I am pretty behind on my thankfuls.  I was going to write some thankfuls and include some pictures in this post, but the picture uploader seems to be on the fritz right now.  I may have to put up pictures another day.

Thankful #21

I am very thankful for my husband’s dedication and perseverance with his work.  He has been working a lot of long hours this month, trying to meet the demands of several clients.  A lot of nights he is working until 1:00 a.m.  Even with all the work and long hours, he never fails to be patient and calm with me and our children.  He even will take time to help me with the bath time and meal times, knowing he will be up very late that night.  And, he never, ever complains about it (the work, or helping with Paul and Hannah).

Thankful #22

I am thankful that I have the hope of a new body at the resurrection (I Cor. 15:42-44).  There are times when I am tired of persevering in this one–tired of the diabetes, tired of the GERD, tired of the nausea and vomiting that plagues my life (though much less often than it used to since we found out I have a bad esophagus valve), and I am just ready for my new body.  Then, I stop to think of all that I have to look forward to as a child of God.  I know that this life is not the end.  I know that there is an eternity with God in heaven where I won’t have any of the marks of sin to live with, ever again.  I am rich, in Christ.

Thankful # 23

I am thankful that on Thursday and Friday of this week we will get to see so many of our family members, both mine and Andrew’s.  Our families are a blessing to us, and I rejoice that God has allowed each one to live, and that we can get together and enjoy each other’s company.  Tragedies claim the lives of people every day, even people we know, and then someone’s family has a hole in it.  I know no one lives forever, but right now, I am thankful we are all still able to get together.

Thankful # 24

I am thankful for my many servants: my washing machine, my dryer (especially in this very cold, often rainy weather), my dishwasher, my electric mixer, my nice stove and oven, our heat pump (I know it’s considered “cold” heat, but it’s what is here and it meets our needs), my Oreck vacuum cleaner (and Paul’s vacuum cleaner, thanks to Aunt Wendy.  He still parks it right beside he mattress each night when he goes to bed.), and hot water!  My life would be much different without these machines and conveniences.

O.k., the picture thingy is still acting dead.  So, I am sorry I won’t get to show you new pictures yet.  Hopefully soon.

When I think of all the pictures I took today, I think that I might have been camera crazy.  You’ll see a lot of them in this blog.  I just love pictures, and of my children particularly.  Kids are so fun to take pictures of (except when they deliberately don’t cooperate, as Paul has taken to doing recently).

This morning we went to my grandma Gardner’s to trim her toenails.  It was quite a whirl around here to get everything done and ready to go to be there at 10:00 a.m.  Yeah, I know that is about mid-day, but somehow it is hard to get everyone dressed, fed, pottied, changed, and everything packed up before then.  Not to mention my 45 min. of exercise, and then the necessary shower.  Anyway, we got there soon after 10:00.  Paul and Hannah were in remarkably good moods and played very nicely the whole time we were there.  I was so impressed with them!  We had a nice, relaxing visit.  I didn’t take lunch along because I wanted to come back home for lunch.  If we eat lunch with Grandma, then the kids nap on the way home, and don’t nap any more.  Then, I don’t get a nap, and it really stretches me.

Hannah & her great-grandma Gardner

Paul loves Great-Grandma’s plastic fruit.  She keeps it in a

basket just for Paul (and Bobby when he comes) to play with.

As soon as Paul walked in the door, he went and got that

basket of fruit.

Paul putting the plastic grapes in the

dump truck.

Grandma served Paul some saltine crackers

(which he loves) before we left.

My mom stopped in toward the end of our visit.

Here she is with Hannah.

Somehow, Andrew thought it was mild outside today.

I thought it was cold, but Andrew really wanted me

to take Paul outside after lunch.   He wore his new

gloves and bogan that he got for his birthday from

his Vogan grand-parents.  (Of course, he took off the

gloves soon after he went outside, silly guy.  Then his

hands got cold.)

