an early morning conversation while the kids waited for the bus
Me: “I think I’ll put a picture of my hot husband on the blog today considering it’s February now and the *month of love*.”
Dave: “Um. Mom just used the word hot. Does anyone else think that’s a problem?”
Me: “What? Dave, I am human you know, not just a MOM.”
“Just to be tender, just to be true
Just to be glad the whole day through,
Just to be merciful, just to be mild,
Just to be trustful as a child;
Just to be gentle and kind and sweet,
Just to be helpful with willing feet,
Just to be cheery when things go wrong,
Just to drive sadness away with song,
Whether the hour is dark or bright,
Just to be loyal to God and right,
Just to believe that God knows best,
Just in his promises ever to rest
Just to let love be our daily key,
That is God’s will for you and for me.”
~ Heart Throbs
As much as it is possible, live in peace with everyone.
Romans 12:18
I am eating this right now. It is so good…….
So last night I overfilled my goulash casserole and it dripped all over the bottom of the oven as it baked and filled the kitchen with smoke. As a result, I can’t make my lemon banana bread this morning until the oven self cleaner is done. It’s 34 degrees outside, the sun is shining brilliantly, my house is once again smelling of smoke as the oven cleans. I have windows and doors open to keep the smoke alarm from going off.
This morning the first thing she said to me was, “Can I put a puzzle together?” And then she asked me, “Are the Northern Lights REAL?” After questioning, I learned that she saw a picture of them in Kindergarten. The puzzle is of Alaskan animals and the Northern Lights can be seen in Alaska so I was floored by the entire conversation which occurred much too early in the morning (6:30am).
We bought this small piece of furniture this weekend from the guy down the road. He refinishes pieces and we really like him and his shop. It’s very rustic and down to earth. This small chest of drawers, very narrow but made of hard wood, has two shallow drawers and one deep drawer. From now on the mail and papers get stuffed into it rather than piled on the counter. The pile was driving me nuts.
I’m freezing..hold on…I gotta turn the fan off and shut the door….
We also bought this chest. The top opens and shuts without a latch which makes it easy to use and also no children or cats can get trapped inside of it. I’m using it to hold all the wrestling things and any back packs and bags that I can fit into it, in this way the spot near the door doesn’t have QUITE the pile of stuff it normally does in the evening. If I put a blanket on top of the chest Gentleman Gray will curl up and sleep on it too; it’s also a cat bed.
I went to the grocery store before I picked up David from newspaper club yesterday so I could get a few things for goulash dinner. And guess what? I discovered a new-to-my-grocery-store flavor of FAGE yogurt! It’s sooooooooo good!
ALSO this is very exciting…..Panera bread in the grocery store!!!!!! I discovered it yesterday by the hot soup station. I LOVE their tomato basil and I bought the white for the kids and as you can see, it’s almost gone already.
This is what I’m going to bake as soon as the oven is done cleaning itself. I said in a few posts back that I wanted to depend more on my cookbooks than the internet and when I realized this morning that I had old bananas, I went and sat on the floor by my cookbook shelf to search for a recipe……and it looks great. I found eggs in the coop this morning that I will use, too.
B A N A N A L E M O N B R E A D
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups mashed banana
6 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking soda
3 Tablespoons grated lemon peel
Grease 2 loaf pans or one bundt pan. In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Blend in the eggs, bananas, and juice. Stir in the dry ingredients. Add the grated lemon peel. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
Of course, I don’t know how it will turn out. If it’s a flop I’ll come back online later and cross out the recipe.
Lastly, we (mostly Jacob and myself) have been currently working on a room in the basement and I wanted to show you our style of decorating. It’s not so much decorating than filling up……and we love it.
Our inspiration? “The Burrow” from the Harry Potter movies….here is a picture:
Now, our room will not be the same because of the very unromantic drop ceiling but that’s beside the point. What we love is “clutter”, pillows, blankets, comfy lived in couches and chairs, rugs, books everywhere, all kinds of stuff hanging on the walls, just a very eclectic humble and cozy room…..
