The first bouquet of spring of one of my favorite flowers.

Making a dam

Josh has watched a few shows about beavers.  He decided to make himself a little dam.

He said he was too busy to look up.

Afterwards he got a hose shower outside and a tub bath inside.

The Passion of the Christ

Last night we took Ellie to a small outside re-enactment of Jesus' last week.  It reminded me of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."  After the kids were in bed, I put it on.  I have seen it once, back when it came out in February 2004.  When I wasn't a mother yet.

I watched up to the part when Pilate washed his hands, claiming innocence.  I expected to be affected, knowing my sin and seeing Jesus sacrifice.  And I was.

I did not expect to relate to Mary, watching her son be accused, mocked, beaten, tortured.  She knew it was coming.  She knew her son would die, and that she could not do anything to help him.  And I believe that even knowing what was to happen, knowing the long ago words of Simeon, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed - and a sword shall pierce even your own soul - to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed," that she was not ready for that sword.  Who would be prepared ?

The anguish this mother had for her son, I was not prepared to feel.  I have been taught about, read through, and seen re-enactments of the torture and sacrifice of Jesus.  But  before last night I never really saw it from a mother's point of view. 

It was hard.  I thought of my children.  Of the pain I'd feel if anything happened to them.

But of course the movie is more than what we think or feel about it.  Christ hurt.  He bled.  He died.  Jesus brought redemption.  For us.  And seeing it adds to it's meaning.  At least for me it does.

Update

My mama is doing very well using her new computer. They took it with them to visit my brother and his family. And watched a DVD on flight.

She can easily check email and use the internet. Just don't get too fancy on her. We should Skype with them and see if she can figure that out.

Then we would get to see Matt, Claire, and the kids, too. Hint, hint, hint.

7 days . . . and counting

When will it end? Last night I finally got a full night's rest. No calls of "Mommy!" No near inconsolable crying.

But the day time. Oh the day time. Josh has been beside himself for five days and Ellie was sick two days prior to that.

For five days, I've had a very unhappy kid around. And besides the fever and sore throat, Josh has at least 3 mouth ulcers, that make eating very hard for him. There isn't much that doesn't hurt him to eat. And he lets you know if it hurts. Loudly and frantically.

When Ellie had the sore throat, just keeping her well supplied with throat drops was good enough. Josh is a different story.

First it was just a sore throat. Then he got mouth sores. So it hurt to eat and swallow. Guess how that went at meal times.

Today, finally the sore throat is gone. But the ulcers still remain. Ambesol works well enough (when you have it around,) but don't let it touch his tongue.

And apparently it hurts to move his mouth in general, because he has been talking as though his teeth are wired shut and his lips don't work. And as you know, he is hard to understand anyway. It makes for some frustrating conversations. Which usually leads to some yelling.

Let's just say I've had many, many opportunities to practice my patience. I've done better than I thought I could. Certainly not on my strength.

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him.
~Psalm 28:7

Lesson

My sister recently gave my parents a laptop computer, a MacBook. My mom is tickled pink. My dad already refers to it as her computer.

Tonight is lesson one for my mother. She wants to be able to check email and access Facebook. Those are her goals for tonight.

She has her handy notebook to jot down things to remember, which is everything and anything.

She absolutely loves this photo of her, poor photography notwithstanding.

We got the internet thing working, Facebook and her favorite blogs, but we were not successful with email. Mainly because I know practically nothing about Macs.

First Days

Both Ellie's and Gary's first days went well.

Ellie
We toured the elementary school before she started. It looks a whole lot different from when I went there. Though she just may well sit in the same seats I did at lunch. Those chairs and tables are indestructible.

Her teacher is the same teacher my brother had. She went willingly to class after we got the principal to take her, since she didn't remember where to go.

It takes about 5 minutes to walk her to school. I remember it taking a lot longer. When we picked her up the first day, she hugged her teacher before she left. I have enjoyed walking to take and get her from school. She enjoys walking with the girls across the street more than with me.

