to keep my focus on Jesus and not my imperfect life. Serenity Grace turned nine on Saturday February 15th!! *Disclaimer: I realize most of these pictures are blurry. I've found out it's really hard to get a nice pic of people who are moving really fast. So...most of the pictures are blurryish. I have a setting on my camera for moving things, but it wasn't set on it. Lesson learned:) Those up there ^^^^ are known to us as 'dough things'. I have no idea what they are supposed to be called. They're made of bread dough, filled with taco meat and cheese, and baked in the oven at 350*F. Very delicious!! shhh...Don't tell Sis, but I've broken into the blog! :) I just thought that I'd say HI! :) Our family celebrated Mom's birthday on Thursday by going to Chipotle! Then we came home for some homemade chocolate cake. Birthday's are a very special occasion at our house!! Most of the kids make cards and buy gift at the dollar store for the birthday person. You never know what you might get, but its usually something you've "always wanted" :)
Autumn We don't usually celebrate Valentine's day, but this year the little kids had enough of us telling about exchanging cards and making mailboxes and getting candy when we four older kids were in a Christian school. So this year we saved all of our oatmeal boxes and shoe boxes and made mailboxes. I'll try to get as many pictures up, but our internet is not being nice today so I might not be able to get all of them. So Happy Valentine's Day a day late!!!!! Btw, it's Serenity's birthday today so don't be surprised if you see another post tomorrow or something. I know, shocker, I wrote two posts in the same week!! CarissaFaith:)
These days have been very, very busy!! Last week we three older girls went to a birthday party two hours away so we had to make arrangements. We left the day after the Great Snowstorm. I was just about to add a picture, but I forgot I left my camera at church. So, pictures later:) Anyway, we invited the church family to watch the Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate at church on Tuesday. There was supposed to be some snow, but the weather guys kept changing how much we were going to get and we rarely get tons of snow anyway. It started snowing even before the debate started and didn't let up for a very long time. We had some guys plowing the driveway (our church is on a big hill) and then someone directing traffic to make sure no one slipped. The snow was coming down so fast, they basically plowed, let a car go down, and plowed again. Here's a picture I found on my iPod. I can't remember which big snow that was....it was either the first one before the debate or the second one. My brain is fried:) Anyway here's another one. Actually, the roads are plowed in this one so it might have been the first snow thing. Oh well, it is pretty anyway!! Like I said, we went to a birthday party two hours away. Our mom took us and then she went to our grandparent's house (her parents) to visit. We had an awesome time! We went sledding down an amazingly steep and bumpy hill. We went shopping, except without the money:) And we played in the snow and did lots of other fun stuff!! We have three important holidays this week!! Mom's birthday on Thursday, Valentines Day on Friday, and Serenity's birthday on Saturday. Busy week:) I will get my camera tomorrow and have pictures sometime....maybe not Thursday, but maybe Friday or Saturday or Sunday or something like that. But we had to leave:( and now we're home again. But mom isn't here so it's a little harder to do everything...like school. I don't think I've done an entire day of school since last Tuesday. But that's ok cause I have a Biology test I haven't exactly studied for yet:) I will take it eventually though. Maybe Friday. Happy almost Valentine's Day!!! CarissaFaith:)
"The Lord is my shepherd, I’ll walk with Him Alway”.” Mom and I sang the familiar song. She had moved a little so that I could hold her foot. I wanted to know she was still there by me. I knew she was hurt badly. I had seen her face soon after she managed to find the ignition and turn the van off. She was covered in blood and her arm was lying at the wrong angle. My hand was trapped under the van, and I was lying in a fetal position on my knees. I was very scared. A man crawled in through one of the broken windows and crouched next to me. “Hi, my name is Tom. Everything’s going to be ok. The ambulance is on its way.” Then he started asking questions, but my mind kept wandering. I saw my glasses on the floor next to me. “Oh, look there are my glasses. I should probably get those before they get broken.” I thought, though for some reason I never picked them up. I could see the ground outside it was covered in glass. “Cool, I never knew that the window glass is green!” these were all the weird thoughts going through my head. I was very scared! The next things I know I heard the sirens and saw that Tom was gone. Mom was worried about the other kids. “Are my children OK? How many do you see? “She asked. The man counted and told my mom, but I didn’t hear the answer. They moved my mom away. She was lying on the ground half way in the van and half out of the van, which was blocking one of the ways to get to my hand. I heard my dad! He poked his head in the broken window. “Are you ok Peanut? They’re going to get you out.” he said. I had been trying to move my hand and it was suddenly turning! “It’s moving!” I yelled. Then my hand was free and I crawled out towards my dad. He carried me over to a paramedic who poured something on my hand. I didn’t even feel any pain until then. The hand looked horrible. There were hundreds of pieces of glass sticking out of it and I was missing my pinky finger. They rushed me to the stretcher and put me into the ambulance. I wanted to sleep, but this lady kept telling me to open my eyes. I told her I just couldn’t right now. I knew