So far, this is what we’ve accomplished out of practically nothing (cast offs, things from the thrift store, stuff from our own storage that I had put away).
And by the way, this is only part of our basement. There is also a section which is a bedroom for three of the boys, an exercise room with a treadmill, and a storage room. This part is Jacob’s bedroom/PS4 video game room. When teenagers come over this is where they end up. Because it is the basement we threw caution to the wind and cheerfully hung things up everywhere (the walls were bare a month ago). And we aren’t done! Jacob is having just as much fun as I am with this space. It’s been a fun project for us.
Obviously not a very good photo of the curtains, but they are very cool vintage Star Wars curtains that I bought at Iroquois Antiques “back home” several years ago. David wants me to leave them to him in my will.
The wooden shelf to the far right of the photo next to the TV is Jacob’s rock collection.
The desk was already down there but they moved the two bookcases down, along with the blue chair and the rug. Michael and Jacob bought the coffee table from walmart but they are looking for another one, possibly a round wooden one.
(this is also Michael’s room when he stays the weekends with Jacob)
I bought the clock at Target. Army guys are solid medal from a tag sale. Cross stitched army guy also from tag sale. Art work from Emily to Jacob.
Old quilts covering our shabby old very very comfortable couch.
The black frame is from the Family dollar. The gold frame is from Goodwill…I love that it had seven spaces for my seven children.
“It’s not much, but it’s home” ~Harry Potter
*****
“Comfort is born out of use, therefore the comfortable houses seem to be the ones that have been lived in.”
“Clutter=finding solace and a little beauty in the things we cherish in our everyday lives at home and at work”
“I want my house to be comfortable, not perfect”
all quotes from a wonderful book titled A PERFECTLY KEPT HOUSE IS THE SIGN OF A MISSPENT LIFE. Not a life/decorating style for everyone, but I personally like it so much and it speaks my language for what an ideal home looks and feels like.
In the morning the sea is so calm! The sea of my life, that is. After I get the children off to school, I have peace and quiet for seven.whole.hours. The following six hours will be nonstop action and busy, but seven.whole.hours. It’s quite strange, actually. I do all my morning chores with no interruptions! (Jacob is usually home until about 10 but he doesn’t do anything but sleep, take a shower, have a short conversation with me, and then leave.)
The laundry gets done! The rooms get clean enough! I can do anything!
But it’s not as fun without the children around, not as lively! That’s the part that is strange. I’ve almost forgotten how to live quietly. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. There is a time and season for every purpose under heaven. I thank God for this new stage of life, I thank God that Sarah is healthy again, Jacob is settling into college and work, and the rest of the children are all doing well. I love having the extra time to get things done for my family and even having time alone to do things for myself. It’s a privilege that I am very, very grateful for.
Amongst other things, I’ve been taking pictures of my cats.
“What.”
“You folded the laundry but you didn’t put it away. I thank you.”
Sleeping as though dead.
“I’m so pretty.”
“Yawn.”
“You made the bed. I thank you.”
“I thought I heard something.”
“Drinking water on the counter from a turquoise fiesta bowl. I thank you.”
(Sherlock is a very appreciative cat.)
“They say I have the prettiest whiskers”
“Waiting for the bus.”
I realized my nail polish matched my cat.
*********
Today I sewed a couple of potholders.
“Learn to be alone and to like it. There is nothing more freeing and empowering than to learning to like your own company.”
I think the noisiest school gym is the one hosting an all day wrestling tournament. There is nonstop yelling, crying, whistling, thumping of mats, cheering, and so on. By the end of the day my head feels like it’s vibrating from all the sensory overload. HOWEVER, I have come to enjoy the sport. It’s fun to watch and there is so much pride when your kid (my kid=my own boys plus any boy from our town) wins.
