What a week so far! It is so great to be alive in the beautiful world God created for us. The past week has just been delightful! I adore the cooler weather and being able to open my windows. We have spent hours and hours outside enjoying the new season that is coming upon us!
Two weeks ago we were able to spend the day with a family from church out at their house. It is about an hour away and pretty far out in the country. We all loved it! The girls got to help feed the goats and pick pears. I was able to visit. It was sooo fun.
We are so blessed to have all been healthy the past couple of weeks. Brianna picked up a touch of poison ivy this past weekend at a retreat at church and must have come home with some of it on her clothes and passed a bit on to Tori. I remembered this time not to put any cream on it :) (she is allergic to it and I forgot last time and she ended up with blisters everywhere!).
Next week Brianna, Tori and I are going to Bass Hall to see the musical "Man of La Mancha" about the novel Don Quixote. I am really excited! To me this is one of the best benefits of homeschooling. Tori read a retelling novel from the original, Bri is finishing up the original and then we all get to enjoy the musical together!! I love Bass Hall, it is just exquisitly made. The sound is awesome there.
William served as a juror for a crimal court case this week. It only lasted two days. Brianna had crazy hat day today at band. There were definately some crazy hats there! Tori first gymnastics meet for this season is in December so she is working really hard to get ready. Kalli is officially potty-trained. I finally gave her no option (she loved her diapers, but as soon as she would tinkle even a little she wanted it changed) except betweeen pairs of panties! She is going nights and naps and staying dry. It sure would be nice to be done with diapers. Of course outings are a pain! Today we ran an errand while Bri was at band practice and Kalli had to potty three times in five minutes. Finally I figured out she was just wanting more M & M's! Emaleigh has been hopping from birthday party to birthday party! She is very ready for her own to arrive!
I am still having work done on me be the Maker of All! An awesome thing to report is that I think it is working! I realized the other day that I was thinking about God more often throughout my day! Pretty Neat! I have had numerous little needs pop up in the last week that He has met in such awesome ways. I am reading this incredible book that I will share more about at a later time, but it has revealed to me several falacies in some of my thinking!
I am so blessed to have my blog buddies! I have so enjoyed getting to know you better through your own blogs. There are so many of you that I did not know prior to blogging and have just been so thrilled to get to know you. You guys are so great!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Perspective: The Invisible Woman
By Nicole Johnson
It started to happen gradually. One day I was walking my son Jake to
school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when
the crossing guard said to him, "Who is that with you, young fella?"
"Nobody," he shrugged. Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My
son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "Oh my goodness,
nobody?"
I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to
my family - like "Turn the TV down, please" - and nothing would happen.
Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand
there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, "Would
someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.
Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there
for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to
a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the
conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept
right on talking. That's when I started to put all the pieces together. I
don't think he can see me. I don't think anyone can see me. I'm invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the
way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask
to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the
phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or
sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no
one can see me at all. I'm invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can
you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm
not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a
satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30,please."
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now
they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's
going she's going she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and
she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style
dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair
was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell
peanut butter in it.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to
me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It
was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why
she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte , with
admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I
could pattern my work:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of
their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes
of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are
you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be
covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied,
"Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the
sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of
kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is
too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great
cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease
that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one
of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to
work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be
built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice
to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for
three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd
built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come
home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add,
"You're gonna love it there."
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will
marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been
added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
It started to happen gradually. One day I was walking my son Jake to
school. I was holding his hand and we were about to cross the street when
the crossing guard said to him, "Who is that with you, young fella?"
"Nobody," he shrugged. Nobody? The crossing guard and I laughed. My
son is only 5, but as we crossed the street I thought, "Oh my goodness,
nobody?"
I would walk into a room and no one would notice. I would say something to
my family - like "Turn the TV down, please" - and nothing would happen.
Nobody would get up, or even make a move for the remote. I would stand
there for a minute, and then I would say again, a little louder, "Would
someone turn the TV down?" Nothing.
Just the other night my husband and I were out at a party. We'd been there
for about three hours and I was ready to leave. I noticed he was talking to
a friend from work. So I walked over, and when there was a break in the
conversation, I whispered, "I'm ready to go when you are." He just kept
right on talking. That's when I started to put all the pieces together. I
don't think he can see me. I don't think anyone can see me. I'm invisible.
It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the
way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask
to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the
phone?" Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or
sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no
one can see me at all. I'm invisible.
Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can
you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm
not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a
satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30,please."
I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now
they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's
going she's going she's gone!
One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and
she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style
dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair
was pulled up in a banana clip and I was afraid I could actually smell
peanut butter in it.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to
me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It
was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why
she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte , with
admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would
discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I
could pattern my work:
* No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of
their names.
* These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see
finished.
* They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
* The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes
of God saw everything.
A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny
bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are
you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be
covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied,
"Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the
sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of
kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is
too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great
cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become."
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease
that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own
self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong stubborn pride.
I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one
of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to
work on something that their name will never be on. The
writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be
built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice
to that degree.
When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for
three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd
built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come
home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add,
"You're gonna love it there."
As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will
marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been
added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Good Morning!
Nothing really important to say, I just wanted to tell eveyone good morning! I am so loving the fall weather.
Hope that you have a great day today!
Hope that you have a great day today!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
An Ode To A Toad
Okay, a few weeks ago I took some time to share one of my greatest blessings with you, Brianna. Today I am going to share another one of my greatest blessings, Tori!
I have always called her Toad for short. I never realized that I was calling her a frog until Mr. Bob looked at me odd one day at church and asked me to repeat myself.
Anyway, let's start from the beginning. Tori was born 6 weeks early under horrible circumstances. I won't go into all of the details, but it was a mess. Weighing 4 1/2 pounds she still left the hospital in two days.
At the age of 8 months she came down with RSV. I had taken her to the doctor the day before because she seemed to feel ill and they told me she had a cold. The next night, in a blizzard of course, she seemed to feel better, but I noticed she seemed to be breathing awfully fast. I called the nurse line and they told me to count her breathes, I counted 90 per minute. She told me I must be counting the intake and the out breath, but I was not. We went to the hospital where they immediately put her on oxygen and IV's and all types of yucky stuff. It was really scary! When she was able to come home, we had to give breathing treatments ever hour. Most kids are caused to feel hyper after taking the medicine, Tori was struggling so hard to breath that the relief put her to sleep. For a year we struggled with this. She ended up on steroids for a year.
