Fun Times....

So, this past week was a busy one.  Last Thursday we had youth group at our house.  Since I have the four kids, and not really anyone to babysit, I had not yet been able to make it to youth group.  I want to start getting to know the teens, so we had them all come to me! That night we had about 16 teens and one leader besides our family.  It was nice to talk with them and put names with faces.  The kids loved having the teens here, too.  One of the girls seems to have "caught Libby's eye" and Libby is usually attached to her anytime we are at church.  So she was excited to have Tianna in our house.

Sunday as a big day for us.  It was Matt's induction service for the church.  The church we are at now is a part of the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada.  Whenever a church hires a new pastor, they first put them through an interview to see how doctrinally sound they are and how well they know their Bible, and to be sure they will be the right fit for the church.  Then, once the pastor is hired, they have a service for him, publicly asking him if he will uphold the teachings of the Bible, live a life according to what pleases God, etc.  After Matt has publicly committed to this, the pastor, the elders,  and the head of the AGC prayed over Matt and myself, dedicating us, our family, and our ministry to God.

It was a very special time, and we very much enjoyed the service.  There is something very special about godly men laying their hands on you and praying for you and your family.  So now, everything is "official" in our position here at the church.

Besides the youth group, our ministry is to the young families ( which basically means anyone with children still living at home).  Our kick-off meeting was Sunday night for a Super Bowl party.  Now, football is not really a big thing up here (hockey pretty much trumps every sport).  But, it was still a good excuse to get together.  We had a total of 42 people over that night.  A bit more than half of that was kids!  But, we planned ahead, had some of the teens over to oversee the kids playing downstairs. It was a nice time of food, fun, and fellowship.

Halfway through the party, Leila came up to me and I knew right away she was not feeling well. Her eyes were very puffy and when I hugged her, she was burning up.  And that was just the beginning.

It starts with puffy eyes and a fever.  Then a runny nose.  Then a terrible cough.  And lots of interrupted sleep, whining, and aches and pains.  So Leila started with it on Sunday.  By Tuesday Liam started.  Thursday Libby started.  And today (Friday), Lexi has a fever.  It's been a long week and I will admit that I am quite tired.  Matt has been in and out with work, and we have had my brother in law, Sean, and his 3 year old daughter, Charlie here, too.  Thankfully Charlie hasn't gotten sick, at least not yet.  But she left today to go back home to her moms so we are probably sending her home just in time to get sick!  Oh well.

As of now, I think Liam and Leila are doing a bit better.  And Libby doesn't seem to have gotten it as bad.  They are still coughing, but not nearly as bad.  Over the past few years, I have really been changing my thinking on how we treat sickness.  I am never one to just jump to medication, especially with my kids.  But sometimes, when they are struggling, I give them ibuprofen or Tylenol. But this time I decided to try and let their bodies fight the fevers naturally.  So we didn't give any meds.  I have, however made good use of my essential oils, using them in The humidifier and rubbing it on their chests and temples.  I also have recently been introduced to elderberry syrup.  So we got some of that and I can see a noticeable difference.  Almost immediately it helped Leila's cough.  At first I was concerned about it settling into her lungs.  It just sounded horrible! But once we started the syrup it changed and sounds much better.  The same with Liam.  With Libby I started giving it to her even before she showed signs of sickness and I am sure that is why she is not getting it as bad.  Also, the EOs are helping a lot too.  I use eucalyptus in place of Vicks, along with several other oils for other ailments.

So, although these remedies didn't completely take away the sickness, they significantly lessened the symptoms and I feel very good about not putting "junk" in my children's bodies!  Now, if I can only find an essential oil that completely removes whining, all would be great!

Yesterday we took Lexi in for her one year well baby check. She is doing great - 50th percentile for height and weight.  Her eczema still flares up some, but has been a lot better since I switched her to goats milk and started probiotics.  AND the last four nights have been better!!  She has slept from 7:30  to 5:30, 7:40 to  3:30, 7:30 to 4:30, and 7:30 to 5:30 these last four nights!  I can only hope this is our new normal.  It is a VERY welcome change to waking up two, three, and four times a night!

So, that's been our life lately.  My saving grace this week was a long chat on Skype with a friend.  It was a nice little "getaway" for me!  Ha!

Well, I think that's it for now.  If I have the time, I plan to post pics tomorrow from our move and other stuff, so check back!

Until next time.....

Feelin Good!

