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Monday, April 30, 2007

Who would have thunk?

Who would have ever thought jumping up and down on a trampoline could cause an injury? I'm not talking flips, twists, tricks--just jumping up and down!!! Yesterday's injury worsened overnight and here is what happened today:

Well, overnight, the pain increased and by this morning, it hurt pretty dang bad. I called my primary doctor to ask if I could go & have x-rays done when my husband came home from work (we only have one vehicle) and they said I had to go the ER asap because I could be damaging my knee by walking on it and it has almost been 24 hours since I injured it.

So, I had a friend from church bring her teenage daughter over to watch my kids & then she drove me to the ER. It was the first time I've ever left the baby with anyone other than my husband!!!

X-rays did not show any fractures, but the physician said I have blood in my knee joint and I have to go see an orthopedic specialist. Since he cannot be certain what is wrong, his guess is that I tore my medial collateral ligament. They put a knee brace on and sent me home with crutches. I've never used crutches in my life and they are NOT as easy as they look!

The funniest part is, they told me to stay off my feet as much as I can LOL...with 6 kids, that shouldn't be so hard should it?

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Praise the Lord for a SUNNY day!!!

Isn't it great? I just posted yesterday about the trend of gloomy, rainy days we've been having and this morning I woke up to a beautiful sunny day with blue skies! It is quite chilly out (that's ok because I LOVE chilly weather) but at least it looks terrific outside!

After church, I took one of the dogs for a walk (I would have taken 2 dogs, but I could only find 1 leash, sigh) and one of my son's decided to go with me and roller blade. He has gotten quite good at it too! We do not have a paved driveway, so it is always a treat when I allow them to go with me on a walk so they can use the side of the road.

After lunch, I was feeling um, how shall I say, not so old? LOL, I was having a youthful moment and decided to go on the trampoline with a couple of my kids. Well, the first 5 minutes were fine, but the 6th moment brought distress...on the way down from a jump, we all heard a series of snaps/cracks that came from my leg. :( BAM! My youthful moment was over (LOL). I do not know what happened, but from my knee to my ankle I felt several cracks throughout and it hurts from my knee down to my toes. I am able to walk on it, but that was the end of the trampoline for the day. Now I remember why I don't like exercise! ;)

Oh, do you know about Freecycle? I love Freecycle! We had a very old printer given to us but the person never gave us the cords that go with it, so I listed on it Freecycle and the person just picked it up. If you aren't familiar with Freecycle, click HERE to learn more about it...it is awesome and helps make the earth a better place! :)

Saturday, April 28, 2007

What a week!

I'm sorry for my absence--things have been so crazy around here lately!

Between school, chores, cleaning, organizing, and life in general, where else does the time go? There just never seems to be enough hours in any given day, does there?

My youngest (14 months old) has begun to only take ONE nap a day...poor me LOL. If I'm "lucky", he will take between 1-1 1/2 hour nap. He has never, ever taken more than 2 or 3 naps a day since he was maybe 2 months old or so. He was born with a congenital thyroid disorder (lingual thyroid), so he has needed to take Synthroid since he was a week old (praise the Lord that they found it so early!!!). Anyway, since taking Synthroid, his naps have only been between 15 minutes to maybe 1 hour long...EVER! I really miss the 2-3 hour naps my other kids used to take LOL. So, I try to get as much done as I can during his one and only nap...it is not easy either, as I always run out of time. ;)

Our weather was very beautiful early on in the week, so we all got a little "taste" of spring. The frogs (mainly the "peepers") and the toads have all been enjoying the warm weather as they sing their orchestra of music from about 3:00pm in the afternoon long into the night! We always comment on how LOUD they are. By mid-week, however, it turned gloomy/rainy and cold again. I don't mind the cold (I actually LOVE cold weather) but I get really sick and tired of the gloomy, gray sky and all the wetness/muddiness outside. :( I love the sun and the beautiful blue skies but we don't seem to get many days like that.

One of the nice days we had held a little "treat" for my third son who is 11 years old. My other son heard a thump on our front window and he discovered it was a bird that had flown into the glass and fallen down onto the ground. :( I went outside to observe the little bird and determine if he was just stunned or worse. Thankfully, he was just stunned from the impact. My son joined me and gently picked the bird up. It was a male American Goldfinch sporting his new bright yellow summer feathers. The bird sat ever so quietly in his hands as he recovered. :) He then let me hold the little guy for a minute and then I gave him back to my son. Within another moment, the bird flew out of his hands and landed on the ground just a few feet away. My son walked slowly toward the bird and thankfully enough, the bird flew high up into an evergreen tree!


We have had this same situation happen a few times over the years, so we were familiar with the fact that most birds that fly into a window are temporarily stunned and need to be observed/monitored for a few minutes so as not to fall prey to a wondering cat, snake, hawk, etc. As soon as they "come out of it", their fear of humans usually returns and they'll take off into a nearby tree. If they don't, you could always place them onto a tree branch until they are ready to fly on their own.

