Happy Happenings in the Fall

Lots of happy things have been happening here at our house. And as is typical of my personality, I would rather focus on those than on some of the stinky things (like Claire having a few more seizures than I would like to see)

So here goes with happy happenings:

Upwards cheerleading...Yell it louder now, Let's go Upwards!



Visits from the Tooth Fairy

Costume Time! The girls got to dress up 2x---for homeschool coop and for trick or treating!Fun at the pumpkin patch----lovely orange things!

Claire is pushing up on her arms! And of course still Miss Rolly Pol-lee.

And maybe most important and special of all.... Hope's baptism Sunday night.

The Lord is with us and is blessing us in many special ways. May we continue to have our eyes open and turned towards him as he pours out his blessings on us in sometimes the most unusual and unique ways!

Mission Heart

Since jr high days, and maybe even before...... I have longed to do some short term mission work. This was fulfilled in jr high and high school by some state side mission trips every summer.

Since joining the world of adulthood and married life... Russell and I have also enjoyed being a part of 2 overseas mission trips, Latvia and Austria. We enjoyed serving together and traveling to parts of the world neither of us have ever seen.

And now I am feeling the tug on my heart once again. I think anytime an opportunity is available, I want to sign up. We have had to pass on some trips before, just not feasible for us at the time. Or our place wasn't to go, but to pray.

Why do I feel this need to go? Is it because of sharing my story of Jesus' love with those who don't know or never have heard?

Is it because I love to travel and want to explore this amazing world?

Is it because it gets me out of my comfort zone and really allows me to come in contact with those who need Jesus love?

It is probably a combination of all of it. A desire to do something greater than myself, to see the world, to reach out past my own kids and family and church , to live extreme for a week....

But how do you know if you are really supposed to go? How do you know if God has called you to do THIS particular trip? How do you know IF he will provide a way to go? When do you just step out on FAITH?

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

"Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and teaching them to obey everything I have commaned you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesss in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8

Have Faith

Exciting news here at the Ratliff household.....


And no, we are not expecting another bundle of joy.....

However, it is even more exciting than that.....

Can you stand the excitement a moment longer?????

Our very own Hope, invited Jesus into her heart! Yeah! Praise the Lord!!

We have been talking about this for a while, but she came in last night after cheerleading practice and told her Daddy that she was ready to pray and invite Jesus to come live in her heart. And what sweet words she said in her own prayer (not led by her Daddy or me).

So now we will get to visit with the pastor and set aside a time for baptism.
We are so proud of her and excited to see how God will shape her into a lovely young woman.

Molly time

Oh Molly pop, Molly pop, oh Molly, Molly Pop!

Where shall I begin with her...... she is the completion of our family. She never fails to bring laughter each day, and a good dose of joy as well. She has the funniest facial expressions, from her great big "oh" each time she sees someone or something new. To her little pouty frown and furrowed brow, to her squeals of frustrations, to her infectious giggle.

She has learned some sign language and uses it pretty consistently for "more", "please", "thank you", "help me" and "drink".

She is speaking quite a few words these days, her latest addition is "quack quack".

Molly is independent, loves to play by herself. She is loveable, always ready to give hugs and kisses. She loves to sit in chairs and be big.

Spotlight on Claire!

Claire---my middle child! Our Clairebear, our curly sue! She is our little snuggle bug---loves to be held and cuddled. She loves to "feel" you with her legs and have her legs on you when you are sitting close to her. She is our fighter, our joy that can only come from God. She has taught us so much about the "miracles" of life. About faith, perserverance, joy, and love. We pray that she will continue to get stronger and that we can continue to control her seizures as best we can.

She is loved by her sisters. Molly loves to give her kisses and Hope likes to mother her, help take care of her every need.

Claire has an innate ability to draw people to her. They want to touch her and talk to her and comment about how beautiful she is! God created a wonderful being when He made Claire.




Taking a snooze after swimming



Giggling with Grandma

Watching fireworks

Spotlight on Hope

I thought it would be fun to give a spotlight on each one of my amazing girls......

Hope 6 years old in first grade. She is a great reader. Has an imagination as big as the sky and the cutest giggle. We like to call her our goofball.

She loves to be outside, mainly jumping on her trampoline. She likes school, but thinks it is long sometimes (imagine what she would think if she went to public school ha)

Hope is caring, mothering and a huge help to me. Here is a story that exhibits all 3. One day Hope and Molly and I were all up, but Claire was still sleeping. I was trying to get some breakfast ready when Hope heard Claire awake and crying out. So she ran into the room, crawled up in bed with Claire and gave her a drink of water (this was when she could still drink from a cup). Claire settled down until I could come in and get her up.

Hope says she wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up, especially for wild animals. She plays vet and doctor often with her dolls and stuffed animals.

A glimpse at life with Hope..... driving in the car singing along to VeggieTales.... "Stop and go with Mercy". So we asked Hope if she knew what Mercy was. She said, "NO." So we explained mercy and how God shows us mercy and how Jesus took the penalty for us, etc. And then we went on to say that we should also show mercy to others, to be like Jesus. She sat there a minute and then asked...."So how come you never show me mercy.... I always get a spanking!" Oh what precious times!

She loves to challenge her daddy to any kind of board game. Particularly Children's Bible Trivia.

This year she is going to go to a Homeschool Coop 1 day a week, participate in Upwards Cheerleading, Awanas, and of course be Daddy's biggest cheerleader.

Dance recital time

Birthday Party Time

Summer fun

Summer Vacation

4th of July!

All the chicks back home

Ok.... here goes....

So we go in Monday (8/17) to the doctor all convinced in our little minds that Claire did not need a "g" button (feeding tube). We had our extensive list of questions in mind and reasons why we thought she did not need this. After spending considerable amount of time with the doctor and quite a few tears on my part. We were convinced that this was the right thing at the right time to do for Claire. So we went straight to the hospital to be admitted. Claire was scheduled for
"g" button surgery and a fundoplication (fix her esophagus for reflux) on Wednesday.

So now what are we going to do with the other girls? Grandma an Pappaw took them to Oklahoma for the week. Fun things planned to keep them occupied. Thanks so much!

Surgery went as planned and she did just great. And she has continued to do well. We thought we would get to come home Saturday, but just after Russ and mom took our stuff to the car they came in one more time to check vitals to find out that Claire was running 102 degree fever! yikes! No going home for us. So she had to be febrile free for 24 hours, so we got to come home today. And Hope and Molly came home too! Boy was I glad to see them.

So what does this "g" button mean for us?
Well Claire no longer gets any liquid by mouth including her medicine. Her "g" button is slightly below her ribs on her left side. We open the port to insert her medicine and to give her bolus drinks of either water and/or a supplement mix for now. She gets these bolus drinks 6x a day to add up to the amount of liquid they have determined she needs. We had been so concerned how Claire would handle not drinking any more because she always seemed thirsty or like she just got comfort from her cup. Well she has not once cried out for a drink or done her open mouth "I'm thirsty" signal. Apparantely she truly was thirsty and we were not adequately giving her enough, or she was aspirating it or she was spitting it up.

Now we have a contented child... no spit up, no chest pain from reflux or aspiration, no thirst, no major crying...... Wow!