Saturday slow day

It's Saturday! We made it!

Monday was a crazy day ... (made even crazier by the fact that Sunday was small group, so instead of going to bed between 6-6.30 pm, LM was just starting her 3-hour cousin-fest at 6 pm while we were at small group).

Monday morning ... carpool drop-off, return Playaways at the big city library (Playaways & headphones keep Little Guy happy during the screams of car pool), allergy shots, drive and drive and drive some more to reach the early voting spot (while fielding phone calls & texts from school about LG's ear pain & need for tylenol & need for an afternoon doctor's appointment), home briefly, carpool pickup, hang out in the city, go to 4 pm ped's appointment, wait forever for drive-thru pharmacy, drive 30 minutes home, lay with LG while he cried in intense pain for an hour.

And that was Monday, folks!

Tuesday I drove carpool, and the afternoon ride was the worst ever, which is saying a lot. 

Wednesday I called a snow day (seriously, it was legit!). :)

Thursday I enlisted prayer warriors far and wide for car pool peace. LM went with me, so missed her speech therapy.  She enjoyed going to flexible on-demand childcare.  I did a big Sam's shopping trip, so we have a month's supply to stay home if need be.

Friday I drove again.  LM again enjoyed her friends at flexible on-demand childcare.  I ran some errands, including picking up my Walmart order of non-perishables to add to our stock.  And then I went to my friend's house, which I had all to myself, and collapsed literally in bed. 

Today we are foregoing a wonderful concert designed for preschoolers and young elementary students at the state university. There will be other seasons of life when we can do Saturday activities.  Saturday is my day not to drive ANYWHERE. :)

Mid-February

For being the middle of the most dreary month of the year, it's been a great week!

Sunday with our church family is always great.  Then we had our almost-48-hour getaway, which was more refreshing than I can adequately express!

The next day (Wednesday) was my day to drive carpool.  Little Miss was scheduled to go to the sitter's, but she had a sick child, so I kept LM with me.  LM was up in the night Tuesday night and had a 103 fever Wednesday morning.  So, she couldn't go to the sitter's, and she couldn't go to the drop-in daycare, and we avoided leaving her germs at my friend's home.  I cancelled my two meetings at school, and we ran errands, doing what we all complain about everyone else doing ~ leaving her germs in the Walmart and Goodwill shopping carts.  Sorry!!

Thursday meant three more cancellations.  But I kept my appointment for my infusion, the first one at an actual infusion center!! It was bliss being there!  Praise God for insurance approving it!! By evening, LM's fever spiked. I called the nurse. She checked with the doctor. And I took her to Prompt Care, where she thankfully tested negative for influenza.

Friday we cancelled OT.  But the babysitter was fine to come in the evening so we could go to our supper group from church.  We left around 6.15, and LM was already in bed. She never knew the sitter was even here!

Saturday the post-infusion headache hit full-force.  Wow!  Plus I had the cumulative effect of being up multiple times each night with LM Tuesday - Friday nights.  And, we were out late Friday night. I am NOT used to that!  :)

And, that has been our week.  Some ordinary, some out-of-the-ordinary. Some joys, some disappointments.  Some plans, some cancelled plans.  As I told Little Guy tonight, even when we have disappointments, we can have God's joy in us, because He is good and He is trustworthy. 
 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #4

31.  43 hour getaway (but who's counting?!) ... 7 pm Sunday until 2 pm Tuesday ... Aah!

32.  good food (Cracker Barrel ~ breakfast for supper of course, Holiday Inn Express breakfast, a diner, a fantastic local restaurant, B&B breakfast, and Chick-fil-a in the car)

33.  good sleep (Night one at the Holiday Inn Express - a full night of uninterrupted sleep AND uninterrupted waking! - would have been sufficient, but this year was a 2-night trip, and the B&B was even more relaxing!)

34.  good B&B (a historic mansion but with new cottages on site; our cottage was in the woods with lots of windows, gas fireplace, etc.  Airy & seemingly spacious, but cozy)

35.  good breakfast (The yogurt sauce for the fruit was exquisite! The fruit juice was a delightful mix we couldn't quite place! The gluten free muffin tasted anything BUT gluten free! The flavored butter was indeed flavorful!)