The steroids caused her growth to become stunted. In kindergarten, she was wearing size 3T. This really bothered her. Over the next couple of years, she caught up.
Tori had trouble learning to read. She would get so frustrated and cry. Writing was incredibly difficult for her and spelling was impossible. She was dyslexic and having a horrible time. It took a while for us to realize it. Once we did we researched and found every important historical figure we could and sat her down and explained to her that all of her frustration was caused not by her not being smart, not by her being lazy or not trying, but God created her sweet brain in a way that learned different from the way that we had been trying to teach her. We explained a little about what Dyslexia was and told her about all of the famous people that have overcome it. She was so happy and relieved! Then the real research began on how to help her. I spent hours reading text books where I would have to read one paragraph 5 times just to understand it! Through prayer and much research, we came up with an educational plan.
From what we had read and heard, the best thing to do for dyslexics was to allow them space to find their own way of learning, we did that. We read to her constantly. We scrapped the spelling books and writing books and practiced on chalkboards and in the sand. She worked and struggled sooo hard for a long time.
She now has recently finished reading Tolkien's The Hobbit and is now deep into Gulliver's Travels. She loves reading. If you could see the progress she has made in her writing, you would be amazed! She has worked through "friends" telling her she was not smart because of her spelling. She has worked through great amounts of frustration. She has worked through feelings of being less than. She is an outstanding young lady.
Praise the Lord, she also found gymnastics and found that she has a talent in that sport and a love for it!
Tori is so full of compassion and honesty! She is kind to those who others are unkind, she knows how it feels. She encourages those who feel unable, she has been there. If I sound like this is a bragging post, sorry, but it is!! I am so proud of where she came from! I am so impressed and blessed by who she is now! And the world will be blessed one day by who she will become! She is my sweet little Toad and I am so incredibly proud to be called her Mommy!
See her playfulness!
See her talent in gymnastics!
See her sweet, Godly soul!
I have always called her Toad for short. I never realized that I was calling her a frog until Mr. Bob looked at me odd one day at church and asked me to repeat myself.
Anyway, let's start from the beginning. Tori was born 6 weeks early under horrible circumstances. I won't go into all of the details, but it was a mess. Weighing 4 1/2 pounds she still left the hospital in two days.
At the age of 8 months she came down with RSV. I had taken her to the doctor the day before because she seemed to feel ill and they told me she had a cold. The next night, in a blizzard of course, she seemed to feel better, but I noticed she seemed to be breathing awfully fast. I called the nurse line and they told me to count her breathes, I counted 90 per minute. She told me I must be counting the intake and the out breath, but I was not. We went to the hospital where they immediately put her on oxygen and IV's and all types of yucky stuff. It was really scary! When she was able to come home, we had to give breathing treatments ever hour. Most kids are caused to feel hyper after taking the medicine, Tori was struggling so hard to breath that the relief put her to sleep. For a year we struggled with this. She ended up on steroids for a year.
The steroids caused her growth to become stunted. In kindergarten, she was wearing size 3T. This really bothered her. Over the next couple of years, she caught up.
Tori had trouble learning to read. She would get so frustrated and cry. Writing was incredibly difficult for her and spelling was impossible. She was dyslexic and having a horrible time. It took a while for us to realize it. Once we did we researched and found every important historical figure we could and sat her down and explained to her that all of her frustration was caused not by her not being smart, not by her being lazy or not trying, but God created her sweet brain in a way that learned different from the way that we had been trying to teach her. We explained a little about what Dyslexia was and told her about all of the famous people that have overcome it. She was so happy and relieved! Then the real research began on how to help her. I spent hours reading text books where I would have to read one paragraph 5 times just to understand it! Through prayer and much research, we came up with an educational plan.
From what we had read and heard, the best thing to do for dyslexics was to allow them space to find their own way of learning, we did that. We read to her constantly. We scrapped the spelling books and writing books and practiced on chalkboards and in the sand. She worked and struggled sooo hard for a long time.
She now has recently finished reading Tolkien's The Hobbit and is now deep into Gulliver's Travels. She loves reading. If you could see the progress she has made in her writing, you would be amazed! She has worked through "friends" telling her she was not smart because of her spelling. She has worked through great amounts of frustration. She has worked through feelings of being less than. She is an outstanding young lady.
Praise the Lord, she also found gymnastics and found that she has a talent in that sport and a love for it!
Tori is so full of compassion and honesty! She is kind to those who others are unkind, she knows how it feels. She encourages those who feel unable, she has been there. If I sound like this is a bragging post, sorry, but it is!! I am so proud of where she came from! I am so impressed and blessed by who she is now! And the world will be blessed one day by who she will become! She is my sweet little Toad and I am so incredibly proud to be called her Mommy!
See her playfulness!
See her talent in gymnastics!
See her sweet, Godly soul!
Friday, October 19, 2007
Marching to the Beat of a New Drummer!
Okay, I am a choir girl. Singing is my thing, always has been. I took piano lessons for a few years, but that was it. Fast forward to the now......still waiting for you to catch up.....there you go!!
Okay, last year Brianna decided she wanted to play an instrument. I signed her up for a music class and she chose the trumpet. The first week she brings home the trumpet and blows into it and....nothing, no noise. Well, me being so musically inclined and all yank it from her and proceed to inform her that she needs to blow from her diaphragm, not her shoulders for goodness sake! Then I go to show her....nothing. I decided she received a broken trumpet and we would have it fixed next week.
Those of you who know anything about trumpets probably are already smiling...glad I could humor you. She goes to class, I tell her instructor it is broken. Instructor takes trumpet, blows, low and behold a noise comes out. Obviously I did not know anything about band. Brianna worked really hard for that year and pumped out a short song for the end of year concert and then retired from the trumpet business.