This evening, Paul and I made pizza for supper.  Andrew loves pizza the most around here, and I really like it too.  I just don’t take the time to make it that often.  Let me tell you, though, that I make it as easy on myself as possible.   I only assemble them when we are going to have pizzas.  I pulled browned sausage out of the freezer, peppers out of the freezer, and pizza sauce from a jar that we canned last summer.  So, all I have to do is make the dough, chop up onions, peppers, and black olives, and we are set to start putting them together!

Paul loved helping.  He rolled out the dough while I was doing other things.  When it was time to put some dough on the pizza stone, I finished rolling it out, put it on the stone, and gave him  the next ball of dough to work on a while.  That kept him entertained about the whole time I was putting pizzas together and baking them.  It sure was nice for me–he wasn’t getting underfoot!

Eating the pizza is at least as fun as making it.  I am probably biased, but I don’t think I have ever eaten a bought pizza (hot and ready to eat, or frozen) that I liked as well as I like our pizza.  I have the perfect sauce, just the right dough, and so on.  I learned how to make pizza from Andrew (that is assemble it).  You put the “pretty” things on top the cheese so it looks nice.  The dough recipe is from a neighbor back at home, Robin Ulmer.  The sauce recipe I created with Andrew’s tasting help.

Paul rolling out pizza dough.

Paul pinching off little pieces of pizza dough.

Paul eating pizza.

Our lovely pizza!

What was left after supper.

Here are Paul and Hannah in the bathtub.  Paul has become quite the little fish in the last couple days to a week.  He loves to raise his leg up and do big splashes (and water goes everywhere on some of them!).  Then he raises his leg up again and says (while waiting for me to acknowledge his great feat about to occur),         ” ‘nother splash!” and splashes again.  Then, when Hannah is lying down to get bathed, Paul takes a hold of her feet and leg and helps her do splashes.  While Hannah is sitting up, she does her own great splashes.

Hannah & Paul

Well, that’s the story of today.

Now, for Thankful # 19.

I am thankful that for my whole life, so far, I have lived close to my Gardner grandparents.  The lived next-door to us the whole time I was living at home (and Grandma still lives right next to my parents).  I have lots of memories of working with Grand-daddy.  I guess I was about 7 years old when one or two of us girls started helping him every night.  I remember chasing cows, pulling calves (helping them be born), feeding calves, bedding cow stalls, cleaning the stables, sweeping the barn floor (and learning how to use a broom properly and park it properly–stand it on the handle, not the bristles) doctoring cows, shaking the hay, riding out to get a newborn calf in from the field in that old truck if Grand-daddy thought it was too far to either carry the calf or haul him in the push calf-cart, warming our hands on the hot water tank, his glasses steaming up from the steam of the very hot water we washed up the bottles and buckets with, learning how to test the electric fence with a blade of grass, going to get a load of hay in the middle of the night over at the Pink Barn if we ran out, or if it was a slow night and we had extra time, and not the least of my memories, how he could touch and work on hot electric fences without turning them off and it never seemed to bother him.  However, if he accidently bumped into one, he would hollar in surprise and/or jump.  He also could work down in a water trough, reattaching a float, or whatever needed done, on the coldest nights in the coldest weather.  He had amazing self-discipline and self-control.  On the nights he was gone and a water trough had to be worked on (in the winter), I always so hated doing it because it was so cold.  I had great respect for him doing it without complaining and acting like it wasn’t cold at all.  One of the hallmarks of Grand-daddy was his conscientiousness for safety.  He never, ever passed up an opportunity to lecture us about safety, regarding cows, equipment, driving, PTO’s, elevators, whatever.  He lectured us until we could repeat the lectures word-for-word in our sleep, I am sure.  But, likely it saved our lives.  Grand-daddy passed away in Jan. of 2001 with advanced Alzheimer’s.  I’m glad he was able to live right there with us the whole time.

