Hello Everyone!
I know it's been a few months...I was finally able to fix the blog and I'm just going to try a quick post.
We're all alive & well. Here's the 5 minute version:
We had a visit from our teacher yesterday, who submits our work to the school that we're registered with and gives the kids report cards. I was listening in as she talked to the kids and it was truly hilarious to listen to Levi's discussion. One highlight was when she asked him what he would do if he was at a park and he saw a needle on the ground. (I suddenly couldn't remember if we'd had this discussion) To my horror, Levi said confidently "I'd pick it up!"
Laura was a little surprised and asked him what he would do with it.
Again, with great confidence, he said "I'd give it to my sister!"
Laura asked him why he would do that and he replied "Because she sews!"
It's possible that we're living in a bit of a bubble!
He then explained that he thought it would be just fine to dress in shorts & a tee shirt on a snowy day..."I would have a snow suit on, so it wouldn't matter" he said.
He then continued to explain that he doesn't really have any safety rules for riding on his bike-I had to jump in and give some clues just before he failed kindergarten! Of course he knows all those things, but do wearing a helmet and staying on our property really count as safety rules?
Caleb is busy planning how to buy a 100 acre property by the time he's 20 so he can live self-sufficiently. Acacia is sewing up a storm and dancing and singing and baking cookies. Levi is picking up needles and riding recklessly. Eden is singing and dancing like a pro and Charis is following right after those girls.
More funny stories later...maybe MUCH later, so you better phone if you want a real update!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Here's to 11 Years, Nathan Whom I Love!
So Nathan did have to make a 3rd and final trip to emergency for his kidney issue 2 weeks ago...and George, our tenant told me after he rushed him in for the 2nd time NOT to let them send him home until he was PAIN FREE! So when they sent Nathan home on morphine pills, George was not impressed. In fact, I was a little scared to face George, who felt he cared more about Nathan than I did because he would never have allowed him home, morphine or not!
George obviously has a soft spot for Nathan, and Nathan took full advantage of him the next morning by convincing George to drive him up to Ladysmith to buy this old 1952 Triumph that he plans to chop and turn into a bobber. (a hot rod motorbike!) I guess Nathan figured he couldn't very well drive or work on such high dosage of medication, but, not being one to waste time, he could head out and buy the bike he's been scoping out for a while! How could I deny him, the poor, sick boy? I'm just glad he's back in the land of the living and I'm no longer facing certain widowhood with 5 children under 9!
So yesterday we celebrated our 11th Anniversary...with Nathan in Vancouver for an Art Show (in the pouring rain) and me at home with our 4 very excited children back from family camp at Imadene (thanks to Nana & Papa) and 1 NOT-AT-ALL excited 1.5 year old who was NOT thrilled to see her siblings return!! I guess she enjoyed the week alone with all the attention of both parents! Anyway, we celebrated 11 years of marital bliss with me having strict orders of how and when to bid on Nathan's hoped-for antique gas tank for the bike! I must say, it was stressful at times with seconds to go and him giving me direction to take it higher and his cell phone cutting out and the people in the next booth coaching him and him coaching me...and we lost the first one-but it was really the back-up-and then...I have to say, it was beautiful and my ingenious plan to not bid at all against the 17 other bidders until the last 12 seconds when I jumped in there and cast my bid and scooped it out from the unsuspecting victims before they had a chance to counter offer! And I gave a shriek and Nathan gave a shout and the cheer went up from the next booth! (and the phone cut out for the 12th time) What a moment! So now when the bike is all bobbed out and in magazines because Nathan will be casting his own parts for it in his foundry, I'll see that gastank and the memories of celebrating 11 years together. It'll be a story to tell our new biker friends, who will be our clients & ministry for years to come!
So here's to 11 years! I knew it would be an adventure, but I'm glad I didn't know how MUCH of an adventure! Praise God from Whom all blessings flow, who knows far better than us what we need to make us depend on Him & grow closer together-when to send the rain & when to send the sunshine...even when to give us one more little sunshine that we hadn't planned on! He loves us too much to give us all that we ask of Him, and in the end He gives us just what we never knew we needed. But when we look back and take stock of it all, there isn't much we'd change, even if we had the power. We do not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future... So let the adventure continue!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Hopefully the last of Nathan's kidney news!
Thanks to everyone who prayed, and especially thanks to Mickie & Jim who took the kids so I could be with Nathan most of the time. Our tenant was also very helpful feeding our chickens and taking Nathan into emergency, so we were well looked after!