New year now, she wants band again. I tell her that she probably really wants choir, no she says, she wants band and she wants to play the flute. She REALLY wants to play the flute. Okay, I go and find a home school band class.
She has an excellent teacher who told us exactly what to buy. We get home and again, I assume the flute is broken. This time it was in three pieces! Apparently I was wrong again and they are supposed to come apart. I pick it up to show her how to blow...(no people, I don't give up easily!)...nothing! She calmly takes it and blows...noise!! Obviously her mouth was made more for flute than trumpet and she is loving flute! She practices hours and hours each week, and it actually sounds nice (unlike the trumpet practice).
Okay, so for her band class, they are told to go watch a marching band contest that was held in Plano a couple of weeks ago. We go and watch! Oh my goodness!! I am blown away by a few things.
1. Obviously a band director has to know how to play each instrument in the band, or at least have some passable skill.
2. A band director for a marching band has to spend hours and hours planning where everyone is going to go.
3. Not only are they the music teacher, but the choreographer!
4. Instruments are wwwaaaayyyy more difficult to play than I ever imagined, especially the wind instruments!
For all of you band people out there, I tip my hat and say WELL DONE!
Okay, last year Brianna decided she wanted to play an instrument. I signed her up for a music class and she chose the trumpet. The first week she brings home the trumpet and blows into it and....nothing, no noise. Well, me being so musically inclined and all yank it from her and proceed to inform her that she needs to blow from her diaphragm, not her shoulders for goodness sake! Then I go to show her....nothing. I decided she received a broken trumpet and we would have it fixed next week.
Those of you who know anything about trumpets probably are already smiling...glad I could humor you. She goes to class, I tell her instructor it is broken. Instructor takes trumpet, blows, low and behold a noise comes out. Obviously I did not know anything about band. Brianna worked really hard for that year and pumped out a short song for the end of year concert and then retired from the trumpet business.
New year now, she wants band again. I tell her that she probably really wants choir, no she says, she wants band and she wants to play the flute. She REALLY wants to play the flute. Okay, I go and find a home school band class.
She has an excellent teacher who told us exactly what to buy. We get home and again, I assume the flute is broken. This time it was in three pieces! Apparently I was wrong again and they are supposed to come apart. I pick it up to show her how to blow...(no people, I don't give up easily!)...nothing! She calmly takes it and blows...noise!! Obviously her mouth was made more for flute than trumpet and she is loving flute! She practices hours and hours each week, and it actually sounds nice (unlike the trumpet practice).
Okay, so for her band class, they are told to go watch a marching band contest that was held in Plano a couple of weeks ago. We go and watch! Oh my goodness!! I am blown away by a few things.
1. Obviously a band director has to know how to play each instrument in the band, or at least have some passable skill.
2. A band director for a marching band has to spend hours and hours planning where everyone is going to go.
3. Not only are they the music teacher, but the choreographer!
4. Instruments are wwwaaaayyyy more difficult to play than I ever imagined, especially the wind instruments!
For all of you band people out there, I tip my hat and say WELL DONE!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I'm Here:)
Just did not want anyone to think I had disappeared!! Thinks are moving along here. The girls are well, Emi has been struggling with a headache today, but she is feeling better. We are all trying to get caught up from the last three weeks of illnesses!
Frankly, I am having a pretty crummy week. I know that I am blessed, but I am pulling myself down. I know that God is working on me, but I am struggling to remain joyful during the process. Lately I feel like a selfish, sinner. I am unsure why I am dwelling on it. Maybe it is part of the process of breaking down the old self. If so, I just want to say "I GET IT!" Could be that I am choosing to dwell on it, but I don't think so. It just seems to be slapping me in the face all of the time lately.
I know that I asked Him for this and I know that it will be beautiful in the end. I just did not expect for it to go like this. I thought I would just wake up one morning and have the heart of a beautiful butterfly instead of waking up seeing the junk on the inside of the cocoon!
There are worse ways to learn these lessons, I know, but I don't think that takes away from the fact that this is hard. I am waiting for His strength to swoop in and carry me like wings of eagles....I know it is coming!
Frankly, I am having a pretty crummy week. I know that I am blessed, but I am pulling myself down. I know that God is working on me, but I am struggling to remain joyful during the process. Lately I feel like a selfish, sinner. I am unsure why I am dwelling on it. Maybe it is part of the process of breaking down the old self. If so, I just want to say "I GET IT!" Could be that I am choosing to dwell on it, but I don't think so. It just seems to be slapping me in the face all of the time lately.
I know that I asked Him for this and I know that it will be beautiful in the end. I just did not expect for it to go like this. I thought I would just wake up one morning and have the heart of a beautiful butterfly instead of waking up seeing the junk on the inside of the cocoon!
There are worse ways to learn these lessons, I know, but I don't think that takes away from the fact that this is hard. I am waiting for His strength to swoop in and carry me like wings of eagles....I know it is coming!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Grump!
I don't know why, but I am feeling really grumpy today. I have been easily irratated all day. I don't even know why I am posting about it and that annoys me as well!! See, I told you!
I just feel beaten down. I am thinking maybe after trying to wear us down through illness, Satan is taking another path and I must admit he is finding more success. Isn't that pathetic that I can be brought down more by little instanses that agrivate me as opposed to my family being sick. Wow, I am so not finding this helpful!!
Tomorrow will be another, blessed day!
I just feel beaten down. I am thinking maybe after trying to wear us down through illness, Satan is taking another path and I must admit he is finding more success. Isn't that pathetic that I can be brought down more by little instanses that agrivate me as opposed to my family being sick. Wow, I am so not finding this helpful!!
Tomorrow will be another, blessed day!
A Little Fun!
I am sooo happy that everyone in our house is better!! No puking, earaches or sleeping all of the time (Bri is still having pain in her side, but it is not any worse!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now we are faced with the clean-up! I thought of calling in FEMA, but figured they had better things to do. I now stood before laundry out the wazoo, school lessons to catch up on, freezer cooking to do and prep work for a gazillion different things. What do you think we did on our first, completely healed day?? We had fun!! All of those other things can wait, but we needed some fun!
