Today is turning out to be a difficult day!
Dillon has pneumonia...likely a by-product of the smoke inhalation he suffered during the fire. He does not have a fever and has about 2/3 of his normal energy, he is also very touchy and cranky making it hard for anyone to get along with him. I feel like I have been scolding children all afternoon...Suzanna feels that way too as she said, "don't take your bad mood out on me!" when I sent her outside to play after asking for the fourth time that she lower her voice and calm down.
Kendra called with the news that she had found her wedding dress! How exciting! I am waiting to see pictures that seem to be taking forever to come through on e-mail! I didn't expect to feel sad about not shopping with her, but I do! I am wishing that I was in Oregon to shop with my girl. I am thankful for Brad's mom who, after weddings for four daughters, is a fabulous wedding dress shopper!
I am also thankful for friends who are having us over for dinner tonight! Yippee! I don't have to think about cooking! :)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Starting to feel like home
Dillon said to me on Wednesday, "you know, Mom...we have been in this house so long that it feels like home now!" I was SO happy to hear that! I also was glad for the hug from my boy that accompanied that sentiment.
This IS starting to feel like home, here in our snug mobile home. We have gathered some comfort items...like books! :) around us and are settling in.
The children are starting to sleep better, a relief for their parents :) We are discovering the wonderful sledding available out our back door- a terrific run onto the tundra and how like God to save this place for the time when the younger children are ready and able to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible!
While we are all starting to feel like this is home, I was reminded today that there are changes imminent in our living situation. We received the repair estimate from the adjuster today making it very clear that as much as this place feels like home, it is only for awhile. We are about to be thrust into decision making mode. We must first decide whether or not we will actually rebuild. We are leaning in that direction, but there is also the possibility of cashing out, selling the land as-is and buying something else. Please remember us in the next several days as we seek to sort through all the options. My desire is to glorify God, above all...whatever that means; re-build, cash out, rent for a bit...whatever will cause the most people to look at Jesus and realize that He is real and loves them, just like He loves me, that is what I want!
I spent almost all day at the dentist today. I had a tooth that was sensitive to pressure and temperature changes, so I knew going in the door that I probably needed a crown. Yep, I was right! As the dentist was prepping for the crown, he discovered that the contact point between the two teeth concealed a large crack in the enamel of the adjacent tooth. He graciously worked me into his schedule for the afternoon to make it possible to prep the second tooth since this was his last day in Dillingham until April; I came home (after two hours at the office) quickly fed everybody lunch, went into town to check the mail-and collect the inevitable packages :)-and stopped at home to make sure that Alyssa was okay with Suzanna, Thomas and Dillon staying home with her while I went to have the second tooth prepped. Champ that she is, she said that was fine and I took off. Two hours later I returned home to a clean and vacuumed living room and four children who were worn out from sledding! I am now typing this entry at 11:21 waiting for the meds to kick in and conquer the migraine and tooth and jaw ache that I am fighting. At least eveyone is asleep and it is quiet.
Oh, BTW for those of you who don't live in Bush Alaska...our dentist flies in from Anchorage for four days every 5-6 weeks. Unbelievable to most of the US, but just part of living here! There is dental care available all the time at the clinic at the hospital compound, and we take the children there for check ups and work on their baby teeth, but prefer the fly in dentist for grown up teeth.
This IS starting to feel like home, here in our snug mobile home. We have gathered some comfort items...like books! :) around us and are settling in.
The children are starting to sleep better, a relief for their parents :) We are discovering the wonderful sledding available out our back door- a terrific run onto the tundra and how like God to save this place for the time when the younger children are ready and able to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible!
While we are all starting to feel like this is home, I was reminded today that there are changes imminent in our living situation. We received the repair estimate from the adjuster today making it very clear that as much as this place feels like home, it is only for awhile. We are about to be thrust into decision making mode. We must first decide whether or not we will actually rebuild. We are leaning in that direction, but there is also the possibility of cashing out, selling the land as-is and buying something else. Please remember us in the next several days as we seek to sort through all the options. My desire is to glorify God, above all...whatever that means; re-build, cash out, rent for a bit...whatever will cause the most people to look at Jesus and realize that He is real and loves them, just like He loves me, that is what I want!