Today-Saturday, they did operate on Nathan. The Dr went in there, but the kidney stone was already gone! To be healed and not know it...there's a sermon in there! Anyway, he said it can get ground up at the end sometimes. There was some scarring that concerned him, so they'll keep an eye on him. I'm not sure why his kidney was so distressed by it and got enflamed. Seems like he had mostly passed it early Wednesday morning and then it took until this morning to pass it the rest of the way. Nathan was feeling quite a bit better this morning, but not to the point where everything felt great and he felt like it was over.
So he's home, he's eating, and he's mighty sore! Now onto the rest of the healing!
Today-Saturday, they did operate on Nathan. The Dr went in there, but the kidney stone was already gone! To be healed and not know it...there's a sermon in there! Anyway, he said it can get ground up at the end sometimes. There was some scarring that concerned him, so they'll keep an eye on him. I'm not sure why his kidney was so distressed by it and got enflamed. Seems like he had mostly passed it early Wednesday morning and then it took until this morning to pass it the rest of the way. Nathan was feeling quite a bit better this morning, but not to the point where everything felt great and he felt like it was over.
So he's home, he's eating, and he's mighty sore! Now onto the rest of the healing!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Update on Nathan
I'll try to post updates on Nathan to keep you informed as to how things are going.
Tuesday night we had our usual date and all was well. Somewhere around 1, Nathan got up in quite a bit of pain. I didn't actually hear him until nearly an hour later when he called me and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't in bed. He was in excruciating pain, couldn't get up and wanted me to push on his back. After a few minutes where he could barely explain to me what was wrong because he was moaning so dreadfully, I decided to call the Nurse's Hotline, but quickly decided to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance. The ambulance came and thankfully told me it was probably a kidney stone--at that moment, I was imagining life as a single Mom to 5 kids! Nathan rarely complains about pain and has a fair amount of chronic pain, so when he does complain, I'm pretty sure it much be terrible.
They took him in to Saan Pen, did a scan, found that it was a kidney stone and kept him in overnight. They called and told me to come and get him in the morning because it was apparently 'mostly passed'. Nathan came home for the day Wednesday but was still fairly uncomfortable and hardly ate anything. Then I gave him a healthy, nonflavourful dinner, which he ate little of and has wished he ate more of ever since!
Thursday morning he was back to a very high level of pain-not quite as bad as Tues night. He couldn't wait for me to take the kids to his Mom's and then go to the hospital, so George, our wonderful tenant, drove him back to the hospital. They did bloodwork, and the Doctor sheepishly told him that it looked like his kidney was distressed and inflamed. (This Dr told him the night before that it wasn't that big of a stone and he needed to keep it down because he was moaning so badly--and Nathan has an extremely high pain tolerance, and then that morning said "oh-why are you back?" so he did seem a little embarrassed to admit there might be a bigger problem)
Thursday-he was to have the stone removed via surgery within 24 hours, so no food or water-he did have an IV. He had a second ambulance ride to Helmecken Rd hospital where I hoped he would get right in since they called him over when they were ready for him. Not even ice chips at this point. Waited all day, no surgery, no food. Finally at 9:30, the Dr came in and told him it wouldn't be today, so he could eat, but sorry, the kitchen was closed! I wish he called me-I would have driven over some food for him! He is in a lot of pain, but on pretty constant morphine and some other stuff that has a side effect of people stopping breathing, but is pretty helpful for the pain.
Friday-came and taped up his jewellry that doesn't come off at 11:30 am, so it looked promising. Still in a lot of pain, experiencing nausea. We went for a walk to the end of the hall and he nearly passed out and took a good 2 hours to recover from the walk. Somewhere in the afternoon, I started smuggling a couple of small drinks of water for him because I didn't think he'd get in anyway. All the emergency C-sections, etc, are getting in ahead of him, so they can't tell when he'll get in. I went to get a subway sandwich for him before I left the hospital, which he is looking forward to eating after they give him the "well I guess it won't be tonight, so you can eat until Midnight" speech somewhere in the evening.
The latest news is that he'll have the surgery Saturday afternoon, but they cut down the O.R. to one room + it's a full moon coming up and a lot of babies are born then-so I'm praying for healthy deliveries without C-sections!
We're very thankful that the kids have been with Nana overnight so I can go help him & keep him company. Jim came home from camp a day early to help Mickie with them today.
