"But what about you? Who do you say that I am?"

Community Bible Study, which the girls and I have participated in for the last three years has been such a blessing in my life! I have enjoyed my time as a Children's Teacher and the in-depth Bible study has been so enriching. I have learned so much (this year we are studying Matthew, one chapter/week) and been stretched in many different directions. I have seen the power of prayer week in and week out. Praise God! Two weeks ago I was asked to give "the Opening" on Thursday morning in front of all the ladies. The Procrastinator in me has not changed over the years, but thankfully He is my strength and covers my weaknesses! Needless to say, the "final copy" was not finalized until...well...it was ready to deliver at 9:30 that morning... :)

In any case, I hope that you will be blessed, perhaps even challenged. You can listen to it here. (Click on 2/26 opening).

Our Trip "Up North!"

What a blessing it was to be able to share so much love in one weekend! We were able to have Ms. Jess (my brother's fiance) join us on a road trip to Annapolis to see Peter for dinner (Pizza Friday! ...PJ at the PJ Palace!) to celebrate his birthday. Lesley, Ty and Alex caravaned with us once we met up with them heading north on 95. We caught Gramma and Grampa who were still visiting Peter before they headed up to Michigan for some skiing. The next morning (okay, I think it was closer to noon!) we were able to see Anthony and meet Ms. Tanya (his girlfriend) who came down from New Jersey.

(They were happy to meet Alex, too!) We all went to Potbelly's for lunch (YUM!) and then went back to the hotel rooms to hang out until nap time for pretty much everybody...excpet Lesley and Ty who took Alex's nap on the road to Ikea for a scouting mission! We all enjoyed a family favorite of Lasagna together that I was able to bring up frozen from home (thanks "Cooking Lady" Liz!!) and then bake in the oven in our room...love Marriott's Residence Inns...before we all settled in for a long winter's nap. We woke up in the morning to a dusting of snow on the ground...sign of things to come over the rest of the day! Sunday (free) breakfast in the lobby all together and then not "Good Byes," but "See you soons..." as we gave lots of big hugs and kisses to last until we see Anthony again after his deployment to Afghanistan.

A note here about this trip...it was definitely an answer to lots of prayers...and not even in the way that we had hoped...Thankfully!!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Over the last nine months or so, Lesley's prayer had been that Alex would come early (at least 5 days) so that Anthony could meet him while he was home from Alaska over Christmas. As she (we all) saw it, this would be the only chance for Anthony to meet his nephew before he was 1 since Anthony was going to be deploying in February to Afghanistan for about a year. Well, Alex didn't get the memo and God didn't answer that prayer...the way that we had hoped...Thankfully!! Alexander Dominic arrived on January 24th, 13 days after Anthony left and 8 days past his due date in a labor that spanned 3 calendar days!

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. ~ Isaiah 55:8-9

At some point in those 13 days, Anthony found out that he was getting picked up for a class that he had been hoping to go to basically since he got up to Alaska about 18 months ago! The same day that his unit was going overseas, Anthony was coming to Washington DC for 5 weeks! Granted, the class was very rigorous (7am-11pm almost every day!) and wasn't going to leave room for a lot of social time, but I was confident that some way in those 5 weeks, we would all be able to see him and he would get a chance to meet his nephew before he started walking! I had the overwhelming feeling that this was an answer to the prayers of many months...in God's timing...in His way. We never thought of praying to change Anthony's schedule...just Alex's...!

"For nothing is impossible with God." ~ Luke 1:37

Well, as you now know...we were all able to see Anthony this past weekend. He has finished 3 of the 5 weeks, and had pulled some 18-20 hour days in order to get the time with us that he did. He'll be headed up to Alaska in another week and a half, and then sometime soon off to Afghanistan to meet up with his unit. Was this all just a coincidence?? I think not...

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I am given yet again more reasons to "praise the Lord all my life." ~ Psalm 146:2

February Flew...

Well, since my last post we have been pretty much on the go!! (Hence no time to upload huge videos, hence no recent posts!)

When we left Chillicothe on Sunday (02/01) (see last post) we brought Chrissy, Hannah and Margaret with us (caravan style) for a few days of fun in the sun. They needed a break from all the snow, and since they were looking at three more "snow days" (actually school restoration from the leaky roof which led to popping up floor tiles, which led to asbestos!) for a grand total of seven in a row, we figured, "Carpe Diem!" We had a blast at the parks here in Raleigh together and spent Hannah's 8th Birthday at Works of Clay painting pottery! So what if they left a day later than expected (more snow forecasted for the mountains!)...I think that it was totally worth it ~ Chrissy discovered Sweet Tomatoes, need I say more...? :)

The Kesslers left on Thursday (02/05) when we headed to Bible Study in the morning. We registered Maggie for Kindergarten (!!!) that same afternoon and then we left on Friday (02/06) for a week in Denver! Winter Park skiing (there are lots of videos coming...), Beau Jo's Pizza (Twice! Eat your heart out Mayhews!), Fred's RMOUG conference, Denver Children's Museum, catching up with family (my cousin Anne and her family are back in Denver) and then extending the trip by a day when we volunteered to give up (all 4) our seats on the plane. Let's just say that Southwest made it totally worth our while! ...and we don't consider it coincidence that the hotel we were put up in was a Marriott (our favorite)!! God truly blessed us on this trip and looked out for even the smallest details (the largest raspberries and blackberries I have ever seen where at our breakfast in the Concierge Lounge that morning!!! YUM!). I think that it all had something to do with sewing up the torn pants of the ski rental dude from Milwaukee and Matthew 25:40. ("...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.")

