dazzling glimpses

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Shanda

Guess how much God loves you?

The gift of Jesus. That much.

The dark sky at night, full of brilliant stars. That much.

A playground full of laughing children. That much.

The different colors, movements, and depth of the sea. That much.

Words -as good medicine to the soul- put down just for you, on paper. That much.

Sacredness, Holiness, hearts full of love, in the very trenches of life. That much.

The gift of something you need, at just the right time. That much.

Knowing you can wait. Knowing you can let go. Because He is to be trusted. That much.

Always belonging to Him. That much.

no matter what! That much.

Accepted fully, because He is your Father God. That much.

He is your Anchor, your Rock, your Beacon of light, your Home. That much.

Knowing your life is eternal and you’re journeying to Heaven. That much.

and I could go on and on……….

Actually, it’s impossible to FULLY grasp how much He loves His very own, precious and darling children…….this is definitely an area that we can dream BIG……

When the Morning comes, we will finally see the Light as it is meant to be.

For now, there are dazzling glimpses all around and that is enough (overwhelming, really). Our eyes fill with grateful tears.

In the small, ordinary world of common life, there is so much to see of Him. His blessings and gifts are scattered though each day.

Dear Thia, I hope you see this photo! I wasn’t even looking for violets yet! I happened to look down as I was going into the house this weekend and this one was blooming, sort of ragged-like, but THERE!, in the stone path by the door. I bent right down and pointed my finger at it so Sarah could see, too. The photo is for YOU, my friend. (first violet of the season)

Which prompted me to go check on the other places violets grow. David and Sarah came along.

We didn’t see any others, but we very much enjoyed a short jaunt.

The snow has melted away……

I was surprised by these bright orange mushroomy things growing on a fallen down tree. When I pushed on one with my finger, water came up on the entire surface and immediately dripped out! They were like water logged sponges.

I ate an apple from home, along with any dandelion greens I found on our walk. What a yummy snack this made….the bitter of the greens and sweet of the apple were a good combination. A walking along sort of salad.

Well, David is growing very much these days. He is 13 and a half and almost, almost as tall as his brother Ethan. Sometimes when I see him out of the corner of my eye, walk by me through the house, I think he IS Ethan. He thinks he’s trouble but I tell him no way is he ever trouble. Curious and busy? Yes, but that is a sign of his bright mind…..this weekend he decided to make himself a perfect pot of rice, and he did just that. Following a youtube video made by a professional chef, he made rice. When it was done, he packed it into a buttered teacup, and tipped it over onto a plate. As it was in a domed shape, he put a pat of butter on top to melt through, salt and pepper, and then pushed his spoon in to take a bite…..he shared one with me! And it WAS perfect.

He also determined to use his allowance to purchase a pair of sunglasses, which I find him lovingly polishing in the kitchen with Windex.

Because they are like mirrors.

We found out last week that yes, as suspected, Sarah Joy has hydronephrosis of her right kidney, the very same one that the Doctor had to clean stones from. So the doctor thinks that the stones were possibly caused by a blockage somewhere in her kidney which causes it to not drain properly (and collect fluid, rather like a stagnant pond, he says). This would be a satisfying explanation of her kidney stone woes. Of course, knowing this (as of last wednesday) means she will have further testing done to see what to do next. I have had time to process and we are all in hopeful spirits and I have been able to, by the grace of God, not wrap her up in bubble wrap and keep her in my arms at all times. She’s allowed to be as wild and free as her siblings……… 🙂

Dave kept a walking stick with him. Or maybe it was a sword? Regardless, we did see frog eggs and talk about how we hope they survived last weekend’s snow and freezing temperatures. Will the frog population be down?

Jesus is the Source of Living Water….water is so refreshing and satisfies thirst….we can’t help but think of Him even as we walk along the trails in the forest. A Bible word study on water is always fascinating….and google makes it oh so easy now.

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

I think this might be witch hazel coming into bloom?

“I want to take a nap here!” ~Sarah

Then I got a text! It said that Seth had practice at 3! And it was 2:10! And Rich was gone on a 10 day business trip! Oh, what to do? I had already spent the MORNING at the baseball complex for Caleb’s practice. I was out in the woods! *sigh* David wanted to turn and go in a straight line home but Sarah and I wanted to go around a longer way. He said, “I can’t leave you unprotected in the woods.” but then he said, “Bye” when Sarah and I started going the other way, our way! And I said, “You said you couldn’t leave us unprotected in the woods!” and that is when he smiled and I took his picture.

Sarah is a photographer! She told me just what to do and say for my photo. “Smile like this” (shows teeth). “Say Cheese” (clicks) “Good. Say it again.” (clicks picture). “Good.”