This is Seth getting a pep talk after a loss. He made the strangest faces as he tried not to cry. It was adorable.
Seth after a win.
He had four matches and only lost one of them, so he achieved a second place medal.
Running off the mat after his win, starting to take his head gear off.
I watched all of Seth’s matches and then Rich arrived (after church) and I left to take Sarah home for Ethan to babysit. When I returned, Caleb had already lost his first match but I was just in time to see him win the second one. (he got second place)
High fives from a team mate.
This is a really nice picture of David. Unfortunately he didn’t have a really nice day and was beaten in all three of his matches.
There are so many emotions in this sport! But he recovered quickly. He’s improving all the time, it’s just that currently he is at a rough stage because his body is growing so fast he can’t keep up with it.
*******
Yesterday I made Seth fold clothes. We received a box of gifts from Hannah and he couldn’t open his until the job was done.
He opened up…..a moose money bank! He was so happy.
Sarah got animals, toy animals from Alaska! And she took a bath with them, which is one of her most favorite pastimes.
Caleb received a sling shot, which David taught him how to use.
Each member of the family had a present to open and we were all very thankful for the thoughtful gifts from our dear Alaska~Hannah.
At the end of the day Sarah, Caleb, and David went outside to play.
David was target practicing. He put an apple on a box and I watched him shoot all of his arrows and……
Soooooooo funny.
He did eventually hit it, however, and then he ate the apple.
Caleb went down the hill on a snowboard.
I am very happy to say that his school still sends the kids outside to play even if there is snow on the ground. It’s so important for them to get fresh air. Today Caleb got on the bus with two big bags full of his snow gear, his backpack, and his percussion music set. But he’s strong and tough so he did just fine.
Isn’t he so handsome? Oh how I love this boy of mine. His cheeks are so kissable.
And Sarah…ugh….she is something else. I’ve doted on her so much that now as soon as she sees me she immedietly thinks of all kinds of problems for me to solve. At this point she was slightly uncomfortable about the sled Caleb found for her to use and wanted me to do something about it so I did. I went back in the house. I looked out the window and she was absolutely fine and happily sledding again. (Now that she is almost 100% back to health after her surgery I am going to have to stop being so over the top motherly with her or she will be impossible to live with.)
*******
This morning after the kids got on the bus, Hallelujah,….I took down all the fiesta greens (evergreen, juniper, sage, shamrock, seamist, light green, dark green)…..
AND ADDED ROSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Scarlet got to stay put for another month).
I always keep the cobalt on the very top, it is The Honored Color in my house because it’s the very first color I started collecting 18 years ago.
Samantha Cat wants me to tell you to have a wonderful day.
“O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord
Until my very heart o’er-flow
In kind-ling thought and glowing word
Thy love to tell
Thy praise to show.”
Frances Havergal (hymn writer 1836-1879)
In direct opposition to all the local hype regarding this weekend’s winter storm, the snow fell gently and calmly over our town. I couldn’t help but wish that I hadn’t heard the numerous warnings that “The Snow Is Coming!”, why couldn’t it just fall without so much fanfare like it did when I was a child and, with no thoughts of snow, I would awaken in the morning to a surprising world of white and joy?
That’s how it was for dear Sarah who saw the snow and had to get outside in it to walk and play and taste. What a gift childhood is.
I am thankful for……. lovely snow days that bring cancelled events so we can stay snug in the rooms of our home, bring in friends, and have a day of slowness. The calm descends over me (rather like the snow) even as I busy myself making cookies, homemade meatballs, spaghetti, and listen to all the conversations at once.
Home is a place of contentment, prayers, music, naps, laughter, running up and down stairs, small arguments and resolutions, puzzles and games, freshly baked cookies, a delightful crackling fire in the fireplace, trips outside to breathe in the icy fresh air, marvelous books to read, blankets, throwing yet another log on, video games, movies….
yes, home is a place for beautiful messy L I F E and living, one thousand unspoken blessings each day, sharing, loving, enjoying……but mostly it is a place for the very best togetherness of friends and family. Here we are loved beyond measure.
