Virus

Well, I just finished rocking Little Man back to sleep, after cleaning him and his bed. Second child to get sick in less than 24 hours. I think we have a virus in the house. He managed to vomit straight down onto his bed so it was much easier to clean up. Rocking him to sleep was incredibly sweet. I rocked and listened to his lullaby music and kissed him and remembered....."pondering all these things in my heart". It was a precious ending to this day of remembering (minus the vomit of course!).

Wild Times, Precious Times

Remember this?

March 17, 2009?


This is what we woke up to on April 6, 2009!

Just the typical wild spring weather in our state! I am happy to say that 2 days later the snow is nearly gone and the sun is shining. And I think the tips of my daffodils and crocuses are none the worse for wear.

In other wild news, we learned an important piece of information about bunkbeds last night. They are incredible platforms from which to projectile vomit. And when this happens during the night, the person on the lower bunk really wants to be sleeping near the wall, which thankfully he was, because..... you know, not all the vomit projectiles away from the bunkbeds. My husband and I both worked hard for an hour to clean it all up, while the sick boy (son L) dozed on the bathroom floor next to the toilet, and the bottom bunk boy (son C) slept soundly in our bed, albeit without his special quilt which made it on the fast track to the laundry. Even as I was scrubbing and wiping, a part of me was admiring what young, strong abdominal muscles are capable of! (I had sortof forgotton since mine are post-pregnancy, post-delivery, not-young, not-strong abdominal muscles). L is a little lethargic today so he has been taking it easy, but does not seem sick-sick (as opposed to just sick). We're not sure if he really has a virus or if it was a fluke. He has been hungry, and most importantly has been keeping all his food down, so we're grateful for that. Wild!

Daughter G and I had another precious tea time last night. She said she'd get everything ready "except for boiling the water", and when I came downstairs from kissing her brothers goodnight, this is what I found:



She had cut slices of bread into triangles, found a couple cookies and some strawberries, and arranged not only the tray but the entire room into a thing of beauty! I love her sense of beauty and style. We had a wonderful conversation, talking alot about various careers she could pursue after college. She wants to be a stay at home mom someday, but she wants to work at something first (just like her mama wanted!). We talked about her strengths and what her spiritual gifts might be. She is such a joy to my heart. Thank you, Lord, for the relationship G and I have. Please protect it and help us to do those things which will nurture it during the teen years that are just ahead.

Another precious and sweet moment happened this afternoon. We dropped G off at her horse riding lesson, leaving the sick boy at home with daddy, and the other 3 boys and I went to visit the grave of the baby we lost who would be turning 5 now. At the time we were not sure of the gender, but we imagined him to be a boy and named him Benjamin Peter. The boys and I sat and talked about Benjamin, and about what sometimes goes wrong when babies are growing in their mother's wombs, and about heaven. The boys sang happy birthday to their brother! Little Man, who was not old enough to remember the last time we visited Benjamin's grave, cried and cried. It was very touching and sweet.



As we drove away, son G told me, "Every time I visit a cemetery I always feel closer to God and to the people who died before us."

Lord, thank you that You have a plan and a purpose for every life, no matter how long or short they live. Thank you that each life touches so many others, often in ways we cannot see or understand. Thank you for the five healthy children You've blessed us with! Help us to raise them well, telling them of You and Your faithfulness, and showing them Your love. There is so much in life I do not understand, but I know that You ARE, that You are GOOD, and that You are in CONTROL. Thank you that no heartache will go unredeemed. I love you, Lord.

New Song

Run, don't walk, to Angie's blog and listen to this amazing new song by Selah that will be on her blog only until tomorrow! It is from an unreleased album and she received special permission to have it on her blog for 3 days only. If you have ever made a poor choice and suffered the consequences, or had a bitter disappointment, or experienced loss, or wondered how God could make good come out of a bad situation, this song will bless you. Angie and her husband Todd (one of the Selah singers) are today observing what would have been the one year birthday of their sweet daughter Audrey who lived for 2 1/2 hours before going home to heaven. Their journey of faith through their pain has been such an encouragement to so many. As you can imagine this song carries deep meaning for them.

Coincidentally (or not) tomorrow would have been the 5th birthday of a sweet baby we lost before he was born. If he had lived, we probably would not have our Little Man. I still miss not having the opportunity to know who our baby would have been, but I am also deeply grateful for the privilege of knowing and raising Little Man. So many mixed emotions. I listened to the new Selah song this morning and was very blessed. I know you will be too!

Funny Video

One of our daughter's friends sent her this video of homeschool dad and comedian, Tim Hawkins, doing a song we had not heard/seen before. It's pretty funny! The children asked to see it over and over. And so you know what's happening now......we are hearing phrases from this song sung over and over! (who says children can't memorize quickly?) We hope you enjoy it!

Huge Blessing!!

Several months ago, about the time my husband got laid off, his car developed a serious oil leak. Very serious. He would have to stop after every 15 minutes of driving to add another quart of oil. He went to his old office for something, about a 30 minute drive away, and it cost him $14 in oil!!

He took his car to a friend who used to be a mechanic, who poked around and said it was too serious of a leak for him to fix. He told us it would cost about $500 at a shop. We parked the car in our driveway and planned to get it fixed after we got our federal income tax refund. Since then we have been sharing the van. My husband has been using it 3 days a week to go to his part time job, and I have had it the other two days.

Last week the father of another friend offered to take a look at it. He operates a car repair ministry out of his garage, fixing vehicles for the cost of parts only. He's got the whole set up to do just about anything in there! He even gave us a loaner vehicle to use in the meantime, which came in very handy on the day that I had to go to the Dr on the same day that my husband was at his job. Our friend's father determined that it was the cam shaft seal, a part that is very cheap to replace but extremely hard to get to (read that: labor would be very expensive!). Then, not only did he fix it for us, he even refused payment for the part!!!

Thank you, Ed. God has blessed us tremendously through you. He is so good!

Horseback Riding Lessons!

This is "Sinatra" ~ a gentle, non-frisky horse that our daughter will get to know well in the next 8 weeks. Today she began two months of horse riding lessons! The lessons were our Christmas gift to her and I'm SO thankful we were able to plan for this before my husband lost his job. She has been so excited for this day, and it made me happy that we could give this to her.

The lessons are one hour each week, but she has to come half an hour early to "tack" the horse, and stay half an hour afterward to "un-tack" the horse, so in essence they are 2 hours. Here she is at the beginning of tacking (cleaning the horse and getting him ready to ride).


She was concentrating so hard while riding that she never looked up for my camera! All other times that she has ridden a horse she has been led by a handler, so even a slow walk was a new experience as she had the freedom to turn and go any direction. She really learned alot today about how to direct a horse. By the end of the lesson she was even allowed to trot! She is in an afternoon class with 2 other homeschooled girls (sisters) who are just lovely and sweet as can be, and who LOVE horses and who have already had 16 lessons. So G is very motivated to "catch up".


Unfortunately, we discovered today that she is either allergic to horses, or to hay. From now on she will need to take an allergy tablet before class, and I'm praying that will do the trick. Otherwise it's going to be a very uncomfortable 7 more weeks for her.

Overheard....

Six year old C has been working on memorizing Psalm 23 as one of his Awana Sparks requirements. We often practice at the table during meals. You may recall that part of it says, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

Tonight at the dinner table, Little Man just randomly said, "God has lots of names, and one of them is sake!"