Well......went back to see my dr.yesterday.  All is looking good, I got a new "sling" which is really more like a strap around my waist, and got my stitches out.  After two weeks of not moving my arm at all, I was finally able to straighten it out and "unbend" my arm.  Oh. My. Goodness.  It felt sooooooo good to do that, yet hurt at the same time.   It's amazing how quickly your muscles start reacting to not being used!  Anyway, I am in this new contraption for the next four weeks when I will see him again and then will begin physical therapy.  I can already tell that's gonna hurt a bit, too!  So it is really nice to be able to straighten out my arm.  But I still can't move my arm away from my body at all.  That would be very, very bad!

But, even more exciting was I am now able to take showers!  Glory hallelujah!  Best feeling ever!  To celebrate I pulled out my "Christmas smelling" shower gel, from B&BW.  Its called Winter Candy Apple and I love it and only use it in fall and winter.  I know, I'm weird!

So that's what's up here.  We take my mom down to Maine tomorrow to meet up with my brother.   It's been so nice having her here and we are gonna miss her a bunch.  I still need lots of help, so we have people lined up to come help me out during the day.  I'm getting better, but there is still a lot I cannot do with just one hand.  Like pick up my baby.  I miss that!

There's much going on with other areas in our lives which I will write on soon.  For now, we are gonna enjoy our last day with Grammy here!

Until next time!

The One-handed Monster

Okay!  Here is my first attempt at typing a WHOLE post with one hand.  My left hand at that.  Lets see how it goes.  If my post just suddenly ends abruptly (yes, I know that was a bit redundant using "suddenly" and "abruptly" but frankly, I don't care!) then you will know I got tired and gave up!

Anywho, here we go.  Lets go back to when Matt left for out west. It was a looooooong four days with just me and the kids.  We did school.  We ate food.  We played.  Libby covered her arms, face, stomach, and legs, with coloured dry erase marker.  Libby put all of Mr. Potato Head's face parts in the toilet - after she peed in it but before she flushed it.  I got to stick my hand in toilet to retrieve said toys.  Libby got a hold of my phone and decided to dial while I was in the shower.  She brought it to me and I saw it was calling someone so I hung up fast, afraid she had called China or something.  The phone immediately rang, I answered and the person on the other line said, "911 emergency, is everything okay?" So I got to explain that we were fine and it was just my two year old playing with my cell.  The next day she got my phone again and called my sister in New Hampshire.  I am having to remember to keep it locked now.

Sunday my parents arrived.  We were so happy to see them! I was happy to have more help keeping an eye on Libby!  Then, Monday, Matt came home!  He had a great time at the church out there.   More on that later!

We had a nice day on Tuesday and then Wednesday we got up bright and early to drive two hours to the hospital where I was to check in for surgery at 8:45 a.m.  I went to the day surgery department and got all ready.  My parents came a few hours later and arrived just in time to say hi before I was taken back into surgery.  A little after 11:30 I was rolled into the operating room.  I chatted with the nurses and students that were in there.  I climbed over onto the operating table, laid down, looked up at those big lights.  The last thing I remember was saying a quick prayer that they would be able to take out the whole tumour, and prayed for my kids.  Then the anesthesiologist said, "here comes the sleepy stuff!" And I was out.

Next thing I know, I'm waking up in recovery.  I'm vaguely aware that my I can't move my arm.  The dr. Is standing right next to me.  I ask what time it is.  It's shortly after 2p.m.  Then I ask how it went. The dr. says it went great, they got the whole tumour!  Praise God.  Then I asked how big it was.  It was the size of a baseball!  Wow!  It was just about this time that he saw I was bleeding pretty heavily from the incision area.  So he immediately grabbed on to my shoulder and held it tight.  Let me tell you - that hurt!!!  He was trying to compress it to stop the bleeding.  He called over the third year student who is assisting him and she held on to stop it.  I tried chatting with her some to get my mind off the pain, but that was hard.  I'm pretty sure every fourth word was "Ow!".  But after almost an hour, it wasn't stopping so they decided to take me back in operating room to go back in to find the source of the bleeding.  I was in much pain at that point, but glad they were gonna figure out what was wrong.

