Two Bike or Not to Bike

Well this week we decided to purchase a couple Tag-along bikes for the kids. Those are the little one wheeled bikes that attach to an adult bike like a trailer. We found two for $100, but the man said one needed some repairs so we got them both for $70. Considering they are $150 new for a cheap one we felt pretty good about our new purchase.

Well Luker (the amazing do it all boy) was able to fix the broken one in about 10 minutes and we set out this morning to put them on and see how the kids liked them. Minor detail - womens bikes apparently aren't so compatable unless you are a giant and can have the seat a foot higher. Which of course I am not.....so we load up mommy's bike, the tag-along that will be attached to mommy's bike, and Eric's seat which was also having a minor issues with the hitch. Now dragging all that into Eric's Bike Shop was fun....and after answering all our questions and fixing it as best they could, we loaded it all back up and headed to the Prior Lake/Savage school carnival for a bit - whole nother blog for later. Once we finally got home we decided to hook them both up and see how the kids liked it.

The 1/4 inch of clearance on mommy's bike is still a bit worrysome, but otherwise the kids had a great time and we are excited to go an a Skillestad family bike trip this summer! Yay for Craiglist and smart brothers and the chance to actually go riding this summer.

Still Waiting for the big one!

So I've recently started getting together with one of my friends for prayer before Bible study on Wednesday nights. I was telling her that I really struggle to trust that God will actually provide what I am asking him for because I have been praying for 5 years that Andrew would be healed and I'm still a prayin'. Over the next week I had several revelations - I often go long periods of time without remembering the things that we have come through with Andrew - the smearing poop all over the walls and carpet - the fact that he couldn't talk at 3 and screamed at us all the time - the fact he never slept - we couldn't use a drill without a total freekout - and of course the most embarassing moments of my life in several Target store isles with the "Control your child you sucky mom" looks. And then seeing the progress of other children with autism I know - who are doing some, not all, but some of the same things we are doing - and they are not progressing anywhere near the rate that Andrew has.

There have been little miracles.....speech, eye contact, "Mommy I love you" moments after an apology, sleeping, and now only three therapy sessions left before discharge. I may not ever see the "Big One" - the moment I have been asking for - the autism gone miracle......but I can now see the little ones, the ones that I cannot see or appreciate until I look back at the difficult times. Yes, I tend to not look back, it was a very painful time and a time I did not draw strength from God to get through. It is embarassing to even question God's provision in my life or in the life of my son - but sometimes our perspective is off. I'm realizing, that if I am ever questioning God's ability or willingness to be faithful, I need only to recall our past, and then procede into my future being faithful to Him. Trust and me don't always mesh, but through prayer and andrew's journey I believe that God will draw me into the intimate relationship that I so desire and in that real father/daughter relationship I will no longer struggle with trusting Him. I will climb in his lap and look into his face and know, truely know that he's got it all covered.

Thank you Stina for drawing me out - for challenging me - and for all your prayer!

"Never heard that before...."

Conversation overheard after a Mommy/Daddy Sunday afternoon nap:

Courtney: Daddy - your socks match your underpants.
Eric: Yeah - I guess they do. Wow, never heard that before.

The little statements that make having kids so amazing!

Cousins

Yesterday we had a fun day with my niece, Lydia!

She' hadn't spent much time here by herself until yesterday, but Courtney and Lydia just love to be together and play sooooo well together. Aside from Lydia falling out of Court's bunk bed and a couple little tattles - they did amazingly well. We dressed them up, put on some eye shadow, curled their hair and I tried to get a few cute pics of them together. I am so far behind in my scrapbooking I should quite taking pictures - but I know we will want memories of them spending time together at this age.

I hope they continue to spend alot of time together this summer and form a bond that will last their entire life....Lydia has such a gentle spirit I'm hoping she'll rub off on Court :)

Just kidding....they are both wonderful little girls and it is fun to see them together!

The Weekend that Was

Well this was an interesting weekend. I spent Friday and Saturday in Mankato at the "Southern Minnesota Home Builders Show". Aside from having our booth located in front of the concessions stand and being on a juice fast - it went just fine. Slow but sure, hopefully we can get at least one lot sold out of the weekend. Then this morning our dear little daughter was to sing at the church where she attends preschool in their morning worship service. It was so much fun to see her - I"ll try and post some video. The service itself - very lutheran - left me appreciating the "alive" aspect of our church but greatful she is able to attend a preschool that is centered around Jesus.

Then this afternoon we had an episode with Andrew - those who are reading this can add Andrew to your prayer list this week. It appeared he was having some type of hallucination which freaked me out. He was in his room for some diciplinary action and he was screaming and crying and sobbing about the ceiling falling on him and that he wasn't going to be here anymore. The implication was he felt like he was going to die. I climbed into bed with him and pulled him in my arms and started praying. After a few minutes of praying with/for him he calmed down completely and was fine. I am greatful that God released him from his issue, but at the same time am afraid that it will become something that happens again. Most things come in stages with him. Pray that I am not afraid and that whatever it was will not come back.

