looking forward

As the start of school draws closer each day, I've been experiencing a torrent of emotions. I've had some pretty major highs as I think the all the possibilities that will be open to me...silly things to most, I'm sure, but to me they seem very exciting. We're talking simple things, like planning meals and actually having time to prepare them during the day, and having the house to myself for at least an hour or so every day while Luke naps. The thought of not having to break up fights every five minutes, and actually having time to sit down and color or read with Luke - just for fun! There's also the positives that, while probably will not be an easy adjustment for me, I think I and my family are desperately in need of, such as getting up early and having to stick to a stricter schedule.

However, all of this has also brought some realities that have caused me some intense sadness, like realizing this year will be my last of having any real 'little' ones...i.e. - preschool age - at home. Where did the time go??? When I think back to my days of 'dreaming' of being a mommy, it always included little ones running around and being with me all day. Though to others, you may hear this and think "Well, duh...you've actually been leaving those days for a while now...", it hasn't felt very noticeable since the kids were always still around. Don't misunderstand...my days of diaper changing and nursing and bottles and pacifiers weren't all sunshine and roses...many times I felt like tearing my hair out...but, it still feels deeply sad to me to be saying goodbye to that season in such a final and dramatic way. I guess there are benefits to seeing your kids head off to school one at a time...seems like maybe it eases a mom into the reality more. I feel like I'm getting smacked in the face with it. Again....for the most part I'm very excited to see my kids go off and enter a new phase...I'm thrilled at all the possibilities that await them. And I enjoy my kids more and more with every year older they get. So it's not that I'm wishing they stay little; it's more realizing how quickly time slips away that makes me sad.

While it may seem I've rambled on about this, the reality is that it's only scratched the surface of the thoughts and emotions that have been coursing through me the past few weeks. The thought of changing seasons is interesting...while I LOVE the change of the weather-related seasons, and am always ready to experience and enjoy the new ones as they come, I can't say I'm so thrilled to view life-seasons in the same way. But I'm trying to learn this: life's season changes will come, and I have a choice what to do with them. I can live always looking back, remembering the good and forgetting the bad (which is my natural tendency) and wishing for 'the good old days', or I can stay forward looking, keeping in mind that I only have this time right now, so make the most of it, for it too will soon slip through my fingers. I'm trying to make a pointed effort to do the latter.

r-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me...

We are currently going through the series Love & Respect as a couples' group in our church. As you might guess from the title, the main thrust of the teaching is how women are wired to want and need love...in whatever form that means for each individual woman. However, it also is putting forth that what men need even more than feeling loved it to feel respected and admired. I just had to laugh out loud to see a prime example of this while we were at the beach last week.

Since Luke didn't want to have anything to do with going in the ocean, he played quite contentedly in the sand all day. As soon as we'd arrive at the beach each day he would say "Dad, help me dig a big hole!" So Todd would dutifully dig deep into the sand for him, until they hit water. Then Luke was happy as a clam for the rest of the day. Well, one afternoon as Luke sat digging in the sand, a little girl walked by on her way to the water. She stopped and looked at the enormous hole Luke was in and said to him "Is that your hole?" He answered, somewhat tentatively "Yes." She smiled and said "Wow." and then walked away. That was it, just "wow". However, I could fairly see Luke's chest puff out, and he scrambled out of the hole to come relay the story to me. He beamed with pride as he said "She said 'wow'!" As he climbed back into the hole, he commented "I wish the Glick girls were here to see it..."

I just had to laugh at the prime example of the very thing we'd been talking about in our group! Very interesting.

goodbye summer

Well, sadly, vacation is over. We had a great time...though, I have found over the years, that after returning from family vacation, it seems there should be a time of 'parent vacation'...like a time that is actually relaxing! I'm learning there's a difference, at least when there's kids involved, between 'fun' and 'relaxing'. Our vacation was definitely fun!

We were truly blessed to get such a seriously great deal on a house to stay in, and we spent most of the time on the beach. I was glad to find that there was really minimal TV watching (though I found for myself it would not be a good thing for me to have HGTV or TLC because, while I really hate 'reality' TV - shows like Jon & Kate, 18 & Counting, etc. all annoy me - the makeover shows - person or house - would have me addicted in no time!!) and we spent LOTS of time on the beach, and then doing a family activity of some sort in the evening.

Now it's the last week of summer, and I simply can't believe it!! Seems like lots to do this week, but unfortunately, I came back from vacation sick, and don't seem to be recovering too quickly, and now Luke has it too. So, I'm taking it easy today yet, hoping to kick this cough and be back in the swing of things tomorrow.

sun and sand and alpha males...