My Grandma was a meticulous seamstress and an unbeatable cook.  Infact, when she was young (such as I guess in her 20’s) there was quite a write-up (with a big photograph!) in the newspaper about her bread-baking (I think that’s what it was, I will have the re-read the article next time I go see her).  I just know that when she made rolls for our Thanksgiving gatherings, they were the very best rolls I ever ate, and I don’t think I have ever eaten any as good as hers (except for Marilee Reeves’ rolls, they were equal with Grandma’s).  They were always perfectly golden on top, risen to an amazing height, never doughy inside, didn’t sink in the middle, light, fluffy, melted in your mouth, and, the greatest thing about them–they were white!  (My mom always made whole wheat rolls.)  (Hmm…speaking of all this, I want to ask her what her secrets were.)  As far as sewing, I know she made at least one dress for me when I was growing up.  And she made clothes for my doll baby and a diaper bag for my doll.  Whatever she sewed, it was perfect.  She agonized over her sewing, ripping and stitching, and ripping and stitching again, until it was flawless and fit perfectly.  There was positively nothing slip-shod about her work.  When I graduated from high-school (which was homeschool, by the way), she made me a fancy pillow (which is what I asked her for).  We used it for the ring-bearing pillow at our wedding.  (Hmm… I should include a picture of it.  Maybe I will add it tomorrow since it is rather late right now.)

All this to say how thankful I am that we lived close to my grand-parents.  I doubt I would have most of these memories if they had lived further away, or far away.

Today, Paul was the Baker (you know, “the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker…”).  He helped me make bread today from start to finish, even down to putting it in the freezer this evening.  He had a lot of fun…most of the time.  When we got home from Bible study, he was very perky, so I decided he could stay up a little bit later and watch me slice the bread (called helping me slice the bread).  He kept talking about “nightie-night” and the bread going nightie-night.  He talked about the “nice bread” and rubbed it and enjoyed it.  Then, when there was only one loaf unsliced and out of the bag, he talked about “one bread”.  Then, as I was slicing that last loaf, he talked even more of “nightie-night” and the bread going nightie-night.  I looked up, and lo and behold, he was struggling very hard to keep from crying!  He couldn’t bear it that the last loaf was going nightie-night too.  I went and picked him up, and he let loose into whole-body shaking, whoop-whoop sobs.  Poor fella!  I asked Andrew to come hold him while I finished slicing the last loaf and bagged it.  Then, we had Paul help us carry them all down to the freezer.  He still was very sad about it, but he did stop crying.  I explained to him that we could eat some more bread tomorrow.

Here are some pictures.

Hannah chewed on a hammer handle while we were

mixing up the dough.  That’s an up-side down

helicoptor in front of her.

Here’s the twice-risen dough ready for shaping.

You can tell Paul likes the big ball of dough!

Paul making his own little loaves of bread and

putting them into and out of the bread pan.

He has so much fun!

Our up-and-coming Baker #2 learns

by watching.

Paul was thrilled beyond description when he got up from

his nap and came out in the kitchen.  The first thing he

did was push a chair to the island, whip all the towels off

the bread, and started saying “nice bread” over and over

and gently rubbing the loaves.  He got so much fun

out of looking at that bread!

Well, that is the main thing we did today.

Thankful # 18

I am thankful that for all my life I have had good food to eat.  Not only have I never, ever had to go hungry for lack of available food, but I have had high-quality food to eat.  When I lived at home, I had my parents to thank for that.  Now, I have Andrew to thank, him being the sole bread-winner (even if Paul and I are the bread-bakers!).  Of course, I realize it is ultimately God who is supplying our needs.  I occasionally stop to think of how, the whole world over, there are lots of people who don’t have enough food to eat.  I am thankful God has abundantly provided for me.

Here is Paul enjoying the first snow of the season on our front deck.  He was excited to see it from the window when he woke up this morning.  Andrew let him out on the deck before breakfast to enjoy it for a tiny little bit.

Paul had his 2-year check-up today.  He did just fine, but he still isn’t fond of the doctor.  He weighed in at 28 lbs. and 15 oz., and he is 26 1/4 inches long.  He’s a long dude, I think.  He’s at the 50% for his weight and >90% for his height.

Paul & Hannah’s Aunt Julia met us at the doctor’s office and watched Hannah in the waiting room for me.  That was really helpful.  Thanks, Jul.

