Update on my dad! New Info! (3:30)

For the friends and family around the country praying for my dad, THANK YOU! God is doing a miracle in his life. In July/August when he had no feeling or movement in his legs, I didn't think he would ever walk again. But I was wrong! He has been walking with the help of parallel bars and a physical therapist since Christmas Eve. This week he accomplished another big hurdle, the walker! He is now able to walk with only the assistance of a walker!! He said he had people on every side waiting to offer support, but no one touched him! He walked about 13 feet that first time, and since has walked many times using the walker. :o) Praise God!
Mom and Dad had a wheel chair lift installed in their garage last week so that when dad is released from the rehabilitation hospital, he will be able to get into the house! Someday he might not need it, but it will be essential for some time to come. February 1 is circled big and red on their calender as the date they are expected to be released from the hospital. Again, PRAISE GOD!!!

UPDATED INFO FOR THE UPDATE! As of 3:30, Dad just finished walking 75 feet! He walked 53 feet this morning. He sounded winded, but WOW!! Mom said that he had to sit down a few times during his 75 foot walk, but he kept getting up and kept going! YEA!!

Baby it's COLD outside!

BRRRRR! That's one way to describe our day yesterday. We received about 2-3 inches of the fluffy white stuff, but boy did it blow! School was dismissed at 12:15 because we were nearing blizzard/white-out conditions. The roads were getting treacherous. However, by 3:30ish, the wind died down a bit and most of the snow seemed to find a home on the ground. Abbigail (our snow bunny) was begging daddy (who decided the roads were bad enough to stay home and work on his presentations for this weekend on his laptop) to go outside and make a snowman and a snow fort. But alas, it was too cold for snowman/fort building. The snow was entirely too powdery. Dad made the mistake of mentioning that this was PERFECT skiing weather. Abbie's eyes lit up and she said "How about sledding? Can we go sledding??? PLEASE!!??" Well, a few puppy dog eyes and bribery hugs later, we were all pulling on our warmest snow gear.

Now, you must remember, we live in western Kansas, aka, the PLAINS! There are not many natural hills close by. However, our town (in it's infinite wisdom) built a new park a few years ago. When they leveled the land and dug out some area for gravel to go beneath the play equipment, they piled all the extra dirt up and made a hill...everyone around here calls it the sledding hill! And that is precisely what it is used for. During the summer kids run up it and roll down, but in the winter they SLED down. It's not very long, or extremely steep (although plenty so for my kids), but fun none the less.

We loaded up in both cars. I didn't think that with Andrew's cough he would be able to handle the cold wind, so I wanted to make sure I would be able to bring him home and Abbie could keep sledding. I also knew Bethany wouldn't do much sledding, she just isn't old enough to enjoy it that much. We piled out of the vehicles and trudged up the hill. I was trying to take pictures, so Warren came back down the hill on foot to help Bethany up the hill. About 5 feet from her he slipped and landed on his tush...OH how I laughed! I was laughing so hard I didn't get a picture until they were on their way up the hill, oh well, I have the mental image and that is enough! :o) Bethany came down once all by herself, and she loved it...last year she screamed and cried, she was terrified, what a difference a year makes. Up. Down. Up. Down. And so it went. I even came down twice with Bethany, and then we decided the wind was too cold for us. Andrew was handling the cold very well, but we didn't want to leave him stranded in case his asthma started acting up. So, Bethany and I sat in the van and watched. They had so much fun, and we had fun watching.

Andrew on his first run, riding the toboggan...super cool, it has a steering wheel and brakes! (at least it used to have a steering wheel!)

Abbie was using our toboggan (not sure of proper name, this is just what we call it!) and she hit a deep drift. She stopped dead in her tracks and flew forward, breaking the steering wheel and landing in the snow...she was fine, just mad that she broke it. We told her it was ok, it was a garage sale find that was already many years old.