“You’re a natural photographer, Sarah!” ~ me

She was dismayed several times on the walk. 1) when she walked through water and got her sneakers wet through to her sock. 2) a stick scrubbed her leg. 3) a briar scratched her.

To make getting back home faster and easier, I carried her across the swampy parts. There was no one to take a picture of THAT. She was quite heavy, as she is now a big *almost 6 year old* and tall for her age. We both said “oomph” a lot.

Guess what?

I drove to the field just in time for practice with Seth, Caleb, and Sarah, and no one was there. It had been cancelled.

We enthusiastically hummed, and drummed our hands on the car seats, all the way home.

braided egg bread (life with purpose)

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Shanda

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.

I know without a shadow of doubt that motherhood is my calling.
I remember as a teen all I wanted to be “when I grew up” was a mother.

Women can be and do so many things. For me, for now, being a stay at home mom is what makes me feel the most content and satisfied. For others, a feeling of utter contentment occurs as they perform their own particular gifts. Although I am open and prayerful to doing more, (librarian?volunteer?photographer?dentist?) for now I have no other yearning or interest for anything else other than mothering these seven children of mine and tending our house and home. Eventually these years will be over and I trust that God will lead me toward a new way of living. I look forward to the future.

What was in my heart and soul as I mixed up bread dough with Sarah?
Joy that made me reach for the camera. Love as I saw how big she was getting and yet she is still small enough to live in the moment. Peace in the safety and security of knowing all my family was home. The sun was shining, *all was well* (never taken for granted, because someone could skin a knee at any moment). Gratitude to God for giving us our daily bread–bread for our stomachs AND our souls.

Making bread is a very humble pursuit. Our ancestors baked bread daily and it became an endless chore for them. It’s a treat for me, I bake bread when I want to, not because I need to, but the connection I feel with the ages makes the process satisfying. Such humble ingredients; yeast, water, milk, butter, salt, and flour.

Whatever has happened before will happen again. Whatever has been done before will be done again. There is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9

The Bible says truthfully there is nothing new under the sun. Motherhood. Baking bread. These things have always been and always will be, as long as the sun and moon endure. But these humble acts are our prayer of praise to Him as He opens our hearts and makes them tender toward all our blessings.

“Meaning can be found in relation to Him, thus making life here tolerable, even delightful, and making ultimate existence possible, through Jesus Christ. All those things that make life here so weary and boring can have new meaning, when you understand who God is, what Christ did and you connect yourself to the genuineness of being a child of God.” ~Warren Berkley

“Crack it a little harder and use BOTH your thumbs to open the egg– like a door!”

She did it with enthusiasm for each time.

We admired the deep yellow of our good eggs.

“That one is a lighter yellow.” she noticed.

She loves the feel of sinking her hand into cool, soft, flour.

Surrounded by smiles and color.

Making homemade bread.

Mainly she wanted, more than anything, to eat the dough.

She absolutely loves bread dough.

I love her.

Letting it rise in a big big bowl. Learning about patience.

David wandered through to tell me that he found a special way to wash his hair in order to make it grow faster (he wants long hair). You use eggs. Rub them in the hair and let it stay in it for an hour. Then rinse and condition with coconut oil.

This information solved The Mystery of why the coconut oil kept appearing out of the kitchen cupboard. I enthusiastically felt his hair and it was amazingly soft.

He also said that rubbing your scalp induces faster hair growth.

Motherhood. Full of gripping facts and experiences.

Goldilocks! said the nineteen year old as he walked by.

Braids! said the sixteen year old as she walked by.

Art in the kitchen.

Children underfoot.

Teens in the other room laughing, talking, making music.

Gratitude in my heart.

Painting with egg.

It’s finally done, dance!

….slicing, buttering, placing it in their hands, watching them come back for more….

Home is the art of life….Home is where we feel at ease, where we belong, where we create surroundings that reflect our tastes and pleasures…making a home is a form of creativity open to everyone. ~Terence Conrah

Take steps to practice joy in your daily life, and it will expand naturally. Let joy fill your heart, and your heart will gladden your health. Dr. Mao Shing Ni

“I practiced joy that day as I baked bread. The children were with me, we used up eggs, the smell was wonderful, the braids of dough were fun to form, they baked up large and golden, and the taste was fantastic. It was a joy to slice, butter, serve and give to my loved ones. Feeding others is a gift to the giver.”