It is truly so wonderful to see my young man have a genuine "sensitive" side. He has such a compassion for animals of all kinds. This child takes after me and is an animal lover. I've watched him in many situations of nurturing, protecting, caring for animals and it is such a gift to see! I hope he will never, ever lose this special trait!

Well, that is just a little of how our week has been. It isn't terribly exciting by any means, but it is our life LOL. I will try not to miss so many days all in a row again. :)

Saturday, April 21, 2007

The kids did great!

Yesterday was our homeschool project fair, as I mentioned below, and the kids did great and had a fantastic time.

My daughter did a report on butterflies and made a felt butterfly hand puppet, one of my sons teamed up with his friend and presented their hockey collection and drew a ton of hockey logos, and the other two worked together on their Hot Wheels Collection.

I really enjoyed looking at all the different projects displayed from all the children in our church homeschool group. It was also nice to see all the children support each other and ask questions with genuine interest.

Two Days In a Row!!!

I went for a walk two days in a row...whooo hoooo! Yay me! (insert clapping LOL) For me, this is quite an accomplishment!

Yesterday was our homeschool project fair and it was held at our church, which is less than a mile down the street (yes, it IS a blessing!). We've been down to one vehicle for awhile now, so we walked there and back home yesterday. The Lord blessed us with a beautifully sunny, warm day, so the weather was just perfect.

Today was even more beautiful...it was warmer and sunnier! Oh, if everyday could be like today!!!!! So, I put the baby in the stroller and took two of the kids and one of the dogs and we went for a walk...it was terrific!

My goal is to walk at least 3 times a week, but ideally, I'd prefer to go 5 days a week. It has been sort of hard for me though because my husband doesn't get home until 7pm and I prefer to serve dinner then and not earlier because I believe a family should eat together. So, it is hard to try to fit in all in.

It is truly amazing how just two days of walking can make a person feel so good!

Friday, April 20, 2007

Wow! Praise the Lord!

I just read over at Moms of Grace that $14,542.44 has been raised for Heather & her dear family! Isn't that remarkable? Praise our Almighty Father for this gift!!!

Heather goes for a second opinion today, so please do not cease praying! To read more detail on Heather, click here.

Today is our homeschool project fair, so we are getting ready for that and hopefully I will have the time later on to report back here with the details.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Today is the day to bless Heather's socks off!

Today is the day! Visit BooMama's Blog to see how you can help to "bless" Heather and for updates. May God receive all the glory! :)

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Please pray for Heather...

I joined a wonderful forum yesterday, Moms of Grace which I feel very blessed to have found. Upon joining, I immediately began reading all the different discussions. I was intrigued to discover how many moms "blogged" and I wanted to learn more.

As I was reading some of the posts about blogs, I decided to visit a few of the blogs to see firsthand what they were like. This lead me to learn about Heather. Please visit BooMama's site to see how she is helping Heather.

I am asking everyone who reads here to PLEASE pray for Heather and even add her to your prayer list.

For Heather

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Well, Here I Go!

This is my first post on my very first blog! Wow, how exciting LOL.

Almost everyone I know has a blog, but I never took the plunge until today.

I was (and somewhat still am) convinced that I really don’t have anything super exciting or extraordinary to write about that would interest anyone, but I figured I would go ahead and try anyway. So, please be kind and bear with me as I attempt this new venture!

A little about my family & I…I am a Christian wife of 20 1/2 years and homeschooling/work-at-home-mom (wahm) to 6 blessings so far (5 boys & 1 girl, not in that order) ages 16, 12, 11, 9, almost 6, 1 year old, and 4 babies in heaven. We also have 9 indoor cats & 4 dogs. And just in case you are wondering…No, we do not have a big house.

In my opinion, being a wife and mother is absolutely the best thing ever!!! I am very grateful to the Lord for my husband and our children. I come from a family of 9 children and I’ve ALWAYS wanted to have a large family.

If it is the Lord’s will, I’d still LOVE to have more children, particularly through adoption. I’ve always had a desire to adopt and would seriously do so if ever given the opportunity, but so far the Lord has not made that possible, so it may not be His will.

Since we have a larger family, my husband & I started an eBay store a few years ago to help supplement his income. I’m also a representative for the following companies: Greeting Cakes, Jerky Direct Meat Snacks & Supplements, Cello In A Box Bags & Gift Wrap products, Kat’s Coffees, & Stuff A Friend Animal/Doll Kits. I also signed up with Melaleuca to use their non-toxic products. I’ve never worked it as a business, but since I love their products, I’ll stay with it for personal use at the very least. Everything is on my website www.allhisblessings.com in case you want to see something.

Lastly, I own a wahm site which I purchased this past fall and I’ve really had a terrific, wonderful time developing it so far. I think it will always be a work in progress, but if you’d like to see it, it is www.TheWAHMShack.com

Well, I think this was a good start. If you’ve read this until the very end, I thank you and hope you’ll visit again.

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