Archive for October, 2010
Celebrate Reformation Day
Here is an old post republished for this weekend.
Today I thought I would share some links to help you and your family celebrate Reformation Day. You can introduce your children to medieval games and skits. Study on a reformer. Watch movies of reformers such as Luther. There are many things you can do to make this a holiday that has purpose and is glorifying to the Lord rather than halloween which glorifies the prince of darkness. Here are some links to check out.
A Night of Reformation from Doorposts
How You Can Celebrate Reformation Day With Family & Friends
Questions & Answers About Reformation Day
Great Reformation Day Faire Activities
For more Weblinks visit my friend Valerie.
Mixed Emotions
No, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth. I have just been enjoying having my husband home and that means that I spend less time on the computer. There has been a lot going on in the past week. On top of hubby’s return we are also dealing with some life changing events right now.
One of those being the fact that we will have to be moving this coming spring/summer but I will share more of that when it happens. Just pray for contentment in that area for me.
The big change that we are dealing with especially this week is that our oldest child is moving out of the house. I always imagined how hard it would be and am finding that some of my imaginings are not true but also that there are other emotions that I did not anticipate. He is moving in with a few of his guy friends in Anchorage. It seems strange that my little boy is going to be basically out on his own. On one hand it is a saddening occasion but not as sad as I thought it would be. Maybe because he is “out” so much already, I don’t know. I am proud of the fact that he will making his way but am also concerned about how he intends to do that. He is not as much of a plan follower as his father and I are.
One emotion I did not anticipate is that of relief. I never expected that! I am indeed a little relieved that he is out on his own. To be completely honest, I almost feel guilty about that one. I am relieved though that it is now and not a few months from now. This way he will have several months out on his own with us still here in Alaska if he were to need anything. This way he isn’t moving out the same time we are.
We are still praying about his job situation which is not optimal yet. He is looking into a promotion later this week and working towards joining the Alaska Air Guard. We are simply praying that the Lord would be pleased to provide those for him. He finishes his move out of our home today.
So as I mentioned above, emotions are mixed. There is a little sadness, there is pride in my son, there is some excitement for him, there is a little nervousness, there is some relief. There is also some disbelief at the fact that we have finally come to this portion of life where our children are old enough to be out on their own. Where has the time gone?
Even though it is true all of the time, there does come that time when you have to rest more and more fully on the Lord. When your children transition to the place where all of their decisions are on their own (apart from their parents). Trusting the Lord to take the efforts you have placed into that child and to let those things be held fast can be a difficult thing. This is something we must always do but honestly when they are under your roof it is easier to end up relying on yourself. This is a daily struggle. It seems to all come to a head though when that false sense of control is taken away. I am thankful that the Lord has been and will continue to be my guide in raising my children. I am glad that I am following his revealed plan. There is still that constant struggle. But I am trusting in the Lord and praying. I know he loves my son more than I and that he is safe in his hands.
Trust, trust, trust. Through the joyful task of raising our children we are taught to trust. To trust in our Heavenly Father above all else. For that I am thankful!
Sweet Reunion
The day finally came! And it came earlier than we had anticipated! My hubby is home from Afghanistan! All the children except our oldest (he had to work) went to the airport with me. We waited for a while and the children were a little restless as they waited but they did a good a job.
One lady who arrived from a different flight saw my daughter holding the sign we had specially made for our reunion. She approached her and told her to please give her dad a big hug and kiss for her and to say thank you and that many were very proud of him. It caused my daughter a bit of a shock. After all who is this strange lady asking her to kiss her dad for her. LOL But it made me cry and I told the the lady would we tell him and thank you.
I was a little concerned about whether the youngest ( not quite two years old yet) would remember her daddy. Skype is an amazing tool and I think it helped a lot in this regard. One of my older daughters was taking photos so we didn’t get the shot I would have liked to have had. It was priceless to me and I will remember it forever. When her daddy came walking toward her, the three siblings closest in age to her went running.
She stood there in what seemed like shock with her arms outstretched for a several seconds before she could even seem to get her feet to move! Then she went running into her daddy’s arms. She recognized him and was so thrilled to see her daddy!
We are all so very glad to have our family back together again. It seems a bit strange to be honest.
Hubby is adjusting to being back in the states. He is still adjusting to the cooler weather here at home. Things like walking into a grocery store seem strange to him. Not hearing the big guns on a regular basis and not having sand filled air seems strange to him. He has forgotten which drawer the silverware is kept in. But he is glad to be home and we are so glad to have him home. He is still not sleeping well. So pray for him. Between the time difference and his Afghanistan dreams sleep has been difficult.
He has also jumped right in at home. He was surprised at the amount of lightbulbs that needed to be changed. (hanging my head in shame, LOL) He has done several small repairs already. One thing that is strange to me but also a nice break is that our youngest has changed from crying out for Momma in the middle of night to crying out for Daddy.
