Backseat rider...

I am currently riding in the backseat of my Sequoia while my brother drives and my sister in law is telling a story. We made a little trip to Johnson City for the funeral of our sweet friend's father. I do not enjoy night driving as night blindness runs in our family. My nerves are a bit shot. This is the first time I have left the hub with the kids this long by himself. We'll be home in a bit, but I'll be uneasy until that point.

We went to Lowe's this morning for some supplies for our drywall guy. I found lots of weird things that made me laugh. The first one was a project I'm sorry the kids missed:



Look at the top choice....Autobus Del Terror...nice! I want one! The next one made we want sweet rolls...not sure why:



For all of you with pitiful poultry, take a look at this:



Lastly, there is no amount of boiling that would ever make this right for my child:



Prestone and a Nuk. Parenting at its best.

The conversation has now turned to our favorite clips from Sesame Street. I must participate. Night all.
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These milestones keep piling up

Every milestone is one to chronicle. The first tooth...words...steps...day of school...lost tooth...all are big deals in the lives of parents and children. Recently we have hit some milestones that I wish never had happened. First concussion. First major surgery. First sling due to a shoulder injury. And now this:



The nice man let her pick a color. Here he was putting a sock on her arm. Then this:



Then she was waiting for the color part and trying to process what was happening.



This was as excited as she got, well until she had some people sign it. This is not a milestone I had hoped for. A buckle fracture in the growth plate...FA la la la laaa la la la laaaaaaa. At least I talked her out of the florescent yellow cast. While it would be a good color to direct planes at the airport, it would really clash with the Christmas church dress. We settled on a lovely blue. The boy was both fascinated and concerned about his big sis, so he stuck to her like glue all evening:



She is giving a cast report to a relative while practicing her 12 tables. He, if you notice his fist, is knocking on the cast to see how strong it actually is.

I've had enough milestones for a while. I just want to keep them in bubble wrap and hold them.
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Some days just require ice cream

Our day started with terrible news for our dear friend whose father passed away today. Our hearts are broken for her. Please keep her and your family in your prayers.

Not to be insensitive at all, but on a much lighter note, the hub had his first physical therapy session today. Luckily we knew who was doing his PT, so that made a big difference. It was sobering to see how easily he was worn out from the session.



This is all a process and one that will take a good while. But it is all going to be worth it when he's finished. I am so proud of how dedicated he is to getting better and strong. The kids are proud of their daddy. I'm a lucky girl.
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Beads but no brains

I feel rather brain dead today. I am just so tired and can't seem to catch up. This is nothing unusual. Being almost too tired to sleep coupled with the fact that I ate a half a piece of wonderful chicken pot pie too much, I will be chewing the Tums all night. With the pleasure comes the pain...I understand that. Glurg. Before I turned pot pie glutton, I went to a Bead for Life party at church. If you don't know about this organization, I urge you to visit their website www.beadforlife.org to read all about them. Jenny the elf(that's me) found some treasures for Christmas gifts. G bought her sister's Christmas gift. It was a successful evening, I suppose. Knocked some items off my list and helped some African women. Nice.

Funny of the week so far. We were all talking food the other day. It was mentioned that my parents' neighbor hates tomatoes. This was a criminal offense according to the boy who loves tomatoes of any kind. He knows the rule in our house is you can't hate a person, you can strongly dislike them. He said, "I think I would have to hate her in a food kind of way because of how she talks about tomatoes....but I won't hate her in a human kind of way. I need to be nice." HAHAHAHAHA!!! That kid is too much.


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Sweet blessings in the midst of the storms

There is such sadness and worry in this world and, during the holidays, it all seems to magnify...or maybe we just all pay a little bit more attention during this time. Either way, we need to count our blessings and I am the biggest "forgetter" of that concept.

One of the boy's friends has been on his mind a lot recently. I have told you all about our friend, L, and the challenges her sweet baby has faced and is facing. He has warriored through and defied all the statistics thrown at him so far, but he is constantly on our minds and in our hearts. The boy misses his buddy and worries his mom and for his brother's health. Kids are so very black and white in their understanding, which can be both a blessing and a curse. But their beliefs are so pure, we could all take a lesson. Side story that will relate in a minute, we have a close family friend who has made several journeys to Sudan for mission trips. Every time he goes, he brings the kids souvenirs. Newly minted money from the new Sudan, handmade necklaces for the girls and this for the boy:



A hand carved angel, so sweet. Every night since he learned of the baby's troubles, he has very specifically prayed for his problems to be healed. When he learned of his daddy's surgery, of our friend's cancer, of Mr. B's brain tumor, of Mr. T's friend passing away, he grabs his angel and holds it tight. That angel has heard some pretty heavy prayers as his companion. I am so humbled by his faith. I learn something from him every day.




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A month until Christmas...oh my

Someone kindly freaked my freak out this morning when they announced that it was one month until Christmas. One month?!?! Truth be told, I am much farther along on my Christmas preparations than usual. Because the hub is unable to lift or reach or bend for fear of hurting himself, I have taken up the offers any person kind enough to help. We got the tree up and fashioned our one tiny moment of Griswold up in the form of white lights in a Dogwood. Hoop-de-doo. I made excellent progress on Black Friday and made no unnecessary purchases. The excitement builds, as does the stress, but am I building the right kind of excitement? Is my excitement in the form of gifts and giving and holiday treats and parties? Or is the excitement building for the arrival of the King? The realization that the Christ child is coming. There are elements of both, for sure. But I hope as the days come and go, the promise of the baby will far outweigh that of a gift card or a pair of rag wool socks. We are so blessed and do not need a thing. I just pray my excitement will not be misplaced. But I will admit that a two day long Twilight Zone marathon pajama,party would be an excellent gift. Just sayin'.


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Hackcoughcoughhackcoughsneeze

I think the closeness that comes with illness and surgical patients has finally started to wear on all of us in Plagued Abbey over here. When the hub happily stands outside in 32 degree weather to chat with the cable guy and the kids eagerly volunteer to go soap and Christmas light shopping, you have to be suspicious that the end is near. These poor children have coughed quite a bit today, the boy being the worst with his cough induced vomiting. Sigh. Yes again. They have been peppier with periods of pure spunk, followed by periods of great lethargy. They even were released long enough to help pick out a Christmas tree. We normally don't tree up this early, but I had built in help and took advantage. I forgot to take pictures today, but I will tomorrow. It is awfully beautiful. Fat and full and fir-filled deliciousness. Just have to be diligent about watering or we'll have a tall indoor torch for the holidays.

I joke, somewhat, about the strife and tension in the house. It has been a difficult time, a big adjustment period. But we have grown stronger in the appreciation for each others' roles within the family structure. We have worked together and grown in kindness and caring. The kids have been troopers, even during sickness and frustration. I am truly blessed. Truly.


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