Thoughts on the Big Picture

It is so easy for me to get caught up in the little minutiae of daily life, to get frustrated with the struggles and frustrations of lots of kids and limited time and energy.

And then something hits me upside the head, hard.

Many years ago, a lovely lady watched our children while I was at work -- at that time, I worked two mornings a week.

One of her children was born with major handicaps. He never progressed beyond about a 10 month old in terms of his development. He couldn't walk, or talk.

But he is so loved by his extended family.  He is such a wonderful man, now in his mid 20's.

And he is dying as I write this.  He's been sick for a month and sinking and sinking and now he is about to meet our Savior.

I believe he is saved because he is like a small child mentally, and how God loves babies and little children.

His parents, oh -- how I suffer for them.  I can't even imagine the sorrow. They've been through so much with their son through the years and he's always fought through but this time it is too much for his body.

Good-bye, sweet boy.  We'll see you in heaven.

And I thank you, Lord Jesus, for my 9 healthy children on earth. And I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you do love the little children and those babies who never survived my womb are waiting for us in Glory.

Isaac's Test

Isaac is 16, and old enough to start taking college classes next year. Well, he could hypothetically have gone this year but he wasn't ready and I wasn't ready either.

There is a neat program called College Credit Plus where high school students can get free tuition from the State of Ohio to take college classes.  I am working on getting the online records in, and one I need is an acceptance letter from Clark State University.

He had to pass a test in reading, writing, and math to get a full acceptance, and last week he did!  I am so proud of him. He has always taken to math like a duck to water but writing has not been easy for him. He worked hard and completed an on demand essay well enough to take college classes.

Way to go Isaac!!!!!!!!

Strong Daniel, Creative Daniel

Ice Possum, and Other Excitement

On a very cold day last week, we spied this little possum skating around our frozen pool.  Talk about weird.  For a while we were amused, and then we were worried, but he or she succeeded in climbing out of the pool and onto the concrete, so we assumed it was all right.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. The sad creature moved more slowly, then fell over, and died ignominiously.  Poor thing. Something was apparently wrong with it because it wasn't stuck in the pool.  Possums are usually nocturnal so the fact that it was out and about during the day was a bad sign.

Kevin and I didn't write out any kind of agreement when we were married about who does what in our household, but thankfully for me, he agreed (without argument) that I don't deal with dead animals.  Dead animals freak me out. So he and Isaac went out and dealt with the dead possum on the pool before the weather warmed and the water in the pool melted. Better to have a frozen possum than a nasty soaked possum.

I spent the week sick with The Virus.  Not the flu, thankfully, but quite annoying.  I am still a little sick and very tired of it, but it isn't smallpox. It isn't smallpox.  I try to encourage myself when I am disgruntled with illness that in the grand scheme of things, a couple of weeks with periodic headaches, and body aches, and sore throat, and fatigue, are not a big deal.

And they aren't.

Kevin nobly took Lydia to a hand specialist and Sarah to a foot specialist this week.  Lydia has a weird finger due to a break when she was 6 -- a break which didn't heal correctly because her foolish parents didn't NOTICE IT WAS BROKEN.  (What can I say, she was a super tough kid!)

Lydia had two surgeries on the offending digit a couple of years ago; the finger is now straight, but there is serious arthritis and it doesn't bend at one of the joints now.  The hand specialist this week said further surgery wouldn't help.

Sarah was born with an odd toe on her left foot.  It is now bent over in a strange way. But the foot specialist also said surgery wasn't a good idea because right now she is fully functional and surgery might make it worse.

All right then, no surgery. That's a fine thing!

Rose cold.

Rose with cute sock hat that my mother made. For a few days, she wore this non stop. Then it got warm and she put it away.

Rose and Sarah and Angela hanging out.

Sarah and her magnets. I bought more of these building magnets and while I was sick, the three litttles played with them a lot.  When all is well, they are creative and happy. When they are struggling, they fight like small cats and dogs over who has the pleasure of having particular shapes and colors.

New Haircut

This is a big deal for me. I got my hair cut!  And bleached.  Bleached a little, anyway.

Before

After

The back

I really like it. The bleaching is subtle but it gives some nice highlights to my hair.

I'm super cheap and so it was a big step to pay to have my hair done like this. The lady who did it is a dear friend and very good at what she does. She's also recently finished getting a master's degree in history and is a mom of a toddler, so it was great fun to talk through being someone who is "intellectual" but also feels called to focus on mother hood and family.  We had a great time.

And I love my hair.

Oh, I'm also finally sick with The Illness :-(.

Giant Tent

The little ones are cute.

They made a big tent, and then they got inside.  Sarah, whose reading is improving, read Daniel and Rose "The Runaway Bunny". Delightful.