Thanks for praying for him! Poor guy! Coming from a Woman Doctor who has had 2 children & 3 kidney stones, she said the kidney stones dwarfed the labour pain! I'm reminded of my very unfortunate friend who had a kidney stone just days away from delivering her baby!
Tuesday night we had our usual date and all was well. Somewhere around 1, Nathan got up in quite a bit of pain. I didn't actually hear him until nearly an hour later when he called me and I couldn't figure out why he wasn't in bed. He was in excruciating pain, couldn't get up and wanted me to push on his back. After a few minutes where he could barely explain to me what was wrong because he was moaning so dreadfully, I decided to call the Nurse's Hotline, but quickly decided to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance. The ambulance came and thankfully told me it was probably a kidney stone--at that moment, I was imagining life as a single Mom to 5 kids! Nathan rarely complains about pain and has a fair amount of chronic pain, so when he does complain, I'm pretty sure it much be terrible.
They took him in to Saan Pen, did a scan, found that it was a kidney stone and kept him in overnight. They called and told me to come and get him in the morning because it was apparently 'mostly passed'. Nathan came home for the day Wednesday but was still fairly uncomfortable and hardly ate anything. Then I gave him a healthy, nonflavourful dinner, which he ate little of and has wished he ate more of ever since!
Thursday morning he was back to a very high level of pain-not quite as bad as Tues night. He couldn't wait for me to take the kids to his Mom's and then go to the hospital, so George, our wonderful tenant, drove him back to the hospital. They did bloodwork, and the Doctor sheepishly told him that it looked like his kidney was distressed and inflamed. (This Dr told him the night before that it wasn't that big of a stone and he needed to keep it down because he was moaning so badly--and Nathan has an extremely high pain tolerance, and then that morning said "oh-why are you back?" so he did seem a little embarrassed to admit there might be a bigger problem)
Thursday-he was to have the stone removed via surgery within 24 hours, so no food or water-he did have an IV. He had a second ambulance ride to Helmecken Rd hospital where I hoped he would get right in since they called him over when they were ready for him. Not even ice chips at this point. Waited all day, no surgery, no food. Finally at 9:30, the Dr came in and told him it wouldn't be today, so he could eat, but sorry, the kitchen was closed! I wish he called me-I would have driven over some food for him! He is in a lot of pain, but on pretty constant morphine and some other stuff that has a side effect of people stopping breathing, but is pretty helpful for the pain.
Friday-came and taped up his jewellry that doesn't come off at 11:30 am, so it looked promising. Still in a lot of pain, experiencing nausea. We went for a walk to the end of the hall and he nearly passed out and took a good 2 hours to recover from the walk. Somewhere in the afternoon, I started smuggling a couple of small drinks of water for him because I didn't think he'd get in anyway. All the emergency C-sections, etc, are getting in ahead of him, so they can't tell when he'll get in. I went to get a subway sandwich for him before I left the hospital, which he is looking forward to eating after they give him the "well I guess it won't be tonight, so you can eat until Midnight" speech somewhere in the evening.
The latest news is that he'll have the surgery Saturday afternoon, but they cut down the O.R. to one room + it's a full moon coming up and a lot of babies are born then-so I'm praying for healthy deliveries without C-sections!
We're very thankful that the kids have been with Nana overnight so I can go help him & keep him company. Jim came home from camp a day early to help Mickie with them today.
Thanks for praying for him! Poor guy! Coming from a Woman Doctor who has had 2 children & 3 kidney stones, she said the kidney stones dwarfed the labour pain! I'm reminded of my very unfortunate friend who had a kidney stone just days away from delivering her baby!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Download - christianaudio.com
Download - christianaudio.com
For any of you who are interested in downloading free Christian books, they have "Forgotten God" from Francis Chan on this month for free! Nathan & I really enjoy Francis' teaching and we even went to his church while we were in California. Of course, what do you know, he wasn't preaching that week...but we did see him, and he was wearing ripped jeans, so we like him all the more! This link gives you a free Christian audio book each month-usually books by people like John Piper, etc.
For any of you who are interested in downloading free Christian books, they have "Forgotten God" from Francis Chan on this month for free! Nathan & I really enjoy Francis' teaching and we even went to his church while we were in California. Of course, what do you know, he wasn't preaching that week...but we did see him, and he was wearing ripped jeans, so we like him all the more! This link gives you a free Christian audio book each month-usually books by people like John Piper, etc.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Back from Arizona!