On the way home, we stopped at the Oreck store to get replacement bags for our great Oreck vacuum cleaner.  Remember that Paul is seriously in love with vacuum cleaners?  Well, when we walked into that store, I think Paul thought he had just entered heaven’s gates.  He was exclaiming and exclaiming over all the vacuum cleaners on display.  He was filled with delight and squeals.  Fortunately, we were the only ones in the store besides the sales lady, and I could just tell her what I needed above and between Paul’s exclamations.  I guess there must have been 2 dozen or more vacuum cleaners of various colors.  I think Paul touched or pointed at them all by the time we left.  He wanted to go back into the back and inspect the ones waiting to be repaired, but I didn’t let him do that.  Well, now I know where to take him to have a lot of fun!

Thankful # 16

I am thankful that I have the privilege of staying at home with my children (rather than working away from home).  They are so much fun a lot of the time, and I know they will only be young once.  There is so much richness in my life here with them that I wouldn’t experience (or have the energy to enjoy) if I was working away from home (and away from my children).

Thankful # 17

I am thankful for the rich and full life I have had, particularly thinking of my years at home and before I got married.  All the things I learned and experienced–milking cows, making hay, figuring out rations (food recipes for the cows) and mixing up the feed, doctoring animals (though I was never any good at getting an IV started on a cow), helping cows calve, knowing how to chase animals, backing up with a wagon, spreading manure, working fields, picking rocks, butchering pigs and chickens, gardening, canning, baking, hosting events for large crowds of people (remember when the Chorus (Rockingham Male Chorus) came to our house for a meal, guys?), cleaning the house, raising kids (that’s where I got most of my knowledge for now!), and countless other things that I took for granted until I started college.  Then I realized not everyone knew all that was “common knowledge”.  Then, through college, working in the lab and perfecting my skills of drawing blood, learning about so many diseases through lab tests, and working as a CA (clinical assistant) and learning even more.  Finally, after graduation, my three years of nursing.  Those were some of the richest, most varied, and most excitement-packed years of my life (but then, the others were some of the richest, too).  And I loved it.  On the side, I know that nursing is where my skills and gifts are.  Being a mother and raising kids is something that I have to work much harder to do well at.  I think I am working in my weakness now.  Anyway, I am so thankful that I have had an exciting and wonderful life, not one that is dull, narrow, and monotonous.  I wish I could provide my children as rich a childhood as I had.

Thankful #14

I am thankful for peace of mind.  I can go to sleep at night without guilt and regret.  That is because “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”  (Ps. 103:12)  Also Ps. 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”  These promises are very precious because they deal with the one thing that would keep me from God–my sin.  And Christ has paid the price and redeemed me from the curse of sin, death.

Thankful # 15

I am thankful for the love of my children.  Paul just randomly walks up to me and gives me hugs (around my legs), and Hannah, sometimes when I pick her up, she just grabs onto me with all the might in her little arms.  It is precious and priceless.  Even if I am grouchy or have been sharp with them, they still love me and give me hugs.

Now, here are some pictures from Paul’s birthday party yesterday.

Paul awaiting cake.

My sister Gail helping in the kitchen.

Paul and his cake.

Paul opening his presents–a book from A. Julia & U. Linden.

Paul’s cousin Bobby helps him unwrap presents.

Paul and a vacuum cleaner from A. Wendy & U. Joe!!  He just

about couldn’t handle that much delight!  He even took it along

to church that evening and vacuumed the church before and after the

evening service.  He is absolutely in love with that vacuum cleaner

and he talks about it all the time.  He left it right outside the bathtub–

at the very edge–when it was time for baths tonight.

Bobby, Paul vacuuming.

Paul vacuuming.

Hannah & her Grandma Gardner.

Paul got a lot of nice presents.  He was tired and had a cold, so I think he did more crying than he would have otherwise.  But, he had a good time.  We missed Jeremy & Lynn and their family.  Since Paul and Hannah were sick, they decided it was best not to come around here and infect their family with colds.  We sent Emily’s cake and presents over to them with the Vogan grandparents.

Well, that’s a post long on pictures and short on fancy words.  I am charging the camera batteries and maybe tomorrow I can get more pictures of Paul and Hannah with some of his new toys.