When I was wheeled back in, the dr said, "Well, the decor hasn't changed much since last time."  I smiled and said, "Ya, I'm having major dejavue right now!"  I remember on of the male nurses laughing a bit at that, then on came my "sleepy stuff" and I was out again.  Next thing I know, I'm waking up to a nurse calling my name, asking me how I feel.  I'm in a lot more pain now.  I ask what time it is.  It's now after 5 p.m.  I was back in surgery for a little under 2 hours.  So, lucky me got to technically have 2 surgeries in one day!  They were able to take care of the bleeding.  I will spare you the details of where it was coming from.  But the dr. said in his 26 years of being a surgeon, he'd never had that particular thing happen before. Yup, that's me.  I do things out of the ordinary all the time!

Because of the bleeding, I had to stay two nights in the hospital.  But Friday afternoon I came home.  I had missed my kiddos.  The first few days were hard.  I was so sore.  But it's getting better.  I'm mainly just uncomfortable now.  Its hard not being able to move my arm.  Its literally tied to my waist right now and has been since surgery.  I will be like this until Tuesday when I see him again and I will get a new sling.  The reason for my current sling is because he had to cut through and pull back part of my pectoral muscle to get to the tumour (yuck, right?).  So he wants that to be immobile for two weeks to have time to heal.  And I can't get it wet.  Which means I can't take a shower.  This, my friends, is pure torture for me.  Tuesday can't come soon enough.  We will just leave it at that!;-)

Its been very nice having my mom here to help Matt out.  I'm pretty much useless with most things.  I am getting better at putting my own socks on with one hand, though! ;-)

There's lots more going on,  but I will leave it at this.  It looks like God is still leading us to the church out west, we may have an offer on the house in the next few days, and a move in the very near future.  Its busy times, but exciting to see God working and providing for us.  He is so good!

Thank you to all who prayed for me.  We ask for you to continue to pray as we continue in this time in our lives.

Until next time.....

Random Thursday

I don't even know where to begin with what all has been going on.  Its. Been. Busy.

Last week we were at Sandy Cove Bible Camp where Matt was the speaker.  We were all supposed to go on Sunday, but since we had just listed the house on the market the day before, I decided to stay behind that night and finish getting the house ready in case there were any showings.  Well, trying to super clean a house by yourself with four young'uns is pert near impossible.  I didn't get it done.  Then we got a call on Monday that the house was scheduled for a showing Tuesday night.  So I then had a major fire lit under me and stayed behind another night to get everything ready.  I had to call in reinforcements and asked my friend and her teen son to come help me.  SO thankful they came.  We got everything done and the kids and I were able to join Matt for the rest of the week.  Not without me being exhausted, though.

Lest any of you have images of an incredibly messy house that would take me that long to clean, let me explain.  If you have ever sold a house, you know there is a HUGE difference between "livable clean" and "please buy my house clean."  My house is usually "livable clean".  Its impossible to have it "please buy my house clean" all the time with kids.  Just plain impossible.  When the pics are all up online I post a link.  But they are not all up just yet.

We have had two showings so far, but no offers.  Not that I expected things to go like last time.  Last time we sold our trailer in 10 days.  Actually, I think it was less than that.  That's pretty rare.

After camp, we spent a family weekend with just us.  The kids needed some undivided attention from Matt and I.  So we went to a city about 2 hours from here, stayed in a hotel (Leila's FAVORITE thing ever!), went to a zoo, and went miniature golfing (Liam's FAVORITE thing ever!).  It was really fun and nice to just be together.

This past Tuesday Matt and I had to travel to a different city 2 hours from here for me to meet with my surgeon.  I'm not sure how much I have mentioned on here, but I need to have a lump/tumor removed from my right shoulder/arm.  Its been there for quite a few years, but in the last three years or so has grown considerably.  It is starting to cause tingling in my fingertips and makes it so I cannot lie on my right side.  So we are going to attempt to remove it, as long as it isn't to intertwined with nerves.  Well, my surgery is now scheduled for September 19.  I am eager (and maybe a little anxious) to get it over with, mainly because its gonna be a long recovery.  Due to what he will have to do to get to the lump, I won't be able to move my arm for at least 6 weeks.  I will be in a sling with my arm strapped to my side.  Then I will have to do some physical therapy to retrain my arm. to be used.

In case you didn't know, I am right handed.  As in I am completely useless using only my left arm.  Believe me.  I have been practicing.  I can't write worth anything, I can't pick up my kids, I can't open anything except maybe a door.  I can't do much of anything.  So, ya.  Its gonna be fun.  Thankfully my mom and dad are flying in to help.  So glad for that.