Braided Egg Bread from allrecipes.com

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast (if you buy in bulk this is 4 1/2 tsp of yeast)
1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups hot milk
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup water
5 eggs
11 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I didn’t have these)
Proof yeast and 1/2 cup warm water in a large mixing bowl.
Combine hot milk, sugar, butter, salt, and 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl. Cool to 110 degrees.
In small bowl, slightly beat 5 eggs, then add to cooled milk mixture. Add milk mixture to yeast mixture. Add 2 cups flour and beat until smooth. Slowly add remaining flour until it forms a stiff dough. Knead on a floured board for 10 minutes (5 minutes with a bread hook). Place in a large glass or plastic bowl lightly greased. Turn dough over to grease both sides. Cover and let rise in a warm, dark place until doubled in volume, approximately 60 minutes.
Punch down, cover, and let rise again until double, approximately 30 minutes.
Punch again, and form into three parts. Form each part into a 20-inch roll. Braid rolls on a large, greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled.
Lightly beat remaining egg and brush loaf. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake in preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for about 55 minutes until nicely browned. May be made into two regular sized loaves. Reduce baking time slightly.

recipe source: allrecipes.com

special

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Shanda

EVERYONE say HI to RACHEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night at the winter sports awards Dave had my camera and she squealed, “Take my picture so I can be on your Mom’s blog!”

She’s adorable. Grace tells me that Rachel is a devoted reader of this blog and for that I say, “I’m so very glad you enjoy it and yes you may save any photo you want!” xoxo

I had to run over to get in a picture, too, (along with goofy wrestling boys in the background). Gosh, I look tired almost like I had spent half the day saving my flock of hens from a fox. (true story)

Rachel is the fabulous Mary Poppins in our upcoming school play so she’ll make another appearance here soon…..stay tuned!

It was a fun night honoring the winter sports. We had pizza in the cafeteria, awards in the auditorium, and then broke into groups in order to honor individual sports.

Rich was this year’s head coach for wrestling. He presented each of his boys a certificate and told everyone in the room his favorite memory of the season for each of the boys.

Doesn’t Ethan look handsome? As soon as the night was over, Jacob walked up to him and said good naturally but emphatic, “Now get my brand new tie off, E!” I laughed and laughed because Ethan doesn’t ask to wear his brother’s clothes, he simply takes them.

Rich was told by another coach that his wrestlers were the best dressed team of the night. I would have to agree. 🙂

Caleb, Seth, and Sarah Joy wanted to be in a picture, too. I simply must mention that Sarah is amusing us lately by trying to be stylish. She puts thought into her attire and dresses herself in certain outfits every day. Today she carefully chose a dress to wear. Last night it was all purple: pants, shirt, and sparkly headband. She wanted to wear her earrings again after months of refusing to wear them. Personally, I think she’s being influenced by a friend at school to dress up more fancy. IT’S SO SO CUTE!!!

Ethan proudly wearing his brother’s tie.

I had my camera around my neck down low, shooting “blindly”, and this was the shocked expression I got from David when I said, “I’m shooting you, Dave.” (with my camera, of course)

Caleb and Seth were busy fooling around in the hallways. At one point, Seth was hanging upside down behind Caleb as Caleb held his legs.

Grace and Caleb

Me and my handsome, handsome husband who has a BIRTHDAY TODAY!!

Happy Birthday, love. ❤

all the exciting stuff we did on saturday

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Shanda

We drove out to NY on Saturday. We stopped at the mall in Albany because I had Macy’s money that was going to expire that day and I wanted to see if there was a good selection of fiestaware….there wasn’t. The only thing they had besides the typical place settings, mugs, plates, and bowls was a single white disc pitcher so that’s what I got. It was free so I was happy. Rich and the kids ate at the food court before we hit the road again.

Grace and Jacob were not with us on Saturday because G had a singing obligation and J had to work. They drove out on Sunday morning with Emily, Jacob’s girlfriend.

The next stop on Saturday was a very popular chicken BBQ place. The kids played on the playground and Rich took a nap on a picnic table, while yours truly ordered a chicken dinner take out.

I sat in the car to eat it because it was too cold outside for me.

We drove to our hotel. The kids swam for a while and Rich went running in the work out room. I rested (I was suffering from a sinus headache all day) and then went down to watch the kids swim.

After swimming we drove to an antique store in B. that I knew had fiestaware because my Mom and sister had texted me pictures a few days before. I will post the photo of what I bought at the end of this post. It didn’t take long at the antique store and then we went to a really popular produce stand in the area (where Rich and I grew up). We all picked out our favorite fruits to eat from this place that I have been going to since I was a child.

They allow sampling of the fruit.

The spring flowers were lovely in the sunshine.

This was pretty much the best day ever because after that, we went bowling.

And then! Pizza!