When the cold people decided that they were almost froze, they decided to be very silly and all pile on top of each other to come down the hill...now that was a site to see!!! I even jumped out of the van to get a picture!

When we got home I decided to grab some frozen soup and warm it up for supper (wasn't on the menu plan, but Warren wasn't supposed to be home, so we changed plans!) I thought the BLOCK of soup and cylinder of broth was just hilarious...guess my brain was frozen. It was so yummy once it warmed up!

This is what Abbigail looked like after being inside for 10 minutes, still very ROSY!

Today it was still very cold with temps in the 20's and wind chills in the single digits to below zero. BRRR!!

Baby it's COLD outside!!

He IS his father's son!

My son, I love him. My husband, I love him. My son, drives me nuts. My husband, drives me nuts! Do you see a pattern here? They both love to tease and play tricks on everyone, especially me! I have a certain phobia...FROGS! EWWWW! Just thinking about frogs makes my heart beat faster. Why would I be afraid of a silly little animal? I know it is an irrational fear...but I'm afraid none the less...I blame childhood bullies.

Anyway...Andrew has this little rubber frog (it's squishy and slimy, just plain gross!). He has taken to hiding it near me lately. Well, last night I told him to get it out of my sight or it was going into the trash. He took it away. I assumed he went to put it away in his room. WRONG! When I went to bed several hours later I checked to see if my alarm was set for the proper time, and this is what I found:

I am so glad that I found it last night instead of when my alarm went off at 5:30...I would have SCREAMED so loud! That little turkey! This is EXACTLY something his father would do! In fact, Warren was so proud of him when I showed him what HIS son had done! :-) Warren is even threatening to make the theme on my PDA a frog theme and the ringer on my cell phone a frog's croak....EWWWW! What am I going to do with two of them in the house??? Guess I just have to keep loving them.

To teach or not to teach....

I am a child of God, first. A wife second. A mother third. I am a teacher...at least I was. Some days when I take my kids to school I want to stay so badly that it hurts. I am so thankful that have had the opportunity and privilege to be a stay at home mom for the past (almost) 8 years. Our preschool here in town contacted me during the summer and asked if I would be interested in teaching their 3 year old program. It was only 2 mornings of the week. I was SOOO tempted. I turned it down for a few reasons:

1. Bethany would be in the 3-yo program, although not the same class.


2. Teaching only two mornings during the week would not have offset the loss of income from giving up my childcare families.


3. I had already committed to my childcare families for the school year.

One of the preschool council members just called. The preschool council met last night to come up with plans/strategies for next year. Our town is experiencing a boom in the preschool age groups. Our town just went to a full day kindergarten. The school wants to expand to fill the need (currently they have waiting lists for almost every class) and make their 4 yo program last longer and go more days a week so that it is not such a shock for the kids to start the kindergarten program. She called to see where I was with my childcare, to see if being a part of their preschool would be something that would interest me. She wanted to know where I am with my teaching certificate (no current certificate unfortunately, that's a casualty of moving from state to state while being a SAHM, although she said that I don't need a teaching certificate, that my background was enough and I would be taking some in-service training as part of their position). Mainly she just wanted me to start thinking about next year and let me know that it is a possibility that they will offer me a job.

Here are some things that are running through my head right now:

1. Bethany is only going to be home from full-time school for one more year. Do I want to miss out on that? Do I want to have to put her into childcare, Abbie & Andrew never went to childcare. Will it even be an issue...I might teach the same hours she's in school.


2. Will it be financially equal to what I'm making here at home with my childcare? Would we be ok if it wasn't?


3. What will the families I care for now do without me...ok, I know I can be replaced, but let me bask in my being needed for a moment! :o)


4. It would be SO wonderful to get back into the teaching routine, to use my brain again. So many days I feel like I do the same things over and over, and it doesn't matter. I know that it does, but who will remember in 10 years (or next week) all that I do every day. I get frustrated with the children I provide care for (I know I will have these days in preschool, too). I feel badly because even though I'm a SAHM, my schedule is not my own. I cannot to to parties at school or help out in their classrooms without messing up my childcare families' schedules. If I teach 1/2 days, would it be better?? Is that even a possibility?


