Catching you up....

Boy has it been a busy last couple of days. Madi came down with the stomach flu on Thursday and Sunday the rest of us came down with it. Poor Terry got hit the worst with it as far as how long it held on. He's back at work today but still dragging! Sunday we were all piled out on the floor watching all kinds of movies.

In the midst of the icky, there was a very sweet moment with Madi though. Sunday morning when I was upstairs in the bed (trying not to puke) Madi came in the room and sat down beside me and said "Mommy I'm sorry you're so sick." Then she put her hand on my head and said "I am going to keep my hand here to make you feel better. You make me feel better so I'm gonna make you feel better." It was so sweet. She stayed with me for a while but finally got bored and went downstairs to play. Our kids are so great!!

Yesterday when we were all feeling better (except for Terry), I took the kids to go get their halloween costumes. They were so excited! Joey knew exactly what he wanted to be-a ninja with red dragons on the front. He looks like a real ninja! Madi, on the other hand, has gone between snow white, bat girl, super girl, and tinkerbell. After looking for a while she finally decided that she wanted to be Belle (of course none of the above mentioned choices, ha ha). She looks beautiful in her yellow dress and she loves it because it is so long. Emily did not care at all. She just wanted to play with the pumpkins (her new obsession). So we decided that she would be a cute cat since she loves cats and is great at meowing. It was lots of fun and the kids are very excited for Halloween in 31 days!!

Joey has his cougar run today at school where they run to raise money for the school. So at 12:30 the girls and I are going to go and cheer him on. He is very excited. He wore his new shirt today that I couldn't resist getting him. it is a Halloween shirt that says "Little Wild Man." I know, it's perfect.

Time to go clean up all the sick germs!!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Marilyn

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Grandma, Happy Birthday to you!! So two days late, I know, we would like to wish Grandma Marilyn a very happy birthday. We hope you had a special day(: You and Pop Pop are in our thoughts in prayers!!!!

As I watch them grow...

I have really been in awe the last couple of days as i sit back and watch my sweet kids. they are all growing and changing so much that sometimes it is easy to miss something. Yesterday Emily had gone down to Joey's room and was playing with the teddy bears. She was talking to them saying the same words that I say to her when we are getting dressed and when i tuck her at night. I see the same thing when Madi is playing with her princesses. She plays out a conversation and uses the same words that i use with her. It is a huge reminder of how much our children look to us for guidance. They mimic what we do and say because of their sweet innocence that just naturally believes that what Mommy and Daddy do is Right. What an amazing responsibility and gift for us parents.

It is also a huge reminder that now is the time to "seize the day". What we do and say now will form our kids character and values forever. What they see will forever affect them whether for good or bad. Now is the precious time that God has given us to seek His wisdom for ourselves and pour that wisdom and unfailing love into our sweet childrens lives. I am so thankful that God chose me to be the Mommy to the three most beautiful and awesome kids. I pray that mine and Terry's choices today will show our children how amazing they are and how amazing God is. I pray that they will see that they can depend on God no matter what(:

Just some thoughts...

This morning in my quiet time I read Psalm 108. It is a great Psalm and 2 verses really spoke to my heart. Psalm 108:1,4 "My heart is confident in you, O God...For Your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. You faithfulness reaches to the clouds." This beautiful truth makes life seem so simple. Our Father is full of unfailing love and faithfulness for us!! Not because of what we do but because of Who He is! In a broken world where we can't have much confidence in anything, we can have full confidence in Our Lord. It just puts things into perspective for me and I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father. I just wanted to share what was on my heart this morning. I hope everyone has a great Monday(:

CRAZY but fun weekend(:

Well Terry had drill this weekend so the kids and I did our regular Friday night tradition of movie night. We had a fun dinner of tostitos with melted cheese, black beans, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. They LOVE having chips for dinner. The movie started great but unfortunately I missed most of it. It all started when Madi clogged the toilet so badly that it overflowed and covered the whole floor in the half bath (she is her Daddy's daughter!) While I was on my hands and knees cleaning up that mess, Emily brought me a present of a nice ball of poop...ugh! So into the bath she went. Luckily Joey got to enjoy the movie and quickly let me know that I had missed the whole thing...HA! Needless to say, we all went to bed early that night(:

Saturday morning we got up and the kids decided that it was time to put up the Halloween decorations (they are a little excited about this holiday). So on September 13 the Sleister family has up all of its Halloween decorations. The kids are jazzed so its all good. I'll post pictures later of them in their masks. They have had so much fun putting on all of the different masks and running around growling at everyone or trying to convince me that there is an alien in the house. Even Emily has started joining in. It's pretty creepy when your adorable 2 year old puts on the mask from Scream and starts growling...

