She's Gonna Make Me Cry!

Tonite I realized that I was hearing the songs of the Spring Program. Hope and Joe were comparing notes on songs. (pun intended) Gone are the days that the school program songs are a surprise when I get to the actual event. This year though they are singing some of the songs that have made me cry over the years.

One is Prayer of the Children  our high school Gospel Team sang that song the year we were waiting on Joseph, it brought tears every time.

The other song is Orphans Of God if you listen to that one, you know I will be having trouble with that one too.

They sing a great Go Light Your World  guess I just have to stuff my pockets with tissues.



Oh and happy birthday Joe! We ate Chinese food for supper, went to McD's for ice cream (his choice). His gifts were re-stock of school supplies and the computer game MineCraft.

Quote of the day: While riding home from school, we were listening to classical music Hope says, " I know this song, it's from Veggie Tales."

Babysitting

                                  With Aunt Shekinah on the job, Parker didn't have a chance of getting bored!
                              She was irritated that he slept for 3 hours and she barely took a 1/2 hr nap so
                                  as not to miss a minute of awake time..... How do mothers get anything done
                                      when there are cute little cuddly babies to hold?

                                   I had baking that had to be started, so with lots of observation I managed
                                 to pull together some pie crust.....

                            Then just because they were so cute and I saw them on Pinterest the other day....I just had to try these   my shoulder/neck allows me to sew, but not too much computer, guess where most of my work was going to be this week?

For My Southern Friends

                          This is the yard you blithely ran through with your cowboy boots and clogs....

                                 We didn't even grace the yard with a snowman, my children are sort of
                                    "bored" with snow.

                                     The tunnel to the front door, I hope we don't have any big UPS deliveries
                                 in the near future...hmm, I ordered knitting needles and a model rocket on Saturday
                                   night, wonder if the snow will melt before they deliver them.

                                      The picnic table is almost buried as is the fire pit.

                                      Here Hope models the depth of the snow for you.

                                            And Faith just needed to be included.


                                         Now a prayer request, I have a pinched nerve in my neck, it is making
                    everything difficult. According to my research 90% of pinched nerves just get better with
                     time and OTC meds. My doctor ordered me to add therapy 3 times a week.  I am really
                     hoping that the pain and numbness goes away that much more quickly.  This mama
                        has things to do. Those knitting needles? I ordered a book too, cause Hope told me,
                   in a fit of jealousy last week, that  I never do anything with just her and I ALWAYS pay so much attention to the others....yada, yada, but in a way it is true, so you think if we "schedule" knitting
                  classes on Saturday afternoons for an hour a week....can we teach ourselves to knit?
                     socks?
                    or will we just get frustrated and go to Wal*mart?

                  Maybe we should just crochet?   Stay tuned....

Snow Day # 10?

No it probably isn't #10, but close. when the school administrator ends his cancellation message, 

a slightly sarcastic? hysterical? "enjoy the snow day" you know it's been a long winter.

The girls did their gold fish packs that we found on Pinterest.

       I didn't even get many pictures of the snow....we had about 10-11" and a bunch of rain, now more
             snow again.  I cut 3 dresses and one jumper for Faith. Then after lunch we decided to make
     the Valentine treats for tomorrow.   Joe decided he wanted to make chocolate covered marshmallows.
                                      He actually did very well following verbal instructions.

                                       Nothing for Pinterest, but they tell me they taste good.

      Then there was still chocolate left in the crock pot, so I mixed in a bunch of animal crackers.
         Still more chocolate? make ritz, peanut butter crackers.

                       The sticky buns were rising, then baked and managed to remain intact until after supper.

Then after we thought the snow was finished, it started again.

                     Wonder if the school administrators will be howling  tomorrow morning?

Patients or Patience?