Gary
Gary's first week has gone well. He has his own office, complete with an actual desk, a drafting table, bookshelves, a closet, and a bathroom. He has to dress nicer, which means more ironing for me. He likes it so far. This new place is much more organized and has a better atmosphere.
He has a longer commute, even though it's about the same distance away, since there are about a million more cars on the road.

Hunter

Last November Hunter was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was very far along and had probably spread there from somewhere else.

Pain medication has tremendously helped him live as long as he has. Without it, he could hardly move around. With it, he was almost like his old self.

But within the last two weeks or so, his coughing and breathing and walking around have declined steadily, even with the meds. And he has been eating less and less.

Yesterday we decided it was time.

We will miss you, Hunter dog.

12 years

It's been twelve years since I last lived at my parents' house. Then I was one. Now I am four. Adding four people to a household at one time is a lot. The kids have their own room. It is good for the kids to have their own space, even though they still like to hang out together.

Moving us in is a work in progress. Mom and Dad still have to make room for some of our stuff and go through some of their stuff. And we are putting some of it in storage, but we are waiting to rent the space until we move things from the storage space at the cabin. So there is stuff everywhere and at times, it's overwhelming. But I think that in two weeks, most things will be in their place and the house will feel better.

We truly appreciate my parents letting us stay here. Thank you Mom and Dad!

Lasts

Yesterday was my last day of work.

Today was our last day at church here.

This is the last week of school for the kids at EverGreen Elementary. And Josh's last week of pre-K, since North Penn school district does not have pre-K, so he's almost done for the year.

Gary's last week of staying home.

Our last week of doing endless dishes and living in cramped quarters.

Our last week of cozy fires and peaceful woods.

Much provisions

We were at Gary's dad's house this weekend. Here are Ellie and Josh enjoying the pool last summer. I can't find a winter photo.

The men went to the car show on Saturday, while the children and women stayed home. The kids were in their PJs from Friday night to Sunday morning. Ellie set up an office in our bedroom. She played the doctor (psychologist) and Gary and I were her patients. She kept detailed notes on our answers to her questions. Josh played with trains and watched Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Judy and I went shopping Sunday afternoon. Then before we left, she went through her cupboards and found us five bags of groceries. Very generous.

We forgot to bring home two very important things: a Christmas present that we missed, a pretzel maker, and my birthday present, a device to stream Netflix on the TV. I sure do like my Netflix.

Here we go again

Gary is no longer employed. They told him it wasn't working out. He packed up and came home. Honestly, I am glad he isn't working there anymore. It was not a healthy working environment.

Gary is honest, trustworthy, diligent, and dependable. Somehow these qualities didn't work for them. He is also a capable engineer, who has attention to detail, knows his abilities and what he can improve upon. Again, these qualities didn't work for them.

Gary is an asset to any company.

While visiting my parents, I've come across old photos.




Aren't we just adorable, my brother and sister and me?












Jess and me, around 1987. Aren't we fetching?

My paternal grandfather, in 6th grade.

The blankie

Last week I cut up Josh's blankies. I cut off the nasty parts where he has gnawed holes, as you can see in the first photo, and sewed the raw edge.

In this next exhibit, you can see a full sized gnawed blankie and a cut down one. Quite a bit smaller.


I forgot to clean up the evidence before I picked him up from the bus stop. He found it and demanded I put it back on and got further upset when I explained I couldn't and that it needed to be done.

He has since accepted the inevitable and holds tight to the one I didn't get to yet.

We finally bought wood! I was excited. We bought almost two cords of logs for the price of one cord split. But . . .

But . . . (and all you seasoned firewood buyers probably already know this) . . . but even though this wood has been sitting around for over a year, being still logs, it isn't really seasoned yet. It's still green in the middle.

In trying to buy wood for this year, we ended up buying wood for next year and still need wood for this year. But since we did pay off the car this month and now currently have no debt (except for my student loan which refuses to go away,) we can't do anything about wood until February.