“Wherever the heart wanders it carries the thought of home with it.”
The coffee shop on Jekyll Island sells these muffins and my Dad loves them. I was determined to find a recipe because they are delicious. Indeed, with the internet it didn’t take any longer than five seconds to discover what I was searching for….black bottom muffins….the name makes Sarah Joy giggle. “Did you say bottom?” she laughed.
The muffin is more of a cupcake. The chocolate cake part is soft and delicately sweet. The middle is cheesecake!
I made a batch yesterday (one batch=12 muffins) and they were gone in no time.
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line muffin tins with paper cups or lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt until light and fluffy. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, 1 cup sugar, cocoa, baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center and add the water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Stir together until well blended. Fill muffin tins 1/3 full with the batter and top with a dollop of the cream cheese mixture.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
(recipe source: the wonderful and convenient allrecipes.com)
You know what makes me sort of sad? When I was married 20 years ago I spent so much time dreaming as I turned page after page in my new cookbooks, planning on what I would bake next for my husband. I have a beautiful collection of books to this day….but do I look at them now? Hardly ever. I think one of my new year’s resolutions will be to make more recipes out of my cookbooks rather than from the computer. Just because.
This is a Sarah update.
She had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday with her surgeon and new urologist. The surgeon was very happy with her healing progress. She does have a stent which will have to be removed in February which will entail another magical sleep in the O.R. At the same time, the Doctor will look with a scope into her kidney to make sure every stone fragment was removed during her first surgery.
The urologist went over her 24 hour urine sample results and sure enough, she is a stone-maker. He sent us to get blood drawn that day as well, which Sarah did not appreciate despite the fact that they had a cartoon playing right in front of the lab chair and she was sitting on my lap. She was just simply done with all the needles. But we managed just fine and she came away with another toy so……
He called with the lab results which were PERFECTLY normal (praise Jesus) –all but her vitamin D level, which was low (common for our area). So she is taking a supplement and I’m giving it to all the children in the house, too.
She has to eat an orange a day (and/or lemons, lemonade or limes) and drink twice as much as I was making her drink before. (ugh) She also has to avoid salt. In a few months we will do the urine test again to see if the diet change has helped.
Sarah went to school on Wednesday and Thursday. She did absolutely fine other than being a little more tired than usual. I kept her home today, however, because she was looking pale to me and although she has been acting fine here at home, I feel much better keeping her with me. She is currently watching a movie.
Ethan is home after getting done with midterms early. I went to pick him up (with Sarah) and we went through the Dunkin Donuts drive thru. We stopped at the grocery store where I left them waiting for me in the warm car eating their snacks while I ran in to get half and half and the ingredients for three bean salad.
It’s a beautiful day, sunny, and a freezing cold 27 degrees with an icy wind. When I look out the window at our ponds I think to myself that the ice must be about ready for skating. In the meantime, I am staying close by the fire that I made this morning in our fireplace. It is a comforting, popping and crackling sound, not to mention toasty warm.
Happy Friday, friends!
You are loved.
“Nothing is lovelier in life, than the spirit of contentment. Fretting mars the beauty of many a face. Discontent spoils all one’s world. Out of whatever window he looks — the discontented person sees something that is not pleasing.
But a contented person sees only good everywhere. The happiest homes in the world are not those in which are the finest carpets, the costliest pictures, the most luxurious furniture — but those in which contented, joyful hearts dwell. A mind at peace, beautifies the plainest surroundings and even the hardest conditions.” J.R. Miller
“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13
Who can take a sunrise
Sprinkle it in dew
Cover it in chocolate
and a miracle or two?
The candyman
The candyman can
The candyman can ’cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good……..