After the Halloween decorations we went on a fun adventure called "The Search for Gas." We found some and sadly we were excited to pay $3.95 a gallon. Joey also bought a globe for $.50 while we were on our adventure. It is so cool to see his excitement about learning. He loves to look on the globe and see where other countries are located in relation to us. He even paid for it with his own money from his piggy bank(:

Emily just started the most adorable thing. I have got to catch it on film. When we say the blessing at dinner time, she will murmur words while someone is saying the blessing and then say AMEN really loud. She is so stinkin' cute. It kindof makes up for her obsession with poop(:

Madi is like a little Momma. If somebody gets hurt or something, she'll say "that's why we don't play that way." It is so funny. She is so serious about it too. Oh the kiddos are getting so big and they change so much everyday. They truly are a gift from God and I am so blessed to be their Mommy. It definitely gets overwhelming...often, but I know that this is such a short season and it's important to enjoy each stage. On that note, I am going to sign off and get some sleep. You never know what tomorrow holds.....

The Wilderness

Psalm 106:13-14 "Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! The wouldn't wait for His counsel! In the wilderness their desires ran wild, testing God's patience in that dry wasteland."

I read these verses this morning in my time alone with God. We all walk through the wilderness at one time or another in our lives...actually many times in our lives. Do we wait for His counsel or do we lose our patience and take matters into our hands and build an idol? I know that I am currently in the wilderness and I must say, God is so good. i am certainly praying that I wait for His counsel and do not take matters into my incapable hands. It is certainly a day to day task that I continually need His help in. I just thought I would share my thoughts today. Hope all is well with everyone(:

The weekend was great and Terry won the soldier of the year in this category. He will now compete in the higher level which competes against soldiers of units from all over Tennessee. He is honored but not so excited about it(: It's just one more thing on his plate, but it's all good(:

How the Sleister kids do things!!!

Today was a fun day, but boy am I pooped! Terry headed out for Nashville today around 12. We forgot to set the alarm this morning so I got up a few minutes after 7am...we usually leave to get Joey to school at 7:10. I was still pretty impressed with us though since we were showered and out of the door by 7:25. Unfortunately we were still 5 minutes late for school. Joey is my kids though so being late should be expected! HA!

I guess the most notable thing of today was the great idea I had to do a fun painting craft with the kids. I decided since Emily is so messy that we would do it outside so I could just spray them off and it wouldn't be as big of a mess as inside. It was a great idea in theory. It took Emily about 5 minutes to realize it was much cooler to paint herself than her picture. Of course, the big kids joined in the fun. So instead of just 3 painted pictures, I ended up with 3 painted pictures, 3 painted children, a painted table, and a spotted deck. It was memorable.

I have to say that lately I have really been realizing how fast this time with my babies is passing by. I am so grateful to be able to stay at home with them and enjoy these moments. What an amazing blessing children are. Our area younglife director used to always ask us, "Where have you seen Jesus today?" I have to say that my answer usually has something to do with my sweet kids. They truly are a gift and I want to treasure every moment with them...even the bad moments(: Those bad moments just remind me of how patient my Father is with me when I am "acting out".

"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name."

~Psalm 103:1

He's a Keeper(:

Just had to put up a pic of my very handsome hubby dubs(: He has been a great listener through this time and sacrificed valuable video game time to listen to me talk and pray with me. I am thankful for you Ter Bear!!!

Everybody don't forget to pray for him this Saturday as he does his "Soldier of the Year" interview(:

It's a Shout Out!!

