Swine Flu

I got this advice through an e-mail. It is really good for those of you who have been exposed to the flu(any form) or any other cold or virus for that matter. I like it because they are all things you can do at HOME!

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital , Bombay Hospital , Saifee Hospital , Tata Memorial etc.. Presently, he is heading our Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W).

The following message given by him, I feel makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/ nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at Jala Neti or Sutra Neti (very good Yoga asanas to clean nasal cavities), but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*
We use a Neilmed...Love it!


5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C (Amla and other citrus fruits). *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

Feel free to leave any handy tips you may have too!

We are still alive!

For those of you who are checking our blog and wondering what happened to us...We are here! Life has been very busy for us and we just haven't had time to update the blog. Here are a few updates...

I have been homeschooling the children for Pre-K this year and it is going very well. We love it. We have a little classroom set up downstairs and the kids are learning so much!

I have also started working. I am an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay! Which I absolutely love. How neat that I can work, stay home, and homeschool my children. It's been a real blessing. A lot of work, but a real blessing.

Davin is doing well at work and he is continuing to pursue the Lord's calling on his life to be a Pastor. We can't wait for that day! He is also preparing to speak at a College Retreat for Kennesaw First Baptist. We are excited because we will get to see our old friends from NC the Miller's. Eric is the college pastor there!

Hudson celebrated his 5th birthday last month and Naomi will be turning 3 in 10 more days!

Life is busy for us now so I may not be updating as much, but I will do my best. We love you all!

Tellus Museum

Mimi took us to a really cool Museum in Cartersville, Ga called the Tellus Museum. I'm counting this as our first home schooling field trip. We had so much fun and they had several "hands-on" exhibits that made going with little ones fun for everyone.

Here is Naomi in front of the center of the world.Hudson walking up to one of the MANY dinosaurs that they had.
They have a "backyard" exhibit where the kids can do some fun Physical Science experiments. Most were geared toward older children, but the kids had fun playing around as well.
Here Hudson is using magnets to move pieces of metal from one dump truck to the other.
There is also a fossil room where you can uncover REAL fossils and take them home with you. There are also some really large permanent fossils you can uncover too!Here is Mimi and Naomi uncovering some fossils.

In addition to all that you can pan for gems! We found several and were able to keep all the gems that we found.
Out side the Museum has several dump truck and cranes that you can look at.
This one is HUGE!
It was really a neat day and a great museum. I didn't get any pictures of the transportation room where they have all types of transportation including airplanes and space ships! I would highly recommend this Museum to you if you are going to be near Cartersville. Thanks Mimi for a fun day!

The Big 3-0

This past week we celebrated Davin's 30th birthday. What a blessing he is in our lives! I'm so thankful that 30 years ago God chose to bring Davin into this world. His life has definitely made an impact for God's Kingdom. I pray that the Lord would continue to bless him and do "more than we could ask or imagine" in his life. Ephesians 3:20

The kids and I made him a cake and surprised him with it at work on his birthday.
We love you Davin, Happy Birthday!

AWANA

This year I am so excited that Naomi gets to be a part of the AWANA program. She started Puggles a few weeks back and was so proud of her shirt and her bag. Her teachers do a great job and always send home stuff for us to work on during the week.

Hudson will be starting his 3rd year of Cubbies. We were living in NC when he started and then moved to GA which has a different start date for Kindergarten. This year will be a good review for him.

I was wondering if everyone has to go through this many pictures to get one good one, hmm...


Okay guys be serious...No, put your hands down...
Okay, seriously one good picture and I'll give you guys a treat....
Ahh, there we go...

It's a girl!

On August 18th we welcomed Iva Rae Chandler into this world. She is my 3rd niece and she makes grand baby # 6 for my mom and dad. Congratulations Ray and Leerick you did a great job!It is always an exciting time at the hospital when Ray and Lee have a baby. They don't find out what they are having before the baby is born, so we all sit around and guess what the baby will be and how much the baby will weight.
Here is Lila with her new baby sister Iva Rae...

Can't wait to get my hands on that new baby girl.

Summer '09 comes to a close!

I know I've been MIA on the blog this summer. Hopefully I can get back in the swing of things. For now here are a few pictures and updates...

Golf with Pop and Mims

For Christmas Hudson got his very own set of golf clubs from Davin's grandparents. They have quite the knack for golf and decided to take the kids to the driving range for a golf lesson. I even got a lesson, too!

Here is Mims with Naomi. The kids were so sweet hitting the balls about three feet onto the green. I had the best time watching them with Davin's grandparents...sweet memories.
Hudson took his golf lesson very seriously. We drive by this driving range a lot and Hudson has always wanted to go and hit golf balls there. He did a pretty good job, especially for a lefty learning to hit right handed.
Friends
If you know me, you know that I love to have people over and host a dinner. This summer we had the opportunity to spend some great time with good friends. The only one's I don't have photos of are Nick and Meg Smith. They came and spent the night with us one night and brought their new baby boy Eli with them. He was adorable! It was so good to spend time with old friends and meet the newest additions to their families.