What’s he up to now?
David is all interested in candy making these days! He’s quite a fun kid, I love the way he has such an interest in doing things. He gets inspired by youtube videos, books, and tv shows. Then he quietly sets to work, following directions carefully and never cleaning up after himself.
He’s been asking me: “Did you get any more corn syrup?”
He made hard candy three times, his first batch was eaten by the dog.
He also made taffy. I had a piece and it tasted like watermelon.
This was his second batch of hard candy. He poured it out onto a greased cookie sheet and after it was cool and hard he pounded it with the back of a spoon to make serving sized pieces (serving sizes for large people and/or elephants). I wonder if he’s making candy or dentist bills? I keep telling him to go easy on the consumption of all the candy and to make sure he brushes his teeth. But other than that, I don’t discourage him because maybe he’ll be a famous candy maker someday.
Taffy and hard candy! I’ve never gotten the courage to make those things!
I bought him flavors for his candy and he also picked out some lego candy molds.
The candy is so hard that it will take you half the day to finish just one piece!
We took Sarah to the hospital on Wednesday morning. She had to be there at 6:10. They took us in the pre-op room and I changed her into a hospital gown. We were so nervous. The nurse and doctors came and talked to us and then it was time for her to go to the operating room. Rich went with her until she fell into her magical sleep. They let her chose a flavored chap stick to rub on the mask so that it smelled nice as she breathed. She chose watermelon.
Her surgery ended up taking 8 hours. Rich and I went to a waiting room. I walked in with my mind numb and my eyes hot with tears. I wanted to hide away from the other parents. Rich and I hugged, he was crying, too. He had a hard time leaving Sarah behind and went back to kiss her one more time before he left here there so small and dear.
How did we wait 8 long hours? The time went by so slowly but as I think back on it, it is unclear in my mind how we passed the time. We sat right next to the waiting room phone and I answered it on the first ring every time the nurses called to update the parents. So we heard from the O.R. on a regular basis.
I also walked and walked, through the halls and up and down flights of stairs.
I went to the bathroom over and over…being nervous always makes my heart beat faster and my bladder want to empty more frequently.
Each time I washed my hands, I looked myself in the eyes and spoke words of affirmation to myself. “You are strong, you are so strong.” “Jesus is with you and Sarah is going to be fine.” “Everything is okay.” “Be positive.” It felt good to purposefully replace negative thinking with positive words.
I went into the Meditation room where there was a book to write your words of prayer, and Bibles to read (a Torah, 4 books of Mormon, and a Hebrew Old Testament). I prayed in there with my face in my hands. I wrote in the book the words to “Jesus Loves the Little Children.”
I sat by my husband who was working on his laptop, and colored. There was one other mom in the waiting room who also colored. It helped to keep me calm.
I watched other people.
There was hot chocolate, coffee, and graham crackers in the waiting room. I had no appetite but I forced myself to eat and drink. Rich and I ate lunch in the cafeteria. I don’t remember what I ate…….
And finally she was out of the OR. As we left to speak to the doctor one of the dads said “But who is going to answer the phone for us now?” And we laughed.
Sarah didn’t have three large kidney stones, she had about 10 smaller ones. It took the doctor several hours to remove them. They were so soft that they broke into pieces as she tried to get them out.
They did another test to see if her kidney had any abnormal areas but it was a perfectly normal kidney. We are all mystified about how she ended up with so much stone burden.
Then it was time to see Sarah and I could not wait. The nurse had me get right in bed with her. She was white and groggy, and a little weepy.
We put a cool washcloth on her forehead and helped her eat a bite of slushy which she promptly threw back up. She played a little bit on an iPad with shaky hands. After a while, the entire bed with both of us on it was wheeled down the hall, up the elevator, and into her room where she would end up spending three nights in.
I was so happy that night, the burden of anxiety of several months in anticipating this surgery was gone. I took this picture at 1 in the morning, when Sarah was wide awake watching The Poler Express.
