The time is coming...

Miles surgery is coming up pretty quickly. In a week and a half I'll be in Ft. Worth with him for about five days. I'm trying to get a schedule ready for the rest of my crew for when I'm gone. I was kind of impressed with it so I thought I would share it.
Hey, if you see a blank you want to fill then let me know. Also, you have a sweet idea that you want to do for the kids while I'm away that would be awesome too. More than anything I ask that you pray for us! This surgery is a pretty big deal for Miles. Also, it's a big deal for my other kids for me to be gone this long. I'll probably give more details about the upcoming surgery soon.


TUESDAY May 6:
Randy and I will drop of the kids at school then leave for Ft. Worth at 9:00. Pre-op appointment at 12:00.
Shirley will pick up Melody and keep her.
Aaron will pick kids up from school and drop them off at my house. Phone # here.
Shirley will watch the kids until Mom comes and gets them after 5:00 when she gets off.

WEDNESDAY May 7:
Miles will have his surgery. We have to be there at 5:30 A.M.
Mom will drop kids off at school.
Amy Yates will pick up Melody from school and keep her until ____. Phone # here.
Aaron will pick kids up from school and drop them off at my house.
Shirley will watch the kids until Mom comes and gets them after 5:00 when she gets off.
Randy will come home sometime this evening when we’re settled at the hospital.

THURSDAY May 8:
Shirley will pick up Melody and keep her.
Aaron will pick kids up from school and drop them off at my house.
Shirley will watch the kids until Randy comes home.
Pam Park bringing dinner about 6:00. Phone # here.

FRIDAY May 9:
Shirley will pick up Melody and keep her.
Aaron will pick kids up from school and drop them off at my house.
Shirley will watch the kids until Randy comes home.
_________ bring dinner about 6:00.

We will need someone to watch the four kids while Randy picks us up from the hospital either Saturday or Sunday.
__________ will watch the kids.


Still need to arrange:

I would like to ask Amy or Krissy or Joanne to pick up Melody one of the days so Shirley would only have the four for a couple of hours one day.


Maybe someone could watch the kids from 3 until Randy gets off one day to give Shirley a break.

Tell Cornerstone who will be picking up the kids.

Find someone to bring Randy dinner on Friday night.

Princess Jocelyn Jocie Girl...That's What We Call Her.

Jocie wanted me to fix her hair in buns this morning. We used to call them Princess Leia Buns.




But, she's grown up a little I guess. Now she calls them Padme Buns.


Padme is from the last three episodes that were made, which is really the first three episodes...but no sense going into all that. Padme actually was a queen, not just a Princess like Leia. Also, Padme was submissive to her husband. Granted he ended up being Darth Vader, but that's not who she fell in love with. She was fruitful and had twins (Luke & Leia). We all know the good that came with that.

SO, I can see Jocie's point on moving from Princess Leia to Queen Amadala/Padme.

Here are a few of my favorite things:

Hanging out with girlfriends and talking a lot about nothing and everything.

Alone time with Randy!

Eating at a nice restaurant with my whole family. Tonight we all ate at the Olive Garden. We’ve never taken the whole gang there before. It’s neat to hear what everyone has to say. For Example: We were talking about our upcoming vacation this summer to the beach. Joey told us that the thing he’s looking forward to most is peeing in the ocean. I had no idea that was up there on the list!

I love any kind of spa treatment where I get to lay down in a dark room with soothing music and someone is messing with me! Ahhh.

I love when I go to pick up the kids from school and all the teachers and a lot of the parents want to talk to me.

I love shopping for clothes all by myself.

I love picking up Miles and hugging him for a long time before I put him in his wheelchair.

I enjoy the afternoons when Melody and I decide to watch a movie together on my bed with lots of covers before I pick up all the other kids from school.

I love the way new clothes feel before they’ve been washed.

It makes me so happy when you know you run into a person for a reason and you’re used to encourage someone.

One of my very favorite things is gifts and surprises. Big and small I just can’t seem to get enough of them! They make me so happy.

I love when I take perfect pictures of my kids.

I like when I leave the kids school after I’ve worked a long time and know that I’ve done a lot of work and that I was a good helper.

One of my very favorite things is when I’ve written a perfect piece and I surprise myself with the finished product.

I love when I feel popular.

I like when I have a shirt that my boobs look good in.

I love getting mail and packages.

Oh, I really love shopping online.

I love cooking with my iPod. It totally takes the edge off. I like dancing around and singing really loud as I’m cooking. (My secret fear is that Randy will catch me singing really off key and record me with the camcorder when I’m not looking.)

I really enjoy going to the library with the kids. Hey, did you know that they have about a million books there that you can take home for free, read and then return and it’s all for free! I’m not kidding! I’ve been going there every week with the kids! It’s all free! I’m so impressed!