We spent the day at the pumpkin patch with some friends. So much fun! Then we went and watched the homeschool football team, the Blue Angels, play a local Prep school. We won!! That was a blast!! After that the girls and I watched Tori at a gymnastics class, followed by Taco Bueno (yummy!!) and bed! Thought I would share a couple of pictures...
We spent the day at the pumpkin patch with some friends. So much fun! Then we went and watched the homeschool football team, the Blue Angels, play a local Prep school. We won!! That was a blast!! After that the girls and I watched Tori at a gymnastics class, followed by Taco Bueno (yummy!!) and bed! Thought I would share a couple of pictures...
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Favorite Puke Moments....
Okay, first let me say that there is a huge difference when each age group gets sick. Toddlers, Kalli, would puke and play, puke and play. I can deal with that. Things seem normal for a bit! Brianna and Tori just wanted to be left alone. Keep them supplied with a clean, wet washcloth and some water and let them be. Boy, oh boy, the early elementary age is something else!!
First, Emi wants me next to her all of the time. When she is trying to rest, when she is in the process of being sick, all of the time! She also gives a play by play, "Mommy, it's coming!". Then, she asks tons of questions, "Mommy, why am I sick?", I tell her it is Tori's fault! "Mommy, make it feel better!", I inform her that being quiet and still will help (this does not work!). And she wants touched!! "Mommy, hold and rock me!" While normally I love doing this, all I can think of is 1)please don't puke on me 2)please don't breath on me and get me sick.
She feels so bad and in the end, I am glad to do anything that will help her feel better.
Okay, now to what you all have been waiting for.....Becky has been counting down her favorite pumpkin pictures, and boy, have they been good. I love number one!! I am going to countdown my five, favorite puke moments! I will do mine all in one listing though because after everyone is better and I get some sleep, this will really gross me out and I won't want to think about it and especially write about it. So, in the spirit of my blogging friends sharing my pain, here goes...
5. This one happened early this morning. Bri was in the process of getting sick in the girls bathroom, I had waited and waited to use the bathroom myself and was about to explode so I went to my bathroom. All of a sudden Emi bursts in the door screaming "It's coming, I am going to throw up!", I am trying to get done and decent, all the while falling over the trash can! It was crazy!!
4. Puking out the nose award goes to Kalli!! So weird!!
3. Bile!! So gross. When Bri had meningitis and threw up bile, it was the worst smelling thing I have ever been around!
2. When Tori was a baby, my mom was holding Tori up, over my mom's head and happened to be saying "AAAHHHHH" at the exact time Tori spit up. You can imagine what happened there.
1. When the girls go to my moms house, she gives them anything they want. When I say anything, I mean anything! She has gotten better over time, but she used to give them any snack they wanted. When Bri was about 3, she loved cake frosting. Not the cake, just the frosting. My mom went and bought a 1/4 sheet cake decorated with pretty red frosting and let Bri eat as much frosting as she wanted. Can you all say disaster!! They went to bed about an hour later and Bri got sick...duh...and threw up all over my mom's new white, down comforter. The dog was also in the bed and was granted a lovely shade of red fur! It took months for the dog to lose the red coloring!!
Hope you all enjoyed these!!
First, Emi wants me next to her all of the time. When she is trying to rest, when she is in the process of being sick, all of the time! She also gives a play by play, "Mommy, it's coming!". Then, she asks tons of questions, "Mommy, why am I sick?", I tell her it is Tori's fault! "Mommy, make it feel better!", I inform her that being quiet and still will help (this does not work!). And she wants touched!! "Mommy, hold and rock me!" While normally I love doing this, all I can think of is 1)please don't puke on me 2)please don't breath on me and get me sick.
She feels so bad and in the end, I am glad to do anything that will help her feel better.
Okay, now to what you all have been waiting for.....Becky has been counting down her favorite pumpkin pictures, and boy, have they been good. I love number one!! I am going to countdown my five, favorite puke moments! I will do mine all in one listing though because after everyone is better and I get some sleep, this will really gross me out and I won't want to think about it and especially write about it. So, in the spirit of my blogging friends sharing my pain, here goes...
5. This one happened early this morning. Bri was in the process of getting sick in the girls bathroom, I had waited and waited to use the bathroom myself and was about to explode so I went to my bathroom. All of a sudden Emi bursts in the door screaming "It's coming, I am going to throw up!", I am trying to get done and decent, all the while falling over the trash can! It was crazy!!
4. Puking out the nose award goes to Kalli!! So weird!!
3. Bile!! So gross. When Bri had meningitis and threw up bile, it was the worst smelling thing I have ever been around!
2. When Tori was a baby, my mom was holding Tori up, over my mom's head and happened to be saying "AAAHHHHH" at the exact time Tori spit up. You can imagine what happened there.
1. When the girls go to my moms house, she gives them anything they want. When I say anything, I mean anything! She has gotten better over time, but she used to give them any snack they wanted. When Bri was about 3, she loved cake frosting. Not the cake, just the frosting. My mom went and bought a 1/4 sheet cake decorated with pretty red frosting and let Bri eat as much frosting as she wanted. Can you all say disaster!! They went to bed about an hour later and Bri got sick...duh...and threw up all over my mom's new white, down comforter. The dog was also in the bed and was granted a lovely shade of red fur! It took months for the dog to lose the red coloring!!
Hope you all enjoyed these!!
They're a Blessing ...They're a Blessing...They're a Blessing
They really are a blessing and I would do anything for them, but I think if I have to clean up any more puke tonight, I may scream (or at least roll my eyes!). I have Bri in my bed, who feels horrible. We are assuming this is the same virus. And Emi is on my floor on a pallet (one that I have remade three times because she did not make it to the bathroom).
As I finished my last sentence, Bri woke up and got sick. Of course she did not make it to the bathroom or in the pan either...so....I did not scream or roll my eyes. I did gag a few times!
It is 4:30 a.m. and I know that William will be up soon to get ready for work (he is sleeping in the girls room with the two that are not sick). He did get up after Emi was sick the first time. I have to work my way into cleaning up after sick kids and she was unexpected (no, the hint that her other three sisters have been sick within the last week did not tip me off!!!). For some reason I feel better knowing that people are starting to wake up. I don't feel better when I think that it will be time for me to get up in 30 minutes!