She spent most of the day on Thursday in bed. She was in pain and had a lot of trouble getting to the bathroom. She didn’t want to move and she had no appetite. She was on an IV for fluids, antibiotics, and pain medication. That night she ran a temperature of 103. She was coughing. The euphoria of having the surgery over began to wear off a little.
By the next morning, Friday, we were both emotional messes. Rich had gone home the night before and went to work that day. I was so worried about the fever and just the whole experience in general and plus no sleep……it was so hard to stay cheerful. It broke my heart when Sarah was crying and she said, “Mama, why are you crying?” I felt like my emotions were making her feel worse.
The nurse was so wonderful. She talked to me and said that Sarah needed to get out of bed and that we would both feel better if we got out of the four walls of that room and away from bed and the idea of “sickness”. I hadn’t even thought of that because with Sarah’s pain I didn’t want her to do anything but rest…..which is not what the doctor and nurses wanted their patient doing….I stepped away for a few minutes to clear my head and compose myself. I went down to the cafeteria and ate breakfast (it was after 1o) and I sat and quietly cried as I ate. I made some coffee and took it back upstairs and found a young lady with Sarah, talking to her cheerfully. She was going to wheel Sarah down to Radiology so she could have an X-ray on her abdomen to make sure the stent was in place.
(As she was spiking a fever, she had to have several extra tests to see if she had infection; a urine test, blood test, chest X-ray, and abdomen X-ray)
She pushed Sarah in a wheelchair as I walked along not able to talk because I was still holding back tears and felt so worn out.
After the X-ray, the young lady (I cannot remember her name) took us to see the Family Resource room and that is where Sarah and I both began to cheer up and believe once again that life was worth living. 🙂
There was so much to do in the room, it was clean and bright and very kid-friendly. There was an iPod table, books, computers, and a big beautiful fish tank. Sarah got out of the wheelchair and walked around (slowly, and sort of bent over because her tummy was sore).
She perked up and began chattering just like the Sarah we know and love.
We went back to the room so she could get her next dose of medicine and Rich surprised us by walking into the room….he spent the whole rest of the day with us.
The two of us took Sarah to the cafeteria to eat lunch. She ate a whole taco and it was an absolute joy to watch her eat and say yum over her food again.
And then she did more playing!
That afternoon she also went to an art time on a different floor–her Dad took her while I went for a little walk and then colored in the 6th floor waiting room as an older lady slept in a chair next to me.
And then! Oh joy, I was able to go home to sleep that night and Rich stayed with Sarah.
I went back early on Saturday morning….I was there by 6:30. Rich had to leave to coach wrestling. Sarah had spiked another fever and at first there was talk of having her stay another night.
In the meantime, we had to leave the room again to keep our spirits up. Sarah didn’t go in a wheelchair this time, she walked on her own two feet. The nurse disconnected her from the IV and it was nice to go along without having to push around an iv pole. She insisted on pushing all the buttons for me.
Her poor hair was a rat’s nest. I hadn’t combed it because she was so grumpy in the days after surgery that I knew that she wouldn’t tolerate me messing around with her hair. But as soon as we got back to the family resource room and she was playing on the computer, I sat behind her and oh so very gently combed her hair until it was finally smooth again. It took a long time.
She strung a few beads and then got too tired.
She played with puzzles.
And the giant iPad. We were the only ones in the room.
We went back to our room to rest and the nurse came to take out her “tubes”. She asked if we were ready to leave and go home and we both smiled and said yes, we were. So discharge was underway and as soon as he could, Rich drove back to the hospital to get us.
Goodbye, fish
We left with the knowledge that she would probably spike another fever that night, but we had prescriptions to fill and a phone number to call with any questions. The tests they had done to double check on infection all came back clear…urine, blood, lungs, tummy. The doctor ended up deciding that the fevers were probably from surgery itself, and bacteria going into her system from the stones being disturbed.
