Bright Ideas

Me and my bright ideas. Our homeschool group is delivering supplies to the Children's Hospital today. That place being near and dear to my heart, I thought I'd take a bunch out there with them and go on the tour. I have to leave in a little bit and I'm realizing it might be a little emotional. Not that that will kill me, but I think I'd rather not. Can't get in touch with anyone, so I guess I'm headed out there. I'll take pictures and post later. At least it's a trip out there for something other than Luke's health!

Flappers and Gorilla Glue

So I'm turning 40 in February. Fun. I don't feel like that could be even remotely possible. So why not run my 2nd marathon?! A triathlon probably just isn't realistic training-wise right now, so I'm going for the marathon. It's 4 days before my birthday. That's good because the day of my birthday I'll be able to eat my birthday-er...frosting. The cake part just isn't worth the calories. So just gimme my bowl of very chocolatey frosting and a spoon and I'll be happy.

So I head out on my run this morning before it's over 100 degrees-again! I take my first few steps and hear a funny flapping noise. Grr...it's my shoe! New running shoes are just not in the budget, so maybe some gorilla glue?! Duct tape? Hmmm...endless possibilities. They do make duct tape in all kinds of colors these days. Bet I could find some to match my shoe. I'll post photo documentation when I figure it out.

My husband's tennies fell apart and he actually did duct tape them! Pretty bad, though, when you have trails of tennis shoe behind you!

Packing for a short trip to cooler weather with John soon.

First Haircut

Our long & curly-haired little man got his first haircut on Saturday. See? Isn't he cute? Let me tell you, it isn't easy cutting the hair of a moving target without injuring him, my own fingers, or risking doing a terrible job.

This sweet angel face is hiding the terrible toddler tantrum that he has shown us a few times lately. At the pool the day before this picture (Friday), I once again undressed him outside of our home to get the wet clothes off (you'd think I'd learn already). He had a MONSTER meltdown and didn't stop until we were most of the way home. Whew. Tiring. Thank goodness for the older 3 children pitching in to unload the stroller while I tackled the carseat.

We made homemade cinnamon rolls that afternoon. Yum! I mean dough rising, rolling pin requiring, rolling up the dough and all. It was deelish!

Gag Me

Got my braces off last week. What was supposed to be 6 weeks turned into 10, but it's completely worth it. And now...the retainer. Let's just say I have a tremendous gag reflex. I thought I was going to gag every time I spoke with my tongue hitting the retainer and roof of my mouth. So the simple solution would be to just not talk. Riiiight. I have 4 kids-remember? I just wanted to find more ways to keep it interesting.

Seeing is Believing

Look who got glasses last week! Our shaggy-headed, handsome Jake. You can't see the color super well, but the frame is a muted metallic green-Jake's fav color.

I got my braces off today! Wahoo!

So my big blip for today and lesson well-learned? NEVER gulp a giant glass of cold, refreshing milk without first looking at the expiration date and smelling it! Oh yeah...I did and it was DISgusting. By the time I realized it tasted awful and smelled worse that first gulp was hitting my belly...I'll spare you further details. Trust me--check your expiration dates. Never a dull moment...

Have to start getting school planning done for the school year which is fast approaching. Yikes!

Blessings: I'm incredibly aware of just how blessed we are with our children and health. Rocking Luke, I just took in his sweet-smelling hair and held him as he wrapped his arms around me as far as he could reach. He giggled as he gave me Eskimo kisses and tried to tickle me with that little mischievous grin. I am so thankful for each of our children and the blessing they each are in our lives. I am forever changed and am oh so grateful.

New Normal

Where in the world do I start? We are coming up for air from a long, hard season in our lives. 2006 was a year filled with miscarriages and challenge. 2007 we had a high risk pregnancy with sweet baby Luke being added to our overjoyed family in October. He became sick at 3 weeks of age and thus began 21 months of hospitalizations, surgeries, procedures, therapies, feeding tubes, medicines, complications, and miracles...you get the idea. During that time in 2008, John was laid off for 6 months. We were on our knees. We struggled to continue daily life.

Fast forward in time to July 2009...We found out last week that Luke is no longer aspirating!! Great news!! It's what we've been waiting for for a very long while. So he/we graduated from occupational therapy (OT) Friday and he is now weaning from reflux meds. This is the first week we've had with no therapy, no upcoming procedures/surgeries/tests in a long time! I think it's only now beginning to sink in, a week later, that we can begin to move on.

Before I can really turn my full attention to what's before us, I have to look in the rearview mirror and process some. I'm so thankful to our Heavenly Father that He has carried us through these trials. He has provided for every need every step of the way. Back in our hospital days we said that we were bodysurfing as the hands of those praying for us were holding us up as Jesus with skin on. I know that's true today, looking back. It was and is definitely God who carried us through. There is absolutely no other way.

So today, we look forward to a school year in which we can focus. Focus on all the things we've been wishing to focus on. God, spouse, family, school, activities...I'm looking forward to a new beginning. We've had many, many new normals. This one is a welcome new normal!!!

Danielle is our sweet 13 year old who loves swimming. Jake is our 10 year old who loves bugs and inventing. Allie is our 5 year old who loves pretending and you never know what she's going to come up with. Luke is our 21 month old who is full of humor. We are richly blessed with family, friends, and health.

This is the nutshell version of where we are today. I am so excited about this cyber scrapbooking adventure!

Love and Blessings,
Tammy