We got home late on Friday (02/13) and tried to settle in before Lesley, Ty, Alex and Laurie (Ty's Mom) came for the day on Saturday...yes, Valentine's Day! Fred and I were able to sneak out to the movies during nap time and saw Slumdog Millionaire...I wasn't sure if I wanted to cry or throw up afterwards, but it really was an excellent movie. Since we had gotten home too late for "Pizza Friday" we had "special" pizza for Valentine's Day. (Be sure to check out all of the latest pictures on shutterfly!) Everybody spent the night at our house and then after church on Sunday the Siscoe clan left on a run for the border (not the Southern one they long for!) up to their old place in VA to see Ty's Dad. They were back after dinner and did a quick drive by to drop off Lesley and Alex who were able to stay a few more days with us until Tuesday evening. We certainly enjoyed having them all around and the girls (Morgan especially) loved spending some time with their nephew! As Morgan says, "I am sooo excited to have a nephew!"

On Monday we had to fit in a quick trip to see Nurse Kathleen since Maggie had been complaining about her ears. I was going to write it off as "Mile High(Plus) Mountain, Swimming Pool, 2 Airplane Ride" ears, but she had been pretty insistent (you know how she can be!) which ended up being a good thing seeing as the in office test came back positive for Strep. :( We got on antibiotics right away and were given the "all clear" to proceed with activities as normal for the rest of the week.

We squeezed in Bible Study Leadership (Tuesday), Dance classes for BOTH girls, (Morgan is now officially in class since they decided to finally open the Wednesday morning for 3s before Maggie's class!!! HOORAY!!) and CBS again on Thursday. We had Chick-Fil-A all three days and ate with Mrs. Becky on Thursday! (...making up for lost time in Raleigh!) Thursday night (late) Stanton flew in and spent the night at our house so that we could all see him while he was in town to meet Alex for the first time. We all had a nice breakfast together on Friday and then the girls and I drove him to Wilmington. We decided to finally hit the Children's Musuem in Wilmington (even though they were closed in order to set up for their fundraiser that night!!) and had the place (well the exhibits on the left half of it) all to ourselves!! We were able to get (Lesley/Ty's) friends Esme, Zoe and Hisham in also as the few "Lucky Ones" to have some fun with us before we had to head back home!

Saturday was our first day home with just us, and wasn't as productive as we had all hoped, but we certainly needed to decompress! Here I sit on Monday night (okay technically it is Tuesday morning...) and we are looking forward to another fun week! CBS Leadership in the morning, Planning meeting for Mommy-Daughter Princess of the King sleepover with church tomorrow night, Fred heads to Charlotte until Thursday, Dance classes again on Wednesday and then immediately tothe airport to pick up "Aunt" (Peter's fiance) Jessica who is coming to visit from Annapolis, CBS on Thursday (where I will be giving the devotion to the ladies ~ pray for me if you aren't already!!) and then off to DC for the weekend to see Anthony (who will theoretically have some time off from his high intensity 5-week school), Tanya (his girlfriend who we are all reallyexcited about meeting for the first time), and my brother Peter (who will be anxiously awaiting the return of Jess along with our belated birthday wishes). Lesley, Ty and Alex are also going to be making the trip with us for "Alex's East Coast World Tour" and we are hoping to even catch up with the McLachlans in VA Beach one way or the other!

It was not my intention at the start of this, but I am pretty sure that I just accounted for almost every single day of the month...albeit the shortest month...it still sounds exhausting! We have been so blessed to be able to spend so much of it together and are thrilled to be able to have our Lesley, Stanton, and Anthony weekends back to back to back!! What a special treat...

Oh, and one final note...to end the great debate, and the polling research that I have been doing for many months...my official title as far as Alex goes is...not Nini, Tata, MamaNita, Mamacita, Grandma, G-Ma, Granny, or Nana although all (okay most) good suggestions...I have decided on simply G. :) That's cool, right? Good Night!

Snow Much Fun in Chillicothe

Well, us girls surprised Chrissy, Hannah and Margaret in Ohio yesterday! ...in spite of the warnings that the weather was really bad (supported by the fact that they have had 4 snow days from school this week!)...thankfully, the roads were completely clear until we got off of the highway in Chillicothe! We took advantage today of the additional snow and day off from school and went sledding!! Lots of fun was had by all the girls...big and small!