Well, we have had about 10 minutes of no wretching and heaving, so I think I may head off to grab those 30 more minutes of sleep!!
As I finished my last sentence, Bri woke up and got sick. Of course she did not make it to the bathroom or in the pan either...so....I did not scream or roll my eyes. I did gag a few times!
It is 4:30 a.m. and I know that William will be up soon to get ready for work (he is sleeping in the girls room with the two that are not sick). He did get up after Emi was sick the first time. I have to work my way into cleaning up after sick kids and she was unexpected (no, the hint that her other three sisters have been sick within the last week did not tip me off!!!). For some reason I feel better knowing that people are starting to wake up. I don't feel better when I think that it will be time for me to get up in 30 minutes!
Well, we have had about 10 minutes of no wretching and heaving, so I think I may head off to grab those 30 more minutes of sleep!!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Anyone Have a Map??
I need a little prayer for discernment from you faithful prayers out there!! This will come as no big shock to anyone, but Brianna is sick. Like vomiting, fever sick. Here lies my dilema...does she just have the virus that everyone else has, or does this have something to do with the pain the doctor has been watching in her left side. Her side is hurting worse, but is it from being sick or something else. I know if I call the doctor, she will have me take her to the hospital, but I am not sure that is right. I have been praying that her side would either heal or get worse so we would know what course of action to take, I can't tell anymore what I need to do. It is a sad day when you can't decide what is best for your child.
Today, I think I probably suck as a mom!! (pardon the vulgar language)
***Update: It is 3:30 a.m. and Emi has been up the past hour or so throwing up as well, so I think it is safe to say Bri has the stomach bug!!
Today, I think I probably suck as a mom!! (pardon the vulgar language)
***Update: It is 3:30 a.m. and Emi has been up the past hour or so throwing up as well, so I think it is safe to say Bri has the stomach bug!!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
I Am Blessed!
What a day! William is out of town helping my mom move. I forgot to bring Kalli's shoes for church so she wore some other shoes, they are just 3 sizes too big. I am dropping everything I touch. I am so behind on everything!! I thought I lost a $75 cd for CareKids. Emaleigh dropped her full plate of spaghetti onto the clean dishes in the dish washer. I don't have time today to buy groceries, clean the house or paint my toe nails (boy do they need it!). It seems lately that something is going wrong every day, between sick kids, cars not starting, my making people mad and forgetting/losing things!
Amid all of this chaos, I am choosing to stop and say...boy, am I blessed! I have a wonderful helpmate that will return sometime today! I am blessed with four children to run around and help cause my chaos. Big blessing here....I have a dishwasher! I have food, housing, transportation, friends and a church. My children, despite a childhood crisis every now and then are healthy.
There is a mom out there that would give anything to clean up her child's spilled spaghetti. There are people out there who pray to just have the money to buy the groceries or a living space to clean. Let's say I had lost the $75 cd, no one would shoot me or kick me out of church. I would have saved up and bought another one, Jami would probably still have liked me!
Yes there are times, days, weeks and months where everything in my life seems to come unravelled, but it sure is better than the alternative. Sometimes we need a little shake up in our life to help us appreciate the times when life is still. Sometimes we need a little chaos to appreciate the peace. Sometimes we need to shout out our questions, so we can hear His answer.
God, why me??!! Because I am blessed.
**Update on Bri: She is feeling much better! She is still having pain in her side, but they said that they would hold off a few days and see if it gets any better. I am hoping that since her body is getting over the bacterial infection that she had, it will better be able to fight off whatever is causing the pain. She went to her ROCK group tonight at church!!
Amid all of this chaos, I am choosing to stop and say...boy, am I blessed! I have a wonderful helpmate that will return sometime today! I am blessed with four children to run around and help cause my chaos. Big blessing here....I have a dishwasher! I have food, housing, transportation, friends and a church. My children, despite a childhood crisis every now and then are healthy.
There is a mom out there that would give anything to clean up her child's spilled spaghetti. There are people out there who pray to just have the money to buy the groceries or a living space to clean. Let's say I had lost the $75 cd, no one would shoot me or kick me out of church. I would have saved up and bought another one, Jami would probably still have liked me!
Yes there are times, days, weeks and months where everything in my life seems to come unravelled, but it sure is better than the alternative. Sometimes we need a little shake up in our life to help us appreciate the times when life is still. Sometimes we need a little chaos to appreciate the peace. Sometimes we need to shout out our questions, so we can hear His answer.
God, why me??!! Because I am blessed.
**Update on Bri: She is feeling much better! She is still having pain in her side, but they said that they would hold off a few days and see if it gets any better. I am hoping that since her body is getting over the bacterial infection that she had, it will better be able to fight off whatever is causing the pain. She went to her ROCK group tonight at church!!
Friday, October 5, 2007
Quick update...again!! :)
Bri has felt much worse again today so we went to the doctors office. Good news is the mono test was negative and everything blood wise looked good. Bad news is they still don't know what it wrong. I have been feeling pretty frustrated today. I hate going to the doctor so much and especially not knowing what is wrong. I feel like a bad mom. I struggle with thinking I should push her more to get up, but when I do, she gets worse. My awesome doctor made me feel much better!
Here is where we are at..the ear looked better, still infected, but better. Since she has only been on the antibiotic 4 days they don't know whether it worked and is now failing again, thus she feels worse, or it is slowly working. We decided to wait and look again tomorrow. As far as the fatigue and abdominal pain, she wanted her to go to Children's and have a CT scan and other tests to figure it out. We discussed it with her and chose to wait until tomorrow and re-evaluate. It could be another virus that is related to the mono virus. If tomorrow she is worse then I think that is what they are going to do. I hate for her to have that, especially since she is terrified now of needles.
Please pray with me tonight that she will feel better tomorrow. I will update tomorrow.
PS: Kalli is vomiting out of her nose..YUCK!