Matt goes out to Alberta to candidate at a church on September 13-17.  Yes, he gets back 2 days before my surgery.  We are still praying for God's direction.

We started school yesterday.  Liam is a big 'ole 1st grader (Grade 1 for the Canadians!) and Leila is in K4 (preschool).  Two days down and its gone pretty good.  Definitely a bit more tricky having two in school and two not in school.  I'll share in a future post some of the things I am implementing to make them run smoother.  But first I have to make sure it works!  Ha!

Last night I had a dream that I was outside with my kids when a mommy Zebra and her baby came into our yard.  And they had horns on their heads.  The baby zebra was getting ready to charge and head butt Liam, when I yelled, and ran to him, pushed him out of the way.  The zebra then started to head butt me and stomp on me with his hooves.  Liam was screaming for Matt to come out of the house.  Then I woke up, feeling like I had been beat up.  Maybe I shouldn't visit the zoo too often.

Liam had to have another tooth filled.  Well, actually, it was a filling that should have been done last year when we had to have him put under anesthesia, but somehow this one was missed.  Anyways, he did AWESOME and sat there like a big boy and didn't cry at all.  I'm sure the bribe of getting to go golfing (real golfing, that is) with Daddy had nothing to do with his bravery.

Leila has to have a filling done this Monday.  Somehow I don't think it will go as well, since last time she wouldn't even let them take x-rays of her teeth.  But I'd like to be surprised.

Libby still thinks the walls in the house are big coloring pages for her.  You may ask me why I have markers and things within her reach.  And I will tell you that I don't.  She's just really, really good.

Lexi is now 7 months old and scooting all over the floor.  She just started getting up on all fours last week.  I'm not ready for this.  I think I'm busy now....

The new favorite movie in this house is Finding Nemo (or "Meemo" as Libby says).  I'll admit I'm glad 'cuz I like that movie too!

It is very, very stressful living in a house trying to keep it clean and ready to be shown at any given time.  I think the new common saying in our house is, "Don't make a mess."  I'm not sure how long I can take this.

I'm REALLY wanting Fall to get here.  It seems everywhere I look I am seeing fall/harvest stuff coming out on the shelves.  I want to make pumpkin cookies and bread.  And I want to wear sweaters and boots. And I want to listen to Christmas music.  I want to go outside and smell fall.  And snow.  I want snow.

I've recently read an article my sister-in-law posted on her Facebook page regarding modesty on women.  I have done much thinking and searching on this very topic lately, seeing as we have three daughters.  Matt and I have done a lot of talking about "standards" and such.  When I get all my thoughts together, I will write a post on it.  I think some of what I think now will surprise you.  It surprised myself!  Ooooo... aren't you so curious now? ;-)

Finally, after quite a few months, I finished the Hunger Games trilogy.  I don't know what I think except that I was left, well, disappointed.  I hate it when it seems like an author just drags out a whole series, then in like the last two chapters seems to just quickly wrap it up in a hurry.  Irritates me.

Now I've started a new series by Lynn Austin called "God and Kings."  They are Christian fiction based on actual Biblical events.  The first one deals with King Ahaz and Hezekiah.  Pretty interesting so far.  I only started them because I got the first one for free on my Kindle, and I really like that author.  So far, so good!

Well, suppose that's all for now.

Until next time....

Lately We Have Been...

....doing all kinds of stuff!  I don't even think I can remember all that has been going on!  Its that busy!  From church fellowships to dr. appts we have been coming and going and coming and going!  Whew!

Liam got his first fishing rod!

About a week ago we had a gospel concert at out church that I told you about.  Then the next day we had Friends and Family Day at church.  That was really nice.  We had a church potluck which is always delicious!  Overall, church is going really well.  We are seeing new people come and getting to know our church family even better.  I can't believe that as of July 1, we will have been at this church for 5 years!  Wow!  Liam was just 7 months old when we moved here.  And now we have 4 kids!  We have seen lots go on in our church - good and bad.  We have learned a lot about life, ministry, and our Savior through these 5 years.  And we are still learning. Someday soon I plan to write a little about how God is changing our thinking and our hearts on the whole aspect of "church" and how it is viewed.  But that day is not today! :-)

Looking at our freshly planted "garden."