Joshua was in the ambulance with me so I kept trying to talk to him, but he was actually sitting in the front passenger seat. They put an IV in me and gave me Morphine for the pain and gave me oxygen. I also had neck brace on. Then I was at the hospital being wheeled into trauma room 2. It was bright and sunny in that room. It seemed like too big of a room for just one person. I was asked a bunch of medical and personal questions, including where I lived. I told them the church address for some reason and I couldn’t remember what shots I had already. Every once in a while Josh would pop his head into my room, but he would go away before I could ask him anything. Later I learned that Melody and my mom were close by in the next rooms. I kept feeling a weird cold sensation on my ears so I asked the nurse next to me. “I think there’s something in my ears”. I said. He checked for me then got a tissue and wiped my face for me. “Your ears are fine. It’s just tears.” He answered. I guess I was crying and didn’t even know it. I was there for some time before they told me that I was going to be taken in a helicopter to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, so that I could have surgery on my hand. They wheeled my bed over to mama, who was also in a neck brace, so that I could tell her goodbye. “Can you come with me please”, I was crying. I didn’t want to go by myself. I was practically begging her. “I don’t want to go”. “No, you need to stop crying right now! I can’t come with you because there isn’t room. Daddy is with the other kids. Papa will be at the hospital when you get there. I promise.” Then she told me that she loved me. The paramedics wheeled me to the helicopter. It was a very loud trip! When I tried to speak a couple times the nurse on board had to give me his microphone so he could me. As soon as I arrived into the hospital I saw papa. He had come! Papa came and sat next to me while we waited for the Doctor. “Papa, do you think that God has something special in my life?” I asked. “I think that he has something special for everyone.” He answered. The doctor came up and talked to him for a few minutes. “Autumn, they are going to try to get some of the big pieces of glass out of your hand ok?” “Will it hurt?” I asked. “Yes, it will probably hurt a lot, but I’m going to be right here beside you.” After that they prepared me for surgery. By then my dad was on his way to the hospital and my mom was in Grant Hospital close by. Maggie, a family friend, came to sit with me too, so the surgeon used her phone to get dad’s permission for the surgery. Then they wheeled me away. Although this was a very scary thing that happened in our family, there were so many things that we can be thankful for. I know that God was and is in control of our lives every day. Romans 8: says, “For we know that all things work together to good to them that are the called according to his purpose.” by Autumn De Leon Recently Autumn wrote this paper for her 11th grade Grammar class. The van accident on October 10, 2008, 5 years ago, was one of those memorable days for our family. It is one of those times where you KNOW that God was with each one of us...He was there as He still is today.
Cassandra De Leon Sorry about the delay.....I really did mean to put more pictures up but, well, it didn't happen. Sooo, here I am nineteen days after Christmas posting Christmas pictures:) I also happened to get done with school before 6:00 so I actually have time to do it before choir practice :) I got a camera for Christmas!! And I really needed one. Someone who reads our blog gave my mother some money to get me this camera!! It takes awesome pictures and here's an example.... We went to winter Camp in Wisconsin!!! That was also very fun, but it was freezing in Wisconsin!! Without windchill I think it was around 15 to 20ish below. I don't want to know what it was with windchill. So here are some pics of our annual cookie making/decorating tradition. And here are some scant pictures of Christmas morning...., See I told you, scant. As I said, we went to winter camp. Well, technically it's called Teen Winter Retreat. It was at Camp Joy in Wisconsin. We went up with Grace Baptist Church in Kettering, Ohio because they had extra seats. There was a girl's van and a boy's van, but there were two boys in the girl's van because there were too many boys for the van. Even though it was freezing, we still had tons of fun!! The camp had a toboggan run, tubing hill, ice skating, zip line, and a fully equipped gym in which to play laser tag, paintball, volley ball, basketball. Because it was a retreat, there really wasn't all that much competition between teams but the Eskimos won :( The best part was the preaching. The retreat was only Thursday night through Saturday afternoon, but there were five services. Our speaker was Rand Hummel and he had awesome messages. They included: The Dark Side of the Internet, True Love, The Art of Medieval Warfare, and a couple more. He spends most of his time with teens and you could tell by what he spoke on. The trip home was awesome. We listened to music (very, very loud music), we sang through the alphabet, or at least most of it. We tried to figure out a joke and that was the reason for the music. (The youth pastor and his wife couldn't figure it out, so they turned it on until we told them:)) Josh was in the boy's van and he said they sang in six-part harmony. I'm not sure how they did that though. In the girls van we only had three parts: soprano, alto, and high soprano. I didn't take a bunch of pictures because #1 it was really cold, and #2 I don't know. But the ones I did take I will post (hopefully) in the next week or so.....but don't get your hopes up:) CarissaFaith:)
|
AuthorGod reached down in love and rescued Cassandra from her sin at the age of 21: changing her life, purpose, and focus forever. Archives
February 2019
|