Caleb and I were both reading Harry Potter #4 but he had left his copy in the hotel so we shared my copy while we waited for our pizza to arrive. We have both moved on to #5 now and I’m beating him. (He finished #4 first) As soon as he got off the bus today I said, “I’m on page 130!” and he said “Quit reading!”

It’s always so so good for Rich and I to go back home and visit our old haunts!

(We are high school sweethearts and both our families go back several generations in our hometown)……..

AND NOW:::

I spy with my little eye ONE retired Sapphire Carafe and THREE mini disc pitchers in retired apricot, yellow, and juniper. So exciting.

happy easter family pics

Posted on March 28, 2016 by Shanda

Blessed Savior, we adore Thee,
We Thy love and grace proclaim;
Thou art mighty, Thou art holy,
Glorious is Thy matchless name!

Great Redeemer; Lord and Master,
Light of all eternal days;
Let the saints of every nation
Sing thy just and endless praise!

From the throne of heaven’s glory
To the cross of sin and shame,
Thou didst come to die a ransom,
Guilty sinners to reclaim!

Come, O come, immortal Savior,
Come and take Thy royal throne;
Come, and reign, and reign forever,
Be the kingdom all Thine own!

Glorious, Glorious, Glorious is Thy name O Lord!
Glorious, Glorious, Glorious is They name, O Lord!

~B.B. McKinney

Blessed be Thy glorious name,
which is exalted above all blessing and praise. Nehemiah 9:5

In a small country church we gathered to worship the Lord together; Mom, Dad, the brothers and sisters, and children. The people were warm and welcoming, the Pastor preached with humility and respect. My mom took my hand and held it. Dad gave me a hug. I looked at each familiar sweet face. Truly a family is one of the greatest blessings from God, and going to church together on a beautiful Easter morning is a joy unmatched.

I was glad when they said to me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Psalm 122:1

The people there had prayed sincerely with love for our Sarah when she was going through her kidney stone situation and they were so gracious to her on Sunday, happy to finally meet the little girl they had prayed for. God bless them and their wonderful congregation!

Then our family all drove to a resort hotel for an excellent Easter buffet. We all swapped kids so they could ride with their cousins.

My brother Dave, one of the most important people in my life.

My brother Nathan with his family. So very special to me. I can help but smile as I look at this picture.

My 18 year old son, Ethan.

My brother Isaac with his wife Cassandra. A wonderful couple. So happy to call them “mine”.

Nate with our niece, Abbie.

Dad and Mom with the beautiful lake behind them.

Emily and Jacob

The little cousins; Sarah had the best day, she thrives on “girl time”.

The big cousins; this picture makes me grin.

My beautiful sister, Amanda, with her family. We are so thankful that we live near each other and watch the children grow up together. I think this is one of the best portraits I’ve taken, I love how it turned out.

Guess who took this portrait???????
The Easter bunny!

We stayed in a hotel the night before Easter and Sarah slept in our room with us. The boys were in the joining room. I was already awake and just lying there in bed, hoping to fall back to sleep, and meditating on what exactly it means by “husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the church.” How does this look in practical everyday married life? And why don’t we hear as many Bible studies about this concept as we do about “wives, submitting yourselves to your husbands”. Oh yes, I was thinking and thinking, it was quite fascinating. My eyes were shut and Rich was by my side in the bed. Well, it was still totally dark when Sarah got up to use the bathroom which was directly in front of our bed. As she turned on the very bright bathroom lights, I squeezed my eyes shut tighter. As soon as I did, that very moment, Rich’s hand clamped right down over my eyes like a suction cup. I laughed as I was shown this small but endearing sign of my husband’s love.

Our girls; the brown eyes and the blue.

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened Paradise, Alleluia!

And He said to him, “I assure you: Today you will be with Me in paradise.”

father and sons, etc

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Shanda

Rich and Ethan worked together on Sunday morning. But first, they gazed into the waters of the pond, longing to see their beloved fish. They saw three under the dock, two by the pipe, and one near the shore.

I spent the entire day on Saturday worried about Sarah because she was running a fever and complaining of a headache. After her surgery on the 3rd and her procedure on the 10th, everything in me wanted to rush her to the hospital for fear she had an infection, but logic and my husband held me back. Thankfully, on Sunday she woke up fine but pale so we stayed home from church to give her a day of rest. (Rich didn’t want to go without me because he’s going to be away half of this week on a business trip.)

The chicken coop needed its spring clean-out. Rich let Ethan drive the tractor for the first time and the two of them scraped all of the old bedding and hen droppings out of the coop and drove them in the bucket to the vegetable garden.

