Family Update .. March 10, 2011

There has been a lot of news lately about Tim - but I am long overdue an update for the entire family - looks like the Christmas and Thanksgiving notes were the last I posted.  So, hope you don't mind if I ramble for a while.

We had a pretty good Christmas - you know that  - because we posted lots of pictures!  Right now, my Picasa Photo album is full, so I have to empty it to put up more pictures on the blog.  Maybe I will do that tonight.  Picasa would prefer if you actually paid to expand your space, but that isn't in the budget.  I plan to put the pictures into a different Picasa album - though not sure which one at the moment.

LaRue - she is almost 17 months old now.  She's  a big girl and feeds herself, wants to pick out her own clothes and shoes and hair bows.  She has an opinion and voices it often.  She also likes things to be neat and orderly and a set schedule.  She's not a people person - and is quite clingy at times.  Still, when we are places like church that she knows well, she has been known to wander off a little ways.  She is also very curious - at the hospital last week, we had to tell her not to go past the "wood" floor of Tim's room into the white hallway.  She loved to stand there and stare out at the going ons in the hallway - but if somebody looked at her she ran back inside the room.  The second day that we were there, she carefully put her heals against the line, instead of her toes.  She loves to climb and has learned to move chairs and stools to reach her goals.  She opens bottles and latches, all cabinet doors must be opened and closed, all open drawers must be pushed closed.  And sometimes a sippy cup is "babyish".  She is a deep thinker and it is so fun to watch her little wheels turn.  Saturday, Tim asked her, "Who is sleeping in my bed?"  She said, "Joel!" and pointed to Joel, and chattered a mouthful.  So Tim asked, "Who is sitting in my chair?"  She pointed at Vannan.  Then he asked, "Who ate my porridge?"  What a blank look he got - she doesn't know what porridge is!

Marriana - not sure what to say about her, as she is more my Dad's than mine.  But I know there are a lot of relatives out there that want to know how she is doing.  She is in Preschool - sometimes she is the "smartest in the class" (so to speak) and other times she "hasn't a clue".  What a blessing that when she is put to bed, she almost never gets back up, but goes right to sleep, or sings until she does.  This makes the whole - put her to bed next door, come back here and do my own home/family tasks - so much easier.  That is one area that she super excels my own kids. She also always makes her bed, and if reminded, can clean her room very well, even the sweeping.   Some days it is amazing to me just how much like her parents she is - both good and bad traits.  If anyone ever doubted that DNA does have a hand in your personality and mannerisms and preferences - you should meet her.  LOL    But most of the time, she enjoys being helpful, doing things for herself and others, and especially loves being outside.  She loves being the center of attention.  I need to decide soon whether I will keep  her in preschool next year (probably - as this year has been another rough year) especially since she will be a very young 5 year old.  I can always start her up after Christmas if we feel she is ready at that time, and there is always a chance that she will be back "home" by that time too.

Joel is nearly finished meandering through kindergarten.  He is reading when he doesn't pay attention.  Sometimes though, he half guesses.  The other day he saw "Model Farm" and bugged me all day about visiting "Molly's Farm".  He loves to be outside in the dirt.  He is a laugh a minute - a lot like his Daddy.  He enjoys learning new things - but this year he has become far less focused.  He is a real snuggler, and loves to be on my lap (which upsets LaRue) and kiss and hug and play with my hair.  He loves computer games - especially when we play together.  Yes, I let him play on Facebook.  He has 5 fish tanks and a dog that is currently green (for St. Patrick's Day) that is named something like "Snow Blue".  He loves collecting pets - real and imaginary.  And he has a corner of my "farm" that he collects animals.  He took all of the duck ponds.  He loves to listen to his MP3 player - and his current favorite stories include "the Horse who Wanted Justice" and  "Androclease and the Lion" ... both from "50 Famous Stories Every Child Should Know".  They are all legends from history.  He spent the better part of a week enjoying a "Book on CD" from the library about Paul Revere.  He also loved the Science books on Bats, Mammels, and similar books.   He loves to learn.  He loves patterns, and notices them everywhere, especially in Math.  On the flip side, he doesn't like bedtime, and is often lonely at night (did I mention he's a snuggler?)   He LOVES people.   He loves going to church, especially the shaking hands part.  Tim calls him his little preacher.  And boy can this boy pray.  He prayed for a library book - and we found it.  For Tim to get a job - and we have that.  To find his watch - and we found it.  The faith of a child.

Vannan has been very upset about Daddy being in the hospital.  She is my moody child - huge heart - black and white view of life.  She loves being outside with her animals, and would love to have nothing to do all day other than play her violin and mess around with her animals.  She has Easter bunnies coming - and is hoping to sell enough to buy food for the summer.  If she doesn't get some sold - we will have to figure out how to expand her cages FAST for the summer - because her cages are very crowded - eventually, we will turn them into suppers, but these are a smaller breed, and we have to grow them 6 - 9 months.  Her reading has improved by leaps and bounds helping Joel learn to read.  ALEKS has helped her improve her math.  She does violin on Wednesday nights, then goes to church and helps with the younger girls class rather than going to youth group - her choice.   She hasn't had any trouble with her asthma for about a year, that I know about, though we are going into her "hard" season.  School is not her hot point - animals are instead.  She also loves to dig in the garden, and is looking forward to planting this spring.  Did I mention that she LOVES her violin lessons?  She seems to be a pretty typical 13 year old - slightly clumbsy and slightly scatter brained.  She tries hard and has a heart for God and his word.  She still needs a lot of polishing, but we can already see a few shiny spots.