5. Preschool is such a special time with children, watching their love for learning unfold like a flower. Having fun reading books and doing art projects. Helping children learn how to share. Teaching them about the love of Jesus (this is a Christian preschool!). Teaching about forgiveness and getting along. Doing the messy things that moms (even me) don't like to do at home! Oh how I miss teaching.

Ok, just some rambling from a spinning head...I hope you held on when you started reading! :o) I'll keep you informed on what transpires. If you would like to pray that God will show me His will in all of this, that would be very appreciated. If you have any other considerations that you think I should think about, please leave me a comment. Thanks!

(This picture isn't of me, just a PS picture I found online...but it sure looks like fun!)

Another prayer request UPDATED

My husband is traveling. He SHOULD be traveling home. His plane was supposed to leave at 4:00 and arrive at 5:15. He should be home NOW! He's not. The plane he is supposed to get on hasn't even left the previous location. Something about someone trying to bring a suspicious package on board has shut down the entire airport, no planes are leaving or taking off...which means his plane is grounded in Hayes, can't even go to Kansas City to get him.

I am NOT cut out to be a single mother. I need a partner. I need a back-up. I need my husband. My head is pounding, the kids are whiny, they miss their dad. And...I need to take Andrew to wrestling since Daddy isn't home. Wrestling is not a mom thing, it's a dad thing! It's certainly not a mom-with-a-headache thing! Oh well...I am more thankful for my husband now than I was a week ago...didn't know that was possible.

Please pray that his plane is allowed to leave, gets him, and comes home safely. Thanks!

Update: His plane was finally allowed to leave Hays and then came to Kansas City to get him and the 2 other passengers...yes, there were only 3 passengers on his flight, it is amazng the airline didn't just cancel their flight!Instead of geting home around 6:00, he finally arrived just after 9:00. The kids were all in bed, but not completely asleep, so they all came running out "DADDY! DADDY! DADDY!" They were so glad to see him...so was I!!! The headache persists, but at least it is down to a dull ache instead of a pounding drum. Thank you all for your prayers and support!!

Continued prayers

If you remember a few days ago I posted about two families whom I have been praying for. I thought you might like an update...of course, you could just follow the links and read for yourself. :o)

Nate has reported that Tricia is doing well. She is gradually waking from the week of sedatives. She is still intubated but is conscious enough to calm at her husbands voice and touch. She both smiles and frowns when Nate tells her about their daughter. Frowning because I'm sure she wants to be the one getting to touch and talk o the little miracle. Gwyneth is doing great for a 25 weeker, they are even planning to extubate sometime very soon.

Ayla is undergoing her first round of chemo. Some of the test results came back with good news,, but as her mom pointed out, its hard to rejoice while poison is being dripped into your babies' body.

I can't imagine what heartache both of these families are going through. I pray many times during the day for both of these incredibly strong families. Please join me in lifting them up to The Healer who is all powerful and will do what is best. Following Him is not always the easiest thing to do, but it is always the best.

Picture update

I've been making posts lately, but not many pictures...so let's get caught up!

Andrew is in wrestling, and likes it very much. The thing he hates the most is the fact that when he gets home he has to shower. He doesn't like to take showers, but endures them for the love of wrestling. He is a pretty scrappy little guy. He's quick, and pretty tough. I guess all that wrestling with dad has helped! :o)

Tough guy!

Silly Boy!!