Today I tried Shekinah's patience to the fullest. I scheduled three
appointments in the same day....not on purpose, but that is how it worked.
Joe needed to have an orthodontist appointment this week because last
week's got cancelled, so I made that for 2:30 in the afternoon.
I have been having trouble with my shoulder and after my fingers started
going numb, I decided it might be time to have a professional take a
look...appt time 9:30.
Then on Friday Faith came home from school and showed me her hurting
tooth...it had an abscess in the gum above the tooth. Of course this
past Saturday was the one that the Dentist was not in the office. So we
made that appointment for 11:15 .
It crossed my mind to keep Faith home from school this AM so that I
would surely have enough time to run to school and get her at 10:55 and
then to the dentist, but I hoped that this time the orthopedics office
would be running only 30 min behind schedule.

I went armed with snacks, arriving 15 minutes before my appointment,
filled out the appropriate paperwork and then we waited.....and
waited....and waited at 10:15 we were called back to the examining
room. After the nurse left, Shekinah started saying " come on!", "come
on!" It was all I could do not to help her.
at 10:35 I decided I would give 5 more minutes and then I would leave.
I'd put up with the pain for a number of weeks, I could probably handle
it another couple of days. Well the doctor showed up in the next 4
minutes. Decided to do x-rays, I told him I'm on a time crunch and they
actually got the x-rays and looked at them and had me out the door by
11:00. I had a diagnosis at least...pinched nerve at C5, C6, arthritis
in my neck and shoulder, therapy to follow oh and prednisone with
supposed side effects of increased appetite and irritability....that bit
of information is a post in itself....

So I skidded into the school drive at 11:20 and into the dentist parking
lot at 11:35. Thankfully the dentist's office was flexible and we were
out of there by 12 something with the little pink treasure chest in
hand. She did very well, but questioned me about the 'pinch' that the
dentist did in her mouth with "that thing that looks like a shot"...they
had her numbed up with topical antithetic so she really only did feel a
pinch.

At that point I really didn't feel like running her back to school and
then home only to turn around and get Joe for his orthodontist appt.
We went home for lunch and so the girls could argue over desk space and
crayons.
One wash load and a bowl of soup and we were out the door again. This
time a bit early so that Faith wouldn't miss quite so much of the day
and we got Joe to the orthodontist in decent time.

Of course tonite we had business meeting at church, we slid in the seats
one minute late and Joe forgot his coat and put on his shoes in the van.
Ben offered to hold Shekinah in church so that I didn't have to hang on
to her, it gave me about 15 min reprieve

Disappointments

Last Sunday afternoon, a family was to leave on a Make-A-Wish trip. A cruise that happens once a year...it's a special one where the boat is reserved by some gospel music groups and all the bars and casinos are closed for the trip...anyway the flight to Miami was cancelled...they missed the trip!
I wondered why God would allow that....He knew all the details.


Last night (a much more minor incident), we got everyone presentable and left to see a travel movie at a local high school. I even planned ahead and had Ezekiel look at the map before we left. I packed a book and a flashlight so I could read while we drove so that only one voice was reminding him to notice things. I am normally the driving instructor during the week and sitting in the back seat of the van on weekends when dad is along is .....umm, difficult.  So I thought we were all set. Just as we were getting on the access road for the highway and police car came wailing past us and swooped up the on-ramp. We hoped he was just chasing someone, but no, there was an accident about 1/2 mile from the on ramp and we sat in traffic for an hour. Needless to say, we missed the travelogue.

Again, why?  was God just testing our responses? Was He teaching our children a lesson? Was He simply giving Ezekiel needed driving experience? Was He keeping us from some other danger that we will never know about here on earth?

In the case of our young friend and his cruise, his doctors did discover some new things this week and they said it was probably better that he was home instead of on the high seas, far away from his doctors. In a few weeks, they plan -Lord willing- to go to a resort for his Make-A-Wish trip.

I try to tell my children to hold their plans loosely, but if I can't model that, they sure won't learn it.



A funny from this morning: The older 5 children were bragging comparing how fast they thought they could get dressed for church.....some one said they could get dressed in mere seconds....Shekinah was a little confused..." I don't get dressed in seconds, I get dressed in clothes!"



