Riding Wheelies

I let you all know that Nancy learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. Today she was attempting "wheelies." She was pretty pumped because of her success. Please notice what our family would call the bee-bop. That's her wheelie. (Upon her request she saw this video. She looked a bit surprised. I'm guessing the truth that the wheel didn't leave the ground hurt a little bit.)

He's My Boy

These random pictures of Jason say a lot about who he is. The pictures of him sleeping while standing were taken yesterday. I went to the office, where the photos were taken, to get something, and there he was, snoring away while standing at the chair.

I really like the one of James reading to him. It was a pretty precious moment. Jason doesn't usually sit still for stories, but he sat very contented while James read to him.

Oh, and the picture atop the doll house with the blue thing in his hand? That's a light saber. He's was protecting the fam, I guess.

A Bit of Catching Up

The J Place is not a sedate place. There is always a lot going on around here. It doesn't take long of sparse blogging to get very behind in sharing all the new news.

John is still working both jobs - Safeway and Chick fil A. He is now a manager - or maybe assistant manager - after being promoted at Chick fil A. He doesn't know for sure because the owner told him assistant, then his name tag came saying just manager. The hours are the same (pretty much), the pay higher, and the responsibility is more suited to him. So yes, it's good news.

I think my mom is home now after being here to help during and after Jason's surgery. She has such a gift for serving. I always enjoy having her around and am sad when she goes. It is always nice to have someone who "talks politics," which my mom can and does. I find those conversations stimulating.

JW is waiting for the results of an MRI he had of his wrists today. He experiences debilitating numbness and loss of strength in them. Arthritis is suspected. I am hoping that he will get accurate answers, but do hope that it's not devastating news.

James is now a very proud holder of a license to operate an automobile. It always amazes me how teary that makes me. I do not have a picture yet because everything hopped along at a steady pace this morning. I hope to remember later.

Joseph gets the Hero Award for teaching Nancy how to ride her bike without training wheels. She is riding with great ease now, even weaving as if through cones. She does have trouble remembering how to brake, but at four she gets credit just for riding unassisted.

Jason is strange. I mean no ugliness by that. I am frankly puzzled by him lately. He is having recurring fever following surgery eight days ago. He turns abruptly into a little madman with no provocation and has for three or four days . He is not sleeping well, waking to display the same fits of temper. I don't think his throat hurts anymore, but twice he indicated his head hurts. I am baffled. We are going to see how he does over the weekend and call the doctor Monday if he's not better.

As of this moment you are caught up on our news=)

Smiles

Today has just been a fun day! We got together with another family to make giant cards for two people. It was fun to spend time together doing it, and definitely fun to mix up the creativity of thirteen people. The result was great. Delivering the cards was even better. One produced hugs and tears, the other a softened, sincere smile and a hug.

Now, I know the following doesn't sound like fun, but you've never (or most of you haven't) been to our dentist. Joseph and Jared had five teeth pulled between them. That wasn't the fun part. The fun came from the banter of the dentist, the assistant, and the boys. I don't think I've ever been in a medical-like environment that has such a relaxed and jovial atmosphere. For example, one recent visit included a game of catch between Jared and a dentist, with a high bounce ball of all things!

And tonight we're having jambalaya for supper. That tops it all off very nicely!

Jason' Surgery

Jason is home from the hospital after having surgery yesterday. Everything went better than expected! Only the tonsils were removed because the adenoids were not obstructing the airway. I am so grateful for that because it was also noted during surgery that his palate is pretty short. Being able to leave all of the adenoids gives him a better chance of normal speech development. He was already eating and drinking normal things yesterday afternoon, ravenously too. I can tell he is still having pain, and he is tired, but I am very, very grateful for the outcome so far. Thank you for praying. Please do so again, thanking God for His blessings toward us. (The picture was taken in pre-op with the bear he got to pick out all by himself.)

Jason

I took Jason back to the doctor today to check his lungs. They were clear! Please, please thank God! Lord willing, surgery will happen as planned on Thursday.

Commenting on "The Economy" Comments

While it is absolutely true that God should be trusted, and He has a track record that deserves that, I am still stressed about the economy. I am 1800 miles away from three of my children and grandchildren. If we get dumped into the Great Depression 2, it is unlikely that I will be able to see or talk to them for a very long time. And to wonder how they are coping - whether they are coping - would be stressful. If that comes to pass, God will have His perfect way, and if we love Him and are faithful to Him, all will be well in any circumstance.

(To be honest, I think we are going to fall into an abysmal Depression. We are too debt poor to stand much longer.)

Progress Report

James is still in a lot of pain. To me, it looks as if he's making progress. I think he is discouraged, though. He didn't expect such a painful, debilitating recovery. He has had more bleeding than expected, which has resulted in the utter inability to breath through his nose as it dried in the nose. He sees the doctor on Wednesday. I will be glad for that. I hope all is well.

Jason was so much better that I cut his breathing treatments to one medicine twice a day, eliminating the one that was given four times a day. He woke up this morning coughing again. Ugh. So, today I added back in the eliminated medicine, but only twice a day. I am still hopeful, however, because even with the morning cough, he sounds so much better than before.

Therapy

I have done some things over the last two days that have been surprisingly refreshing. I didn't choose them because I thought they would have therapeutic value, but they sure did. Last night I worked on a 1000 piece puzzle with Jared. This morning I spent well more than an hour sorting pictures of my kids, my "growing up family," friends, etc. I was searching for some specific photos and decided that sorting them all would be the easiest way to find them. It was so relaxing and peaceful to walk through the past, and it sure felt good to have that job done after so many years of neglect. This evening John and I took most of the children to the big park here. The weather was beautiful - refreshingly cool actually - and it was just a relief of stress to run and play with the kids. Who knows what's around the corner, but for today, I feel so much better.