The kids and I went to the zoo a few weeks ago on a 'nice' day. We thought it would be so wonderful, but truthfully the sidewalks were either icy or muddy. The kids love to take their bikes to the zoo and ride around. It goes much quicker for us! They only SLOW down to see the animals, not stop and watch. But that's ok, we go to this zoo quite often, so they know what all the animals look like! :o) (They usually don't get this far away from me, the rule is they have to stop at the next bench and wait for momma to catch up, or at the next corner!)However, with all the ice and mud, I was constantly pushing or pulling them out of being stuck. Andrew was spinning his tires in the mud and flinging it EVERYWHERE! We were all a big mess and left after just over an hour. It was still fun, but will be much more fun once the sidewalks are properly cleared! (The pictures don't show the bad sidewalks, during those my camera was away so I could get the kids unstuck!)

I mentioned a while back that our kids just MIGHT get a gift for Epiphany. Well, they did. Andrew had misbehaved before Christmas and lost two gifts because of his behavior...He got one of them for Epiphany, a new set of Lego's. Abbie and Bethany both got a new baby sling. They love playing with their babies (and dogs as you can see in Abbigail's pictures). I made them each slings a year or so ago, but had a lady call and want 6 child slings that night...I sold theirs to her to finish the order because I was out of fabric and time! They never complained, plus they then got to pick out their own fabric. After a year, I had lots of pieces big enough for this, so they each picked their favorite fabric and I made them a sling. One of my childcare girls is having a birthday in a week and she will receive one as well...with a baby!

We have wonderful new neighbors. Well, not SOO new, they moved in during the summer. They have a son Andrew's age (also in wresting), and a daughter Bethany's age (in her preschool class and dance class). They also have twin baby girls who were born in August but premature. The babies are SOOO tiny! The four of our kids love getting together. Abbie enjoys it too, but feels a bit left out since they don't have an older daughter. Well, the weather was nice yesterday and we were outside playing and the kids came over. When it started cooling off and it was time to fix dinner we went inside. I got out the camera to see the action. Bethany and 'P' went strait for the Barbies and Andrew and "K" went for the XBox. Abbie got to work on her homework. (The girls had dance class earlier, thus the pink outfits)

I almost forgot...Abbie has a bit of a black eye! Saturday morning during our weekend of puke, she crawled in bed with daddy since mommy and Bethany were in the living room. Dad was doing something with his Zune and dropped in on Abbie, right in her eye. I heard her scream and ran in there afraid someone else was puking! No puke, just a hurt eye. It has a small bruise, and a little black around her eye. Poor thing!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week's Menu plan worked really well! I realized I was out of hamburger, so the sloppy joe night didn't happen, but we are expecting 1/2 beef from the processor this week, so that will be taken care of! I'm going to try to do this week without needing to go to the grocery store for anything. Plus, hubby is out of town till tomorrow night, he has youth group on Wed, and he has a youth retreat on Fri-Sat...so it's just the kids and I most of the week for dinner.

Monday: Quesadillas (chicken for me, mostly cheese for the kids)

Tuesday: PB&J's oranges and apples (VERY busy night...go from one activity to the other with no breaks, Brownies, 4-H, wrestling practice...hubby will be home sometime this evening)

Wednesday: Grilled Cheese sandwiches and Tomato soup

Thursday: (if our meat is in) grilled steaks, baked potatoes, corn (if no meat, then chicken pot pie)

Fri: I'm going to take the kids out for pizza!

I'm a Company Girl!

Remember those goals I made for 2008? Well, I found something that will help! This is a fun "little" thing started at Rachel Anne's blog. She is also trying to keep up with housework and keep herself organized. So, she is coming up with a "little thing" to do each day. One day it might be wiping the counters. Another it may be vacuuming the living room. Last week one day we were supposed to do something new...drive a different way to work, order a different coffee (oh for a Starbucks close!!) just something different! It's fun and it makes you think about what you are doing for your home and family! So...are you a company girl??

Life happens...