The Brown family stopped by on their way to Rome. They came down from North Carolina. We got to meet their newest addition Elizabeth. Daniel is the Music Minister at Stony Hill Baptist Church where Davin and I attended while he was at Seminary. We tried to take a group picture with the timer on the camera... It's not as easy as it sounds when you have 5 little ones running around...nice shirt Hudson.

Here are all the kids from left to right...Ethan, Nicholas, Elizabeth, Hudson, and Naomi. I'm pretty sure the kids didn't eat anything that night. They were too busy playing.
Same couch different night...
Some great friends from overseas are home for a visit. We were able to host them along with some of our local friends as well. Scott, Brooke, Elizabeth, and David. Scott and Davin were roommates before we got married. Elizabeth, Scott and Davin all lived in the same apartment complex in North Carolina. Elizabeth is one of my coffee friends...we've had many girl talks on these couches and always with a cup of coffee. (S-this one is for you)
Another unexpected blessing was to have some friends come and stay with us for a couple of weeks while they were getting settled back here in the Atlanta area. It was a real blessing having them here. Our kids love each other and really enjoyed playing together. Here is Naomi and Kira...dressed up, of course.
And here is Copelan and Hudson...looking cool! I don't have any pictures of Lian, but he was always part of the gang.
Davin and I went up a couple of weeks ago and spent the night with the Gibson's. They are in Elberton Ga. Josh is the pastor of Harvest Community Church and asked Davin to come and fill the pulpit for him as he was finishing up an intensive class that week. We were really blessed and encouraged by them. I have a picture, but can't get it to come up. I'll have to post that one later. Thanks guys for having us up!

Myrtle Beach
This summer we were surprised to be invited to go to the beach with Davin's parents. We had not planned on taking any trips this year and when Victor got a great deal and invited us to come we couldn't say no.
Naomi decided that she wanted to have her hair braided. I can't believe she sat so still and had this done.
I tried to get a good picture of her braids. She is two and of course didn't want me to take a picture. Here are the best ones I have. Her braids were so cute and they stayed in for a long time.
This was on the ride home. Why kids like to put stickers on their face, I'll never know????

The place where we stayed had an amazing water park for kids. Here is the best picture I have. There is a big bucket that dumps water out and two water slides. Hudson had a blast. Naomi really enjoyed the lazy river and the smaller kiddie pools. We all had a good time being big kids and riding down the slides with Hudson.
We also went to an outdoor shopping/eating area that has lots of things for kids. Hudson wanted to climb the "spider's web". It was this really tall tube thing with sections that looked like a spider's web. You had to climb up five different sections to get to the top and then slide down. I was so impressed with Hudson's courage. He normally gets really scared of things like this, but he went up all on his own. He only made it about two levels, but he did a great job. I love this shot of him. He's trying really hard to muster up the courage to climb up.
Ahhh.....
I mean, what else can I say. I got to sit and watch Davin and the kids build a sandcastle on the beach. I'm not one for getting in the water and since there is a no float rule now at MB I was happy camping out on the sand.

Well, now that summer is coming to a close were are preparing for the fall. I have decided to Home school Hudson and Naomi this year for Pre-K. We thought this would be best for a number of reasons. We have purchased some curriculum and I am really excited about our schedule and the things we will be doing. Our start date will be September 1st. I'll try to do a better job and post some more pictures later on of the kids working hard on their school work.

As far as ministry goes...Davin was able to do some supply preaching this summer. We are still praying for the Lord to lead and guide us. He has continued to meet and supply all our needs through this time. We covet your prayers for us as we wait on Him.

And last but not least, we have a new baby niece...Her name is Iva Rae Chandler. My mom confiscated my camera at the hospital so I will post those pictures another time. Iva was named after my grandmother (my mom's mom...Iva B LaMunyon) and my brother Ray.
Good job Ray and Leerick we sure are proud of Iva Rae!

Hudson's new office

So Hudson asked me if I would video tape him yesterday and this is what he did...




Later on I realized that I didn't get a shot of what he really wanted me to. So here is the shot of his new office...
Complete with Laptop, glue, piggy bank, bubble machine, cat toy, and of course a sippy cup. (everything a young professional might need for a hard days work)

Hudson gave us a good laugh this morning. Davin was talking to Hudson about how his grandfather's have offices just like Daddy. Davin told Hudson that his Grandaddy has an office at Chattahoochee Technical College and Hudson said, "Whew, sounds like you just spoke some Spanish, Dad!"