Maybe we can scrape something together from my paychecks.

Better

Three days later and my rib barely hurts, except for when I cough and sneeze. And I am not taking any pain meds anymore.

Ellie has been having better control with her emotions. Her fits have been less frequent with a shorter duration. We are trying to handle emotions differently and using better tools.

Unfortunately the house has not grown while we weren't looking, but I am thankful we have been able to live here. We are one payment away, which is planned to be paid this month, from our goal of paying things off while we lived here. It took longer than we wanted, but we made it.

And just in time for the Subaru to have some expensive worked done. Eventually, we will get to start saving again.

The LORD Praised for His Goodness.

¹ Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the assembly.
² Great are the works of the LORD;
They are studied by all who delight in them.
³ Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
⁴ He has made His wonders to be remembered;
The LORD is gracious and compassionate.
⁵ He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will remember His covenant forever.
⁶ He has made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.

⁷ The works of His hands are truth and justice;
All His precepts are sure.
⁸ They are upheld forever and ever;
They are performed in truth and uprightness.
⁹ He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name.
¹⁰ The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
A good understanding have all those who do His commandments;
His praise endures forever.

~Psalm 111

A Pain

Spent the morning at the ER today. Nearly two weeks have gone by without much respite from the pain in one rib. This morning it was the worst it's been. We packed up the kids and headed to the hospital instead of church.

Although I was the only patient in the waiting room, I had to wait. When I was called back, they asked questions, took x-rays and asked more questions and there was ore waiting. Much more waiting.

X-rays were negative, I was given one pill there and a prescription for Vicodin and sent home, with directions to check in with my family doctor later this week.

I laid on the couch napping with a war compress on my ribs, waiting to take the Vicodin. I woke around 4:00, took my pill and drove to work. Two hours after taking the Vicodin, I felt no better. I came home and asked Gary to clean the other bank for me. I took three ibuprofen and laid down on the couch again with a warm compress.

That worked and I felt better enough to finish cleaning.

I guess warm compresses, ibuprofen and couch time is what I need.

Outdoor Hockey

Gary and I were invited to an outdoor minor league hockey team that played at the Phillies stadium. We drove down to my parents', dropped off the kids, met up with friends and enjoyed a night out.

Compared to a baseball field, a hockey rink is tiny. We had premium seats too. Gary and I were thinking we should get Phillies tickets in the Hall of Fame club section, but they are too expensive. Minor league hockey is cheaper.

Pictures will follow.

And more time

My sister will fly back to California on Friday. She decided to take some time and come up with my mom to visit us a little more before she left. This photo is the last time she was here, in August 2010.

But this time we won't fill our days with shopping, just staying home with a fire blazing. To accomplish that last part, I just may need to scrounge around the woods for some logs. We are very low on wood and waiting on Gary's extra paycheck to buy more.

Tonight my mom went with me to work. It should have gone faster than it did since she was with me and I just cleaned last night. But since it also snowed last night, the bank floors were a mess. And the new vacuum is not as efficient at sucking up the dirt. I find myself re-vacuuming areas. Very annoying. But no one consulted me on vacuum options.

Time with family

For our Christmas break, we traveled to Gary's dad's house for Christmas weekend. During which we saw his mom Christmas day. We then went to stay at my parents' house Tuesday until today.

A lot of visiting, a lot of busyness. Of the 8 days we had with family, only one was a day we didn't have plans to go anywhere and just stayed at "home" and relaxed. Our days were mostly filled with visiting with various family members and friends, shopping and a little present opening.

My sister and I went shopping and she bought me my birthday present early (black dress boots and flats,) instead of sending me something from California later. And I bought myself some new skirts to go with the dress boots. Now I am stylin'. At least with a few very cute outfits. Perhaps I'll post some photos of me sporting my new duds sometime.

Yesterday, we took our yearly train ride to the city to see the Christmas Light Show and Dickens Village. The kids never seem to tire at seeing the trains.