Hello all. It's been a while. Feels like a lot more than 2 days. It's been a L.O.N.G 2 days. Just a few hours after that last post began the fun. The throwing-up fun. Some of my childcare kids had been sick this week, and we got the bug. Bethany has had the brunt of it. She began throwing up Thursday evening, and continued to this morning. During the night Thursday, she couldn't even take a sip of water without it coming back. She was so miserable. Every time she was throwing up, I would hold the "puke bucket" and she would try to push it away saying "I don't want to puke!" Poor baby. She wouldn't even have any warning. Finally around 10 Friday morning she was able to hold down some water, so we tried toast. She ate most of the toast, but it took her a good 3 hours. She at a few bites of cereal for supper, and that was all. this morning about 6:00 she was super thirsty. So we came out to the kitchen to get a drink, she drank a cup of water, and we went back to my bed to snuggle. About 30 seconds later, she lost the water all over me, herself, and my bed. ICKY! Later she wanted pancakes. I (being the WONDERFUL mom I am) made them. She was walking to the table with a plate of pancakes in one hand and her puke bucket in the other...and puked. Poor baby was so hungry! She was finally able to hold down a pancake.
Andrew has a terrible cough. His asthma has acted up pretty bad this week and I even had to take his inhaler to school twice this week. He coughs so hard that I think he's pulled muscles in his stomach...I used to do this when I was a kid. He keeps saying his tummy hurts, I'm trying to figure out if he has the tummy bug like Bethany, or if it's the muscles...I'm hoping for muscles!
Abbigail seems to be healthy at this point, just bored with being home. We were supposed to have a baby-sitter last night...which would have given her something special to do. Plus, we were supposed to go to town today for a little shopping/eating out. Of course all of that was put on hold.
My dad spilt a cup of coffee on himself this week and has blisters on his chest, stomach, and legs. He cannot get into the pool until these heal. The doctors are giving him a tentative date for going home!!! Feb. 1!! This will be wonderful. Mom and dad ordered a lift to go in their garage to make getting in and out of the house easier. Also, the doors to the bedroom and office will be widened to allow his wheelchair to go through.
Yesterday was my mom's birthday...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! My brother and his family made a cake and took it up to the hospital. They all enjoyed a nice dinner together. I miss being there and being able to be a part of these special, and yet day-to-day things.

I'm sorry for the downer post, but this is where I am right now. I am sad, tired, frustrated, and yet so thankful. Bethany is now holding down food. Dad is healing and getting so much stronger. Andrew's cough will get better. Other date nights can be planned. There are so many people going through so much harder things. Some bloggers that I have been reading and praying for are Nate and Ayla's family. Nate is a young husband of a woman with cystic fibrosis. They became pregnant and made the difficult and brave decision to continue the pregnancy. She could not take many of her medications while pregnant for the safety of the baby. This week she was ventilated and delivered the baby via c-section. Gwyneth Rose was born at 25 weeks and weighs 1 pound 6 oz. They are in an amazing battle for their lives. Nate is such a huge inspiration, in the face of possibly loosing his wife and daughter he still sees the hand of God and has faith and hope.
Ayla is a little girl adopted from China by a family here in the USA. She has had difficulty with an eye and has had many surgeries. A surgery just days before Christmas revealed cancer. She is now undergoing tests and chemo will start next week. This family is also a testament to faith. They don't know why this is happening to their precious little girl, but they know that God will see them through.
When I start feeling sorry for myself, I remind myself that others are going through much worse...and I thank God for taking care of us. I pray that God continues to take care of those families going through such difficulties, comforts them, protects them, and heals them. Even if this is not God's will, I pray that God brings hope and sees the families through their trials.

Things that make a momma proud.

Abbigail. My daughter, my heart. Oh my little girl is growing up. But in growing up, she is developing a faith in God...a faith so strong it makes my heart happy and my eyes tear. Sometimes she says something so profound that my breath catches in my lungs and I just want to cry for shear happiness! Today she brought home her December journal from school. At the front there were a list of topics from which to choose to write about. Here is one entry:

Can you see why I'm so very proud??? This is the best gift I was given this year!!

