Last week we discovered that the nest in our playhouse had some baby birds in it! The girls and I would check in on them and watch them. This weekend noticed that they had died. We don't know why, but I suspect last week's strong winds must have injured the mother bird. We were all sad for them, but we knew that there was really nothing we could have done to help them.

Yesterday, I checked the jar with the cocoon that we've been watching for months! Everyone told me to just throw the jar away. Surely the caterpillar had just died. But I waited. And yesterday we had a moth in the jar! It was so still that at first I thought it had died, but as I tried to dump it out of the jar it moved. Its wings resembled tree bark when they were closed, but they opened to reveal beautiful eye spots!



Today the girls discovered that the roly-polies (aka pill bugs) that we were keeping in a jar had had babies. The girls brought home the roly-polies from a family friend's house on Easter. We researched them and discovered that their official name is wood louse. Fortunately, they are NOT related to lice. They are actually crustaceans!

Time Marches On

Wow, I can't believe it's already April. March flew by!

March was a BUSY month for us. Paul's dad was released from the hospital and went home. Because of his dementia, we have to have someone stay with him 24/7. Paul's brother has graciously taken the night shifts, so Paul justs spends some time with him during the day. Paul's mom is still in the hospital, but she is improving. We are now faced with the decision of where she should go after she is released.

We celebrated a Special Occasion this month. Some of our friends had all four of our girls over for a sleepover, and Jack and I ate at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It was a FANTASTIC meal!! Paul gave me a fabulous gift - a convection oven! I've been wanting one for a while, but I was TOTALLY SURPRISED! Because our old oven was a drop-in oven, we had to wait a couple of weeks for Paul to get the right tools to install the new oven. It is now in, and we are definitely enjoying it.

I got a really bad sinus infection in March. It not only made my face hurt, but it made me really tired and weak. It took several days of antibiotics to begin to feel like myself again.

Paul got to speak at a breakout session for a conference our church was having. He did a great job, and he actually got paid. Real money, not just a gift card!

We had company twice. Some of our best friends came for a visit during part of their spring break. Because they have four kids and we have four kids, they decided to stay in a hotel. We didn't get quite as much visiting time this way, but it was definitely easier! The kids had a great time playing. Their second daughter is still Faith's best friend, even though they moved away over six years ago. I was still feeling bad from my sinus infection, so I don't know that I was very good company.

My mom came for part of her spring break. The girls love seeing their Nana, and we had a good visit. She was here for Easter, so she got to do some fun Easter activities with us - going to the Easter Festival at our church, dying eggs, and making Easter cupcakes.

We had our spring break in March. We actually had a couple of field trips to a local museum that was offering some educational classes. We had a party with friends, and the girls had some of their friend sleep over. I had planned on getting a lot done, but we mainly rested and had fun. But after seeing how busy this month has been, I think rest and fun are just what we needed!

April will be busy, too. We have a dance recital, a ladies' conference at our church, 4-H awards night, a deacons' retreat for Jack, and a shopping-with-the-girls day for me. But once April is finished, we have a break from most of our activities. Summer is on the horizon!

Jack's father did not go home last week. Instead he was transferred to the geriatric psych area so he could regain his strength and the doctors could better stabilize his medications. This was really tough on Jack, but he realized that this really is the best thing for his dad. The visitation rules for this area of the hospital are much stricter with visitors only being allowed for a couple of hours a day. So Jack has been home every night for almost a whole week!

His mom has been moved to the long-term recovery part of the hospital and seems to be gradually improving.

We have been blessed by friends who have brought us meals (Even my children reached their fast food saturation point!), prayed for us, and hosted our small group at their home. One set of friends even let all 4 of our girls sleep over!

So I should be feeling great. But I don't. I feel a bit down. I don't really know why. I think living with uncertainty, both of the future and of each day, takes a toll on me. Jack has been down and I know that affects my emotions. And I'm just plain weary!

And Then I Fell Flat on My Face

The fits and crying that I mentioned last time, they happened. After praising God for His sufficiency, I totally crashed and burned. Not that God wasn't still sufficient. But I think I began to think I had something to do with the victories God had won. So He allowed me to see just how weak I really am! But since I realized my weakness, I can now depend on His strength!

We have had even more challenging times with Paul's parents. A few days after his mom's surgery, his dad became ill. Paul thought he could deal with it at home, but a wonderful physician friend said that he really should be in the hospital - which is a VERY DIFFICULT place for a person with dementia to be. He has pneumonia and has been in the hospital for over a week now. A VERY LONG WEEK!!! Because of the dementia, someone has to stay with Paul's dad 24/7. Because three of Paul's siblings have chronic health problems and his younger brother had the flu, Paul has stayed with his dad every night but three since his mom was admitted to the hospital. And some of those nights Paul's dad did not sleep. (So Paul didn't sleep either!) He's weary. We're weary. We're hoping that Paul's dad can go home tomorrow. (We were really hoping for today, but the doctors said maybe tomorrow.) When Paul's dad gets home, one of his brothers plans on staying with him most nights. I hope that goes as planned, because I don't think our family can continue with this schedule for weeks on end!