I love doing paper work! I don’t like doing Randy’s paper work. It has too many numbers, but I like doing Miles’ paper work. I just love filling in the blanks, writing neatly and explaining things.

My favorite kind of movies are musicals! I can’t get enough of them. We sing songs from musicals at my house just about every day. Hey, have any of you seen THE PAJAMA GAME? It’s our current fav. It has Doris Day in it.


One of my all time favorite things is writing letters of encouragement and decorating the envelopes. It just makes me happy.

There are many many other things that I enjoy, but these are a few of them.

Oops...

Last night was a PTA meeting at the kid’s school. Kids were not allowed. It began at 7 and didn’t get done until 8:30. The meeting was uneventful and it dragged out. I was one of only three parents that went.

When I got home I tossed my purse down as I was going to check on Miles, Randy asked me how the meeting was. Without thinking whatsoever I said that great inflexion, “Boring as Hell.”

Right after I said that I heard Joey giggling at what he heard.

I really don’t talk like that ever! I don’t know what came over me! I told Joey that I shouldn’t have said that. He snickered a little.

Well, today I was sitting at the table with Joey and Jocie when Joey said to me, “I can’t believe you said that last night.” I said, “I know. You didn’t tell anyone I said that did you?” His face immediately got flushed and he nodded his head slowly.

When I caught my breath I asked who in the world he told.

He said that he told his three friends while they were on the playground. I let out a sigh of relief, but I was still shocked that he told his friends that I said that!

I informed him that neither one of us should be talking like that….he already knew.

I asked him what his friends said, but evidently they weren’t as impressed with my comment as much as Joey was. Hopefully the will keep that comment to themselves!

Got the Pedicure!

Yesterday I was so blessed!
Cherith called me Wednesday and asked if I was free Thursday morning to go with her to get a pedicure...her treat. It was so unexpected! I was thrilled. She already had an appointment with Megan Cheek and she just added my name to the list.
Oh my gosh...
I've had pedicures before. I always go to the in and out places where you can't understand what anyone is saying. I'm ruined now.
Megan is incredible! Her shop is so awesome! You have to go.
I'm not sure how much she is...ask Cherith, but it's worth it! I'm sure I will find out soon enough how much she costs because I have to go back to her! She's so delightful! She does not give the "wham bam thank ya ma'm" pedicure! Megan gives you the hour and a half, sit back and relax in the candle light pedicure! By the way she is an artist on the toes!


I know my picture is a little hard to see, but my toe nails are leopard! Can you believe it? That girl has talent! So go see her! She's a joy to talk to.


Cherith and I had so much fun. We were there ALL morning! We took Justice and Miles. They were perfect. Cherith amazes me all the time. She's so generous and fun to be around. I love her! I smiled all day about the fun time we had yesterday!


GENEROUS:
characterized by a noble or forbearing spirit : magnanimous, kindly b: liberal in giving : openhanded c: marked by abundance or ample proportions

That's Cherith!

Here's what's up with me

Update on me and mine:

I still volunteer at the school on Mondays and Fridays. I still love it. I know I will be a great teacher someday. I’ve had the pleasure of watching Jocie grow in wisdom and stature, and favor with God and man. Being able to watch her in Kindergarten fulfilled a desire of my heart that I didn’t even know I had.

Speaking of teaching…I will be going back to Hardin Simmons this fall. I have a past due balance of $2500 that I need before then. I’m not having any trouble believing that the Lord is going to take care of that minor detail! SCHOOL PAID OFF!!!! Honestly, money isn’t the thing I’m worried about school. I’m mainly concerned if I have any brain cells left to go back to school. I’ve been out of college for three years now, and I’ve exhausted my mind during that time lapse. I need the Lord to encourage me in this area! I’m excited and nervous. I like having something exciting and nervous to look forward to.

I’ve got a new diet on the horizon. I’ll have to give details later. Jennifer, don’t spoil my glory.

My husband has a lot of work right now. That’s a major major blessing. The only bad thing is that he’s really backed up and people are waiting on him. He’s been having to work more than he ever has. Time together with Randy is my love language so I’m having to work hard at not being a whiny baby! The Lord is proving to be faithful to me! I’m glad that Randy is busy, and that I’m growing in maturity in the area of my time with my husband. It’s been a long time coming.

My kids are getting older. Francesca just had another baby. I think about how far away I am from that…and yet, not far enough away from that. Joey just took his first out of town trip without me. I didn’t worry about him a bit. He had a blast. Jocie’s about to graduate from Kindergarten. Miss Melody just turned five years old. She had her first friend to spend the night with her. That was fun. Spencer’s still in love with me, but also enjoys boy stuff. He keeps me laughing and screaming at him all the time.