Prayers please...UPDATE

I have two prayer requests this morning.
First...a prayer of thanksgiving. My dad got up out of his wheelchair and walked the entire length of the parallel bars (probably 15 feet) and sat back in his wheelchair, all UNASSISTED! No one had a hand on him, he did it all by himself, with God's help of course! Praise God for answering our prayers for strength. It is slow going, but he is indeed getting stronger each and every day.

Second...a prayer for safety. My husband is driving to a town about 2 hours away for a pastor's meeting. He called about 5 minutes after leaving home and said that the highway was a sheet of ice. He called back about 3 minutes later and said that there was a bad accident and could I please call the sheriff to make sure someone had reported it. He called a little later to let me know he would call when he got to the next big town, about 15 miles away. That was nearly an hour and a half ago. He still hasn't called. I've tried calling him many times and he is not answering his cell phone. I keep telling myself that he's just got his music up too loud and can't hear the phone...please let that be all there is. I'm so worried right now I'm almost in tears. PLEASE GOD, KEEP HIM SAFE!!!! One of the families I do childcare for, the dad is a highway patrolman. He is off today, but I'm considering calling him and seeing if he can find out if there has been any more accidents, if he can find out any info for me. I know...I just need to calm down and take a deep breath. He's fine, I'm sure....

UPDATE: He is fine. He was having some issues with his hood not wanting to stay latched, so he stopped in Garden City (the town he said he was going to call from) to see if he could fix it. He was concerned about the hood and forgot to call. He left the phone inside the car, so he didn't hear it ringing. He feels very bad about making me worry. I just thank God that he's ok!!!

Thanks for praying...Andie

How far have I walked???

Well, if you're asking how far I've walked, you need to get a life! :o) Ok...as suggested by my dad, there is now an added feature on the sidebar. Just look for the picture:

This picture is how I want to look in 2009....ok, not possible, but I can be MUCH MUCH closer!!!

I will update every-so-often...so if I haven't updated it lately, it doesn't mean I haven't walked. Take a look and keep me accountable!

Blessings-A

Menue Plan Monday

Well, here goes more of those goals for the year. I said that I wanted to better manage my home, and that includes cooking. So, I'm planning my menu for the week. Nothing fancy, just yummy food I hope my children will eat!!

Monday: Chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn. (I've been craving this!!!)

Tuesday: Sloppy Joes, fruit, chips

Wednesday: Warren has youth group pizza parties on Wed, so the kids and I usually just raid the fridge for leftovers and PB&J's

Thursday: Lasagna Casserole, ooey-gooey cheesy bread, salad

Friday: Homemade pizza

2008 so far....

Well, we're 4 days into the new year, how am I doing on those goals???

I've walked 8.88 (how's that for a number) miles so far. I've read my Bible each morning. I finished the Old Testament (started in Psalms in April and read strait through), so I went back and started in Genesis...I'm on Genesis 26. I've lost 1 pound. I played games with the kids, read books with them, went to the library, we are planning a trip to the zoo for tomorrow if the weather is nice.
Warren is out of town, I miss him! He'll be back tomorrow, but it's lonely here all by myself...the kids are in bed and the house is quiet.
So, that's how it has been so far. I know 1 pound is only 1 pound, but I'm excited!!!! It's a start!!! I'd love to have to buy a whole new wardrobe come summer because all my clothes are too big!! Wouldn't that be a wonderful problem???!!!
Like I said, the house is quiet...there are dirty dishes calling my name, and then I think my pillow is adding chorus in the background. Good night!

New Year, New Goals

Ok, so some of them are old goals I'm still working on, or am going to try harder at this year.

I'm not all that big on new year's resolutions because they seem to be a big joke. Everyone laughs about how quickly they are broken. So, instead of calling them resolutions, I'm going to give myself some goals for 2008.