On a good note, Paul's mom is out of ICU! However, she does have some water in her lungs and had to have a blood transfusion earlier this week. We really don't know a whole lot about her condition. The only way to learn anything is to see the doctor during his rounds (which are at different times every day!). And even then we're likely to get only vague information! There's got to be a better way for doctors and patients/patient's families to communicate!

I need to remind myself to cherish the times of peace and normalcy. Because, as we've seen this month, trouble can invade suddenly and turn our lives upside down.

Sufficient Grace

If I had known last week what we would be going through this week, I would have broken down and cried. If my girls had known last week how often Paul would need to be away this week there would have been much weeping, some pouting, and maybe even a fit or two.

But this week has gone as smoothly as it could have. God truly does give us the grace to handle the need of the moment when the moment arrives, and not before. Not that we've handled everything perfectly. But we have managed to get through the first part of the week without stressing out or breaking down.

Ironically, Friday was a breakdown sort of day for me. I began the day out of sorts and my sour mood did not abate during the day. As I began to journal and blame my mood on not enough quality adult interaction, God totally convicted me that the problem wasn't a lack of interaction with other people, my problem was lack of quality time with Him! So I immediately stopped my journaling, downloaded the first video session of Beth Moore's A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place, and watched it. And this week I've been faithfully spending time with God through the workbook. I know that God has used my time with Him to strengthen me. I really don't want to think about all the ugly flesh & self that would have come out of me this week had I not been in the Word!

God was so faithful to prepare me to be in His Word when He knew I would need it most!

When It Rains, It Pours

Sometimes life is smooth and, if not exactly easy, at least comfortably predictable. And I seldom appreciate those times while I have them. We are not currently enjoying a time of peace and rest. Jack has felt a lot of pressure regarding an investment he made last year. What seemed at the time to be an incredible opportunity to enhance our income has become a major headache! One of the other people involved has had various family distractions, and others have just been dragging their feet when it comes to moving forward and resolving things.


If that weren't enough, a couple of weeks ago, Paul's car was broken into and thieves broke in and stole! The thieves took his bag which contained some business items that will be expensive to replace, his wallet, and, worst of all, his Bible and journal. The police have not been able to catch the thieves, and don't expect to recover any of our stolen property. We are praying for God to use Paul's Bible to save the thieves or someone else. (It would be great if the thieves would get saved and then RETURN OUR STUFF!!!)

Then on Sunday, instead of watching the Superbowl with some friends from Sunday School, Paul sat in the waiting room at the hospital waiting for his mother to get out of emergency surgery. The surgery went well, but she is fighting infection, so she is still on a ventilator and sedated. She knows the Lord, so we aren't worried about her eternal destiny, but we sure would like to have more time with her! Paul has been dividing his time between visiting at the hospital, helping to care for his father (who has some dementia), ministering to his siblings (some of whom do not know Jesus), and all the regular stuff of life like working and spending time with us.

God must have some great things in store for us, because He sure is allowing some situations that are causing us to stretch our faith and rely on Him and Him alone! Since we know He wastes nothing we can be sure that He is working even in these awful things. (Now if only I can keep that perspective all the time!)

It's January, So It's Still the New Year!

Wow, I can't believe January is almost over and I haven't updated the blog! I had great intentions of sitting quietly and praying about what goals God would like me to achieve this year and then blogging about all my good intentions. But in our house, sitting quietly doesn't happen all that often. And when it does I usually would rather read a book. Or take a quick nap. Which I read yesterday in my issue of Southern Living is good for you.

I have spent a little bit of time thinking about what I want to change this year. Mainly this time was when I was getting ready in the mornings, so my thought processes were interrupted by thoughts about whether I had moisturized or not and which leg I had just shaved.

The good thing about waiting until January is that I can give an update of my progress in my goal areas. (And maybe not mention any areas of complete failure!) This year I knew I needed to be more consistent in teaching Faith and Hope science and history. The fall was more hit-and-miss than I would have liked. And we have really done good this month! I even learned how to use the interlibrary loan system so we can have an expanded pool of books to use for history!

I also NEED to become more organized. I have several areas of my home that REALLY need work, so I came up with a mental schedule of which area to work on which month (with a month or two of catch-up or rest built in). January I wanted to organize the linen closet by the girls' bathroom. I just have the top shelf left! I also organized my MANY e-mails, either deleting or archiving the old ones.

I wanted to cook more and eat out less, and we have done pretty well here as well. The times we have eaten out have been planned times and not just because I didn't have a plan for supper. I have also been getting back in the habit of using coupons. If I were organized I would know how much I have saved so far, but I know I have saved close to ten dollars in addition to using a fifteen dollars in gift cards that came as bonuses from prior purchases. And everything I used coupons for was stuff I regularly use. So not too bad.

The thing I've struggled most on is actually the most important thing! My Bible study and prayer time has been sporadic lately, and I NEED to be consistent in spending time with my Father. Sadly, I haven't seen much change here. But I know God is faithful and He will enable to do this. Since I'm not a part of a group Bible study at church, this requires more self-motivation on my part than I needed in the fall. But my relationship with God should be motivation enough!

Now I'm off to read God's Word before reading a story (which I got through an interlibrary loan) to my girls!