The sisters were reunited, we ate ice cream on the way home.
The brothers were happy to have Sarah home again. Caleb had spent some of his own Christmas money on a few little gifts for Sarah and before I knew it, she had gone all the way up the stairs to play in her room with her devoted brother.
She slept in our room that night and although she did wake up upset and confused, she didn’t spike a fever after all.
She had a sponge bath on Sunday morning and it was so good for her to get the hospital smell off and her hair washed good and clean again.
I braided her hair and when I left the room to get something, she turned to her dad and said, “I look pretty…don’t I?” Yes, you do, Sarah.
I took this picture last night when Rich and I were reading in bed.
Today has been good…she’s still moving slow but the pain is getting easier for her to deal with. I left her for an hour with Grace as I went to the store to get milk. I’ve been busy making muffins, cleaning, making tacos for lunch, more cleaning, catching up on so much laundry, all with a peace in my heart that Sarah is okay and getting better again.
She has an appointment tomorrow with urology and the surgeon as a follow up. I know she’s healing nicely but of course I want to know what the urologist says about what we can do for her to hopefully prevent her from getting kidney stones like this again.
Thank you for your prayers!
I went to Ethan’s wrestling tournament on Saturday and I was too late to watch his first match in which he lost…..I arrived just in time to see this bleak scene. I was able to sit by Ethan and try to cheer him up by saying things like, “Do you want a drink? Do you want a banana?” “I’m going to sit right here and not leave your side, E.” “Do you want me to rub your sore shoulder?” Although he didn’t want anything, I did finally get a few smiles out of him.
I am of the opinion that, even as a mere spectator, wrestling is extremely draining! To anticipate the matches and then watch my own boy plus the other boys (which are also “my” boys) wrestle….to see them fight so very hard, get hurt, bleed, lose, win. It’s all quite exciting. I hate it in some ways. The gym is a bee hive of activity and so very loud, for instance. But it’s also a lot of fun and I’m always always impressed by the strength of every wrestler.
Rich has someone tape each match and I noticed that Gage is always quite eager to watch himself right after he’s done with a match. One of my wrestling mama-buddies is Nicole in the striped shirt (her son behind her is a great friend of Jacob and Ethan).
Sarah runs as wild as possible, plays with Seth and James (the other coach’s little boy) and this Saturday she had a silly situation with static charged hair.
Grace is a team manager and keeps score with the book.
Seth took his shoes off so he could get on the wrestling mats as much as he could, got scolded for it several times, but he is like everyone’s little brother and they love him. I took this picture because he was actually standing still, watching a boy get his ankle examined by a trainer. He would silently look at what the trainer was doing and then look at the face of the boy. The only thing that scared me was that he might have gotten it into his head to think an injury would be really cool…like, it’s a sign of being a big-time athlete.
Well, E had two forfeits to wait through and then low and behold, he was up against the very same guy who beat him badly the first match. But this time Ethan came very close to winning.
He fought so so hard. As usual, I felt as if I were fighting along with him. Oh how painful it is to have them lose by only one point! But his dad was thrilled to see him come back and fight hard.
After the match discussion.
Well, the next day was Seth’s turn. Finally he could be on the mats all the time he wanted. His first match was a loss and he got dumped on his head a few times. It was quite deflating for our boy Seth. But after resting on Dad for a little while, he very bravely wrestled three more times and won each time, receiving a 2nd place medal.
Seth working on pinning a boy.
Caleb wrestled three times and lost each one…however, he was braver by the last match and was much improved.
David wrestled twice and lost both, however he still received a third place medal because there were only four boys in his bracket. He wrestled much better than he did last year and was exciting to watch.
David smiling because he’s getting away from Mom’s camera.
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My three younger boys only have one more tournament to be in but Ethan will have several more opportunities to wrestle before the High School season is over.
Good to be Home 