Miles, well, God knows I love that boy, but I’ve had a rough year dealing with his sicknesses. The poor guy has been unusually sick for months. He’s been well very few days this year. Yesterday I took him to church and went to get him prayed for at the end of the service because he had a stomach bug. The only one in our family to get it by the way! And, only a day of feeling better after getting out of the hospital with pneumonia! Crazy! Anyway, I went up to get prayer for him. While Jim and Brenda was praying over him someone came behind me and said in my ear, “Expect a miracle.” My first response was, “Yes. I do expect a miracle.” Then immediately, my thoughts went to something like, “Are you kidding me? How in the world are you going to tell me to expect a miracle? Do you know how many miracles I’ve been expecting, and I’m still in this stupid prayer line? How would you like it if I went ahead and punched you in the face, break your nose and then you can expect a miracle!” You know, something like that. All afternoon I struggled with my flesh to expect a miracle. I’ll be danged if Miles wasn’t healed yesterday of that stomach bug that he had for days! Yesterday afternoon he ate for the first time in several days. He kept it down and wanted more. He’s been feeling great today and eating well. Obviously, I can’t say that my faith healed him. My humor may have impressed the Lord and he gave me a break. What ever it was, I’m thankful.

May 7th Miles is scheduled to have that baclofen pump put in. I will remind you that it’s never been placed where they want to place it, and it’s never been done on someone so small before. PRAY! I have a peace about it that I can’t explain so I’m going along with it. I say that and then I slightly freak out. It’s a pretty big deal.

I’m wondering why it is that I started out writing about me, but it mostly is about Miles. He really is a huge part of my life. He’s my full time job. The other kids go to school and I’m home with him. I do everything for him. Just as Francesca is fully responsible for her newborn baby, I’m still fully responsible for Miles care. If anything is done for him it’s done by me. I can tell the other kids to go take a shower, or to go get dressed, but I still have to do those things for Miles. And, not just regular things, but a seemingly million more things.

My writing is, well, slow going these days. I’ve got vision for my writing, but as I heard on the radio today…It’s not enough to have vision for where you’re going. You need focus as well. Focus is something I’ve been lacking. I don’t really feel discouraged about it. I just know I’ve been having to endure extreme circumstances lately. I will get back on the writing wagon soon. The Lord will see to it.

I still haven’t had a pedicure.

My mother in law is officially employed to watch Miles now for me. She’s getting paid $7 an hour when she watches him. She’s so giddy about that. It makes me really happy! Last week she watched him for 11 hours. That $77 she made!

Hey, today I wanted to have the afternoon all to my self in my clean house so I did something I’ve never done before. I took Miles grocery shopping with me. It’s Melody’s day to spend the afternoon with Shirley, and yesterday she asked me if I wanted her to keep Miles too so I could go to the store. Well, I decided to go this morning so I could just have a quiet home for awhile. That never happens! I wasn’t sure exactly how it would all work, but where there’s a will there’s a way! I pushed Miles and pulled the cart at Wal-Mart. I got a lot of attention which I liked. I pushed and pulled all the way through the store! I bought a mountain of groceries! As I dumped all the food on the grocery belt I told the checker that it all HAD to go into one cart! She was really sweet! She ended up calling someone to take my groceries out. I was trying to protest and she said, “You can’t carry these groceries and the baby out to your car. I’ll get you some help.” I thought: How do you think I got all these groceries to your line? Anyway, I was thankful for the help. My arm that I was pulling with was starting to hurt anyway.

I miss my girlfriends! I’ve missed a lot of things lately. I’m not sure when that will change, but I hope soon.

Well, I guess that’s all I can think of right now. Let me know that you haven’t forgotten me!

Our feet need help

Miles needs his feet to have better color and for the swelling to go down.

I need a pedicure!

Money Money Money

In the last week Randy and I’ve had 12,502 reasons to Praise the Lord!

Last Friday we got a call from the kid’s principal telling us that someone came by the school and anonymously paid for ALL our kid’s tuition for 2 months!!! That is $1,500 worth of school!!!!!!!

We were given a hot tub by someone that Randy is working for. The guy said that someone was wrong on the hot tub and asked Randy if he wanted it. Randy took it home, started working on it and figured out the problem was the pump. It will only cost $300 to get a new pump!

Then one day last week we got a “check in the mail” for $500 because we overpaid on our mortgage last year.


Thursday Randy got a call to meet Brandon at the church because he had a surprise for him. He told Randy that someone dropped off something for him but didn’t want to make themselves known. It was a check for TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!! Let me say that again….TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!!!!