The weather here is getting a bit nicer.  We have had some really nice days - like in the 70's and it is glorious!  I love having the kids play outside and run off some energy!  You can definitely tell that we have been cooped up all winter.  Let the outdoor playing begin!  It still gets quite chilly at night, but that's okay.  I dread the day it is hot since we have no air conditioner and our house can get plum sweltering at night!  We are looking for a window air conditioner unit, though.  Hopefully we can find one at a reasonable price!

We started our garden last week.  Its sitting here right next to our computer!  Since we still get frost some nights, we can't plant outside just yet.  But it is time to start some of the plants so we are trying starting them indoors this year.  The kids helped Matt plant them and it is fun to wake up each morning and seeing how much they have grown!  The kids will yell out, "Our garden is growing!"  We planted corn, tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, green beans, watermelon.  We will soon plant some garlic as well.  It is actually quite fun doing all this.  Last year was a bad year for most people's gardens, but were hoping this year is better.  Its so rewarding to have a nice, fresh salad made from stuff YOU grew in your own garden!  I'm even trying some sunflowers!  Fun, fun!

Talking to Daddy.

Kids are just as active as ever.  Making me laugh and driving me nuts all at the same time!  They for sure have cabin fever, so, like I said, its nice to be able to let them play outside.  Monday they spent a large part of the day out there.  Even had lunch outside - loads of fun!  They don't know it yet, but we got them a play set.  Its on order from Sears and should be here any day now.  I am so excited for them!  We have been wanting one of these for quite some time and were finally able to get one this year.  I'm hoping it will last all their growing up years!  They are gonna be SO surprised and excited when we (and by we, I mean Matt! ;-) )get it all set up!

Because things have been so busy, we are planning a little getaway in a week and a half.  We haven't really gone anywhere since American Thanksgiving.  And with having a baby and all that, we haven't had the time to go anywhere. But we, mostly Matt, need a break for a few days.  So we are headed down to New Hampshire to visit family there.  We are all looking forward to it!  Can't wait!

First time I french braided Libby's hair.

But, before we go we have a few things.  Liam will finish school next Thursday.  Liam and Leila have dentist appointments (this will be Leila's first time - we shall see how it goes!). We have our annual pie fellowship at church on Friday.  We give prizes out for: best tasting, best looking, and most unique pie. I won one year for best tasting.  Gonna try for that one again since I am NOT a decorator and have no patience to make a pie look pretty, and I am definitely not creative enough to come up with a most unique pie.

Last week Matt and I had an unexpected date day together.  It was SO nice and very much needed.  I got a call from a surgeons office in St. John (roughly 2 hours from here) on that Friday that I had an appt. on Tuesday.  We decided it would be much easier without the kids, so we left all four of them with my mother in law.  It was her first time with all four and I'm sure they wore her out.  It was my first time leaving Lexi for that long. But I survived it! :-)  We drove there, and the appt. took much longer than expected, so we ended up being gone pretty much the whole day.

Leila wanted me to take a picture of her
 doing this.  And Libby is always
walking into the pictures!

This was the first meeting with this surgeon and I liked him very much.  He was very kind and had a great "bedside manner" which I like.  I have seen many a dr. in my life, and I usually can tell within a minute or two whether I am comfortable with this dr. or not.  Anyway, the short story is that I am probably looking at surgery to remove the lump in my right arm/shoulder sometime this year.  The lump has grown since last year.  It is much bigger than I thought it was - almost the size of a grapefruit!  It isn't causing too many problems just yet, but if it keeps growing, it will start affecting my mobility and feeling in my right arm/hand.  But we are not going to do anything until Fall unless something drastically changes before then.  When I do have the surgery, I will be in a sling and unable to use my arm for at least 6 weeks.  Hmmm... that's gonna be interesting with 4 kids to look after!  Definitely gonna have to call in reinforcements for that one!
I've also been busy tutoring a teen girl in English.  And I am loving it!  Not only do I LOVE grammar and writing, but it is nice to get to think about something besides laundry, menus, and cleaning for a change!  And I am glad to be able to help her out (well, and the extra money is nice! Ha!).  She actually told me last night that since I have been working with her, she is understanding English and writing a lot more and is enjoying it!  Yay!  Although I must say, working with her is NOT restoring any faith in the public school system for me.  The simple things she has never been taught along with some of the ridiculous assignments she has to do is making my desire to home school even stronger!

Well, that's about it for now! Have a great Thursday.  Or Friday.  Or Saturday.  Or whatever day depending on when you read this.  If you read this. :-)

Sisters!  We are constantly being asked now if
these two are twins.  What do you think?

Until next time....