Minivan Moments

Welcome, Oliver, to our home! We're sure glad to have you. You looked so sad and all alone, When we arrived to meet you. A tiny cell, a concrete floor, A lack of proper care... All living things deserves much more; We couldn't leave you there! We love your face, your spirit, too, You're a true gentleman. You love the kids and they love you, And you'll be a forever friend! From Minivan Moments We adopted Oliver this afternoon from the local animal shelter. He is a German Shepherd mix (with what, we aren't sure), and he is very lovable! He is great with the kids, and he seems to really want them around. He is a bit depressed, though, and hasn't gotten enough food, exercise and sunlight, so we are hoping that with love and attention, he will THRIVE! Please pray for our little Oliver (or "Ollie" as Calysta wants to call him!) that he will grow strong and healthy and be a good addition to our family!

Lately, there have been a lot of things grabbing for my attention: the laundry, the dishes, the clutter, the bills, the kids, the spouse, the clutter, the calendar, the schooling, the errands, the clutter.... And none of that takes into account the FUN things! But at the beginning of the year, I made a decision to work through some of the things that need to be tended and get some order and structure back to the Varela Household! So far, it is working! I have been decluttering like a fiend!! Seriously, my downstairs is so tidy, it feels like someone else's house! Plus, I have been convincing the kids to declutter their spaces, too, which they have been very happy to do for some reason (maybe they are sick of all the chaos, too!). On top of that, we are doing a scheduled dinner menu again, I am clipping coupons and buying on sale to save money. This week, I am rearranging the upstairs to get a sense of "someone else's tidy house" up there, too. We have some furni...

Hey y'all, just wanted you to know that I sooo appreciate your prayers & concerns... God really does answer prayers and yours must have helped tremendously because we feel like Halli's turnaround was a direct result of so many folks holding her up in prayer. THANK YOU!!! The email below tells of our miracle and the good news for Halli. My niece Amie sent it out today to let everyone know that Hallie is FINALLY home! Vickey (great-Aunt) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We were told last Friday that Halli needed open heart surgery. At that time she was losing weight, on oxygen, and a feeding tube. The day before she was transported to Vanderbilt (Sunday via ambulance) she was weaned off the oxygen. Once we arrived at Vanderbilt they discovered two more issues; a distended stomach and abnormal blood cells that could potentially cause Leukem...

It is amazing that God even had to remind me to appreciate my children, but He did. What is even more amazing is that He didn't condemn me for needing the reminder... He just gently turned my focus where it needed to be. Praise Him! He is so compassionate! This past week, I have been more focused on my family, enjoying my children and the moments that get away from me. It is upsetting that someone as blessed as me needed to focus on that, but it is a fact of life that the "little things" get in the way of us enjoying our lives. My kids become "things to teach" and my laundry becomes "something to tackle" and the meals become "something to do within XYZ guidelines" and life just gets monotonous. This week, we have spent more time together - or maybe not more time, maybe just more conscious attention. My youngest child and I no longer fight each other at bedtime; rather, we cuddle, giggle, and tickle together while we get ready for sleep....

Today, our country put its first African American President into office. What a day to be an American!! And a parent ! And an educator ! Whether or not you voted him in, Barack Obama is now the leader of this great democratic nation. The people have spoken. And the people were heard. What a blessing to live in a place where the people have a voice! Praise God for the blessing, the honor, and the privilege!! As we watched George W. Bush pass the torch on to Barack Hussein Obama on television, we were reminded of the importance of this event, the symbolism of it all. It signifies not only the changing hands of power, but also the hope of a people, a people who sit in the sidelines of discontent, knowing that, soon enough, their day will come, their voice will be heard. For the Presidency is fairly temporary, and those who oppose the one who is elected have only to wait, to pray, to hope, and to try again. Today, we crossed from one side to another, one political party to an...

Okay, for all of you home bakers out there, if you have never worked with rolled fondant, you have to trust me on this: Professional Cake Makers do NOT make enough money! I made a Teepee Cake for our neighbor's birthday, and after the 6 1/2 hours that was a labor of love and determination, I was so depressed to watch them carve away at it!! First of all, the stuff is almost the same consistency as taffy. Add to that, it came in white and I needed brown. (yeah, sounds a LOT easier than it was, let me assure you!) Then, you have to figure in placement of the fondant sheet, which was especially difficult for me seeing as I did not have professional equipment for this task. All in all, it was a teepee. A teepee that my husband casually unwrapped - then discarded the precious fondant! Then they cut away at the lump of brown that was my beautiful cake!! It was pretty tasty, though, I must say. Depressing, but yummy. Yup, professional bakers should make more money. Oh, well, at ...

Do you ever talk to someone who puts your life in perspective? Have you gotten the chance to see your life through the lens of someone else's personal situation? Has God ever reminded you how good you have it by showing you the suffering of another? Sometimes, when I am sitting in my beautiful, heated home, complaining about life, I am ashamed to be so self-absorbed! I listen to other people, especially lately, families who have lost their incomes, parents who are suffering with a terminally ill child, women who are watching their husbands wage war against cancer, soldiers who gladly sacrifice years of comfort and safety to be a part of this great nation's national defense... and I am ashamed to be whining that my backyard needs a fence or my attic isn't large enough. I have perspective lately. More perspective than, well, maybe ever . People are starving . And we all know that with our minds, but do you know it in your heart? People are suffering . We are aware of...