Here is where we are at..the ear looked better, still infected, but better. Since she has only been on the antibiotic 4 days they don't know whether it worked and is now failing again, thus she feels worse, or it is slowly working. We decided to wait and look again tomorrow. As far as the fatigue and abdominal pain, she wanted her to go to Children's and have a CT scan and other tests to figure it out. We discussed it with her and chose to wait until tomorrow and re-evaluate. It could be another virus that is related to the mono virus. If tomorrow she is worse then I think that is what they are going to do. I hate for her to have that, especially since she is terrified now of needles.
Please pray with me tonight that she will feel better tomorrow. I will update tomorrow.
PS: Kalli is vomiting out of her nose..YUCK!
Freak!
I love Friday's! The weekend always gives us a chance to spend time together and I love it. A habit that I picked up in college is that the weekend actually begin on Thursday evening. I am not sure how that started, but at each of the colleges I attended, the big night to go out was Thursday night.
We started our weekend last night with William grilling awesome burgers on the grill followed by some yummy homemade ice cream! Boy was it good! It always seems so funny to me that two of our girls always choose a bun with ketchup. No meat, no cheese, just ketchup!! They missed out :)
William is home again today. We woke up with Kalli throwing up...again and Brianna's ear, head and jaw are causing pain again. Yesterday morning she still felt a bit better, but by afternoon she was down and out again! She has an appointment with the doctor this afternoon.
I am not one that often takes my kids to the doctor, though how it looks lately you may not believe me! My kids just seem to come down with weird things! I have gone through dozens of ear infections with Kalli...no doctor. Numerous oozing eyes and skin infections...no doctor. Puke, runs, headaches, broken toes, bloody noses, a gazillion snot noses and coughs...no doctor. But sometimes things just baffle me and I go. I don't like it, but I do it. When I was in last week I was apologizing for taking her time (don't know why I always do that since that is what she is there for, but I do). She told me to chill! She said there were people in for every little thing all of the time. She reminded me that the last time Bri was in, other than a check up, was when she had meningitis. I felt better, but when I call and talk to the office staff, I always feel like a paranoid freak again!!
This brings me to another thing I am pondering lately...We get weird, not common junk! They say hepatitis A is no big deal, I was the exception and ended up in the hospital for a week. Tori had stunted growth due to steroid overuse when she was younger (the steroids were given after having RSV when she was a baby). I took Bri to the doctor when she was around 5 because she kept complaining of her throat feeling funny (I did wait a couple of months on this one). I was explaining to the doctor why we were there and told her I just wanted to make sure it was not a tumor or something and she laughed saying that kids her age don't get tumors there often. Guess what!! Bri had a growth on her thyroid, she thought it was a tumor!! After sending her the next day for a gazillion tests at Children's, it apparently burst and was just a fluid filled something or other (I could have save some money apparently if I had just pushed on her neck a lot!).
Then we have Bri again...meningitis. She gets sick, I personally thought she was trying to get out of cleaning the kitchen, but since she normally did not do that, I let her go lay down. Five hours later she is vomiting and having a horrible headache. I am calm and call the after hours line mostly because I can't remember how to alternate Tylenol and Motrin. They say bring her to the ER. I hate the ER!! We wait, she gets worse so we go (Kalli is 1 month old at the time). They think she has meningitis and perform 7 spinal taps before they get it right. They assume it is bacterial because at this point she is so sick and start her on antibiotics. Ends up being viral meningitis (kids are not supposed to get very sick from viral, but you know us!). She is at Children's for 4 days before she gets well enough to go home. The first night home she is in agony because her legs hurt, she can't lay still, but when she gets up she starts vomiting. We wait for the doctor's office to open and I carry her in (this was 2 years ago, she was a bit hard to carry..go mom!). They send her back to the hospital. She is vomiting the most disgusting stuff I have ever seen or smelled! It was awful!!!
The blood work showed some curve or turn or something that caused them to think that she might have been exposed, during her spinal taps, to a bacteria and may have the bacterial meningitis now. We wait and test...apparently the next day things look better and they figure that she was just extremely dehydrated and that is what caused whatever it was they were worried about, but....she is still in extreme pain and semi conscious. The do an MRI to look for a clot in her back that could be causing the pain, nope, not it! I ask repeatedly if she could be leaking spinal fluid due to the small hole not clotting, nope they say, does not happen often in children and not this far out after having it. Guess what??? Ended up she was leaking and that caused the puking, which caused the dehydration which made everything worse! They said that a blood patch would fix it up immediately...nope, it helped but took a few more days!
Last year she started having similar headaches. Her doctor sent her back to the hospital. I told them, please no spinal tap, she is terrified of needles. They said that there were other tests they could do to try and rule out meningitis, but if she failed those they would have to. She failed every, freaking single one! They did a great job of doing the spinal and told me that since they had her lay flat for 3 hours after the procedure, she would be fine. Guess what!!!! Leak..again, but this time I did not call the doctor, I knew that they had said last time that if she had not been throwing up and so dehydrated she could have laid down for a few days and it would heal itself. We did that and after a week, it worked. I told my doctor later about doing that and she was not impressed, so I don't recommend it.
We are just weird!! We are the family of 2 big car wrecks (so not my fault!) and the death of a parent all in 1 week! Now this thing with Brianna! There are times it is funny, but other times it is embarrassing!!
Now you know it, we are freaks!! Still love me???
We started our weekend last night with William grilling awesome burgers on the grill followed by some yummy homemade ice cream! Boy was it good! It always seems so funny to me that two of our girls always choose a bun with ketchup. No meat, no cheese, just ketchup!! They missed out :)
William is home again today. We woke up with Kalli throwing up...again and Brianna's ear, head and jaw are causing pain again. Yesterday morning she still felt a bit better, but by afternoon she was down and out again! She has an appointment with the doctor this afternoon.
I am not one that often takes my kids to the doctor, though how it looks lately you may not believe me! My kids just seem to come down with weird things! I have gone through dozens of ear infections with Kalli...no doctor. Numerous oozing eyes and skin infections...no doctor. Puke, runs, headaches, broken toes, bloody noses, a gazillion snot noses and coughs...no doctor. But sometimes things just baffle me and I go. I don't like it, but I do it. When I was in last week I was apologizing for taking her time (don't know why I always do that since that is what she is there for, but I do). She told me to chill! She said there were people in for every little thing all of the time. She reminded me that the last time Bri was in, other than a check up, was when she had meningitis. I felt better, but when I call and talk to the office staff, I always feel like a paranoid freak again!!
