Joel turned 7.
Vannan will be 15 at the end of the week.
Tim and I will have been married for 22 years!
There were many other birthday's and anniversaries as well. June was always a busy month in our family. Mamaw, Papaw, Rebekah, MIL, and many other friends and family. Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary to all of us.
School has been shoved to a back burner, though we attempt to keep rolling. Joel is dabbling in school daily - just to keep his brain rolling. He's on the verge of loosing his 3rd tooth.
Vannan is under the weather with a pulled muscle ... we are all exhausted trying to keep up with her work as well as our own week after week. Her horse therapy volunteer work came to a screeching halt. But she plans to go to the class orientation for it Monday and Tuesday. Kendra might go along as well. (Kendra did ... what a quiet day.)
LaRue continues to grow. She's outgrowing her 3T clothes, but 4T's mostly swallow her still. I've got to sit down and go through the next year box and see what I can find for her to wear.
I'm in way over my head on the clean and organize front. But somehow, it must get done.
Kendra published another book ... now if only she would push her way through her last few school classes, and just be done with high school. She has to do Government, finish Alg 2 and English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and I'm pulling a blank on what else ... American History. She just gets so deeply involved with whatever she is studying, that she will not move on to the next assignment ... for instance, she was to read Marco Polo for at least 4 hours. Instead she read the first 3 journals.
The 3 older kids are working on memorizing Hebrews 11. If they succeed - somebody is going to give them a ticket to Six Flags ... this is an open offer to all of the kids in our church. Vannan is really struggling hard with this - she puts in the time, but is not as fast as Kendra. I'll be putting a song / and verses on Joel's MP3 player (arrived yesterday! - it had broken and was getting replaced under warranty.
Tim still hasn't found a job. His heart will not allow him to do a "on the feet in the heat" job anymore. He's pushing 50 with 20% of his heart muscle dead from the heart attack, on meds that keep his blood so thin that it will not hold oxygen well or clot. Yes, this does affect his reffing as well. He use to ref 2 or 3 games in a row, even at the higher levels, but now he will only do that for a Jr. High game, and no more than 2 games, and even then, only if he's not had games for the few days prior. He has been doing quite a bit of programming work - not for pay - just on his own, and the few nibbles that he's had, have all been , "You can pay us and we'll do your job hunting" type, it will ONLY cost us $1000. Yeah, only the job scams call us anymore. Sigh. He's also been dabbling with writing ebooks ... and selling them on Amazon. And volunteering his time to preach and teach on the radio and church. He spends many long hours in Bible study and listening to sermons on the radio.
The rain and lower temps this summer have been a huge blessing. What's in the bank has to last until volley ball season starts, and we still have to eat and pay bills. The bulk of the bills are the water/electric bill - which last summer soared into the $600 + range. It's just really not an option to add insulation to a trailer with under 4 inches of insulation in the walls and under 6 inches in the ceiling, there is insulation there - and there isn't really room for more!. It just gets hot faster, and it takes money to run the AC. ... all 3 of them. Removing a frig was a noticeable difference. I would love to glue some of those reflective blankets to all of the windows/walls ... and see if it makes any difference ... but those are expensive. Most of our windows are covered with blankets or insulation - and it has made a Huge difference.
Anyway ... the rain has been a huge blessing ... but the garden is mostly raising weeds and not vegetables. We have 7 bean bushes ... and have gotten a whole 3 or 4 pans of beans to eat. Bunches of tomatoes - Kendra puts most of it into stew/tomato sauce. A few banana peppers. We do have some squash, potatoes, and sunflowers ... and cucumbers growing on our fence. I don't think the cucumbers are getting quite enough sun though.
Not much else to report on ... it's been relatively quiet around here. I'm not complaining. I welcome the quiet without anything major bad happening or going on, or with less bad happening.
Keep us in your prayers - healing for Vannan, rest for us all. And inspiration on how to cook the weeds for our supper. (I'm only half joking).
Mamaw is back home (though I found out today that she had returned to the hospital earlier this week for another kidney infection). Papaw continues to try to care for her alone, and she continues to fade away, the last time I talked to her, she barely even looked at me. Papaw seems to be mostly coherent most of the time, not senile by a long shot, but he repeats himself more, doesn't remember facts (twists them around - tells you a mostly correct story, but somebody else did it or it happened at another time or place, and often with a slightly different outcome) and becomes hostile at times, for no apparent reason. Keep the whole situation in your prayers. Mamaw does much better in the nursing home, where they keep her cleaner, she's in a more constant temps, and she eats healthier. They are both in their 80's now. I do understand wanting to stay in their own home. It's complicated.