I watched from the porch as Rich coached Ethan VERY thoroughly in turning the tractor back around. I wondered why so much laughing was happening, and why Rich was so interested in Ethan turning around “just so” when Ethan has been driving for over a year now……

And why on earth Ethan found it all so very funny……and then…..I saw what was happening…….

Rich was instructing Ethan to back over my shoes which I had kicked off while cleaning up my flower beds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good boy, E, for not doing it!

After they got all the old bedding into the garden, Rich rototilled it all into the dirt. I asked him three times NOT to disturb my beloved rhubarb, and he asked me to come over and show him exactly where it was. And what did I see through the window when I was in the house making lunch? Something that very much looked like running over AND digging through the very spot I had showed him NOT to disturb. “Did you dig up my rhubarb?” I asked as soon as I got the chance. “I might have,” he said sorrowfully. I. could.not.believe.it. “Why did you ask me to show you where it was when you were just going to run it over anyway?” I cried. He said, “You are acting like I did it on purpose! I didn’t! I just forgot it was there!”

I cannot tell you how many times over the years that this man has forgotten “something was there” in the garden or lawn and ran it over, mowed it down, or dug it up. And then he wonders why I get upset. After all, it was only an innocent accident!

(You would think he would be more understanding when I ACCIDENTALLY put his clothes in his son’s dresser! )

David went to his favorite “junk” store downtown and bought an army jacket for 15 dollars. He said there was a name on it that the lady picked off with a seam ripper first, because the man didn’t want his name out in public. David had me wash and dry his jacket, although he did enjoy smelling like the store for a day. (aromatherapy)

David was instructed to prune back branches and briars from the edge of the property and guess what he did? Because he is his father’s son, he also cut down one of my favorite white birch trees! And then when I reprimanded him he got offended and hurt that I was upset and bringing it up repeatedly. He thought I had a mean expression on my face and was treating him unlovingly! Am I really expected to hold these men in my arms and soothe them by saying “there, there” when they accidentally destroy all my plants? He spent a bit of time with his friend Michael cleaning up the tree and all the many branches. There is a pile out by the driveway to be burned.

I didn’t get pictures of Grace’s first driving lesson. She drove my car (with her Dad in the passenger seat and Ethan in the back) from the top driveway to the lower driveway. Sarah and I leaned over the porch railing clutching our hearts and watching, running from railing to railing to keep an eye on her. When Grace got out, Sarah yelled “Good job, Grace! You only made two mistakes!” She was very proud of her sister. Ethan got out of the back with a look on his face that said, “Did you see that mom it was scary.” Grace had a bounce in her step and thought she did well. “Although I don’t think Dad realized at first that when he yelled at me to do something it would make me do it faster.” (like brake?)

Grace read her book all over the place. On couch, on porch, on patio, on swing. She was reading a Janette Oke book, remember those?

I began planting spring bulbs. I saw worms! I accidentally cut one in two, as a matter of fact.

Rich took me to admire the freshly cleaned chicken coop.

Caleb was coaching his friend Logan across the stream. Logan was yelling nervously, “Caleb! I’m on a wobbly rock!” Once he was safely to the other side, I heard Coach Caleb inform him that it had taken entirely too long.

I sat on the back of the truck and watched the birds come to the feeder which I hung in the bushes by the driveway. They were chirping and peeping and fluttering all over the place. It was quite dizzying. As soon as one took a seed, it flew to a branch to eat it while another bird quickly took it’s place at the feeder to do the same, and over and over they took turns.

There was a male cardinal moving about in the leaves underneath. I did so want a photo– but they all looked like this:

FINALLY, after much patience on my part, the cardinal went into an open space:

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The neatest thing happened while I was watching. All of a sudden, another cardinal way off in the distance called, and this one IMMEDIATELY without hesitation flew away to see what it wanted. I wish my kids were like that. 😉

me

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Shanda

As soon as I emerge from my room with the intention of having a quiet cup of coffee, I am greeted by the sight of least one small child and three teenagers. The teenagers are getting ready for school, popping bagels in the toaster, finding matching socks, half dressed, printing out homework, etc. The small ones see me and immediately start talking. This morning was “Mom, with the medicine that you give me will it hurt when they pull out my string?” and “Mom, I want a cream cheese bagel with butter and cream cheese. No, I want toast with butter. Two pieces.” Happy dances, sparkling eyes, mama in her red robe making toast……..