I am still behind on my thankfuls, but here is another one.  I am thankful for Paul’s progress in his potty-training.  Two days ago, on Friday, he started saying “potty” and then he would willingly dash into the bathroom with me and pee on the potty.  All day Sat., whenever he said “potty” I put him on the potty and he had success–and his pants were dry (with the exception of a tiny bit of wetness when he woke up from his nap)!  It has been the same today, except we did have a few “dry runs” when he sat there with no success, but he didn’t have wet pants (only a little dampness once when I guess he waited a little too long to get there).  How’s that for a birthday present?  He turned 2 years old today.

I haven’t posted recently.

Icing Paul’s & Emily’s birthday cakes.

Coloring the icing for decorating the cakes.

Drawing WTP on the cake.

Finished products.

The finished bean bag chair for Paul’s birthday present.

As Paul’s birthday approaches (it is Sunday), I have had to use all spare moments (mostly at night after the kids are in bed) to finish these.  Emily’s birthday was Thursday, but we will celebrate it on Sunday too.  Shhhhh….don’t let Paul look at this site and see his bean bag chair present!

Lest you think I am 1/2 way to saint-hood, or have extra patience, let me tell ya, my nerves were about shot by the time I got those two cakes decorated with Paul’s help!  I must have said, “Do not touch” 75 times.  When I was mixing up all the colors of icing, I let Paul stir in the big bowl of white icing.  Approximately every 2.5 minutes, I had to wipe his hands off with a wash cloth.  Once, I had to pick up the icing spreader from the floor.  Approximately every 3-5 minutes, I had to help him move his chair.  And then he said “potty” as I was decorating one of the cakes.  So, I dropped everything and got him onto the potty.  After that, I called Andrew up from the basement to get him off.

I am behind on my thankfuls.  Well, for thankful #12, I am thankful the cakes and the bean bag chair are complete and looking good at this time.

Now, I am off to scrape icing from the decorating bags (all 5 or 6 of them), get it in the refrigerator, and go to bed.  I will clean up the rest of the mess sometime before tomorrow night.

Thankful # 9  I am thankful for my senses-smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch.  Most particularly I am thankful for my sight.  I so enjoy seeing Paul and Hannah have fun and watching them grow up.  This summer while I was sick, my vision started getting blurry at a very rapid rate, and until I found out the cause (high blood sugar levels) and that it was temporary, I was so scared I was going to be blind in a week.  The thing that was on my mind the most at that time was the joy of seeing Paul and Hannah and wanting to watch them grow up.

Thankful # 10  I am thankful for the abilities and capabilities God has given me; reading music, typing, singing (I love to sing!), cooking, sewing, reading — I just can’t imagine living life without being able to do those things as naturally as breathing.  Yet, I know (and have met, poor folks!) people who lack one or more of these abilities, or else they dislike doing it (cooking, for instance).  I consider myself very blessed by God.  (1 Cor. 4:7  “For who makes you different from anyone else?  What do you have that you did not receive?”)

Thankful # 11  I am thankful that Andrew is able to work from home.  Yes, it does mean that he is “always at work”, and sometimes I miss having him “home from work”, but it has made such a difference it getting through this last year, and rather well, I think.  He was able to help out so much when Hannah was born.  He was able to work while I was in the hospital and still take care of Hannah a lot of the time.  And, even now, if something comes totally unglued, he can usually shift his hours around to make things work out (such as this morning, he dressed the kids and fed them breakfast so I could stay in bed and try to get better).  God has abundantly met our needs in this area.