*** Update on Mamaw: She is back in the hospital - after a turn over yesterday while Papaw was getting her settled in the wheel chair. Aunt Cindy insisted they take her in as she was still unresponsive this morning when they went to check on her again. Aunt Cindy will have the most accurate information about Mamaw and Papaw. Currently they are still in the ER awaiting results and have been there almost all day. You can email me if you need a phone number.
*** update on Mamaw ... she is in a room with another UTI. Please keep her in your prayers.
I can't think of any other news that is sharable. We're all hanging in there and doing our best to stay afloat.
Some things still on our needs list .... if you want specific prayer requests.
Clothing:
Joel is growing like gang busters .... most of his clothes I have in storage top out around an 8/10, and all of the summer stuff is currently in his closet. He has plenty for the winter. It will be next year that we'll need more summer clothes, size 10 ish range. He's just turned 7, but he's more the size of an average 8 year old due to his wide shoulder and hip frame. This is a FUTURE NEED - like in 6 months or more.
Vannan is "blooming" and outgrowing her clothes. She is too skinny to share with Kendra; she wears a ladies Small. Prefers Pink, turquoise, and zebra stripes. She is also needing shoes and pants, but prefers to try them on first - she's a size 9 narrow shoe, and somewhere around a size 6 pants. NOW - At least a few T-shirts that fit well would be nice.
Shelter:
Money to come in to pay the electric and water bill. This can run anywhere from $200 a month to $600+. Lately, with the heat down and lots of rain, the bills have been much lower than past summers. But we need some money from some avenue - either sell something, or a job, or short term task (indoor) ... to get us through to reffing in September. Tim is looking at publishing some Ebooks, maybe we can make some money off of those.
Possible job lead in a town nearby. They are doing a LOT of hiring and have several positions that Tim would be a good fit.
Food:
We're trying to grow a garden. I tell people I have 10 black thumbs. But we have plenty of thorny weeds! :) ... In the past, God has sent us food via a tragedy or a death ... or people deciding to clean out their pantry shelves, and they bring us the stuff that they don't want.
We aren't going to starve yet - I think we have enough in the freezer to feed us another month and maybe 2. And we are trying to empty the big Freezer for my Dad. But there is always the stuff that gets used up and you have to keep buying ... like tortillas and peanut butter and rice and Mayo.
Pray for our garden to grow
Blessing ... a friend brought over 3 boxes of mostly breakfast and quick stuff. Exactly what we were needing to get by with!
School:
We are still working on getting the school books purchased. Joel and LaRue will need their books come August ... but with all of the stuff going on ... maybe I won't start up until September or later. I just doubled my To Do list, and reduced my work force. Our supplies list is really rather short.
Health:
Tim - his heart, he tires easily, especially in the heat.
Vannan - damaged muscle sprain
Me - increasing number of head aches and numbness in my right hand, especially the joints. I'm also trying to loose weight. And I'm fighting exhaustion - not sleeping as well as I need to.
All of us are bone weary tired. I'm not sure how to improve this - as we theoretically are getting enough sleep ... most nights. Some of us are doing better than others. I don't know if it is something we are eating or something in the air (allergies to some weed?) ... or possibly even the wifi feed that is in our house (there have been reports of increased insomnia associated with that...) and maybe we just need some time off ... we haven't had a family vacation in over 10 years. But then, most poor people are in the same boat. I'm not complaining - just pray for God's strength to help us with our tasks and responsibilities. I'm not asking for nor do I expect a vacation.
We also haven an unspoken prayer request ... just prayers that the details would work out soon and it would all be over and done with ... soon. It has been a source of stress for a couple of years now.
Others (not already mentioned):
A friend's son was in a car accident last Sunday - if you are on Facebook - Elijah Rocks - there were 4 others in the accident as well, but they have all been released.
The number of people I know of fighting various cancer's is astonishingly long.
Fires in Colorado Springs, Montana, and Alaska ... all with family and friends nearby.
The ministry of Rapture Ready Radio ... where Tim volunteers his time.
If you have a need that you want prayed for ... just leave a comment.
A young girl that my Aunt and Uncle know in the orphanage in Latvia - she'll be out of the program soon ... and they are concerned for her. Prayers too, that the seeds that they have planted over the last several years of visits will continue to flourish.
For Rhoda's DoTerra business ... and Ruth and Paul's Mona Via business.
Wishes....
LaRue wishes for a bike that she can ride with Joel.
Joel wishes for something he can carry around and play Angry Birds and Cut the Rope.
He is overjoyed to have his MP3 player back.
Vannan wishes for more thread for her surger sewing machine. (And odd buttons and odd stamps).
Kendra wishes for her books to sell ...
Many hugs to all of my readers. I know you are almost all friends and family, and I love you and appreciate your interest in our family.
If there is anything we can do for you ... let us know. We do still have some spare beds for sleeping in during the summer, if somebody needs someplace to crash on their way to someplace else.
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