I spent almost all day at the dentist today. I had a tooth that was sensitive to pressure and temperature changes, so I knew going in the door that I probably needed a crown. Yep, I was right! As the dentist was prepping for the crown, he discovered that the contact point between the two teeth concealed a large crack in the enamel of the adjacent tooth. He graciously worked me into his schedule for the afternoon to make it possible to prep the second tooth since this was his last day in Dillingham until April; I came home (after two hours at the office) quickly fed everybody lunch, went into town to check the mail-and collect the inevitable packages :)-and stopped at home to make sure that Alyssa was okay with Suzanna, Thomas and Dillon staying home with her while I went to have the second tooth prepped. Champ that she is, she said that was fine and I took off. Two hours later I returned home to a clean and vacuumed living room and four children who were worn out from sledding! I am now typing this entry at 11:21 waiting for the meds to kick in and conquer the migraine and tooth and jaw ache that I am fighting. At least eveyone is asleep and it is quiet.
Oh, BTW for those of you who don't live in Bush Alaska...our dentist flies in from Anchorage for four days every 5-6 weeks. Unbelievable to most of the US, but just part of living here! There is dental care available all the time at the clinic at the hospital compound, and we take the children there for check ups and work on their baby teeth, but prefer the fly in dentist for grown up teeth.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day!
21 years ago today Ron asked me to be his wife...and I said yes! :)
Our motto throughout our marriage has been "Life is an adventure" and we have looked back over the preceding year on Valentines Day with laughter and tears and recounted the adventure that we have faced together, united with each other and with our God. This Valentines Day there may be more tears than laughter, and that's okay! I live by faith and not by sight-remember Hebrews 11? Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen...what things am I hoping for in the coming year? Well, a completed house that we can make into a home...a settledness for myself and our family as we walk through the uncertainty of life...and an abiding joy that confounds the world and draws them first to us to ask "why?" and then allows them to be directed to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Those are the things that I hope for the coming year and God's unfailing word assures me that He is in charge of all those things that concern me and that my heart longs for.
We will celebrate Valentine's Day again this year as we have in the past-as a family, recounting the adventures God has led us through.
Wishing you all a wonderful day!
21 years ago today Ron asked me to be his wife...and I said yes! :)
Our motto throughout our marriage has been "Life is an adventure" and we have looked back over the preceding year on Valentines Day with laughter and tears and recounted the adventure that we have faced together, united with each other and with our God. This Valentines Day there may be more tears than laughter, and that's okay! I live by faith and not by sight-remember Hebrews 11? Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen...what things am I hoping for in the coming year? Well, a completed house that we can make into a home...a settledness for myself and our family as we walk through the uncertainty of life...and an abiding joy that confounds the world and draws them first to us to ask "why?" and then allows them to be directed to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Those are the things that I hope for the coming year and God's unfailing word assures me that He is in charge of all those things that concern me and that my heart longs for.
We will celebrate Valentine's Day again this year as we have in the past-as a family, recounting the adventures God has led us through.
Wishing you all a wonderful day!
Friday, February 6, 2009
Challenges and Changes
Life continues to throw curveballs at us...we continue to walk in the path that God lights before us-one step at a time!
Challenges:
Monday evening, Ron arrived home from work to let us know that he was working mandatory 10 hour days for all of February and that Saturdays may be necessary also. While the extra income is welcome and helps us make our budget work, having the 'husband and daddy' of this family gone for so many hours a week is tough on all of us.
Dinner time on Monday, Thomas didn't eat...he had a high fever! He began to cough and have a difficult time breathing from swollen vocal cords. He was so cute when I told him he had a fever, he said, "no mom, I don't have a fever, I have just been laying on this couch for hours and this couch is burning up!" Poor guy!
Tuesday morning Dillon and I went to run errands (and buy a thermometer). We were both looking forward to a walk in town. Our first stop was dropping things off at the library. Dillon sat down on the floor and asked if we could go home. I asked if he wanted to walk to the post office and he said no. OKAY! Those of you who know our Dillon know that he is the catalyst behind the "Turbo twins" name that Thomas and Dillon have been tagged with! On our arrival home, Dillon had a fever of 101...the boys have spent the rest of the week on the couches-thank goodness for four couches in our living room! :) Today, Friday the boys are still running low-grade fevers, and are enjoying strawberry smoothies.
Changes:
Our new home, until we re-build, is wonderful and cozy. It also has a fabulous view of Nushagak Bay. I am thankful each morning as I watch the sun rise and reflect off the snow and ice.
We are working on getting back into a smooth pattern for our days in this new environment without our school desks or curriculum.
Less 'stuff' is blessing our days with fewer things to put away.
Psalm 119:104 tells me that God's Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path-I am daily experiencing that lamp as the next step is clear before me and as the path He has marked for me is bright and all obstacles are clearly seen.
Challenges:
Monday evening, Ron arrived home from work to let us know that he was working mandatory 10 hour days for all of February and that Saturdays may be necessary also. While the extra income is welcome and helps us make our budget work, having the 'husband and daddy' of this family gone for so many hours a week is tough on all of us.
