Us

Happy Thanksgiving!

(a little late)

Wow! What a day! After a crash and burn morning, I got to the church at 11 to decorate for our family Thanksgiving.

My grandma and I "hosted" the entire family on my mom's side. It was so nice to see ALL the cousins there at one time. You know, the older everyone gets, the less likely it becomes that you will get everyone in one place.

There 37 of us total. Grandma cooked all the turkey, stuffing and potatoes and gravy. Each family was assigned a dish, or food group, to bring for everyone. I think it worked out well.

There was plenty to eat, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Grandma brought games, we sang a couple of songs, and my brother Stephen gave a short devotional on "In everything give thanks".

Fast forward to about 6pm: We had just landed at home when Jesse's screams pierced thru our basement dwelling. We didn't jump up right away, because each of our kids tend to be over dramatic, but Homer's, "Come quick! There's blood all over!" got us hopping.

Long story short, Jesse's forehead connected with a dresser corner, and as with any head wound it looked like he was an actor in a horror flick. He literally had blood covering most of his face and dripping off his chin.

We got him to a sink, found the wound, and decided stitches were needed. I thought I could go it alone, so I took off with Jesse, now settled, with a wet towel and ice pack on his head. (Marlene was already cleaning the trail he'd left on the floor. Bless her heart!)

I did say this was the short version didn't I?!! Well, urgent care wasn't open, I missed the hospital exit, and ER was terribly slow. I have had times I've taken a kid in with a head wound but it had healed too much already and they just sent us home. I REALLY didn't want that to happen after I had driven all that way.

By the by, Jesse was totally calm and chatting the whole time. The bleeding had pretty much stopped. He started to get quiet when the nurse came in with a big blanket to "ca coon" him, and he outright refused to answer if it was numb or not after them began.

It took 3 of us to hold him still, he's the wormiest of my 5, and they poked him 8 times to anaesthetise the area. This started the bleeding again BIG time, and he still only tolerated one of the two stitches they gave him. He screamed and fought the whole way thru the second stitch. ( note to self, Don HAS to deal with Jesse and stitches. I was almost ready to bawl myself.)

He glared at the lot of us after it was all done, and wouldn't even pick out what color band aid he wanted. He did shake his head when I picked orange. So he ended up with yellow.

Jesse was promised ice cream when it was all done. Of course everyone is closed for Thanksgiving, but we did find a gas station and bought some ice cream bars for all. Jesse has been doing great ever since.

Oh! And I found the Mint M&Ms at the gas station. All's well that ends well!

P.S.

I have a bunch of pictures I want to post, but the camera's battery is dead, and like pretty much everything else around here, I can't find it!

We are back online!!!! So, I am now re-connected with the WWW, and my local phone #. I will however be gone all day tomorrow with the kids to Pizza Hut and on a much needed shopping trip. So you will still have to call my cell phone!

We Are....

still packing

loving our new nephew

thankful for all the help with kids, food, packing

visiting the chiropractor frequently

taking meds for shoulder problems

completely overwhelmed

carried by God and the prayers of friends and family

We Are Not...

Quite moved in yet

pain free

(I) able to lift boxes, or anything for that matter

hooked up with a phone or Internet inside the house

getting things done at OUR house

Too Much...

Too much to do. Too much to post. Too much to comprehend. So little time!

• My most recent chance at a niece up and decided to grow "external plumbing". I can't wait to meet Benjamin David!
• Today is the 18th anniversary of my Granny's death.
• Last night was our first in our house.
• So much clutter left to pack and clean here at the rental.
• Phone will switch locations, same #, but the phone line wont be run in the house until tonight at the earliest.
• The FLT Weekend to Remember was great! So many prayers answered. So much spiritual attack. So many marriages strengthened. So many realities to head back into at each home. Another in our area this coming weekend.
• Nerve getting rubbed on in my neck

Is It Murphy, or Is It God?

• I need to pack for our move.
• I need to pack for our Weekend to Remember
• One sister in law has a birthday tomorrow
• The other is fully pregant and has a baby wanting a birthday ASAP.
• I am falling prey to a sinus infection and can't even get up to heat my own rice pack....

Contained

Those who know me best, know well that my house is never exactly "clean". At most, after hours of sorting, cleaning, and picking up, my house is contained.

This is the case today and I am glad. We haven't even been able to boast containment for quite some time. Even better is the fact that I can say BOTH houses are "contained".

I have a new friend who has NO junk drawers in her house. "Sigh" It must be nice! EVERY drawer in my house is a junk drawer!

Don't get me wrong, I do try to keep up with the germ removal type cleaning. I'm just not one to make a place for everything. Well... I may be that person, I'm just NOT the person to actually GET it to it's place.

After literally weeks of sorting and packing most of the house is ready for our move, and I am actually able to see floors, tables, counter tops and the like.

The small "island" in our kitchen/dining room is another story all together. I HATE PAPER!!! This his where every thing lands: keys, school papers, receipts, bills, Kleenex, articles I am sure I will have time to read later.

I think I am going to need another day of cleaning just for filing papers!

There is the basement to pack and clean too.... I shudder at the thought.....Pray for the rapture!

Today I...

• spent the day with my family at OUR house
• cooked a meal at OUR house (Chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese)
• took a nap in my chair at OUR house
• watched a movie, read a book, and played games with the kids at OUR house
• learned to solder copper pipes
• soldered pipes needed to hook up the water inside OUR house
• wished I had brought a tee shirt because it was so warm inside OUR house
• Praise God He is beside me no matter where I am

There is still an overwhelming list of things needing to be accomplished. I can't wait to see the pole barn finished and trim and siding on the house! It could be a way off yet. I'm struggling with that. There are just so many other things needing to come first.