Just over 24 hours ago, Nathan & I arrived back home from Phoenix, Arizona (where the temperature is 84 degrees right now, even though it's after 8pm) In Victoria, it's 57 degrees and rainy, with a large wind storm threatening to take out the power...although when I look out the window, it's perfectly calm.
I actually took this photo one morning from my bed! Nathan was already out there lounging in the morning sun and I was reading in bed, trying to decide if it was worth the effort to get up and go out there with my book or just plump up the feather pillows and think about getting up later! It was barely after 7 am, but after years of getting up with kids, anytime after 7am is sleeping in! This place was the casita of Kelly's parents. Many people have these casitas-it's a guest house, usually in the back yard or on the other side of their garage.
OH, America, the land of Guns and Loans!
The cactus's were all in bloom! Every cactus-and these stood about 13 feet tall-had these blooms just on the top!
My pictures are all out of order, but here's Nathan eating pizza...note later on about it.
I actually took this photo one morning from my bed! Nathan was already out there lounging in the morning sun and I was reading in bed, trying to decide if it was worth the effort to get up and go out there with my book or just plump up the feather pillows and think about getting up later! It was barely after 7 am, but after years of getting up with kids, anytime after 7am is sleeping in! This place was the casita of Kelly's parents. Many people have these casitas-it's a guest house, usually in the back yard or on the other side of their garage.
OH, America, the land of Guns and Loans! 
The cactus's were all in bloom! Every cactus-and these stood about 13 feet tall-had these blooms just on the top!
My pictures are all out of order, but here is one important reason for our visit: meeting the adorable Luke Taylor James Cassaday, who is now 4 months old! Noah & Luke are the boys of Heidi & Kelly-most of you know that Heidi was my next-door-neighbor & best friend all through our growing up years at Prospect Lake and now lives in Phoenix, Arizona
-We always enjoy playing with our family's favourite buddy, Baby Noah...who turned 2 this week and is not such a baby! Here's my favourite Noah story: one day I was talking to Noah when he suddenly picked up his sandal and got a little twinkle in his eye. I tried to continue what we were talking about, but he was no longer interested. He looked around, spied his target, took quick aim and fired at the cat! He's got a good arm, too! We didn't see that cat for a few hours after Noah went to bed!
-we ate out a lot and had some really fabulous food-Wow-they have great food in Arizona! We had probably the best pizza I've ever eaten (baked in a coal oven-I can't remember the name, but it was in Scottsdale)...and the best sushi (RA Sushi in Scottsdale)...and the best BBQ (the BBQ Barn or something like that)...we ate and ate! I've noticed since returning home that the food has definitely declined and the service leaves something to be desired!
-We went to Frank Lloyd Wright's home out in the desert. It was a bit of an expensive tour, but really interesting. (FLW is a famous architect who really changed the face of architecture) A crazy thing that happened while we were buying our tickets was that the lady noticed we were from Victoria and proceeded to introduce us to Mr Rattenbury-who's father designed the Empress Hotel and the Parliament buildings!
-We love visiting the galleries in Scottsdale and checking out the competition! I found a lot of amazing painters that I would love to collect paintings from. It was also exciting to see the original Dr Seuss & Norman Rockwells! The gallery owner wouldn't even tell us what an original Rockwell was worth. You sometimes have to get past the hoity-toity gallery owners...but I don't think they'd be gallery owners if they were great artists, so there!
-We found a few places to bring our kids back to-the Natural History Museum with their dinosaurs & gold panning, another Wild West place in Tucson and some fun places to eat. That's the trouble with travelling without your kids! You find places you know they'll love and wish you'd brought them along! We did have a lot of fun at the places that would have not been so fun if we had brought the kids though, and I think it was good for all of us to miss each other!
-The Catan Championship lives on...okay, Heidi mostly won every game, with Kelly winning a couple as well, but the last night, double or nothing night...Yours Truly took the trophy! Nathan's been laying low...quite unusual for him. We'll see what the next season holds!
It was a very fun trip, and good for Nathan to take a bunch of days off like that after all the stress of finishing off his last couple of projects before jumping into the next couple on his plate, but we're ready to jump back in again. I was reminded as I came home of Mole, in 'The Wind in the Willows' when he gets close to his home and is reminded of all that it means to him. It's just a shabby little place, but it's HIS place. It's good to be home!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)