Tuesday, April 1, 2008

update on all of us

I know I've made a few short posts recently, but have not had time to sit down & think through a lengthy one.  It's 9:30 Tuesday night as I type this.  Larry's still at an elder meeting at the church & will not be home for a while, so I figured now might be a good time.
 
First, I wanted to make you aware of something that you can add to your prayer list.  There is a Christian musical group called Selah that I enjoy listening to.  (You can get a taste of what they are all about here:  http://www.selahonline.com/)  The lead singer for this band is Todd Smith.  He and his wife, Angie, are expecting their 4th daughter.  She is due in May, but they've chosen to induce labor on April 14th.  Unfortunately, they learned mid-way through the pregnancy that their baby girl, Audrey Caroline, has several health conditions that are incompatible with life.  Part of the early induction of labor is to reduce stress on the baby's already weak body at birth.  I'm uncertain as to whether or not baby will survive moments, hours, days (etc) or if she will be stillborn, but the sad reality is that she will not live.  Earlier this week, they had to go to the funeral home & select her casket & gravesite.  The whole thing is heartbreaking.  They are handling the situation very well and have a beautiful blog that Angie is keeping to just sort of walk people through the journey with them.  It is a tear-jerker almost every entry, but it is a beautiful insight to their lives and what they're walking through with the deepest faith.  They've asked that people spread their names far & wide for prayers and that the link to their blog be shared for anyone who'd like to read.  Make sure you go back to the beginning of the blog so you can catch up.  They've told their 3 daughters (all young...like maybe 1st grade & younger?) about what is happening with baby Audrey & the way they've dealt with it is so sweet.  Their blog is here:  Bring The Rain: March 2008 (& in case that doesn't work, it's here: http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html)
 
Now...onto news about my little family!
 
Larry is doing well.  He's recently begun the process to be officially ordained by our denomination.  While it's just a matter of a lot of paperwork and test taking, it's a little nerve-wracking for him at times.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he will pass all the tests & shuffle the right pieces of paper, but pray for the process to be smooth & easy, please.  This month, he's focusing on a blood drive.  Each month, he sets up one church-wide outreach project.  He spends most of his days visiting with people in hospitals & nursing homes & Hospice care.....calling the ill and talking to those who've visited the church.....juggling counseling appointments and reaching out to the community.  They have jokingly said that Larry is the one on staff who is "paid to care".  (Of course all of the staff care deeply for our church members & the community, it's Larry's primary focus.)  I'm so proud of him.
 
I think Savannah is finally all better.  While she's still taking an antibiotic for strep throat, she's nearly done with it now and seems to be feeling great.  She's all perky & silly & bossy (to her siblings) and has that great 11 yr old attitude going on.  Yep...she's better.  :)  She is winding down her 6th grade year now.  Only about 8 more weeks of school.  She has enjoyed this year filled with all the fun of middle school -- friends, band, lockers, switching classes a dozen times a day & all that the social stuff brings with it.  She's going to miss the principal's boys that she's been tutoring all year (& the paycheck she gets for doing so!).  She's looking forward to summer, though!
 
As you've read, Samuel's 8th birthday was last week.  He had a great time having a friend over to spend the night.  They picked out several movies that night & stayed up way too late enjoying popcorn & candy in front of the little TV in his room.  I really could not have chosen a sweeter little boy to come over.  Brady was a sweetheart!  (if you're reading this, Stacy, thank you for letting him join us!!)  It's hard to believe that this kiddo is really 8 years old already.  I need to schedule his well visit w/ the pediatrician!  Oops...
 
Sarah is doing great.  No complaints with her.  She's a sweet girlie!  And grandma.......she found her wallet tonight!  She's been hunting for weeks now & finally located it!  Yahoo!  Sarah is my sweet, compassionate, loving & gentle girl 24/7.  She tears up easily---like only a girl would--- and enjoys her social life with the little neighbor girls!  She's talking about taking dance class again this coming Fall.  We'll see if she changes her mind between now & then.  I hope she doesn't...she is such a good dancer!
 
I have decided that I will work through the summer this year.  This will be a first for me, but since it's only 2 days a week, it's really not too big of a deal.  All three kids will be able to go with me.  Savannah will be my helper and Samuel & Sarah can go to a class for elementary kids that one of the other teachers will do for all the teachers' kids.  (Of course, if they're bored to death or become horribly jealous about Savannah being in the room w/ me, they can come be helpers, too, but we're going to try out the elementary class first.)  We can still have our organized summer schedule like we usually do, but this will be a nice filler for our summer days--and I'll bring home a little paycheck doing this.  It won't be a whole lot of money, but it'll be something.
 
I'm attempting to get some of my priorities straightened out lately, too.  Exercise & having a regular devotional time are always hard things for me to fit in.  I know I need and want to do both, but finding the time is hard.  Like most mommies, I spend a lot of time waiting on other people & trying to find time to get the necessary stuff of life done, so when it comes time to do things for me, it's difficult.  But like most things in life, we find time to do the things we want to do, so I figured I better come up with a way to do these things.  My plan is that every morning after I take the kids to school, I come home & read (at least) a chapter of my Bible and spend time in prayer.  And then in the afternoons after work, I usually have 30 minutes (sometimes more) between the time I get home & when I have to leave to pick up the kids from school, so I can use that time to get in some sort of work out.  I figure that even if it's just 20-30 minutes, it's better than nothing.  And while I've done both things (exercise & devotional time) here and there along the way, it's hard to remain consistent in either for me.  And so....tomorrow will be day 3 of this schedule & so far, so good.
 
We are all still REALLY enjoying our sweet dog.  King is such a gentle, loving, good-natured dog that it's hard to see how anyone would NOT love him!  We've started giving him an animal version of Glucosamine for his arthritis & I really believe it's helping!  It was $8 for a 1 month supply, so that's very do-able, especially when I'm seeing so much improvement in his movement so quickly.  We've only been giving it to him for about 2 weeks and he's already trotting along during our walks and has begun to sort of drag us behind him!  Talk about a difference from a slow, limping dog 2 weeks ago.  He still limps & has arthritis, but he's handling it MUCH better since taking the Glucosamine.  I also think that he's lost some weight.  We're feeding him an overweight management food (thank you LeighAnn!!!) and walking him at least once, sometimes twice a day.  We haven't had him weighed again, but I believe that the next time we do, he will be smaller than he was at the last visit!  I just can't say enough how much we love this sweet dog.  Sarah adores him, even getting down in his face to love on him & kiss him every day.
 
I believe this has become quite a novel of a blog entry, so I'm going to shut it down now...especially since it's now 10:40 & Larry's been home for a while!  (I stopped writing when he got home & came back to it.)  Thank you for reading & keeping up with us!  More later!
 

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