First School "Casualty" of The Year

Well, maybe that's a harsh title ... but little Nathan's tummy was not feeling too well last night, so I most likely will be keeping him home from school this morning. This from a mom that used to count ounces in ... and ounces out with the little guy. So I'm taking no chances that sending him will mean having to pick him up early wearing soiled clothes. Poor little man ... whenever I have the slightest suspicion about his GI health, I err on the side of caution and give him lots of TLC. He's the kind of kid that begs for food with a tummy ache! Prayers are appreciated.

My "Honey-Do" List Just Shrank!

Dh just left this morning. After getting up at 6:30 AM ... feeding and directing kids to school, dropping off the "new baby" for a thorough check-up, driving up to the property to meet with the builder, then driving to and from the airport ... I then met with a siding/roofing guy at 11:30, whew ... and the day has just begun. My Honey-Do list was tackled while DH was home. We filed all the paid bills (this is normally his job ... but since he's away most of the time, the PILE had grown), finished up varnishing the new picnic table and benches, washed and cleaned the van including carpet, changed lightbulbs, took delivery of the jeep, went out to dinner three times, ordered the gas/wood stove, ordered new windows and finally got Nathan back to the lab for another blood test to check for hypothyroidism! I had his week so packed with things to do that he was probably glad to go back to work (lol). Now that he knows I don't just sit on my thumbs all day ... I'm sure he appreciates all the hard work it takes to manage all I do. I assured him the list would g.r.o.w. again to greet him on his next visit home. I'm gonna miss that man!

Hurray!

School is back in full swing. Nathan began his life skills class at school and is mainstreamed for part of his day. So far, so good! He's taking care of "business" :) all by himself with his potty skills ... a great milestone for school life! He leaves at 8:30 with door to door bus service. Each little step is a giant progress of independence for him.

This has been a busy week. DH is home and we've been running here and there to place orders and get quotes for work to be done on the new home. Today the walls for the basement and crawlspace were poured. It's a good stress this building process ... unlike the bad stress trying to sell our old home. Things are moving quickly now.

One Final Sketch

Please look at one last sketch, just for my peace of mind. I morphed my two favorite sketches into one. What do you think of sketch 4? My other favorite is sketch 3 in the previous post. Thanks for your valued opinion :)

Help

Sketch 1
Sketch 2
Sketch 3

I need some help making a decision about how the front of the new home will look. Here are three "artistic" sketches I have come up with ... Sketch 1, Sketch, 2, and Sketch 3. Please let me know which one you think looks best. In case you can't tell what's what, the front gable will have cedar shingles with a small portion of metal (maybe copper) roofing, the roof will be a composite, and the front bay area and part of porch post columns will have rock facing. Cast your vote soon .... THANKS! (click on sketches to view larger)

My Summer of Job (as in Job in the Bible)

There was a time when all was well in my rose colored world ... then I had children ... reality smacked me in the face and I woke up! My worst nightmare happened about nine summers ago. To me it was of JOB porportions. As my name changed from Mrs. Mac to JOBETTE, friends were spouting, "God won't give you more than you can handle." I wished they would take their words back ... I had heard this line too often. Their intentions were good, but they hadn't walked in my shoes. To begin with, my days were long 24/7 shifts taking care of a very ill baby that had already had six surgeries his first year of life. Then the anticipated first day of summer arrived (with a bang). My older children that had been previously home schooled (until said baby's birth) had just finished up their first year of private school. Here's a rundown of how the summer degressed:
Day 1: Oldest boy gets hit in the left eye with a water baloon and goes blind,
Day 2: Youngest son (infant) gets hospitalized for a week with intestinal problems (this means I must stay in the hospital with him (sixty miles from home).
Day 2: Oldest son must spend one week in bed at a 45 degree incline, only able to get up to use the potty (did I mention he was 15 with lots of energy and had raging hormones?)
Day 3: DH picks up a nasty flu virus while visiting baby in the hospital and freely shares it with the other children at home.
Day 5: My mom arrives to take care of my sick children at home.
Day 6: Oldest daughter sick with flu passes out on bathroom floor with door locked ... ends up in the hospital, same week she begins her first menstral period ... I was at another hospital with sick baby (poor DH and Mom).
Day 8: Dog has cancerous tumor in eye "POP" and vet removes eye.
Day 9: Gang wars break out and DH is called to work for two weeks (away from home).
Day 10: Oldest son must undergo daily checkups at eye doctor for a week.
Day 11-30: Just a blurr, but I had to put dog down.
Day 31: I woke up at 2:30 AM with symptoms of a heart attack. DH calls 911 and within four minutes, five paramedics are standing around my bed. (My only thought was how glad I was to have stayed up until midnight cleaning the house.) They ask, "Have you been under stress lately ... your vitals look normal now." "Uh, just a bit" ... seems my heart attack was really a panic attack having same symptoms.

I have made it a point to never ever tell someone that "God won't give you more than you can handle" ... I believe this to be true but someone going through a rough time doesn't always appreciate hearing that message over and over from well meaning people. Yes, we did survive. Oldest son regained his vision ... and the baby eventually got better, and I learned a lesson about fastideously cleaning the house: When your world is falling apart around you, it's OK to let the dusting and vacuuming go... hire a housekeeper! And have everyone in your circle of friends pray for you. Only with God's strength did we pull through this ordeal.

The "Comb-Over" Revisited

I don't have much to post about this morning ... but if you haven't read my post from August 25, start here ... then go to wee little comb-overs here . What a riot. Seems we (everyone but me) are not willing to broach this subject with our loved ones. I'll be back later.