And on the third day...

Alexander Dominic Siscoe arrived!

01/24/09 at 1:26am, 7lbs 14ozs, 19 3/4 inches long.

10 fingers and toes, 2 eyes, ears, and a nose!

Lesely was admitted on Thursday (01/22) at 7am to be induced. The first meds were administered at 11:30am. We all drove to Wilmington together (once Fred got back from his trip to California) and arrived at the hospital around 8:15pm. She had been having contractions all day, "that were past the point of comfortable, but not quite to painful." They were able to let Lesley "take a break" and eat some food before they administered the next dose of meds. We stayed for about an hour and enjoyed getting to visit with Lesley and Ty before going to our hotel to bed so that we could "come back in the morning to meet Alex." Little did we know that this routine would have to be repeated!!

They checked her in the morning, and she was at 2cm so they broke her water around 6:30am and gave her the ("lifesaving!") epidural around 7:30am on Friday. We got there after breakfast at the hotel and hung out for awhile before we left to grab lunch, burn off some energy at the park and try and get naps in for the girls...surprisingly, that didn't quite happen (haha!) so we stopped by Baskin Robbins and then headed back to the hospital. We got to meet more nurses, and the three doctors (two of which ended up taking Lesley and Ty's business card for possible photography bookings later!!) that were with Lesley's practice that were interns and up for potentially delivering Alex. (Dr. Wakim later ended up doing the honors!) We stuck around for another couple hours, but left again to go grab dinner, and get the girls in bed so that they could be rested to meet Alex in the morning, hopefully!! :)

Once they were in bed, I was able to head back to the hospital around 8pm and was with Lesley and Ty from 9cm on...thankfully Lesley was able to get in a few minutes of shut eye before it was show time! During that time I was able to spend some quiet time with the book of James and was comforted with the "Verse of the Day" (from Biblegateway.com) "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." ~James 1:5 Seemed a perfect verse for the day! ...well, pretty much any verse would be perfect, but this one was quite fitting considering what was about to happen! I shared this with both Lesley and Ty and was able to pray with Lesley for strength, courage and the Lord's peace to be with her during the end of her labor and delivery. Throughout it all, Lesley was relaxed, introducing herself to the many staff people who came to watch/help, laughing, and asking for the music (Cowboy Mouth) to be turned up!!

Many prayers were answered when Alex arrived after roughly 45 minutes of "pushing," a little shell shocked, but happy to finally be in the arms of his loving Mommy and Daddy! It was such a blessing to be a witness to the AWE-SOME miracle of birth and new life!! Many thanks Lesley and Ty for sharing it with me...hugs, tears, and all! Well, the morning was quickly dawning and all of us needed some rest! After helping Lesley and Alex with their first feeding and packing up/moving to the new room, I headed back to the hotel (at 6am) to get a little rest before Aunt Maggie, Aunt Morgan and Grandpa woke up and were ready to meet Alex. Needless to say, they were all excited and ready to go in the morning! (I was a little less "ready to go" but excited all the same!) We headed to the hospital and hugged and kissed and cuddled Alex a lot! We took a break for lunch (and so the doctors/nurses could do a little work) and came back for more lovin' that afternoon before we had to head back to Raleigh. Alex's birth-day was complete when friends, Zoe, Hashem, and Esme came to visit with birthday cupcakes!! ...and on that sugar-loaded high, we piled in the car and headed back home!

Be sure to see lots more pictures here!

Praying for Baby Alex

Well...we are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the next generation! Morgan (who can't wait to have a baby nephew!!) has taken to praying for Alex every opportunity she gets! Caught her on film tonight at dinner...hopefully her prayers will be answered tomorrow!!

Snow Day!

It never ceases to amaze this Northerner how a few inches of snow can shut down an entire city for DAYS! We got roughly four inches of snow, which was lots of fun to play in, but the schools closed for TWO DAYS and had a delayed start on the third day!!! Pretty incredible...I know that we don't have the resources to handle snow down here, but God took care of most of it with the sun the very next day...I guess that everybody is just extra cautious. We all sure enjoyed ourselves! Fred wasn't able to play in the snow with us, but he had his own fun as he was driving to the airport this same morning to be able to fly out at noon...

Thanks Mrs. Anna for all your great advice on what to do with the new fallen snow!! The girls are always wanting to eat it! The girls made snow angels and a snow man (only about 12 inches tall!) which you can briefly see in this video.

We discovered that the "slope" in our backyard really is more than you think...it made a very nice private sledding hill! Jake and Olivia from next door were nice enough to share their sled with us and Olivia was able to help Morgan figure out how to master the "slippery"ness!
All the kids in the cul-de-sac came out to play and really enjoyed the snow together before it was time to go in for lunch and hot chocolates!!