I found some pictures

As some of you know, Hudson completed his second year of Cubbies this year. I have been so amazed at how much these little ones can remember. If your child has never been a part of an AWANA program, then I suggest you find one for this fall and SIGN THEM UP!!! They will love it. Below is a picture of Hudson when he first started Cubbies two years ago...
Here he is today with his vest all decorated and all his patches in place. I am so proud of him and all the hard work that he did these last two years. I was able to help serve in his class this year as one of his teachers. We had a blast. It was crazy at times as you can imagine 18 4 year olds in a room with only 2 to 3 adults! He did complete his second year but because of our recent move he still has one year before Kindergarten. I guess next year will be a good review for him.
We also have had the pleasure of spending more time with family. Our niece Lila came for a visit this week. She went to VBS with Hudson, to the pool with us and Auntie April, and out to dinner with the rest of the family. Here is Lila and Naomi playing dolls. More like pretending to be baby dolls. I'm not so sure that pack-n-play can take much more weight???
Hudson has really become a big helper. The other night after dinner he decided that he needed to do a load of laundry. He went to his room, got his laundry basket, and washed a load by himself! Here he is adjusting the settings.
And here he is putting a dirty shirt in the wash...hmmm...Now if only I could get him to fold and put away all those clothes.
He also wants to be in on any type of project that involves tools. Papa (Davin's grandfather) came over this week to help us fix a leaky pipe under the sink. Hudson got to hold the flashlight and even saw off part of a pipe! Let's just say he was in hog heaven. He also enjoys helping Davin mow the lawn, but I don't have any photos of that.
Ahhh, baby burritos...need I say more?
We can't forget sweet innocent Naomi...
The other day we were at Gran and Grandaddy's house and all the grandchildren were on the back porch eating lunch with Gran and Grandaddy. Hudson had a stock pile of toys with him and whenever he would look away Naomi would take one and throw it off the porch. My parents just watched and waited to see what would happen. Well, a few minutes later Hudson noticed the missing toys and asked where they were. Naomi said "I don't know" then she looked over the edge of the porch and then acting surprised she said "Oh, there they are." Then she turned to Gran and said, "It's Hudson's fault."

Here is Hudson sleeping in his closet....
Yes, in his closet. He did this for a couple of nights and then made the move back to his bed. We asked him why he was sleeping in there and he said it was "snug and cozy." We plan on buying him a big boy bed for his 5th birthday this year. He is really excited about it. He has already decided he wants bunk beds...
Miss Potato Head...

So behind

Well, I am really behind on my blogging. It's not because nothing is going on. It's because it all seems to be happening faster than I can snap a picture. And I don't like to post without pictures. Here are some of the things happening in our lives...
Hudson is out of school for the summer. He also finished his second year of cubbies. Naomi has potty trained herself and is growing like a weed. Davin has been supply preaching at a local church. Our evenings and days seem to be full of activities. My goal for this summer is to teach Hudson to swim with out floaties....We'll see. Maybe I can get on sometime and post some pictures!

My morning lecture

So this morning Hudson, Naomi and I were on the way to Hudson's school. Over the last few weeks I've been helping my sister by watching her son. Hudson was asking me why I had to watch him and I explained that his mommy works. Then I asked him if he liked the fact that his mommy stays home with him. He thought about it for a while and then proceeded to tell me about how he doesn't really need me anymore. WHAT!?!? He informed me that he needs Daddy and his grandparents, but not mom. So, I thought I would remind him of all the things I do for him... wash his clothes, prepare his meals, etc., etc.. Surely this will convince him. But, he still insisted that he didn't need me. Well, needless to say I was very broken- hearted. How could my 4 yr old think he doesn't need his mama? Anyway, we'll see how well this theory holds up when his shoes come untied again!

Okay, so at first Davin and I thought they were bats. The porch light was pretty dim and it was harder to see than the photo let on. (you know with the flash and all the fancy zoom) He wanted to get them down with a broom and I talked him out of it...So glad that I did! But then we realized that they weren't bats and we could see some spots on them. "Could it be chipmunks, sleeping in the corners up there" I thought. We have little chipmunks all over the place around here. But that seemed like a very odd thing to do. After we took the second photo we could see the feathers. So the answer is birds. I don't know exactly what kind. I've never seen them there before, and they were SOUND ASLEEP! We tried to make noise and wake them up, but they didn't budge. Even so, it was fun to know that we had birds over for the night. I hope they come back and see us again!

So if you know what kind I'd like to know too! I'm assuming they are not nocturnal...so what's your guess?

What is it?

Davin just got me out of bed to see these little creatures sleeping on our side porch. It took us a while to figure out what they were...so tell us what type of animal do you think this is???
Here is a closer shot that I took with the zoom on the camera. This one may give it away.

Growing up!

Just a quick update on our lives...

The Lord has opened a few doors lately and we are pursuing where He would have us serve. This next month will be a busy one for us, but we hope that we will know soon in which direction we are headed. We feel like this last year has been a great time of seasoning and preparations for ministry. We still don't know where we will be or what exactly what we will be doing. (church planting or becoming the pastor of an existing church) We truly covet your prayers during this time. We have had a lot of transition over the last 5 and 1/2 years, and we are ready to settle in and plant some roots. Below are some fun pictures of the kids. They've done a lot of growing in this last year as well!

Easter 2009

Here are out photos from Easter this year. We went to service Sunday morning, to Davin's grandparents for lunch, and then we had dinner at my parents house. It was a great day!