Didn't I just determine to protect my children from overtly sexual images and situations broadcast by network television? Yesterday, my eldest child, The Princess , was dancing with a friend of hers - we were making music videos - and I noticed how smutty she looked! I'm not kidding, people, she was all pouty lips, twitchy hips, and hair flipping! It was DISTURBING ! I mean, come on , she's nine . And we do not have cable television, nor do we let her watch many shows that other kids her age watch. We are very careful... and yet, there she was, dancing and prancing like a sexpot! AAK! What am I going to do?? I tried to explain to her that she was acting too grown-up rock-star-ish, but I can't think of how to convince her that is a bad thing. I asked her to act like a nine-year-old girl, not a teenager, but I do not think she is convinced. Someone, help!! I am at a loss here. My husband has waved his magical Leader Of the Home wand and put me "in charge...

I am getting about as fed up with the media as I can be! I cannot even let my kids watch the NFL on Sundays with their dad anymore for fear that the network carrying the game will show inappropriate Primetime show snippets!! This weekend, CBS was carrying the games hubby was watching, and both Saturday and Sunday, we saw the commercials for this show that depicted two young adults discussing having sex, then in the next shot, they were in bed together... on DAYTIME television on CBS (I wrote to CBS and the NFL about this issue today) - we don't have cable television for this reason, but it looks like we cannot escape it anymore. The freedoms of other interests are infringing on my family's freedom from the early sexualization of children. Can we no longer get through the day without discussing and depicting sex? Are we so depraved as a nation that we think nothing of serving up casual sex with our Sunday afternoon football ? Is is not enough that our children cannot watch ...

I got this email, and this baby needs our prayers. Seemed like a good place to put it! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- Hallie was born Dec. 30, 2008. Hallie has Downs Syndrome, which was discovered before her birth, and typical to most Downs babies, has some health complications since birth. At first she was just having trouble breathing while nursing and turned blue and had to be put in NICU in the Chattanooga hospital where she was born. They put a feeding tube in and we thought things were stabilizing. Now the docs have found some problems with heart functions - she is retaining fluid around her heart, in addtion to other symptoms. They have decided to do a heart cath on her to determine the extent of the problems - it is scheduled for 7 am on Friday in Chattanooga. If complications are not extensive, they will do repairs there. If extensive, Hallie will be airlifted to Nashville V...

Just a quick post to let you all know that, yes, it is that time again! Dania went in for her labs this morning - we pray we will continue to have good results, especially since this may be the last lab they draw to help decide if she can come off the meds!! We'll find out in April if her doctor wants to try it... of course, there will be lab tests to track how her thyroid is doing on its own for awhile, but we are sooooooooo ecstatic that we can even dream of her being healed! Anyway, we had a busy day because of the trip to Vanderbilt, so I am a bit behind schedule. Don't have much time, so I have to run, but thought you would like to know about our little miracle in the making! Blessings, Angie

So, I decided at the end of the year that we would restructure and reorganize our homeschool. That plan was put into practice yesterday for the first time, and I can say with confidence now that we have had two days to experience it, we are in for SUCCESS!! I initially wanted our kids to experience the freedom of homeschooling... we didn't sit at the table and work for 4 hours until we were done. Now, I recognize that for my children, we have to get the bulk of the studies done first thing in the morning - otherwise, bad attitudes appear with the homeschooling materials! So, starting our new year, we have a new homeschool plan. And it is really working for us so far! Dania is struggling to adjust to the new schedule, and she was the biggest hurdle to completing our studies in one sitting anyway, so we are working on it. Overall, though, we are accomplishing more, finishing sooner in the day, and working at improving our attitudes toward our studies. With the structural changes...

Around these here parts, we speak to our children... a lot. I realize in times long ago children were "seen and not heard" - and they were dressed like little adults, so we can assume they were expected to behave themselves accordingly. However, being a wee bit more modern, and having a smidgen of education about the developmental needs of children, we decided when we embarked on this journey we call parenthood that we would treat our children in ways that met their needs. One of the basic needs is human interaction: talking, playing, smiling, cooing, touching. Verbal interactions are meant to shape the infant into an oral communicator, but we always liked to add in baby sign language during the months before Baby could be expected to speak. In our experience, this reduced screaming and pointing to a minimum, and we all knew what Baby was asking for. Ergo, we could better meet Baby's needs. [ insert smug smile here ] Eventually, Baby grows into Toddler, and speech d...

Dania's appointment with the Pediatric Otolaryngologist (E.N.T. to us reg'lar folk) was today, and what a surprise! I actually believed long ago, almost a year ago, in fact, that Dania had obstructive sleep apnea and would need her tonsils removed. Now, I have a specialist to confirm my opinion. The up-side is that Dania should sleep better after the surgery because she will be able to breathe better. She may even eat better as there will be less discomfort in swallowing (other people have this experience, but since Dania cannot express difficulty or discomfort in swallowing, we are unsure if she suffers this... we do know that her appetite for solids decreased at the same time that the snoring began). Dania may even begin growing at a more rapid rate - she is far below average, though she was right on average at birth, and the dip in her growth also occurred about the time her snoring and appetite loss occurred. Plus, growth hormones are often decreased in children with s...