Just had to throw a little love out to my girl! I have been walking through a pretty tough time the last couple of months. As you can imagine with three little ones there is not a ton of time for quiet prayer and reflection. So for the past couple of weeks on Thursday nights while Terry is teaching at North Georgia, my bestie has come over to my house with her two little ones to give me that reflection time. She literally kicks me out of my house and feeds, bathes, and loves on my kiddos (which is hard since they are pretty poopy to her). Just wanted to let her know that she is "da bomb" and I am so very thankful for her!!!

A few more pics like I promised....

Emily's fun day at the park!

Madi's 1st day of School

Big boy putting his tray away!

He's a big boy!

Well today has been busy busy but lots of fun. We got out the door at 7:15 to get Joey off to school and then back home so I could put "barretts" in Madi's hair (that is what she calls braids). Madi was very excited to go back to school today. After we got Madi to school, Emily and I made a quick Target run (yeah I know) to get some cat litter and milk. I had to get some more cat litter since last night right before leaving to go to Bible Study I found Emily playing in the "sand box" smearing cat poop all over her hands. Ugh! Needless to say, we needed some fresh cat litter.

Emily and I went and had lunch today with Joey too. He was very excited. He really enjoys school lunch and did a great job piling all kinds of food on my tray. It was very sweet. He has been eating school lunches every thursday since school started even though he wasn't supposed to until Mommy was there to give him money. He came home the first week of school and said "Mommy I had school lunch today and I forgot you made my lunch." I asked him how he paid for it and he replied "Oh Mommy, the lunch lady said it was fine." It was very cute that he thought his meal was free.

Well that's it for now. I am going to take Joey, Madi, Emily, and Bekah (Joey's girlfriend) to the library today after i pick them up from school. They love to do that so much and it's free!! It's worth the snotty looks from the librarians because my 4 children are a little over excited about free books and movies! Hope all is well with all of you. Thanks for checking the blog(:

No idea what I'm doing!!!

Soooo I decided to jump on the bandwagon and start doing a blog so that our distant family and friends could keep up with our craziness(: I know I am terrible about keeping in touch and we have so much fun stuff that happens around here...I want you all to be a part of it. Hopefully I will learn a little more about how to fancy this up but for now I'll just kindof update you about the Sleister Bunch!

*TERRY*

Terry has started his new school year and is having a good year so far. He is stressed with all the extra mess that comes along with teaching but is doing a great job and really enjoys his job. He wouldn't say so but he is an AWESOME teacher. It has been so cool to watch him over his 6 year career work with these students and have such a passion for them. He has such a sweet heart and is an amazing role model to these kids (I'm a little proud, can you tell!). He is still teaching trombone and North Georgia College, freelancing, and playing in a fun Jazz Big Band. He loves it!

Terry was also nominated as "Soldier of the Year" in his unit so he is going this weekend to go up in front of some higher ups and show his skillz(: If you think of it send up a prayer for him. He is kindof nervous about the questioning since it covers 260 pages worth of military regulations...UGH!!

*JOEY*

Well our sweet little man is a big first grader this year! I cannot believe how big he is and how stinking smart he is. He loves to read and he has an amazing imagination. He is currently working on his latest work of "The Adventures of Indiana Joey". I'll bet you'll never guess what his favorite movie is right now!! LOL! He loves comic books just like Daddy and has been quite upset that Daddy has been getting some new ones in the mail and he hasn't. Daddy took him on Sunday and got Joey a new comic book. He is really enjoying school and is making new friends. He is also now a Tiger Scout. He came home last week just beaming with excitement about how cool Cub Scouts is and how he just had to be one! It was so cute. So we have our first "Pack" meet next Thursday night.

Joey was a big helper this weekend when we camped out in the backyard. He helped Daddy put up and take down the tent. We had so much fun. Daddy grilled burgers and dogs and Mommy made smores in the oven...what is camping without smores!!! We stayed up asking and answering silly questions and telling silly stories. It was hilarious(:

*Madison*

Madi had her first day of school yesterday. She is going to a new school this year and she LOVES it soooo much. As soon as I download my pics I will put one up of her and her new outfit. We had a date on Monday and she chose her new outfit, headbands, and lipgloss for her first day of school. She has 11 friends in her class and her teachers name is Ms. Nancy. Ms. Nancy stole Madi's heart at open house because she gave her food!!