This morning Rich was still home when I came out of my room and we kissed all alone in the pantry finding coffee and he made it for me without me asking and I sat on the couch with a hot mug in my hands. Soon there were three, do you see Seth as he hides from the camera? The mug is hiding a double chin. Caleb is hugging me and Sarah had already eaten her two pieces of prepared-to-order toast. I contentedly watched Rich put his shirt on for work. We listened to David laughing about something he saw on youtube, we all laughed as he explained, but not because it was interesting but because he was interesting–funny and happy. Ethan was sitting at the counter, Grace walked through with her Mary Poppins shirt on, she has a math test this morning and we . She carried her bagel and tea with her onto the bus.

“Early in the morning, my song shall rise to thee”

This is what I look like after the shower and make up.

candid camera

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Shanda

Can you feel the love? This is my favorite picture from Ethan’s 18th birthday party, he’s in a love sandwich between his girlfriend, sister, and cousin. And then there is Emily hugging a cat behind them, and Seth sitting on the couch, amused.

MORE PICS—all from my phone—

This is what Sarah, Seth, and Caleb have been doing all weekend…riding scooters. They are only 27 dollars on amazon and we just ordered a black one for David as well. I love them because it’s a fun activity that they can do outside and we let them ride them in the house, too. It’s the sweetest sound to hear their wheels running along the floor as they enjoy their scooters.

The dining room became a small wrestling gym on the day of Ethan’s party…..

Rich wrestled Jimmy, who actually showed some promise! He goes to our church and isn’t from our town so alas cannot join our team next year.

Getting pinned by Coach

Caleb (green shorts) was the ref.

I took pictures and periodically screamed be careful.

Ethan and Zak

soon everyone wanted to wrestle and I did a cartwheel.

There was loud music going on, too.

later on that night Caleb (G’s boyfriend) and Rich did a sit up contest that went on and on and on…..

They each did over 500 before Caleb cramped up and had to stop, Rich kept going for another 20 or 30 sit ups and then he stopped, too.

I discovered all these goofy selfies disrespectfully left on my phone so yeah…they’re going on the blog….**payback**

We watched movies, ate food, had pie and cheesecake as birthday cake, ice cream, and I went to bed at like 9:00 pm but Rich stayed up with them until 3. When I got up at 6:30 there were kids sleeping all over the place, I walked into each room to check on them with a smile on my face. Ethan woke up and made pancakes for all of us using his Grandma’s recipe. Then came a turn for everyone in the shower and a trip to church where several of them had a hard time staying awake because of their long but fun night.

rejoicing in the day

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Shanda

This is the day which the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no ficklenss, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

My darling Ethan Gregory made his appearance on a beautiful but cold March afternoon, making our little family all the better and giving Rich and I an amazing set of boys to watch grow up together. I can’t even believe that Jacob is 19 now, and Ethan is 18. It has been the joy of our lives to see these two brothers together throughout their childhood. Times, they are a- changin’, and the brothers will be going their separate ways within the next year, and indeed have already begun growing apart slightly as Jacob is in college now and working. They do not share a room anymore for the first time. David shares Ethan’s room and Jacob moved down to the basement with the little boys and sleeps on the couch. Such is the way of life, and it is all very good indeed. Whatever happens or where they go, I know our family will always be close and always be there for each other.

Ethan has plans to go into the service as a SERE specialist (he is in the first steps of making this happen so we can’t say definitely that he is accepted into the program yet) which he considers a dream career. Even if he isn’t accepted into this particular program, he will no doubt do something similar and he will be a great addition to any program or company. As for now, he is finishing up his senior year in High School, active in sports year round, has lots of friends and a sweet girl friend named Tessa, he is involved in church and loves Jesus, likes playing Clash of Clans and Skyrim, trying new recipes in the kitchen (especially pancakes), playing the guitar and singing, and watching Harry Potter movies. Ethan is the strong silent type and does NOT talk much, he enjoys dressing nice, but he does NOT enjoy cleaning his room.. He’s a great guy. Truly. He always has been, always will be. I’m very very proud of him, to say the least, and so is his Dad and the rest of our entire family including aunts and uncles. 🙂

We took some portraits this morning to mark the occasion of 18 years old. These young adults years are going to be great years for Ethan! He has so much adventure ahead of him and it will be fun to see what he does.

Happy Birthday once again to my son, someone I admire and love with all my heart. I rejoice in the day that God gave him to us.

