The Puddles

Ben when was 15 months old!

We met with Dr. Fraser today.  We had been looking forward to this day for so long, but when the day finally came we did not want to go.  We were dreading what the surgeon would say.  The news from the doctor wasn’t totally unexpected.  We had been preparing for this day for so long and going over the worst case scenario with each other that when the doctor actually gave us the total picture of “badness” that we could expect, we were actually ok with it all.  Our reaction in the end was “Game On!”  We are ready to help Ben get through this and to the other side.  We are just looking to this date a year from now, when we are through this part in Ben’s life.  Don’t worry.  We are not quite ready to hear that everything is rosy and that “Ben will be fine.”  We know that and we are not trying to be overly dramatic.  But this is hard.  Watching your child run and play like a normal kid when you know that a month from now he won’t even be able to do that and knowing that he faces more surgeries in the future, sucks!

We have a lot of preparation to do to be ready for Nov. 18th.  We will tell Ben and the girls the week before his surgery.  We, Chris, me and the girls, will get through all of this.  God is with us through it all.  We are relying on Him.  So . . . GAME ON!

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We are following Daddy to the launch pad.

Daddy, Ainsley, and Madie are preparing the launch pad.

We are so proud!

Making the connections for launch.

Blast off!

Floating back to earth.

Daddy caught it!

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Last Thursday, Ainsley and I were in a car wreck.  We are ok, but the car is not.  While I was on Loop 336, a teenage girl came from a side street and tried to cross five lanes of traffic.  She didn’t see me and hit me while I was going 55 mph down the highway.  It wasn’t pretty.  Ainsley and I were more shook up then anything else.  The car is not drivable.  Of course, the accident put a wrench in our life schedule.  We had to find a rental (that took a large part of one day), buy new car seats, and talk to insurance companies.  We found a rental and then had to trade out the rental in order to get a car big enough to fit everybody.   It has been a little stressful.

The body shop called yesterday and I think that they are going to fix the car.  YEAH!!!  I was pretty stress thinking about having to go buy a new car right now.  The good news is that we don’t have to do that now.

And for the record . . . it was NOT my fault.  Her insurance company has taken full responsibility.  Thank God.

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The kids and I went out yesterday after one of Ben’s doctor’s appointments to find something fun to put in our yard for Halloween.  So we found a scary cat (some would say it personifies Rosie) to put in the front yard.  In the process of placing the decoration in the front yard, we came into contact with a hive of wasps.  Not just one but about 20 of them.  Scared me to death.  We went back inside the house and waited for Chris to stop by on his way home to take care of the wasp nest.  Thank goodness that he did.

Ben wanted to know this morning why I didn’t go and put the cat up last night.  I told him that I was not about to go near a bunch of angry wasps to put up Halloween decorations.  It would have to wait until today when I knew that they were all dead.  Hopefully we’ll put up pictures tonight of our scary cat!

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A miracle occurred today!  Two wonderful angels came to our home today and cleaned up our yard.  Trimmed everything!!  The ivy looks good. Our sidewalk doubled in width because the ivy was shaved.  You can actually walk down the sidewalk side-by-side.  Weeds were pulled.  Trees were pruned. Rocks were removed.  Everyone helped (or at least stayed out of the way)!  Ben and Madie dug up and removed the rocks that were around the holly tree.  It looks great!  Thank you. Thank you.  Thank you.

I don’t mow.  Chris knew this before he married me.  I mowed enough lawns in my life as a child to last forever.  I am thankful for that lawn mowing experience.  It taught me responsibility and gave us money to do the things that we really wanted to do.  But . . . I hate sweating.  There are only about two months every year that I don’t mind mowing.  One month in the spring and one in the fall.  That’s it.  Otherwise it is too hot or too cold.  I think that is why I liked winter.  Six months of the year you didn’t have to mow.  I like shoveling snow.  The sweating was disguised and not nearly so bad as Houston in July!

So thank you to everyone who helped.  I am glad that there are people who feel called to the yard and don’t mind sharing that gift with others.

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The news this morning about the postponement of Ben’s doctor’s appointment put me a bit of a stalemate.  It just reminded me of what was coming up.  As sad as it is, our bout with the swine flu made me forget the upcoming struggle for Ben.  There was so much dealing with the drama of sick kids that I could forget about tomorrow.  But the phone call brought us back to reality.  It was very sobering this morning and I had a hard time getting any of my regular chores done before I had to pick up the kids from school.  When I saw their bright faces climb into the car, I decided to blow the rest of the day and have fun.

The weather finally turned cool, so Ben could even play outside.  They all played outside.  Our neighbors came over to play.  Sonijha and Joshua are regular fixtures at our house, and we are truly blessed with their presence.  Beside the mosquitos trying to take all of our blood, it was great.  Our friends in Nebraska got a round of snow this week, but we were outside with barefeet enjoying the beautiful weather.  We even pulled the wax paper out, so that they could slide down the slide quickly.  They really enjoyed that.  And no one was harmed in this process.  Fun was had by all.  Dad joined us for dinner (which didn’t happen until 7:30pm.  Bad mommy.)  The kids enjoyed having Daddy there, and we all enjoyed taking turns telling each other about our fabulous day!!

The day may have started badly, but it ended with a ton of fun!

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I asked Madie to sort through all of the canned goods that Daddy brought back to us from Grandma Betty’s house (she’s moving out).  We are very thankful the canned goods.  Madie sorted them out, labeled them, and then explained her sorting technique to me.  The interesting category was “I Don’t Know.”  This included: canned beets, sauerkraut,  mackerel,  green beans with potatoes, and rutabagas. We are going to get to try a lot of new things this week.

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This is a picture of “The Beast.”  For those who don’t recognize her, this is Rosie the cute little kitten that we brought with us from Nebraska.  She currently almost outweighs Ainsley.  She is not little any more and I am not worried about her climbing the curtains anymore (she can’t pull herself up).  She took residence inside my dryer.  I am not happy.  She has cat hair all over my clean clothes.  Naughty cat.  Now they must be washed again!  That does not make me happy.  Hence the name . . . the Beast.

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We have been waiting for the appointment with Ben’s surgeon, Dr. Fraser.  His first appointment was cancelled because he had the swine flu.  The second appointment was just moved to another date because of scheduling conflicts.  Ben’s appointment in now set for October 26th at 2:30pm.  We are so anxiously awaiting for that day.  The closer we get to the appointment the more scared we are.  When it gets changed our anxiety goes through the roof!  Please pray that this date does not change, so that we can get some answers.

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Chris officially passed his EMT test for the state of Texas.  He was nervous about passing, but everyone else was sure he would do fine!  He can now do what he loves in the state of Texas . . . serve on a rescue squad.  Lights and sirens here he comes!!!

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