O.k.  First, why it has taken so long to bring the billed post about our exciting Saturday.  Sunday afternoon I was stricken with my very infamous GI illness.  Oooooo, eewwwww, was I miserable and just lay around nauseated for hours.  Finally, after a vomiting episode around 8:30, I was no longer nauseated.  I cannot state strongly enough how much I dislike feeling nauseated (nor can I begin to count all the times I have had this terribleness in the last 10 years).  Anyway, I was on the road to recovery, but very weak.  Andrew suggested I skip my exercise program Mon. morning, and I agreed.  But, as a result, as I started to eat some jello and some rice, my blood sugars went higher than normal (I depend on my exercise program to help control that).  So, I decided I should quit eating those things.  I got very, very, very hungry by evening, and I ate some chicken and spinach.  Besides, I was feeling perfectly normal and hopping around my kitchen.  Well, oh well, this ol’ gastro-intestinal system decided it did not like those foods at all.  Hence, the misery revived and I was up and down all night long until I finally got rid of the last of that spinach and chicken between 3:30 and 4:00 this morning.  So, I was even weaker and more beneath the load today.  My mom came a little before noon and has helped out all day.  I’ve been on the couch or in bed most of the time.  Finally, this evening, I can feel some energy coming back.  I have stuck to sugar-free clear liquids and sugar-free jello today.  O.k., all that is to explain why this post is tardy.

Friday evening (this last Friday), Steven, Sam, & Emily came over to spend the night and Saturday with us.  We had been looking forward to it for a while.  We blew up some air mattresses for Steven & Sam to sleep on in the living room.  I had made some bear rolls (rolls shaped like bears), chocolate syrup (Andrew’s suggestion), and gotten corn dogs (another of Andrew’s suggestions) from Wal-Mart.  I also had peach pie and pumpkin pie leftover (on purpose) from the company we had on Thursday evening to help make the event special for our nephews and Emily.  Andrew and I agree we have really raised the bar on Steven’s & Sam’s expectations of us.  Even before this, once when I showed up empty-handed at their house, they couldn’t believe it.  Steven or Sam (I can’t remember which) suggested to me that next time I should bring a pie.

Andrew reading a bedtime Bible story.

L to R: Emily, Steven, Andrew, Hannah, Sam & Paul

Also, Andrew had the fantastic idea of getting Paul a tractor — a tractor to ride that goes! — for his birthday.

Andrew assembling the tractor in our basement.

Paul’s birthday isn’t until the 16th, but since all these little people were going to be here all day on the 8th, Andrew really wanted to give it to Paul early so everyone could enjoy it on the 8th.  I was reluctant about the whole thing, spending that much money on a birthday present (Andrew admitted he wanted to get it for Paul because it was something he would have wanted), and giving the present early.  But, Andrew has to have fun with Paul too, so we agreed to give him the tractor early.  Friday night, after everyone was asleep, Andrew brought in the tractor and wagon from the shed and put it in Paul’s bedroom.  We covered it with a big blue blanket so he wouldn’t see it if he happened to wake up during the night.  Then, in the morning, just as Paul was waking up, Andrew went in Paul’s room with the video camera and captured Paul discovering his new tractor.  Boy, was he ever excited!  (Even as I type, Paul is pushing the green tractor around the office room.)

Paul sitting on his new tractor for the first time.

Well, now onto the rest of Saturday.  We had fresh waffles and baked apples for breakfast.  (I had put together the dry ingredients the night before.)  Then, it was outside to the tractor fest!

Sam giving Emily a ride.

While all this was going on, Andrew was finishing the last gate in our fence.

Emily really loved Hannah (they all did, in fact).  She would sit next to Hannah and rub her hair, as if she were a really wonderful baby doll!

Steven also enjoyed raking up a pile of leaves.

Emily really enjoyed sitting on the “big potty” while Paul sat on the “little potty”.  She looked as if she was a queen and Paul was her subject.  Paul was oblivious to that whole ranking, but it was quite significant to Emily!

We had a great time.  Andrew topped off the evening and time with a “dinner movie”.  He showed Milo & Otis on the computer at the supper table.  I think they all enjoyed it.  Poor Sam, after all the supper food, he wanted a chocolate ice cream cone, but we didn’t get one for him.  I thought chicken pot-pie, bear roll, corn, and pumpkin pie were enough for supper.

Today, I am thankful for this beautiful fall weather.  I think fall may be my favorite season.  We had two of our nephews and our one niece with us today, and it was a gorgeous day for them to play outside with Paul and Hannah.  I enjoyed sitting outside in the grass and reading books to them.

I have a lot of exciting pictures to post from today, plus a few explanations, but I am pretty tired.  So…just a sneak preview until (hopefully) tomorrow.