“Excellence is not a skill. It is an attitude”. ~Ralph Marston

kidney stone adventures, con’t

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Shanda

I’ve thought this a thousand times since yesterday but I took Sarah to her second procedure by myself because Rich was on a business trip. I’ve thought it frequently…..not because I’m resentful of the fact but because I’m proud of it. If you only knew the way I was when I was first married, in my early twenties I was still having heart palpitations and driving with my hands whitely clutched to the steering wheel as I drove on the highway, for goodness sakes. In my mind, highway driving was a near death experience. Yes, if you only knew how I was from childhood. My mother told me that people didn’t think I could talk when I was so very small, because I couldn’t bring myself to answer their friendly questions. I would rather die than get up in front of a crowd and speak. If I’ve done anything extra brave, its because I was taken over by a power greater than I, namely, love –for music, producing solos, for babies, producing many doctor’s visits and going through child birth seven times, for God– in leading Bible study one year, for travel–in boarding an airplane, etc (that’s about all the brave stuff I have done). LOL Perhaps this affliction is more common then I believe (am I a freak?), but the truth remains– I have lived life nervously but I.have.lived.it.regardless! Amen. I would be a timid mouse in an underground hole if I didn’t have a family to bring me out into the world.

Sarah had robotic surgery in January to remove a bucket-load of kidney stones. At that time she was given an internal stent. So this next procedure was using a scope to look in the kidney to make sure everything was indeed cleaned out and to take the old stent out. It was scheduled to last about 2 hours. (last time was 8 hours)

So yesterday when the two of us left home we went to Barnes and Noble. Sarah didn’t have to be to the hospital until 11:30 so I wanted to pass some time doing something fun. She picked out a shopkins keychain and I bought two Harry Potter books (3 and 4). Then we went to the children’s play area in the mall so she could play. She soon became tired so we walked down the hall and back before getting back into the car. We made it back to the highway and into the city. I found the parking garage and got the car parked up on the 6th floor. It was freezing cold, as usual, and we shivered our way to the lobby to take the elevator down to ground level. We crossed the street into the hospital…Sarah, myself, and my big brown bag full of stuff we needed. We checked in and received our identification stickers and made our way to 4G for surgery registration.

A lady took us in her little office to check us in. Then, we waited for a few minutes in waiting room before another lady took us down a floor to triage where the patients get prepped for their surgery. Sarah used the bathroom before we put her adorable hospital pajamas on. I forgot to mention that she had a bath at home before we left and I combed her hair back and braided it. She looked small and sweet, like a squeaky clean piglet. Since we had surgical experience, we were not as nervous as the first time. She asked for an iPad and the nurse got her one that had an Elmo case on it. Sarah promptly found a Lego game to play and I read Harry Potter #2 and was interrupted many times by friendly nurses and doctors, asking many questions which I answered, calling Jacob one time so that I could get the exact name of the antibiotic that Sarah was taking daily. Jacob was all stressed out because he couldn’t find his special cord that he needed to print his paper. He wanted to tell me all about it which made me laugh because in his mind it was much more important than having a child in the O.R.? He didn’t think of it that way, I’m sure. I love him so much….and he was helpful to the extreme yesterday as he watched the kids after school (and he did get the paper printed so it all worked out).

One cute thing was that Sarah rated her hunger pains as a 6 on the pain scale (10 being the worse). Poor thing!

Well, after over an hour of waiting for surgery, it was finally time. The hospital has small motor cars for the kids to drive down the halls to the O.R. if they wish. But Sarah became sad and decided at the last moment NOT to drive. The two of us decided it would be nicer if Mama carried her so I did, wearing yellow scrubs, and brushed the little tears off her face. She was quietly upset…no shaking or talking…just silent tears. I took her in the room where there were about 7 or 8 people, I think there were two of everybody. Two doctors, two nurses, two anesthesiologists, etc. Sarah sat cross legged and facing me as they put the mask on her and encouraged her to breathe deeply and make the balloon close and open. There were numbers on the screen and they cheered her on to see if she could beat the previous record of that day which was in the 600’s. She promptly got 724 and started to melt in my arms. Down she went, gently onto the bed sound asleep. Meanwhile, I felt like I was suffocating with the surgical mask over my nose and mouth. I pulled it down and kissed her cheek and left. I was a little sad but felt mostly like “okay, lets get this over with”……plus I was starving.

The nice male nurse walked me back to my stuff and said that Sarah was exceptional because usually when kids get nervous and cry like that on their way to the room, they end up having a complete breakdown once they are in there and fight the mask and everything. Nothing wrong with that of course…and I did see the look of panic that flickered in Exceptional Sarah’s eyes as she made the choice to breath and not fight.

They put our coats and Sarah’s bag in storage and I took my purse to the cafeteria and got a bowl of salad and a package of fig newtons. I brought my food back to the waiting room and the quiet room section was free of people so I went right in there and set up my Kindle, put in ear buds, and watched two TV shows which I had downloaded at home that morning. I ate my salad, drank some coffee, and texted with Mom and Dad, Rich, Colleen, and Hannah. I updated FB and was cheered by all the instant encouragement there.