We are headed off for vacation at last!! Ah, sun & surf, here we come! We are heading to Brigantine for a few days, and hope to have some relaxing fun with the fam.

Last night we took Maggie to the "doggie-sitter" (a.k.a. Laura & Luke) for while we are gone. First of all, let me just say that they are absolute SAINTS for taking the crazy beast. And they keep reassuring me they don't mind (though, they haven't actually had her yet). Of course, no sooner had I taken her off her leash and she realized the screen door wasn't latched, and out she went. Luke & Laura live much more 'in town' than we do, so I'm basically thinking "oh, crap". Luke & Todd were outside, where she darted past them. They calmly called her (and she continued to run) til Todd said "Maggie, come back here right now!" The dog stopped, turned around and walked right back to them. Luke calmly reached out and took her collar, and she was returned to the house in a matter of less than a minute.

WHA...??????? (Apparently I need to record Todd's voice for when she escapes us during the day...) Must be nice to be the alpha male.

(Don't know if we'll have access to internet this week, so I may or may not be checking in before next weekend...if not, have a wonderful week!)

choosing to see

I'm happy to be getting over the mood that yesterday's foibles put me in. As I read a friend's blog this morning, as she talked about choosing to see God's grace in the everyday things in life and asked what God's grace had been in our days, my first reaction was..."Well, I don't think there was much yesterday!" But oh, how wrong a thought that was! As I paused a moment more to reflect, two things, in particular (and I'm quite sure there were many more) sprang to my mind.

It was truly God's grace that Maggie didn't get seriously injured or even killed by the car yesterday. Though I portrayed it in yesterday's post in a slightly humorous light, the reality is, at that moment yesterday, I was standing in the middle of the road, hands on my head, screaming as I thought I was about to see my dog die. And another reality is, that no matter how crazy she makes me, we do ALL love the dumb beast (even Todd, at some level, I'm pretty sure) and it would have been horrible had the car not gotten stopped at the last moment. Plus, Kate was not here (nor was Bryce) and I had an extra little one, and I don't know what I would have done if I would have had to pack them all up, along with a stricken dog who is too heavy for me to carry and get her to a vet's. Yes, in hindsight there was MUCH grace in that situation yesterday.

Secondly, we were at friends' for our small group dinner last night. They have 2 little pug dogs who all the kids were quite fascinated with. After Luke's incident with the bite 2 weeks ago, I was trying to be cautious and aware that the kids weren't giving them too much affection...though these dogs were completely (and amazingly) tolerant of all the kids' love. However, Luke's cousin Elley hung back, as she is quite terrified of dogs. From her perch on a chair she asked Luke if they would bite her. He reassured her, "No! Dogs never bite!" (Uh, apparently the trip to the ER, the stitch, etc. didn't make much impact!) While I'm thinking he didn't learn much of a lesson, I'm also glad that his intense fear of dogs has not made any kind of recurrence! Again, a grace I'm thankful for.

So, thanks Zoanna, for the reminder to not dwell on the negative, but choose to see God's hand at work in each day. And hopefully you readers will experience God's graces in your day! (And I'd love to hear about them - leave me a comment sharing where you saw or experience grace this week!)

death by flip flop

Today while I was pumping my gasoline, the guy at the other side of the pump looks over and says to me (while nodding toward my feet),

"Ya know, I just heard a study about flip flops and how they can actually kill you...".

Still feeling rather cranky from the morning's escapade involving Maggie running away in the pouring rain and me chasing her and watching her very narrowly escape death by SUV (literally...there was skidding and tire screeching, and I'm not convinced she didn't make slight contact with the bumper), I unenthusiastically replied,

"After chasing my dog in the rain in them today, I believe it."

He continues on, undeterred by my snarky attitude.

"Yep, they said that if you have a cut on your foot, and you wear flip flops for 4 days, that it would keep so much bacteria at the site that you could die from a staph infection."

Wow. Staph infection, huh? Who knew?

And quit looking at my feet anyway, wierdo.

I will rise...

For multiple reasons, I've been loving this song lately.

getting ready for school...

It feels strange to be preparing for school in an entirely different way this year. Normally I'm beginning to think about schedules and new curriculums, how to arrange our school area and fun incentives. It's very bittersweet to be on a different track this year.

I continue to be comforted about my decision to put the boys in our local public school. Today I had to take them in for reading placement testing. We got to meet the reading specialist, who mentioned to Bryce that her son also loved the Frank Peretti series that Bryce is currently reading. A friend mentioned to me that the school nurse goes to a local church where several friends of ours go. I feel like God is giving me little glimpses of the fact that there are many Christians that he has placed within our school system. Public school would not have been my first choice for my kids, but I have to say, I do believe we are in step with where God is taking us right now in this arena.