This brings me to another thing I am pondering lately...We get weird, not common junk! They say hepatitis A is no big deal, I was the exception and ended up in the hospital for a week. Tori had stunted growth due to steroid overuse when she was younger (the steroids were given after having RSV when she was a baby). I took Bri to the doctor when she was around 5 because she kept complaining of her throat feeling funny (I did wait a couple of months on this one). I was explaining to the doctor why we were there and told her I just wanted to make sure it was not a tumor or something and she laughed saying that kids her age don't get tumors there often. Guess what!! Bri had a growth on her thyroid, she thought it was a tumor!! After sending her the next day for a gazillion tests at Children's, it apparently burst and was just a fluid filled something or other (I could have save some money apparently if I had just pushed on her neck a lot!).
Then we have Bri again...meningitis. She gets sick, I personally thought she was trying to get out of cleaning the kitchen, but since she normally did not do that, I let her go lay down. Five hours later she is vomiting and having a horrible headache. I am calm and call the after hours line mostly because I can't remember how to alternate Tylenol and Motrin. They say bring her to the ER. I hate the ER!! We wait, she gets worse so we go (Kalli is 1 month old at the time). They think she has meningitis and perform 7 spinal taps before they get it right. They assume it is bacterial because at this point she is so sick and start her on antibiotics. Ends up being viral meningitis (kids are not supposed to get very sick from viral, but you know us!). She is at Children's for 4 days before she gets well enough to go home. The first night home she is in agony because her legs hurt, she can't lay still, but when she gets up she starts vomiting. We wait for the doctor's office to open and I carry her in (this was 2 years ago, she was a bit hard to carry..go mom!). They send her back to the hospital. She is vomiting the most disgusting stuff I have ever seen or smelled! It was awful!!!
The blood work showed some curve or turn or something that caused them to think that she might have been exposed, during her spinal taps, to a bacteria and may have the bacterial meningitis now. We wait and test...apparently the next day things look better and they figure that she was just extremely dehydrated and that is what caused whatever it was they were worried about, but....she is still in extreme pain and semi conscious. The do an MRI to look for a clot in her back that could be causing the pain, nope, not it! I ask repeatedly if she could be leaking spinal fluid due to the small hole not clotting, nope they say, does not happen often in children and not this far out after having it. Guess what??? Ended up she was leaking and that caused the puking, which caused the dehydration which made everything worse! They said that a blood patch would fix it up immediately...nope, it helped but took a few more days!
Last year she started having similar headaches. Her doctor sent her back to the hospital. I told them, please no spinal tap, she is terrified of needles. They said that there were other tests they could do to try and rule out meningitis, but if she failed those they would have to. She failed every, freaking single one! They did a great job of doing the spinal and told me that since they had her lay flat for 3 hours after the procedure, she would be fine. Guess what!!!! Leak..again, but this time I did not call the doctor, I knew that they had said last time that if she had not been throwing up and so dehydrated she could have laid down for a few days and it would heal itself. We did that and after a week, it worked. I told my doctor later about doing that and she was not impressed, so I don't recommend it.
We are just weird!! We are the family of 2 big car wrecks (so not my fault!) and the death of a parent all in 1 week! Now this thing with Brianna! There are times it is funny, but other times it is embarrassing!!
Now you know it, we are freaks!! Still love me???
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Quick Post!
Bri is feeling even better this morning! She wants to try and have a "normal", but slower day so we will see how that goes.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Whatever Shall I Do??
Whatever shall a homeschooling mom of four do when one of her students can't work on schoolwork and can't go anywhere??? TAKE PICTURES OF EVERYONE...of course!
And here is what I saw:
Loyalty
This cat has been on or beside Brianna ever since she got sick. I am so not a cat person, in fact, I am scared of them, but I think this one is a keeper.
Joy
You can just see the joy pouring out of Emaleigh in this. To me, she seems to light up any room she walks in with her smile.
Growing
My baby is growing up so fast!
PraiseWe put on some praise music this morning and went to town! I think we rattled the windows!!
Healing
I think my biggest baby is feeling better today! Praise God! She wanted to get up and look outside at the rain and see what all of the commotion was about (that was our praise singing!) and I snapped this quick picture.
THANK YOU LORD FOR ANOTHER DAY TO ABSORB YOUR LOYALTY AND PROMISES, TO EXPERIENCE YOUR JOY, TO GROW IN YOU, TO SING YOUR PRAISE, AND TO EXPERIENCE YOUR HEALING HAND! YOU ARE AN AWESOME GOD AND BLESS US IN SO VERY MANY WAYS! THANK YOU. YOU HAVE BLESSED ME WITH A GODLY HUSBAND, FOUR PURE CHILDREN, A FANTASTIC CHURCH, FRIENDS THAT ARE SO LOVING AND EVEN TWO RUNNING CARS! ALL OF THE GLORY AND PRAISE IS YOURS, THANK YOU!
And here is what I saw:
Loyalty
This cat has been on or beside Brianna ever since she got sick. I am so not a cat person, in fact, I am scared of them, but I think this one is a keeper.
Joy
You can just see the joy pouring out of Emaleigh in this. To me, she seems to light up any room she walks in with her smile.
Growing
My baby is growing up so fast!
PraiseWe put on some praise music this morning and went to town! I think we rattled the windows!!
Healing
I think my biggest baby is feeling better today! Praise God! She wanted to get up and look outside at the rain and see what all of the commotion was about (that was our praise singing!) and I snapped this quick picture.
THANK YOU LORD FOR ANOTHER DAY TO ABSORB YOUR LOYALTY AND PROMISES, TO EXPERIENCE YOUR JOY, TO GROW IN YOU, TO SING YOUR PRAISE, AND TO EXPERIENCE YOUR HEALING HAND! YOU ARE AN AWESOME GOD AND BLESS US IN SO VERY MANY WAYS! THANK YOU. YOU HAVE BLESSED ME WITH A GODLY HUSBAND, FOUR PURE CHILDREN, A FANTASTIC CHURCH, FRIENDS THAT ARE SO LOVING AND EVEN TWO RUNNING CARS! ALL OF THE GLORY AND PRAISE IS YOURS, THANK YOU!