So, he is home and life is grand. Blogging may be a bit sparser than usual just because we are enjoying time together as a family. Hubs gets two weeks off and we plan on enjoying every minute of it together.
“Welcome home Dear, we love you and are so very, very happy to have you home!”
SURPRISE!!!
SURPRISE!!! Hubby will be home earlier than anticipated. Picking him up at the airport TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!
Sickness and More
Well, my two with pneumonia are on the mend. It is amazing what a little pink antibiotic can do! The rest of us, well, we could maybe do with a little of that pink stuff. I spent almost the entire day at the hospital going to appointments. I had my OB appointment. That actually went well. I am down to only one finger stick a day now instead of four. The baby seems to be doing well and growing well! Baby measured three weeks bigger than two weeks ago but still on track and I only gained one pound to boot!
I did actually manage to get an appointment for another child in the peds clinic, almost unheard of these days. BUT I was not impressed. I think I had the one doc who really should not be wearing that title. She is older and seems absent minded. She even left her tools laying around the room and never put them away. She tells me that this child I brought in probably just has a cold. She can hear nothing to even indicate the need for an x-ray. I am sitting there wondering if this lady even has good hearing. I brought up the fact that my daughter complains and moans that her ribs hurt every time she breathes. That lady actually shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t know and that she guesses a cold could cause that. We came home and daughter spiked a temp of 102.5. That doesn’t sound like just a cold to me. We will see if her body can fight it off or maybe we will end up back in the ER some time this weekend.
I am fighting this bug as well and feel pretty much like, well, you know. My temp is gone for now so I will just suffer through it. Being sick however has made my blood sugar begin to spike so I am praying I get over this soon for more than one reason now.
I am hoping we will all be well by time hubby makes it home next week. If he makes it home next week like anticipated. He began his travel a day or so ago and upon reaching his first stop along the way they informed him he was supposed to have been there days ago. He was given the wrong dates. Do they know how bored he has been just sitting around while his replacement was already there??? So, I am waiting to hear if they have figured out his new travel arrangements yet. They do this moving troops thing enough, you would think that the system would have all the kinks worked out. His travel has been messed up almost every time! I am just ready for him to be home and so are the children. They know time is getting short and are beginning to start in with the, “I miss daddy” talk again. I was hoping the last couple of weeks of this deployment would snowball and go by quickly but they seem longer and longer with each passing day. Soon though; very soon!
So the plan for today: Clean and try to kill these pesky germs, piano lessons, pay the bills, grocery shopping, clean out the vehicles, and try not to be sick anymore!
On an up note, I splurged and finally bought myself a pair of Dansko clogs and I LOVE them!!! 
)
And yesterday, one child took the PSAT and thinks she did well. That is one standardized test for the year out of the way!
I guess I should go shower and get the children moving while we wait for the sun to rise. May the Lord bless your day today!
HMMMM, Not Sure What To Think
Well, today has not been a very fun day. In fact, it has not been a very fun weekend. I have sick children once again. Over the weekend I had my youngest running 103-104 temperature. The next child up has also been really fussy and irritable. I decided to wait it out until Monday hoping to get a doctor’s appointment and avoid the ER. Little did I realize that this Monday was a holiday and the clinic was closed. After going round and round on the phone again I was finally just told to head to the ER. So this morning that is what I did. I figured I would take in both children so I would only have to make one trip even though the older one didn’t seem really sick.
There was no one in the waiting room and we went through triage and were placed directly in a room where we sat for two hours without anyone even sticking their head in the door. I was about to just leave and pay the $150 plus visit to an urgent care place just so they would be seen when someone finally came by to take us to radiology.
X-rays, doctor visit finally, and another hour later we were finally leaving. The waiting room was almost overflowing and I was thankful we came in as early as we did that morning. I felt sorry for the people in the waiting room. They would be there all day.
I am home with two children who have pneumonia and four bottles of antibiotic! I am praying that they heal quickly. BUT, I now have my six year old coughing and looking a little pale and I am coughing and running a low grade temperature. I am praying that the two of us recover without another trip to the ER.
Maybe heading to skating lessons this afternoon after this mornings ER run was not the smartest thing but we did it anyway and now we are waiting on dinner to be delivered. I am not feeling the least bit well enough to cook!
SOOOO,
Now to the title of this post. Not knowing what to think. I received to conflicting comments today.
On the way to radiology this morning the lady asked me if there was any way that I could be pregnant. I chuckled, looked at my belly, and said, “Um, yeah, I’m due in 6 weeks.”
Now the other statement today was from a lady at the skating rink. She looked at me and said, “Your baby has really grown since last week.” and another lady there said, “Yep, she is right, maybe it is just a change in baby’s position but you look bigger.”
I have decided that the first individual was simply trying to be nice and save herself from a possible bad situation. The other ladies know me and were probably being honest. But I find it rather strange to receive these comments the same day!! Sooo, it is kind of funny and I’m still not sure what to think!