Two of my brothers blessed us by helping Friday night and Saturday. Don's boss continues to plug away at the electrical.

I found the boot tub, but so had the mice. They used it for a home for quite some time. I am not sure how to ( or if I have the stomach to) clean them up, they smell REALLY bad!

Who Ordered The Snow?!!!

Unlike others, I am not thrilled. Don got in after 1AM, so we didn't get up until the kid's alarm clocks sounded. My first clue it had snowed was Jon's sharp intake of breath, and exclaiming, "Cool!" as I heard him pass the hall window.

My to do list is now set for me.

• Go to property
• Dig into the farthest corner of the small storage room
• Find boots tub
• Find hats and gloves tub
• Find snow pants tub
• Take them to school

I do actually enjoy the ambiance of snow. I was just really praying for another mid 60s for the next 8 days.

Don did get the heat going last night! I won't be freezing while I search!

Between cutting lumber (smells like cutting down a Christmas tree) Starting the wood stove (smells cozy) and the snow, I'm having a hard time keeping in the Grinch spirit!

Bring on the peppermint coffee!!

P.P.S
The markers on the scale are only placed by the kids who can't leave it alone. They do not reflect actually weights around this house. 2 of the 4 I could live with....

Opps! I Did It Again!

It seems the time has come, once again, to inventory and clean out my purse. 10 pounds seems a bit much to be lugging around for all the various errands I do these days.

This uneven weight lifting routine is so not good for my neck and shoulders! In fact last winter I bought a cute, small, red purse hoping it would help with my trend to carry around a purse weighing as much as one of my babies!


No deal. I ended up carrying both, at least as far as the car, but then I would end up lacking something (i.e. Coupons) I needed from "The BIG purse".

I would note that while I was thrilled to not need to carry a diaper bag after 6+ years, I had grown quite accustomed to having the extra space. (Generally my purse was just tucked inside the diaper bag) So, with the advent of highly fashionable, and quite bulky purses/ totes, what ever you want to call them, I just ended up just transitioning into a nicer looking, possibly larger, bag.

Even before my life took on the varied responsibilities of shopping for our building project, I found unusual things being carried in my "black abyss". I must confess: One time I even LOST a library book in this bag!


In the spirit of a true blogger, I have photographed and will share with you the contents of my fat friend, who has by the way held up quite well under the abuse! (now that all the stuff is out of my purse it looks like a post 5th pregnancy belly. Not that I know what that looks like...) This picture is AFTER I threw away all the garbage.

• Bible
• Wallet
• Apple
• Notebook/ shopping list
• List from Electrician (A.K.A. Don's boss)
• Money!!! I do have some!!! Do you see it?!!
• Receipts.... that I have to save for reimbursement...I hate paper!!!
• I guess there is a little garbage. There were 3 York Peppermint Patty wrappers
• Anybody want to take a stab at the rest of the contents?

I'd really better get going. My mom has Jesse so I can get a bunch of packing done. I'll show you pictures later.

P.S. I thought I'd better check on the song before I used it's title for my own, so I went to YouTube to check on "Little Miss Mickey Mouse". (Britney Spears) The song was pretty stupid and her voice was grating. I guess we all know that wasn't really her appeal, but even though a line in the song states, "I'm really not that innocent", I was stunned to see what the past 10 years has done to her. There was such a freshness to her, though she was trying so desperately to be "bad". I pray for our "stars". Their lives are not their own, and we think they have it all, but in reality "His All" is hard for them to find in all the trappings.

THIS

PLUS THIS...

PLUS THIS....
REQUIRES....


Images courtesy of Google Images

T-14 Days, For Now

I am sure there are those out there who get annoyed with our lives being so fluid right now, but honestly, it's the best way to be with so many demands and changes popping up unexpectedly.

Don and I were actually able to communicate Friday morning. With his parents here our lives kind of ran on parallel tracks for 12 days. No complaints! It was super and a huge relief to both of us to be getting so much accomplished.

I digress, We talked Friday morning and decided our "official move" would be best postponed until after our trip to the Family Life "Weekend to Remember" November 14th -16th.

My sister and a college friend are going to be keeping track of our gang while we are gone. While things would be moved by that time. There would be very little settled. We'll hang tight a little longer.

This is not to say that each day find a new level of "moving" accomplished. Today I finally buttoned up some packing in our rental living room, and I also re assembled our refrigerator at the property and set up a microwave out there as well. It is so much handier to have food storage and warming capabilities!! I just wish I had thought to buy more milk to store out there. I can never buy more than 2 gallons at a time, and with the local grocery store closed, AND with our consuming almost 1 gallon per day....

Saturday I was planning to paint siding. It has been unseasonably warm here and we are grateful!! It ended up that there were so many other things pressing to be done. I was disappointed, but we did get Don's shop floor found! It had so much scrap lumber laying around you could hardly walk thru.

Homer, Jon and I moved most of it to the top of Don's shop. (A.K.A. The He Man Woman Haters Club) This name is due only for it's resemblance to the scrapped together fort on "The Little Rascals".

God blessed our hearts this weekend with lots of help physically and also thru worship with our church family.

My dad, Marc and Aaron helped Saturday, as well as a Rob Swailes from church. My friends Trisha and Michelle each helped with kids. I get so much more done when I do not have to settle petty squabbles! My mom had Jon Friday night. That helped and made his day!

We are blessed. We are settled. We are waiting. Funny, that was pastors messages Sunday morning and evening.