1. I want to get healthy. I want to exercise more, eat less junk, eat more healthy!I want to be able to keep up with my kids. I want to be a better example of a healthy life. I know that my unhealthy lifestyle is catching up with me, and it will only get worse as I continue getting older, so I want to change that NOW! I want to walk on my treadmill at least 4 days a week, and do other exercises the other days. Warren got me a stereo bluetooth headset for Christmas so I can listen to my music while I walk...I wonder how far I can walk in a year! I'll try to keep track and let you know every month how far I've walked! So far I've gone 2 miles (and it's only the first!)



2. I want to be closer to my God. I try to read my Bible while I'm walking on my treadmill, but that means that if I don't walk, I generally don't read. That needs to change. My relationship with God needs to be my biggest priority. I want to spend more time in prayer and journaling, along with my Bible reading.



3. I want to be a better wife and mother. I want to better manage my home. I want to make a better effort to prepare healthy meals every night, not just once or twice a week. I want to do meal planning, so I know I have the stuff on hand so I can prepare the meals. I want to make my husband my priority...I want to romance him and show him that he is the one I love, for life! I want my children to know that they are some of the most important people in my life. I want them to know that I love them and spending time with them is very important to me. I want to keep my house more organized so that I can have people over on a whim, and not be embarrassed. I want to be able to find things instead of having stacks and stacks of stuff. I'm tired of being embarrassed when someone stops by, I want to be able to welcome them in without having to say "I'm sorry the house is such a mess!" Lived in, yes...messy, not so much! Part of managing our home is finances. I need to start watching more what we spend on, and stop needless spending. Having the extra income from Bazine is nice, but we are getting way too used to it, and it won't be here forever! Plus, as a childcare provider for teachers, my income is pretty much $0 for 3 months...gotta save so we can survive the summer! :o)

Ok, there are 3 main goals (lots involved in each of them!) I'm going to try to do my best on these. I know I will not keep them perfectly, so I will not be berating myself when I fail. If I do that then I will just quit and not even try. So...here's to doing my BEST!

Christmas in Wichita...Dad WALKING!

I think one more post will just about catch me up!

So...on Christmas day, after worship services and cleaning up the house, we were off to Wichita to celebrate Christmas with my parents and my brother and his family. We were so excited to go to the hospital and watch my dad walk. He did!

Here he is contemplating the standing up.

Here he is taking a few steps.

And now he's resting! He would walk 4-8 feet, then sit down and rest. It is such hard work. He was telling me that one thing he is working on in the pool where it is easier to walk, is reminding his body how to do it! Which arm swings with which foot. Which muscle to contract to make his leg move. How to put the weight on his foot, and of course balance is an issue. It's amazing how easily we walk, not even thinking about which muscle is moving at what time...but after months in bed, and everything his body has been through this year...it doesn't remember. I am so proud of him for working SOOO HARD! I am afraid I would have given up a long time ago!

Of course, that's my mom holding his wheelchair. She has been such a pillar of strength this year. Warren had back surgery a few years ago, and I was a wreck! He was only in the hospital for 2-3 days...my Dad has been in the hospital for almost 7 months of the 12. She has been there nearly constantly. While he was in the ICU, and most of the "big hospital" stay, she stayed with him 24/7. Only going home to shower and change clothes, do a load of laundry, and go back. She used all her vacation/sick time she had built up for the past 20 years and so she retired in May...truthfully she was planning this change in advance, but the change has helped so much with her guilt about not being able to do her job...her job this year has been to be there for dad, and she has done an excellent job! She definitely deserves a raise! :o) I admire her strength, patience, strength, love, endurance, strength, and faith. (Did I mention how strong she is? Mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, she's one STRONG Chick!) She is the most Godly woman I know...I hope I can be like her one day.

We also were able to have our family Christmas in the dining room at the hospital. Bethany and Ella helped Bobbie (my mom) bring in some of the gifts. (I hope they weren't the breakable ones!!)