Dinner time on Monday, Thomas didn't eat...he had a high fever! He began to cough and have a difficult time breathing from swollen vocal cords. He was so cute when I told him he had a fever, he said, "no mom, I don't have a fever, I have just been laying on this couch for hours and this couch is burning up!" Poor guy!
Tuesday morning Dillon and I went to run errands (and buy a thermometer). We were both looking forward to a walk in town. Our first stop was dropping things off at the library. Dillon sat down on the floor and asked if we could go home. I asked if he wanted to walk to the post office and he said no. OKAY! Those of you who know our Dillon know that he is the catalyst behind the "Turbo twins" name that Thomas and Dillon have been tagged with! On our arrival home, Dillon had a fever of 101...the boys have spent the rest of the week on the couches-thank goodness for four couches in our living room! :) Today, Friday the boys are still running low-grade fevers, and are enjoying strawberry smoothies.
Changes:
Our new home, until we re-build, is wonderful and cozy. It also has a fabulous view of Nushagak Bay. I am thankful each morning as I watch the sun rise and reflect off the snow and ice.
We are working on getting back into a smooth pattern for our days in this new environment without our school desks or curriculum.
Less 'stuff' is blessing our days with fewer things to put away.
Psalm 119:104 tells me that God's Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path-I am daily experiencing that lamp as the next step is clear before me and as the path He has marked for me is bright and all obstacles are clearly seen.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Short term memory loss
Well...I am learning that a trauma of the magnitude of our house fire does weird things to your brain! I had a bit of short term memory loss before the fire (don't we all?:)) but this is ridiculous! I am making good use of pen and paper to make lists, which I then carry around with me...now, if I could just remember to read them! HA!!
Fortunately for me, the memory loss extends to eating which has resulted in a quick jump start of my new years plan to work on getting in better shape for health reasons! Unfortunately, the memory loss also has made it difficult to remember to feed my family! Thank you, thank you to those of you who have reached out to us with delicious gifts of dinners and other food ready to eat!
Fortunately for me, the memory loss extends to eating which has resulted in a quick jump start of my new years plan to work on getting in better shape for health reasons! Unfortunately, the memory loss also has made it difficult to remember to feed my family! Thank you, thank you to those of you who have reached out to us with delicious gifts of dinners and other food ready to eat!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Another day!
Good morning!
Ron spent a good part of yesterday making refinemenfts to our "new house" plans. It was funny to be so aware of our two styles meshing...there's me, who can start at one jump to three, five ,eight and go back to two wothout blinking an eye and then there's Ron who is most comfortable following the numbers from one to infinity in order (I just don't get it-even after more than 20 yrs of marriage! And I am sure that if you ask him, he'd say the same thing!) Anyway...Ron was very grace giving to me as I said, "I can't answer that right now, could we go on to the next question?" time and again this was my refrain! :) Thanks to my wonderful, organized husbands ways, we now have most of a house plan!
Some of you know that we built a home early in our marriage. That experience was different from this in so many ways! I am not afraid to give input and state my desires...like all hard floors and the largest windows practical for this climate! We will not be doing the construction-hooray!!! Someone else will be worrying about all the details like plumbing and plumbers who are unavailable when you need them, windows that don't show up and when they do are not what you ordered, crooked studs, cracked sheetrock and all the 100 million other things that come up in the construction of a house. BTW, those are all examples from our home in CA :)
Thank you for checking in with us! Wishing you a blessed Sunday as you worship, and a fun family/friend time as you watch the Super Bowl!
Ron spent a good part of yesterday making refinemenfts to our "new house" plans. It was funny to be so aware of our two styles meshing...there's me, who can start at one jump to three, five ,eight and go back to two wothout blinking an eye and then there's Ron who is most comfortable following the numbers from one to infinity in order (I just don't get it-even after more than 20 yrs of marriage! And I am sure that if you ask him, he'd say the same thing!) Anyway...Ron was very grace giving to me as I said, "I can't answer that right now, could we go on to the next question?" time and again this was my refrain! :) Thanks to my wonderful, organized husbands ways, we now have most of a house plan!
Some of you know that we built a home early in our marriage. That experience was different from this in so many ways! I am not afraid to give input and state my desires...like all hard floors and the largest windows practical for this climate! We will not be doing the construction-hooray!!! Someone else will be worrying about all the details like plumbing and plumbers who are unavailable when you need them, windows that don't show up and when they do are not what you ordered, crooked studs, cracked sheetrock and all the 100 million other things that come up in the construction of a house. BTW, those are all examples from our home in CA :)
Thank you for checking in with us! Wishing you a blessed Sunday as you worship, and a fun family/friend time as you watch the Super Bowl!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)