36.  good tea (Following our host through the mansion, I spied the tea & coffee station and was surprised to see P.G. Tips.  Once we got to our cottage, the tea chest had no P.G. Tips, so we went back over to the main house to get a few tea bags. The innkeeper was shocked I knew what it was. She had just learned about it when a friend from Spain had brought her this box last week.  So, she brought a tea bag with our breakfast. It's in the styrofoam cup, with a pink note inside.) :)

37.  good touring (hometown of Mark Twain)

38.  good man (to plan these mostly annual pre-planting getaways, to research both a B&B and things to do nearby, and to lead our marriage)

39.  a good God (to help our marriage)

40.  good family (to watch our children!)

Presidents Day

For several weeks, Little Guy has been coming home telling us random facts about the first presidents of the United States.  He has also brought home activity sheets and coloring papers (which now live somewhere in a landfill - shhh!).

Out of the blue, we'll hear, "James Monroe was our 5th president," or "George Washington's cat's names were True Love and Sweet Lips," or "Did you know the White House was burned and James Madison's wife had to escape?"

Recently he has been singing snippets of a song, so I found it on YouTube.  He loved!!! listening to it with me. :)

The other night when it was time for a bedtime book, he spied four books in the Childhoods of Famous American series.  The spines are red, white, and blue, and he became very excited!! "Do we have books about presidents?!?" Sadly, no.  The closest we have is Abigail Adams.  But, never fear, the biography of George Washington in that series will be at our local library in a few days, waiting for us. :)

[He gets to learn about the presidents during Enrichment, which is where you go if you don't have speech therapy.  When it's time for speech in Preschool/ Pre-K/ or K, all the students in that class who need speech go to one-on-one speech (with a multitude of speech therapists).  That way they aren't missing other parts of the learning day.  While speech kiddos are at speech, everyone else goes to Enrichment, which, as best as I can figure, is supplemental learning.  LG used to have 1 hour of speech 5 days a week, so he never experienced Enrichment. Now he has 30 minutes of speech 1 day a week {Praise Jesus!!}, so he gets to learn the presidents!]

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #3

21.  a snow day on Friday (& knowing it before we went to bed)

22.  2 1/2 snow days + a 4 day long weekend = 6 1/2 days to trust God with a disruption to our routine

23.  puzzles, books, and play-doh, oh, my!!

24.  After 3 years, Little Miss has sat quietly for me to read books (and not just books, but long-ish books).  Was she just waiting for long days at home???

25.  a project a day for me (a la "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time")

26.  a clean half-bath, clean laundry, a pile of children's clothes sorted (either to pass on because they're too small or to store for future sizes), and the toy closet purged and organized after 2-3 years!

27.  obstacle course with tunnel, bathroom stool, yellow caution tape (great gift for a little boy!), hopscotch, bilibo, and sit & spin

28.  long baths (for the children... I remember using this tactic to entertain a certain 3 year old my first year in Japan, when I was home alone with the two older siblings during homeschool time)

29.  wise counsel from a friend

30.  two business phone calls accomplished ... progress

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #2

11.  a good morning with Little Miss (1.5 hours relaxing at a friend's house where she played happily, a quick trip to Sam's, and then playing at a lovely indoor playground at a church near the boys' school)

12.  answered prayer in having wisdom to pick the boys up at 12.40 Wednesday and leave school early to try to beat the snow home

13.  coming home early and LG, LM, and I having a good afternoon with a mix of work, play, organized activities, and, yes, screen time

14.  a snow day Thursday ... & knowing it before bedtime, so we don't have to wake up early and wonder

15.  Little Miss's wonderful evaluation for OT

16.  good rapport with her OT, the handout she gave me, the tools she gave LG to start using

17.  both confirmation that I did need to seek out an evaluation and also hope that she will benefit from the therapy!

18.  insurance approval of IVIG for 2020 and that I can have it at an infusion center!!

19.  a friend who is planning to go with me for my February infusion

20.  a sitter who sees this as a way to serve our family... and a friend who was willing to watch LM when the sitter couldn't (but then my infusion was rescheduled due to delivery issues with the drug)

Learning to sing

Over the years, whenever I have had an asthma flare, I have stood (or even sat) during Sunday morning worship while others sing.