We ended our day with a dinner out together and a fun night of chatting at the Selness house. All has ended on a good note and I look forward to another week of suprises.

Home Sweet Home

ahhhhhhh.....I left for HHH terminal this morning at 5:30am. Where were you going you ask? Well I decided to help out my brother and sister-in-law and accompany Susu and Kaden to Chicago to visit the Brazilian Consulate to get Kaden's passport. So off we went....only a few minute late which is impressive for the Israelson's. We arrived in Chicago a few minutes early and headed to the train station....attached to Midway....and then proceded to the ticket machine. I learned a very important lesson - if you stick $20 in the ticket machine, it will give you a ticket for $20 even if you didn't want it. So...for the $4 we needed in tickets I got $20 ticket and we proceeded to the Orange Line headed to downtown Chicago. So far Kaden was great...thank goodness. The train ride was about 35 minutes and fairly uneventful. We excited to find out we had to carry the stroller down a rather long flight of stairs and then off to find a taxi. Our taxi ride was short and sweet about 5 blocks and costs us about $5. Then up to the 18th floor we went to the room we would spend the next 2 hours. The first lady we talked and by that I mean Susu talked to since it was all in Portugese - told Susu she would have to come back another day. We quickly learned that our response (You've got to be kiding) was a very common comment from the consulete visitors. But after having a discussion with a nice old man, Susu was able to get everything going as planned. She learned she can't take names off her name in Brazil so she was going to have 5 names in her name now that she would be officially married in Brasil. And I learned that if you look 16, and you are holding a crying baby, that older Brazilian women will decide you don't know what you are doing and take them from you :) Long story......

Then we were told we needed to go to the post office to get a Priority Envelope so they could mail Susu the passport in a week. So off we went in the rain, and finally decided to catch a cab to the PO. Another 5 blocks, another $5, but a very nice lady at the post office to help us. We decided to walk back this time as the rain had tappered. It was brisk, but enjoyable after being couped up in the room all morning.

Now, cab - train - security - rediculously long line at PotBelly subs for lunch - and arrive at gate A10 to find out that our plane is delayed 10 min - then 40 min - then 2 hours. Chicago was having thunderstorms and had delayed plans arriving - our plan had to go to Moline, IL to get refueled and head back our way. Finally it arrived and we headed of to Minneapolis at 4:30pm. Ahhh....stale pretzels and a cup of sprite and all was well with the world......until 30 minutes before our flight was to land anyway.

As you can see ( yes Eric actually tracked our entire flight and saved our flight plan :) - We stopped and did a little sky NASCAR over southern Minnesota while MSP decided how there were going to land all their flights. Da da da....45 minutes later and one paper clip shaped flight plan path led us to a new announcement. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the weather had gotten excedingly worse in Minneapolis. They are only using one of the four runways and it is one not used very often. It looks like we are going to have to go to Moline to refuel and try again. We have about a 3 minute window to decide so we'll let you know." What, are you freaking kiding, you are going to take us back to IL to refuel - what happend to Duluth, Minot, Iowa - I just wanted off the plane. About 2 minutes later they came back on and told us that we had been cleared to land and to buckle up. Had I known how bad the wind was, I wouldn't have wanted land after all - but we made it. Not without a few prayers and tight squeeze to baby Kaden who was sleeping patiently on my lap.

Thank you Lord for safety, for the nice old man at the consulate, and for a good pilot. I'm soooooooooo glad to be home. I'm ready for bed!

Last Winter Hurrah!

Well today was a nice day - the kids stayed home with Luke and Susu, and Eric and I went with some friends to use some snowtubing passes we purchased at a silent auction in October. So, of course, the last possible day we could use it - we finally went. Wild Mountain, seemed much closer when I purchased the tickets, but was a nice drive and a fun time none the less.

Above is my attempt at taping one of my "Wild" rides. Despite the slush, the warm weather and sunshine made it a pleasant outdoor adventure. Put the four of us together in a chain and it made for fast and adventurous ride.

Now I have to say that this is a great place for those of us who are a bit more lazy or.... less energetic. As you can see, no more holding onto the rope to drag you up the hill and ruin your new pair of gloves....no....a people mover. You heard me right, Wild Mountain sports a brand new people mover up the hill. Now, the only issues is for those of you who have been drinking to much or have a poor sense of stability (Skills). Then standing while moving and holding onto a heavy tube makes for a bit of a challenge :) If anyone is looking for a fun, family friendly adventure next winter I would highly recommend Wild Mountain Snow Tubing - for those of you who prefer the kamikaze style tubing - Echo Backen still reigns supreme!

As you can see - Last vestigages of snow in the entire area - we didn't mind the moat we had to cross to enter the tubing area!