The Economy

As if I didn't have enough stress already, I have really been eaten away at by the economy crisis. This article caught my attention.

James

James is home from the hospital after surgery this morning. Surgery went well. He is in a lot of pain and is light headed. All is as it should be, though. Thank God!

Jacob

Jacob's CT scan was fine. It didn't even reveal a concussion! Again, wow! I have never seen an eye/cheek swell quite like this. The swelling is actually down but shifted to the eye this morning.

Thank God for His mercy!

Wow! When It Rains, It Does Pour!

I mentioned earlier that I took Jason to the doctor today. That was unplanned, and the results were unexpected.

I picked James up from the airport before taking Jason to the doctor. That went fine. (Thank God he's home safely!) On the way home we got him something to eat because he hadn't had much. About 45 - 60 minutes later he was home and in the shower. Great, right? Well, it would have been except he passed out in the shower for unknown reasons, scraping his foot and bumping his head and side. Five hours or so later he was still complaining about his side hurting. He mentioned that he wondered over the weekend if he was getting sick. His surgery is supposed to be Wednesday. I am mystified over the fainting spell and a little unsure of what to do regarding surgery. It seems a bit overkill to take him to the doctor, but if there's something going on...

I let four of the boys go to the park with a couple of neighbor boys to play tackle football this evening. During the game Jacob got clobbered just below his left eye! I have never in 23+ years of parenting and eleven children - 8 boys at that - seen anything like the swelling that occurred. He had a golf ball where his cheek bone used to be! He did pass out when hit. John decided that we should take him to some medical facility to make sure that the bone(s) are okay. They went to Urgent Care, where it was recommended that they go across the street to the hospital emergency room for a CT scan. He was then moved to the pediatric emergency room in the same hospital. Now - 3 1/2 hours later - he has just had his CT scan, and they say the results will be another hour in coming. Poor John is with him, and will not likely get any sleep before beginning his long work cycle all over again on Tuesday.

I should mention that God is just amazing! He knew what we were going to need in this season of life. We have great health insurance right now. (I am earnestly hoping it will not be ripped away with the election of a new president. Universal health care is not a good thing. Our friends in other countries have testified to that!) Please, it must not be forgotten in my little parenthetical soapbox to thank God and praise Him for blessing us so richly! (James 1:17)

I will let you know how all three children progress. Thanks for praying in the meantime!

Pray for Jason?

Making a long story short: I took Jason to the doctor today to recheck his lungs. They were worse than they were Thursday, even with the breathing treatments every four hours. The plan is to add another medicine to his breathing treatments and to start an antibiotic (because he has swollen lymph nodes and chronic eye infection.) If his lungs are not clear early next week, we will have to postpone his surgery. My mom has already purchased her tickets to come and help during that time, and Jason really needs to overcome his apnea. Will you please pray about this? Thanks!

How it All Comes Together

Life comes together because God is good and trustworthy. Period.

The last two weeks have been a mix of victory and hopelessness, of frustration and peaceful satisfaction. They have brought good news and bad, distracting sadness and happy relief. Some days I wanted to quit and leave the planet and others brought resolute, purposeful strides. I have laughed out loud. I have cried. I have hoped in hurting and consuming desperation that things were different. I have been so proud of my children I that I wanted to group hug 'em to death. I have found surprises and the expected, seen gory and beautiful.

Now, I know what happens next. Everyone is trying to figure out what events are tied to all these things. Don't. I daresay, there are few who would even have a chance of accurately assigning events and things to my descriptions - even here in my own house. Sometimes it just is good to know that people you love know where you are in your life.

Well, we didn't make it through last week without any medical appointments. Jacob (now listen carefully - this really happened) got his index finger caught in his bicycle sprocket while riding on Wednesday afternoon! One of the pokey things punctured the finger and then ripped through the top of the finger. Yes, it was as gross as it sounds. Truthfully, I wasn't terribly worried about it until it swelled a lot 24 hours later. That made me wonder about the bone. Friday we went to the doctor and to radiology for and x-ray. It was fine. In fact, this morning it looked very good.

Jared had the two upper canine (dog!) teeth removed on Monday. He did fine and is back to normal.

Jason saw the doctor today for his 15 month check up. His weight was still below the 1 percentile. His height had inched up to the 1st percentile. And guess what!? The pediatrician was unconcerned because he's still growing, albeit slowly, and has a nice (little) curve going on. I was prepared to have to defend our reasons for not wanting to investigate his slight stature further, and was very relieved not to. His lungs were not good. He diagnosed him with RAD (reactive airway disease) We started breathing treatments at home today, which didn't go over so well with him. I set my goal to have him well for surgery on the 16th.

The children decided to get their schoolwork done in four days this week. They succeeded, and so we are having an unexpected day off Friday, in conjunction with John's 1/2 day off from Safeway.

The pictures are just because. I let Jason go out back with Nancy one day when I was going to be right by the door. The yard is mostly dirt, which, if you look closely, is covering and infiltrating Jason's diaper. The haircutting cape picture was taken one day when I was giving haircuts. One of the boys got down from the stool, and Jason came running for his turn. I put him up there and got him ready like the others. I pretended to cut his (still short) hair, satisfying his desire to fit in.

For the Sad at Heart

Sometimes...
Life just hurts - a whole lot.
Joy is indescribable.
Desperation is tangible.
Feet want to stomp
in protest.
Wishing is absolute futility.
Praying is more than earnest.
Dreams shatter - utterly.

All Times...
God does love - a whole lot.
Perfected peace follows grace.
Hope lies in the bosom of Christ.
The truth prevails
over wrong.
Dawn follows night; day follows dawn.
Wickedness perpetrates harm.
Jesus wins - supremely.