I had a health scare in August.  I still cannot sing on Sunday mornings. 

My senior year of college I was really sick in September/October. I remember finally being able to sing a complete song in May!  So, I am just being patient, knowing it will take time, but there is hope.

But I mentioned it to my allergist last week, and she suggested we train my breath.  She prescribed using my rescue inhaler before I put the children to bed, so I can sing their bedtime songs with a regular tempo, and using it on Sunday mornings so I can try to sing. 

I didn't remember to do that this Sunday, but I did try singing the second half of each line.  I was able to make it through almost all of each song, doing that. 

Headed right now to set an alarm on my phone to use my rescue inhaler each Sunday morning. :)

New week, new mercies

Sunday evening - small group

Monday morning - allergy shots
Monday evening - swim lessons

Tuesday morning - 2 appointments
Tuesday morning in between appointments - shop for our Journey Bag
Tuesday morning - play group
Tuesday morning - monthly preschool story time at our library 
Tuesday noon - Parent Ed via Zoom for Little Guy's school (no doubt I will miss that)

Wednesday - drive carpool (aka spend day 65 miles from home)
Wednesday morning - Moms in Prayer call
Wednesday afternoon - allergy shots (Yeah for reaching maintenance dose!!! Now I can theoretically go every 3-4 weeks rather than twice a week, although I think I'll be on the every 1-2 week plan so I don't get sick.)

Thursday - IVIG infusion
Thursday morning - Little Miss's speech therapy
Thursday evening - women's ministry meeting re-scheduled from a few weeks ago

Friday - drive carpool (aka spend day 65 miles from home)
Friday - weekly prayer date with friend

It's actually not a bad week, as ours go, ;) but the allergy shots (+ extra antihistamine) w-i-p-e m-e o-u-t! 

Today LM got to spend the day with her friends at the sitter's house. I imagined all the housecleaning and projects I could do, but I could barely load the dishwasher and fill out two inventories that I've been putting off for various professionals in our lives. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #1

1.  Oh God, our help in ages past, Our hope in years to come

2.  so many human helpers along the way

3.  carpool friend who goes over & above (today's ride home included a stop for ice cream!)

4.  speech therapist who made a tag to hang on the zipper of Little Guy's backpack with a checklist for him each morning (to ensure he remembers both his hearing aids & his Roger pen, etc.)

5.  audiologist with whom I email regularly, trouble-shooting LG's new technology, as we are all on a steep learning curve

6.  carpool friend who plugs LG's hearing aid charger into her USB outlet in her van (right next to her son's cochlear implant battery charger) ... Have wheels, can charge listening devices!

7.  infusion nurse who pestered the insurance company until they moved from de-escalating our request for my infusions to quickly approving it!

8.  friends who watch (and invest in) our children for 3 hours two Sunday nights a month

9.  crowd-sourcing ideas for the Tooth Fairy (whose visit to our home is imminent)

10.  speech therapist who is doing due diligence to get to the bottom of Little Miss's speech issues

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Hither by Thy help I’ve come; 

Little Guy has his new hearing aids, which are technological marvels!

He is gaining independence, through being responsible for charging them every night.

He absolutely LOVES the FM system (microphone that I - or teacher/ coach/ etc - wear that speaks directly into his hearing aids).

His January speech perception test in the sound booth showed that the FM system is crucial (basically, he could repeat back almost 99% of what he heard; without it only 45%).

His Sunday School & children’s church teachers are enthusiastic about using the FM system on Sunday mornings.

His speech therapy has dropped from 5 hours/week to 30 minutes/week.

He has completed all the speech sounds, except ‘r,’ which is something that even typically hearing peers have trouble with.

His January hearing test showed no new hearing loss.

His IEP team (at his school for next year) is already communicating and working on making a plan, so everything can be in place before he starts 1st grade.

He has started receiving physical therapy at school for gross motor delays and sensory issues.

His school’s physical therapist has special training in sensory needs of kiddos with hearing loss.

This is an amazing list, and might have seemed impossible 4 or 5 years ago, but GOD!!!

Whatever else we may face in years to come, this list will stand as a reminder of God's lovingkindness and practical help, hopefully strengthening our faith to trust Him and His goodness in those situations, too.