All the kids are beginning to get a bit excited about school. It's funny to see the different avenues their thoughts are traveling on. Bryce was asking me today while we sat at the school about what opportunities would be available for playing sports. Kate is obsessing about getting school clothes. And they were ALL excited as we browsed notebooks and folders and backpacks today (at the new Five Below!!).

As for me...tomorrow I'm spending the day with some gal pals hitting a whole list of consignment shops to see what kind of dent I might be able to make there before having to do the 'official' school shopping!!

"fifth disease"

It was a rather interesting weekend around here! After Luke's ordeal on Friday night, Saturday morning I awoke with what I thought to be a pinched nerve. In fact, initially I just thought that I had slept wrong on my arm and it was 'asleep' when I first woke up. However, the pain, tingling and numbness continued throughout the day, and I began to be aware of pain in all my joints, as well as occasionally the tingling and numbness in other parts of my body. I also noticed that my hands and feet seemed to be swelling. Saturday night was simply awful trying to sleep. I ended up unable to find any comfortable way to lay, and tried sleeping sitting upright in the recliner. By Sunday morning, the swelling, numbness and pain were all quite bad, so I called to see if I could get an 'emergency' appointment with the chiropractor. He did treat me, but said he really couldn't place what it could be, and strongly suggested I get in to my medical doctor right away. I did that this morning, only to have her puzzled as well, and sending me for bloodwork. I haven't gotten that done yet (I went, but they were closed already) so I have to go again tomorrow. However, I had to call ahead to get a price quote, as I currently have no health insurance and had no idea what to expect. Most of the tests ran between $40-$60 except for one, which I had never heard of, called B19. That one was $268!! I called the doctor's office back and asked if we could drop that one for now, and see how some of the others turned out first. She agreed, and I decided to do a little research on this B19 to find out what was so important to cost so much more than the others. Odd thing...B19, or the Parvovirus, a.k.a. "fifths disease" is basically a very mild illness, usually a childhood illness, though about 50% of adults have never had it and therefore are susceptible, and often is so mild, it goes undetected. There is no 'treatment' for it, and once you get it, you are then immune to it, kind of like chicken pox. Of course, as I looked over the symptoms, it seemed like a perfect match to what I've been experiencing! And it goes away on it's own! Reading it all, coupled with the fact of the swelling and joint pain both definitely decreasing, makes me really want to just bag the bloodowork altogether. However, my hubby would like me to still follow through with it, just to make sure (the doc still wanted to test for Lyme disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and about 3 other things) so I guess I'll still be doing that. But, I suppose, as is usually the case, there will end up being nothing that 'needs' to be done, and I will have laid out several hundred dollars for basically nothing. Oh, well...there's always that niggle in your mind that says "just in case..." that prompts me to follow through. Maybe someday I'll be thankful I did.

when the dog bites....I simply remember my favorite things...

Hasn't been very much going on here at my blog lately...mainly because I've still just been busy tying up all the 'loose ends' of our projects, etc. However, I think we're done...and this week I felt like summer REALLY started...only to find it already the beginning of August!!! Oh, well. But hopefully my posting will be picking up again.

Something noteworthy though: last night we made our first injury-related trip to the ER. Now, considering the fact that we have 4 children, 3 of which are BOYS, I find it amazing we've made it injury-free thus far. It's truly been a blessing. Even last night's trip was very minor, and not from any crazy boy-antics. We were over at some friends' house and their dog (a little yorky-poo who is not fond of children) bit Luke on his mouth. It broke the skin in 3 places, but the main cause for concern was the one on his top lip, where the skin crosses into the lip. It took one stitch, not a very big deal. In fact, he wasn't even crying when we got to the hospital, which was around 11 p.m., and since it was nearly 3 hours later til he actually got the stitch, he had fallen asleep. He slept through the wounds being cleaned, through us 'mummy' wrapping him in case (or rather for when) he woke up, and although he cried when the actually stuck the needle in and did the stitch, he never even opened his eyes til after it was all done. And the minute the doctor was done stitching, he stopped crying. Over all, the worst part of the ordeal, was sitting in the freezing emergency room til 2 a.m. with our entire family!! Like I said, I still consider ourselves very blessed. (And Luke is still fairly unfazed, and not seeming to have any re-occurances of his former fear of dogs. In fact, today's issue was keeping him from letting Maggie to lick his face!!)