Late April

 I do love this time of year!  It is not too cold, not too hot. There are not a great many bugs yet.

The grass is growing with great enthusiasm, and various trees are flowering. 

Spring is awesome.

As I said in the previous blog post, we had our pool liner replaced. That meant we opened the pool earlier than usual. Kevin and Rose and Daniel have been in several times. I went in once. It was 76. That is rather too cold but it was Ok. It was good for me. I prefer at least 5 degrees warmer though.

We have had sunny days and that, plus the solar cover, is heating the water quickly. Given it is not yet May, the water is impressively warm. I should add that at night the water cools pretty seriously. 76 is the highest it has been. The kids have gone in when it was 74. BRRRRR.

Today is a bit cooler. It was like ... 64 at the highest point? But delightfully sunny with little wind, so a charming day.

Ok, more serious stuff.

There is a couple who are friends, who (like us) have a large family. The husband is a Type 2 diabetic like me. A few weeks ago, he had an injury with a chainsaw; he cut off the very tip of one finger. 

Long story short, the finger didn't heal well. It has been a really big deal and very exhausting, with lots of antibiotics and pain.

Now I do not know details, but it is LIKELY that part of the problem is diabetes, because long term diabetes often causes problems with blood vessels and the flow of oxygen and the body doesn't heal as well as it used to, especially in the extremities.

Which is scary for me, though I will say that I am not a chain saw kind of lady. I am not strong enough, and they scare me. But life does happen, and this kind of thing does happen, and wow, our poor friend!

I have been working hard to keep my blood sugars low for years and it is incredibly tiresome and they have been creeping up some blah blah blah. So annoying and frustrating. But also worth it, because I never have run REALLY high. 

All of this is a good reminder to keep on keeping on.

A week or two ago I mentioned a lady who used to attend the same church as me, and we lived in the same neighborhood, and then life happened and we drifted apart. She is now in hospice care for cancer. Probably will die within the week. Obviously sad. She loves Jesus and will be walking Heaven's streets of gold soon. Her poor family though...

I do sometimes struggle with whininess about food limitations and various aches and pains but am so grateful that my body works pretty well.

I finished another 1000 piece puzzle. The smoke from the train took awhile but I did it!

Rose made boats out of cardboard and floated them in a tub. She is very creative.

Our three sons

Mid April

 I am missing church again today because Daniel is quite sick. He just has a bad cold but in spite of his comparitive age (he is almost 14) I still don't want him home alone when he is sick. 

Kevin took several other kids to church. The older ones do their own thing with their own churches. We have a lot of cars and people going here and there!

I felt off all last week which was annoying. I had days when I felt pretty perky and days when I took three hours naps at noon.

A year ago, a dear friend of mine from college died of cancer.

This year, an old acquaintance of mine is in hospice for cancer, and she is younger than I am. We used to interact a lot as we went to the same church and lived in the same neighborhood (this was 20+ years ago) but then they moved and we moved and we changed churches and I haven't SEEN them in a long time. But I am FB friends and am praying for them. She is at the point where nothing can be done and they are just keeping her comfortable. She is home, at least. Anyway.

I get irritable with my body sometimes, but I know I am blessed that my biggest problems are digestive issues and occasional mild illnesses.

The biggest excitement of last week was the pool. We paid a company (lots of money) to take off the old liner, which literally had holes in it, and replace it.

 

The two men were incredibly quick. In a few short hours, we had a brand new pool liner.

Then came the refilling the pool part.

It took well over 24 hours to fill it up to this point. That was important because when the water got to this point, the pool people came back and removed a vacuum system which was sucking in the pool liner until there was enough water.

While we were filling it up the first day, we had two hoses in the pool all the time, which meant the water pressure inside was hilariously bad. To the point that showers had to be planned. We would turn off one hose for a little bit and then turn it back on when the showers were done.

After the pool people removed their vaccum, we turned off one hose and last night, latish, the pool was full again. It took more than two full days. Our pool is very large.

Now the pool is "open" for the season, but no one is getting in yet. The water is hideously, hideously cold.

I am hoping with the solar cover, we can get it up enough to jump in by the end of April but that seems a little optimistic. We will see!

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

 Easter Sunday!

This is arguably the most important celebration of the year for Christians as we celebrate Jesus Christ overcoming death, rising, and leaving the tomb.

We are saved from eternal separation from God through Jesus's willingness to die on the cross for our sins.

Unfortunately for me, I am sick so am not going to church today. Most of the kids have gone. Kevin is sick too so he is in bed. 

It is just a cold but my asthma loves to flare up enthusiastically when I am sick, so I am taking it very easily.

The daily temps have been up and down a lot. Over the last week, we have had high temps in the 80s, and high temps in the low 40s. This pic is (if memory serves me) during a cold day, but we have this warm spot on our deck and obviously a bunch of the kids decided to go and hang out together.

I finished a 1000 piece puzzle. 

Rose wanted to do a "prank" for April Fool's Day, so she got up early and put plushies everywhere. There were plushies on sofas and chairs. It was very cute.

I did a science experiment with the kids. We put all these jars out. Most had water in them. One was empty, and one was full of oil. Every jar had the identical amount of liquid (except for the 'air' one). We then put four ice cubes in each jar and measured how long it took for the ice cubes to melt. It was fun and I was surprised. The jar with plain water at room temperature took like 20 minutes to melt. The jar with water mixed with sugar took closer to an hour. Amazing that sugar made such a difference but it did.

On Thursday, I took the younger three kids to the local Air Force Museum and we watched an IMAX movie called Wild Ohio, which was about Ohio and its wonders of nature. It was very good. For such a flat, relatively boring state, we have a lot of gorgeous areas.

After the movie, we started walking around the AF Museum which is HUGE. And I started getting really tired. I was thinking, girl, you are not in good shape!

The next morning I woke up sick so Ok, that is why I was so tired.

I have been sleeping a lot the last few days. It is nice having older kids as they don't require so much care as when the house was full of babies and toddlers, though I adore those ages too.

Happy Easter!