Here I raise my Ebenezer;

Hither by Thy help I’ve come;

One Morning in Carpool

When it's 63* on Feb. 2nd, you play outside.

And when it's 45* by 9 AM on Monday Feb. 3rd you go to a car wash post haste to get the salt that seemed like it was an inch thick washed off your van!!!  I dropped the carpool boys off, filled up on gas, went through the car wash, and then had them vacuum my van. 

One boy had been hesitant to step into my van that morning, because of all the crumbs on the floor. He wanted me to pick up the dirt - ha! When I asked the guy who vacuumed it if I got a prize for dirtiest van, he didn't even smile.  It was bad!  I have paid so many quarters at the vacuum machine at car washes, and still never gotten it really clean.  This was my first time to pay for someone to vacuum it.  Worth. Every. Penny!  Now taking bets on how long it stays that way - ha! ha!

All four children in our van are in speech therapy. Three have hearing loss.  Communication has been a hard-fought battle.  When Little Guy was younger, I used to write down spontaneous speech samples to share with his speech therapist.  As I drove this morning, I wished I had a secretary riding with me to take spontaneous speech samples.  It is nothing short of amazing what these boys can now say!  

 

One boy was heard to say this morning,, 'I want saw back from [Little Miss].'  Yes, he brought a toy saw to carpool. :)

One boy is in a stage where he wants whatever anyone else has and cries pitifully whenever anyone else plays with a toy (!), for as soon as he sees it, HE wants it.  {sigh}

We had about 20 minutes of peace and quiet on the commute this morning, thanks to LM reading her "Please & Thank You" book and showing the boy in her row the pictures and narrating, "Hit. Mad."  That boy could have cared less, because he was engrossed in an Usborne Lift the Flap book, "At the Airport."  LG had his headphones on listening to The Boxcar Children, but was kindly doling goldfish out to the boy in his row one at a time, which brought a HUGE smile to that boy's face!!

AND!!! Best part of the morning!  LG found the lost Playaway (for which I was ready to pay $55 to the library). We knew it was in the van (because he lost it between the middle row and back row one morning at our carpool spot), but thought we might have to take the seats out to find it. It was ON TOP of the middle row car seat, between the car seat headrest and the headrest of the car!  Yeah!! Thank you, Jesus!

And so goes another morning of car pool...

Grace Covenant friends?

I'm not sure who reads this blog, but in case you're a friend from college and you haven't seen it on Facebook, Grace Covenant is having a weekend celebration this spring to celebrate their 40 year anniversary.

Details are on the church's website.  RSVP is required for one of the events. 

1000 Gifts, Vol. 5, #100

991.  a relatively mild winter, so far (do you know how much time & patience this saves when you're dealing with hats, gloves, boots, and jacket of one who needs help putting them all on ?!)

992.  God's sustaining grace (I say this every time, but we are so aware of how dependent we are!)

993.  it's lighter later!!!!

994.  I have a 14-day dose of antibiotics (and it's helping!)

995.  the pride & satisfaction of a job well done as Little Guy works on the 48 piece floor puzzles that were Amazon's Deal of the Day recently :)

996.  the gladness I've had in selling or giving away the play yard, the baby gates, the changing pad covers, etc.! (and knowing that they will bless others)

997.  tradition!  (attending the state honors band, orchestra, and choir concert)

998.  a family outing

999.  going out to eat afterward with Grandpa, an aunt, a cousin, and a dear family friend

1000.  Although it took almost 4 1/2 years to write it, this fifth volume of a record of God's uncountable gifts in our life!

Learning to make calls

Every year Little Guy learns about 911 in school.  Last year they memorized the three numbers and probably practiced writing them or matching them on a worksheet. 

This year they actually practiced dialing 911 on an app (Ready Set Dial, in case you're interested).

The note that came home in his backpack said, 

 

"We exposed the children to the fact that you can dial 911 from a cell phone emergency keypad without needing a code to unlock the phone. This is a great opportunity to discuss with your child how to get to the emergency keypad screen on your personal phone, and to discuss when it would be appropriate to do this."

Okay! :)

I was just imagining what stories I might be able to tell in the next few days or weeks!  Thankfully the next day this activity came home.  Hopefully this will mitigate any non-emergency calls!