Kendra is often lost in her thoughts - of books that she is writing or new ideas of books to write.  She has notebooks all over the house, room, desks full of starts and ideas.  She just finished a NaNoWriMo writing "contest" - where you try to write so many words in a month.  She succeeded with flying colors and is rewriting that story daily.  She is stuck somewhere between 9th and 11th grade work - depending on the subject.  She just gets too busy writing and daydreaming at times, to get the work done - it's perhaps not hard enough?  She loves the English (Rod and Staff 9/10 Book 1) and doing Geometry (Bob Jones) and Alg 2 on Aleks.  She absorbs new information like a sponge - and last year I decided to let her do all of her own grading and to decide for herself when she has learned enough.  This has resulted in her spending twice or more the amount of time learning her subjects - as she doesn't move on until she is sure she has devoured every moursel of the subject.  I have just decided to accept the fact that she learns this way - and let her go at it.  She is also turning into a competent adult (when she chooses) and can cook and clean and handle children with ease most of the time.  I really could not cope with things if it were not for her ability and sense of humor.  And I forgot to say that she just had a birthday?  Oh yes, she planned and pulled it off nearly alone.  It was a "Starving Author" party - and I look forward to sharing her creative ideas.

Tim is ... well, there have been lots of updates on Tim.  He is still in the hospital tonight, though they don't really know what is wrong.  ....   The job that he has, is a sales job - commission based.  He sets up appointments to show small businesses how his company can help supply health insurance to their workers without going broke in the process ... if the company buys - he gets paid.   He can make phone calls from here at the house as he recovers, and he should still get paid for the sales.   Basketball season is at an end.   The doctor told Tim that he should be able to ref come fall again.  ...  IF and that is a big IF ... IF I understand what the doctor said, it appears as if at least one part of Tim's heart is now functioning at about 2/3 of what it was before ... at the end of the blocked artery that they said it is not worth their trying to unblock it  .... or perhaps of the parts of the heart that supply blood to the body, only 2/3 of it pumps properly ... I don't know - he said 65% was optimal/ normal, and Tim is down to 43% ... of whatever was damaged and fixed.  He has a stint in 2 other arteries, and is on 5 prescriptions right now.  YIKES!!   He has been really pushing his recovery - which may be a part of why he is back in the hospital - he just overdid it perhaps?   ....   Also, the big danger right after  the operation to put in the stints was not so much the stints, as the cuts into the arteries in his groin (both sides) to thread the stints up to his heart.   His blood had been thinned a lot to do that, and if the "plugs" in the arteries came loose, he would bleed to death very rapidly.  Then they needed the blood to clot properly when they did allow him to move again.  He had to keep his head flat and not move either leg for 6 hours - that is standard after this procedure - but the nurse told us that a double stint operation like this is rather rare.  ....   His blood work came out pretty good, Tim said.  And the diet they told him to follow - I really didn't see a HUGE shift in the way Tim eats normally - lower fats and salts.  So, I'm going to go one step farther, and remove gluten/wheat from his diet also - as he says he was allergic to it for quite a while growing up.  This is not going to be an easy shift for him or for us.  Tim is not a big veggie eater, and prefers his carbs eaten as a grain.  Pray for him to be able to stay with the health changes.

Me?  I'm pretty sure my blood pressure has been on the high side this week.  Bouts with depression - not uncommon for me - but sometimes it is overwhelming.  I know friends and strangers have been praying for us, because I have felt an unnatural calm in the middle of all the storms - much like when we had our car accident last year and so many other tough spots.  I hate to admit that I've gained weight this year - too little sleep - too much stress and trying to stay awake eating coupled with too little exercise and poor food choices - mostly due to lack of funds for better choices.   Lately, I have added Super Enzymes and Vit. D to my routine, and tried harder to sleep at least 6 1/2 hours a night, and sometimes the girls let me sleep in with LaRue for another hour after I get them up.   I've not been able to find a new routine that works for us, the family just seems a bit out of step with each other ... and I have noted that my ability to cope with life has improved, at least a little.  I need to take the time to go through and deep clean every room of our house and all the storage areas too - I need to let go of things that we are not using to make room for things that we do use and love.

How does a non-Christian cope with the uncertainty of life?  I'm sure I don't know.  If it were not for the loving arms of my Saviour, I know I would have given up on life many years ago.

Not many answers right now - but tons of questions.  I know God has the answers, and I must not fret so much over what I do not know or do not need to know.

One thing for sure - I love homeschooling and the precious time I am allowed to spend with my children.  I can't imagine not being able to chat any time of the day or night with them, missing milestones, snuggles, and giggles, and most of all, watching them learn.   I can't imagine NOT getting to homeschool them.  And I thank God for each wonderful second that I have been able to spend through the years with them.  Tim has allowed me that privilege - and for that - he is my forever Hero.  I thank God daily for Tim.  I can't say we have the perfect marriage, but we are very comfortable together - and love each other very much.  Tim is amazing when it comes to scripture and the Bible - and I've always loved his sense of humor.  And he still makes me swoon when he sings to me or quotes poetry.  Oh yeah.

OH - one more nice piece of news ... other than the fact that my Aunt got Teacher of The Year!  at her elementary school.

My Dad is getting married again!  I told him to be patient and he would find that God had put the perfect woman right under his nose ... well, pretty close.  She is an awesome lady - and will be very much loved and appreciated.  Most important - Daddy is smiling again - you would think he was 18 again.  It's fun to watch - and I know she's going to be a great blessing to him.  No wedding date has been set yet.