After a while, a hospital worker updated me that the Doctor was “removing stones”. This information caused me distress as I imagined that her kidney had more stones in it then we had previously believed. I braced myself for a long wait as Hannah encouraged me to replace every worry with a truth from God. I had just opened a magazine when in walked the doctor telling me they were through and that Sarah was doing great!

I was so surprised and grateful. I followed him to a small conference room and he went over all they had done. He said it took longer then they originally thought–not because of stones–but because he had put dye in her system to see how her urology system flowed and he believes he may have found the area that could be a partial blockage. She will need further tests but he had not not ever seen a child with as much stone burden as she had when he first saw her back in October so he tends to believe there must be some abnormality somewhere that CAN BE FIXED when and if we figure it out….there is even a chance she could outgrow the problem. In the meantime, her right kidney (which is the one causing all these problems) is swollen which to me has been the freakiest bit of information so I asked him several times if that was okay and would she be okay. To make a long story short, he said her kidney is like a stretched out balloon at this point and now that the stones are out it could and should heal. He said she should have further testing to see if her stone making condition is metabolic but I said she already did that (with another doctor) and there was nothing abnormal except citrate levels so he said that was very good. He said we should do another 24 hour urine collection test at some point. He said we are just letting her heal and recover now but there are tests to be done in the future to check for a blockage or a reflux abnormality. If they do find something she will need more surgery.

She goes back on Wednesday to get her stent pulled out, which is now attached to a long thread-like string taped to her leg. This is a blessing because if he had put in the other kind of stent she would have had to go to the O.R. again.

He walked me to Sarah in recovery and she was sitting up with two nurses leaning close to her. She was groggy, pale, shaking slightly, and crying. She had red circles under her poor little eyes and as I got close I smelled that smell of the gas (or whatever it is) that they use to put her to sleep. Ugh. They were giving her Morphine which helped settle her down and she dozed as I talked with the nice nurse and called the pharmacy to make sure they had the prescriptions I needed to fill.

We left after an hour. I went first to go get the car and they wheeled her out in a wheelchair. Off we went through rush hour traffic (white knuckles? not too bad). I finally made it to the entrance of the highway for the first time like ever, without making wrong turns and getting lost (even with the map on my phone, lol). CVS was crazy busy, Sarah peed her pants in the car but thankfully I had extra clothes and helped her change as I was in the line to the drive through pharmacy window. Sarah spent most of the trip home on my iPhone watching a movie. They said it would take a half hour for the medicine to be ready so we went to Wendy’s drive through. She wanted a chicken sandwich. I did have to carry her inside to use the bathroom again but she was able to slowly walk back herself, holding my hand.

After we got the medicine (18 dollars for bladder spasm medicine, pain meds, and antibiotic) we headed home. My head felt as if it was going to explode. It was about 7 or so when we arrived and all the other kids were home. Before I had even sat down, Rich pulled in the driveway. I was utterly relieved, boy did that hug feel good and Rich confirmed what I had been thinking—that I had done a great job taking care of Srarh.

Sarah screamed and moaned the first few times she went potty at home. Grace was upset and spent a bit of time with her and I gave her a good dose of the narcotic pain medicine they gave us which helped tremendously. I thought Sarah was amazing. While she was in the midst of pain she said, “I wish I was somebody else right now.” To articulate this was smart and completely understandable, I thought. She got through the night just fine without me, which amazed us as well. I saw her at 6 when she came in to ask if she could turn on a show.

She has a slight addiction to ginger ale at the moment. 🙂 She said it tastes just soooo good.

She’s cheerful today. She happily did a little painting with Jacob which was precious to see. She had the tape on her arm from the nurse bandaging her after pulling out the IV and she said it bothered her all night. I promptly took it off which she didn’t appreciate but at least it was gone, leaving behind just a small bruise from the needle and red tape burns. She still has the white circle chest stickers on and after what I did with the last bandage she won’t let me near them. She managed to get one off herself after a bath.

She hasn’t needed any pain medicine today!

That’s about it for kidney stone news. This has been quite an adventure. 🙂 But we aren’t complaining because we believe this is a childhood issue for her and won’t be something that will effect the quality of her entire life…so very thankful for that. Time will tell. We have today and it’s been a lovely one of relaxing and snuggles and also truffles with my girlie. Right now she’s bored and can’t wait for the boys to get home (mean mommy said no more TV). She loves her lamb from Dad, too.

Speaking of her Dad…Rich and I have got to get out tonight and get prepared for tomorrow, which is Ethan’s 18th birthday and he’s having a bunch of friends over.