Waiting....
Several people have asked about Brianna so I thought I would let you know. She is still the same. She tried really hard yesterday to get up and do some of her normal morning routine, but it did not work. She ended up over doing it and had a bad day. Her ear, head and jaw don't seem to be responding yet to the new medicine, but I pray that they will soon. She still has no energy. She is trying really hard to muster some up, but she just can't.
The doctor did not call yesterday, so I see that as good news. From what I understand the tests for Leukemia and other blood diseases would have come back yesterday, the rest come back today. They said they would call no matter what because if this all comes back okay, they will need to check other things. As a mom, the thing that kept popping into my head was worrying about Leukemia, so I am relieved. I will call tomorrow if I have not heard anything.
Please continue to pray that she will feel better. She decided yesterday instead of being upset about all of the time in bed and discouraged, that she was going to use it to pray and think. So she is maintaining a good attitude, though she is upset about all of the youth group stuff she is missing at church.
Our car is back and working! My dad was able to put in a new ignition switch and it started right up! Praise the Lord!! We have seen so many awesome blessings in our lives lately, God is so good!
Have a wonderful day today!!
The doctor did not call yesterday, so I see that as good news. From what I understand the tests for Leukemia and other blood diseases would have come back yesterday, the rest come back today. They said they would call no matter what because if this all comes back okay, they will need to check other things. As a mom, the thing that kept popping into my head was worrying about Leukemia, so I am relieved. I will call tomorrow if I have not heard anything.
Please continue to pray that she will feel better. She decided yesterday instead of being upset about all of the time in bed and discouraged, that she was going to use it to pray and think. So she is maintaining a good attitude, though she is upset about all of the youth group stuff she is missing at church.
Our car is back and working! My dad was able to put in a new ignition switch and it started right up! Praise the Lord!! We have seen so many awesome blessings in our lives lately, God is so good!
Have a wonderful day today!!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
One of My Many Blessings!
I have shared many times on this blog how I have a deep desire to experience God in a way that I have only heard others share about. I have heard it described as thirsting for God, yearning and even a passion to just be with Him. Though I feel I have touched on this type of relationship before, I have never felt involved fully to this magnitude. I have been blessed with a daughter that does.
She longs to study His word and seek His guidance. She always finds a blessing where I see a trial. Her name means "one of great faith" and she lives that out daily. She told me the other day that she used to fear death but now anticipates it. She pointed out that whether you are 90 or 9 when you die is really irrelevant when you look at the scope of eternity. She wanted to know why she should fear going home?
I learn so much from her each day, as I do all of my children. The faith that she exhibits leaves me speechless most of the time. It is not the blind faith of a child, as she has traveled a few rough roads. It is a choice. It is a yearning, a passion. I can not even imagine the plans the God must have for her. I know that she will leave a lingering trail of faith, love and kindness wherever He leads her.
She longs to study His word and seek His guidance. She always finds a blessing where I see a trial. Her name means "one of great faith" and she lives that out daily. She told me the other day that she used to fear death but now anticipates it. She pointed out that whether you are 90 or 9 when you die is really irrelevant when you look at the scope of eternity. She wanted to know why she should fear going home?
I learn so much from her each day, as I do all of my children. The faith that she exhibits leaves me speechless most of the time. It is not the blind faith of a child, as she has traveled a few rough roads. It is a choice. It is a yearning, a passion. I can not even imagine the plans the God must have for her. I know that she will leave a lingering trail of faith, love and kindness wherever He leads her.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Quick Update!
William is at our coop classes teaching my classes, so I have to do this really quick so I can get there.
Tori is fine! Kalli, who started throwing up Sunday morning is fine as well!! Praise the Lord.
Brianna is not fine. She was still having a lot of pain in her ear, head and jaw as well as not having energy to do anything and pain in her left side. We saw the doctor today. The flushed her ear out. She has a thing about the size of half an earthworm that was growing in her ear. He said it was bacteria and puss and had attached to the side of her ear....GROSS!! After getting that out he could see her ear drum and said that the anitbiotics were not working....duh! No, seriously though, he was awesome. He changed her antibiotics, kept her on the same pain med and then we went on to discuss the other issue. He says they are not related. She is exahausted, and I mean bone tired. She can't do anything and she is having a lot of pain in her left side as well as a fever off and on. He said her spleen is enlarged so they went ahead and tested for Mono. He also did blood tests for several other things. We should know about the other blood things within 24 hours and the mono in 48. Please kep praying!
On top of this, when I went out to start the car this morning, it is completely dead. It does nothing and it is not the battery. I told Bri on the way to the doctor that having all of these little trials is kinda exciting because that means God has some awesome plans coming up that Satan is trying to stop!! She agreed.
Tori is fine! Kalli, who started throwing up Sunday morning is fine as well!! Praise the Lord.
Brianna is not fine. She was still having a lot of pain in her ear, head and jaw as well as not having energy to do anything and pain in her left side. We saw the doctor today. The flushed her ear out. She has a thing about the size of half an earthworm that was growing in her ear. He said it was bacteria and puss and had attached to the side of her ear....GROSS!! After getting that out he could see her ear drum and said that the anitbiotics were not working....duh! No, seriously though, he was awesome. He changed her antibiotics, kept her on the same pain med and then we went on to discuss the other issue. He says they are not related. She is exahausted, and I mean bone tired. She can't do anything and she is having a lot of pain in her left side as well as a fever off and on. He said her spleen is enlarged so they went ahead and tested for Mono. He also did blood tests for several other things. We should know about the other blood things within 24 hours and the mono in 48. Please kep praying!
On top of this, when I went out to start the car this morning, it is completely dead. It does nothing and it is not the battery. I told Bri on the way to the doctor that having all of these little trials is kinda exciting because that means God has some awesome plans coming up that Satan is trying to stop!! She agreed.
Pray...Again Please
I am on my way to take Bri to the doctor's office. We would appreciate prayer that they might figure out what is wrong.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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