Abbigail and Bethany love their little cousins, and I think they love them, too!

My Dad and my Little Man...two of my favorite guys!

Christmas at home

After the service in Bazine, we drove back home to have our traditional "FIND THE PICKLE!!" contest. We have a pickle Christmas tree ornament. We hang it on the tree like any other ornament. Then, when we are ready to open gifts, I hide the pickle. The kids come in and whoever finds the pickle gets to play Santa. (Legend says that whoever finds the pickle gets the first gift, but in our home they get to be Santa and hand out the gifts to the rest of the family, which means they are LAST to get to open a gift, but they LOVE being the one who gets to hand them out, so it's a great hunt!!)

Andrew found the pickle this year, so he got to play Santa..Oh what fun!!

We open one gift at a time so that everyone gets to see what everyone else receives. Makes it last a lot longer, and we get to enjoy each other, not just the stuff! With Warren serving in Bazine, his income has increased a bit, which translated into a few more gifts this year, the kids were excited! Our family knows that the real meaning of Christmas isn't the gifts, but it was fun to be able to go out and get the extra gifts that I normally would not have purchased!

Each of the kids made something at school called Reindeer Feed. It consisted of oatmeal, shredded wheat, and glitter! We spread it in the yard to encourage Rudolph and his buddies to come to our house!!!

After that, we got dressed up again and went to the 11:00 service at our church. All three of my kids were fast asleep about 10 minutes...ok, 5 minutes into the service. I carried each of them out to the car. Abbie woke up when we drove into our garage and said "Hey, why didn't I get to do a candle??" (We always do candles during Silent Night at Midnight! What a beautiful tradition!) I even went up to communion ALONE!! The kids ALWAYS go with me to receive a blessing, but they were all fast asleep and so I went alone, felt so weird!

Christmas morning we realized that the reindeer feed must have worked because their stockings were filled so full that some of the gifts could not fit! Each of the kids received a camera so they can take pictures of their own! I heard that Santa didn't enjoy trying to get all the little gifts into those awful stockings. The inside of the stockings are just a maze of strings and yarn. Getting the gifts out was hard enough, I can only imagine Santa's frustration in getting the stuff in there!!! So, I hit the after Christmas sales and found some new stocking that we will use next year, sparkly ones for the girls and a cute one for the boy...I'm sure Santa will appreciate the change! :o)

Christmas Eve in Bazine

Warren is serving as a vacancy pastor for St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Bazine. He holds services there on Sunday evenings. Since Christmas Eve was on Monday, he decided to hold their Christmas Eve service there early, so he would just drive there on Sunday and stay there until after service on Monday. Since they have an empty parsonage, and we didn't want him to be alone on Christmas Eve...we went with him! We took a few gifts for the kids to open while we were there. The first one they got to open was a new sleeping bag, that way they would have something to sleep in that night (empty house!). They each also got a new toy so they would have something new to occupy them during our stay. Each of the girls got a new Cabbage Patch Doll, they walk and talk in a really LOUD annoying voice...I think they might just loose their batteries soon! Andrew got a Spider man Web blaster. It shoots Nerf darts and suction cups. He has been asking for one of these for about a year, so I'm glad we were able to get him one for Christmas. It also has an attachment that will squirt water, I think that will have to wait for warmer weather!!!

It was nice to spend some time with the people of Bazine, and see how much they love having my husband as their pastor, even if it is only temporary.

Making Christmas Goodies

Here are some pictures of the girls' and I making yummy Christmas pretzels. Abbie and I did the dipping, and Bethany did the sprinkling...some pretzels had MORE sprinkles than others. Some sprinkles actually had a pretzel attached! :o)

Love my Blue Eyed Girl!!

Putting on sprinkles is HARD work! Takes a lot of concentration.

Final product...look at those sprinkles! :o)