And I think I found the best Sunday lunch!  Waffles using the 'complete' mix, but add 1 TBSP vinegar and 1/2 TBSP yeast to the 2 cups mix, 1-1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup oil. ( I double it)

Then thicken canned peaches....just drain off the juice, mix some cornstarch with the juice, heat to thicken, then add the peaches back into the now thickened juice....serve waffles, peaches and whipped topping.....
I'm sure it's very healthy.
 I know these aren't waffles, but they are the pancakes I made using the same extra ingredients....fried in bacon fat....

This is what you do with the groceries before mom puts them away.

In Memory

Pardon my for reminiscing...this is also my journal

About 18 weeks ago, we received the unsettling news that not all was right with my SIL's pregnancy.
Terms like spina bifida, holes in the heart, frequent ultrasounds, and high risk pregnancy were used.
I hoped that the doctors were being ultra-cautious.
When they wanted you to be delivered early, we discussed the fact that all SIL's babies come at 42 weeks, sometimes 43, but NEVER 36 weeks...of course you were measuring small!
Then finally a date was decided upon and you entered the world ...unwillingly -all four pounds of you.
At first they tell me you didn't want to breathe, but then you did.
They gave you a long name...four names if you count your last name....one for each pound?
You had surgery in those first days to close your spine.
You amazed everyone by passing the "car-seat test".
At one week old, you were allowed to come home-- before Christmas, your mom missed the celebrations though...
She stayed home with you most of the time, feeding you every 2-3 hours,
Learning how to feed with an NG tube...another learning curve
We needed to hold you on a pillow so that you could breathe.
Your siblings gathered round and held you and loved you, sneezed on you and coughed...but you didn't catch those viruses.
For awhile we dared to hope that you would beat the odds and be one of those Trisomy 18 babies that lived a year or more...
Then you started having times of apnea....
Sleep was difficult for mom and dad.
Then one Saturday morning when you were almost seven weeks old, your daddy called and said "Amy went to be with Jesus"
We gathered and wept...
I can't imagine how hard the grief for parents and families who didn't have the warning we had.

Your daddy made the coffin, no plain wooden box for his little girl, it was fine work.
Your big sister made a little white dress for you.

Plans were made for the visitation and the funeral....God also planned a snow storm and an ice storm in the same week.
Your visitation was planned for Tuesday and your funeral for Wednesday afternoon...we had a snowstorm on Monday and an ice storm on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
When we arrived at the church for the funeral the trees were crying chunks of ice.
As far as I know, everyone was safe on the roads.

You rest in the same graveyard as your great-grandparents, but as we told the children, you aren't there, you are with Jesus.

Your little brother asks about you, as does your cousin Shekinah.  As the 11th child, you have lots of people missing you. We don't understand why God planned all this, but we will go on.

I will try to remember the lessons I learned....the love we saw poured out on your family....the people that came laden with food for the freezer or the next meal, the school lunches that were provided, the diaper rash ointment that was brought, the list would go on. I need to remember to do the same if I have the chance.

Another Snow Day

                            First though, a few pictures from Saturday afternoon. We had some guests...

                from the South, who consented to run around in our snow for a few minutes...

    until their cowboy boots and clogs were soaking wet....I did offer boots.  But boy, we enjoyed
          the company....so much that I forgot to take enough of pictures.

                         Then on to the snow day and snow ice cream....just go grab some WHITE snow

             pour sweetened condensed milk over the top and stir with a whisk....add chocolate syrup or any
                other ice cream toppings....don't over-do the  sweetened condensed...it's pretty sweet!

    Then my brilliant older sons (that would be son#2 and son #3) were told to go and clear the drive
     the snowblower didn't work out (long story) so they took the shovels....I was trying to put Shekinah
    down for a nap and soon Ben comes in and says, "we have a bit of a problem, there is the head of a huge
           snowman in the middle of the drive, must have been a giant."  Half the head is in the picture above.
They had decided that shoveling was just too boring and started rolling a snow ball from the top of our drive,
  about half way down "the head" got too big to roll and they needed to come in for help.
       Joe added his help and they were able to divert an accident (daddy coming in the drive and not noticing the snow ball).

   I really hope the weather forecast is wrong for tomorrow, my niece's visitation and funeral are scheduled for  Tuesday and Wednesday....more on that later.