Madi is so much fun and quite silly. She talks like she is 18 and just loves to boss people around (she does know best you know). She is a great big sister and does a great job helping Emily during the day. She loves to tell her NO NO when Emily is doing something that "she knows better" than to do. Madi loves her princesses and has really got into using her imagination with them. It is fun to watch her play house and family.

*Emily*

Well I have finally had to accept that my "baby" is no longer a baby...it is very depressing. Emi is 2 now and we like to call her Curious George. She loves to color the wall, dig in the trash, play in the toilet, and play in the inside "sand box" that we like to call the CAT LITTER! She is so much fun and is a very hands on learner. It definitely keeps me busy but it is so fun to watch her intrigue! She wants to be just like the big kids. She loves gum, loves to paint, and has the sweetest smile! She loves big hugs and is always asking a for a kiss. It will simply melt your heart.

Now that big sister is in school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Emi gets some one on one time with Mommy. Yesterday we went to the park and we had so much fun. Emily kept looking at me funny because I was able to 100% focus on her and go down slides with her and all. I think she is really going to enjoy those 2 days. On Thursdays we will go for about 30 min. to Joey's school and have lunch with him. Joey is pumped and Emi will love it because she can show off in front of Joey's friends.

*Dee*

Well everything listed above fills up most of my days (and I am so very thankful for it). Things are going well. God is teaching me lots about who He is and who I am in Him. It is a tough journey but I am thankful to be walking it and so thankful that He is by my side through it.

I guess my intention in this blog is to keep everyone up to date on us and to ask for your continual prayer for our family. I will post anything new that comes with the kiddos health so that if you do remember us in your prayers, you will know what specifically is going on here. We have had some new developments with Joey. God is very faithful and has continually held Joey in the palm of His hand and protected him from a lot of the complications that come with neurofibromatosis. He recently had his clinic appt. which is where he sees his geneticist and any other doctors he might need to see. The appt. results went well overall. He still has a grade one heart murmur (unchanged but expected to grow out of it). He has had no more neurofibromas (tumors under the skin) develop since last year. He has six neurofibromas thus far but they are small and painless. His bones look great. His heel cord is still tight on the right side but we are doing stretches to work on that. The newer developments are that he is having some visual spatial issues (very common with kids with NF) and some sensory integration issues. What this means: the visual spatial issues just means that the message that goes from his brain to his hand of what to draw or write moves a little slower than most children. Right now it is not effecting him and it may stay that way. It could present a problem when he gets older and has to do notetaking in class. But we will cross that bridge when/if we have to. The sensory integration seems to effect Joey on a more emotional level. It doesn't have to do with bright lights or too many people, but more to do with a high level of aggitation and frustration. He was very aggitated at the appt. and has begun to show some OCD habits such as not touching his bare feet anywhere but home. So when he had to strip down to his scivies, he was quite upset. I had to put some paper towels down on the floor so he could get his height checked. He was very uncooperative with Dr. Uhas because he was so aggitated. Apparently, kids with NF are about 2 years behind emotionally (which makes sense of why he and Madi fight like they do) and they are already pretty wound up emotionally. So when he gets really aggitated and frustrated it is hard to reel him back in. But if he is held like in a blanket and his back is scratched (called brushing) it calms him and he can better deal with the situation at hand. These situations have not arisen at school, only at home and the doctors office. It is great to know this because it really equips us to be able to meet his needs at home and understand why some things unravel the they do. Please pray for us to have wisdom as we walk through this time with him and teach him how to deal with these kinds of things.

As you can imagine, with Joey getting older he is beginning to pick up on things a little easier. I believe the time has come to start talking to him about why we go to the doctor. He knows everything that is going to happen and all before the appt. because we talk about it together, but I think he is starting to realize that he goes to the doctor more than the girls and that he has to experience things that they don't. Please pray for God to give us the right time and the right words as we talk to Joey about this. Pray that Joey will understand that NF is just a small part of him, but that it in no way defines who is. Pray for the peace of God to transcend his sweet heart and pray that fear will have no place in his life. He is very brave and I am so proud of what a trooper he is!!!

Well that was a long post to get started...oh don't worry they all won't be this long(: We love you all and miss you. Have to run and get Emi in the bed for nap!


"My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever." ~Psalm 73:26