And Miles is feeling absolutely fantastic! He’s as happy as he gets! He got to come home from the hospital!

Hospital Bath

When Miles is in the hospital I still do a lot for him. The nurses don’t know how best to feed him, pick him up and really what to do for him. They ask me lots of questions about Miles the entire time we’re at the hospital. I don’t mind it. I don’t know any different. I’m the one that gives him all his medications, except for the ones that go in the IV. I’m the one that gives him a bath. I brush his teeth and hair. I’m usually the one to change his diapers. If he needs to be suctioned then I just turn on the machine and do it. If I had to call the nurse every time he had to be suctioned then I’m be waiting on a nurse all day.
Well, for the last two days there have been students on the floor that only have a year left before they graduate as an RN. The same two students have been working with Miles. One is a male and one is a female. The male is the main student assigned to Miles. He’s been the fortunate soul that gets to do all the dirty jobs to “help with his training.” He’s been the one giving Miles enemas, taking out the catheter and changing the poopy diapers after the enema.
Well, I happened to mention while him and his teacher was in the room that I was about to give Miles a bath. His teacher said, “Oh, Anthony will do that.” I told her that I usually do that and that I didn’t mind. His teacher said, “Oh no, let Anthony.” Anthony being the very kind student he is said, “Yes, please allow me. That is unless you prefer me not to.” I figured if the poor guy could do an enema then he could give Miles a bath.
Anthony went to gather supplies and he brought his girl helper along with him. I sat back and observed. Usually when I do it I’m given a pink bucket, some rags, a trial size bottle of Johnson and Johnson’s baby wash and a tiny bottle of lotion. Well, Anthony had the hook up. He brought in the economy size of J&J’s body wash and the equally large size of lotion. They were brand new bottles. He got the pink tub about a third of the way full then tried to open the body wash. It was new so it had the protective seal still on it. He worked and worked and he could not get the little plastic protective label off. I tried not to giggle. He was really man handling the bottle, but to no avail. Without a word about his trouble he ended up unscrewing the bottle with the protective seal still on it. He opened it up and pulled out the pump. As he’s waving the pump around and dripping soap every where he tells me quietly, “I didn’t feel like messing with the plastic.” I didn’t reply. I was afraid I would crack up. His lovely assistant was oblivious to it all. She was busy playing with Miles.
Well, Anthony began to pour soap in the bath. I guess the steady flow of soap wasn’t good enough for him because he began to shake and jerk the bottle so more soap would come out. He was shaking the soap like it was a Ketchep bottle. More and more soap went into the three cups of water. I just stared and began writing this post in my head. More and more soap. As I watched him pour about a cup of soap into three cups of water I knew I would be rewashing Miles hair as soon as they left. There was no way that he was going to be able to get all that soap out of Miles’ thick hair.
When he was satisfied with his three to one ratio he began to wash Miles with the rag. He did a fine job. He was very detailed. So detailed in fact that this sponge bath lasted about 50 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. It went on and on. Nothing freaky was going on. I’m not implying that in any way. The guy was just set on doing a good job. Indeed if Miles had been inspected by the professor after the sponge bath there would not have been any dirt he missed.
After the bath Anthony was generous with the lotion. He spared no expense.
The kid smells great.
Right before the lotion began I got a call on the hospital phone. That was the first time the hospital phone had rang. Everyone else has called my cell phone. Well, I answer the phone and it’s Kathy Hawk. I only tell you who it was because you know her. She was saying the sweetest things and I was having hard time not divulging too much information when the students were in the room. She was saying some pretty personal things, and I was having a hard time responding. I couldn’t tell her that I would call her back because she’s so busy that if you get her on the phone then you just need to take advantage of it then.
So, I was trying to keep my composer while talking on the phone while Anthony began trying to put on the clean sheets. Towards the end of the conversation I began to wonder why he was still trying to make the bed. It was taking forever. When I got off the phone I saw that the girl student was holding Miles in a sitting position in the bed while Anthony was trying to work around her and Miles. He was getting no where. Somehow they were trying to strip the bed and make the bed all without moving Miles’ bottom off the bed. Anthony would get one side done and the other would pop off. He was slightly out of breath at this point. He had been hard at work for over an hour. Miles is totally exhausted at this point. The girl has him sitting up, and Miles is snoring he’s so tired. She’s hunched over the bed trying to hold Miles up while Anthony was reaching over her, beside her and underneath her while he wrestled the sheets and all the wires.
I said, “Uh, why don’t I hold him while you get done?”
“No, that’s okay. Don’t worry about it.”
I look at them huffing and puffing and I say to the girl, “I’ll pick him up, you manage the wires, and then you (Anthony) can finish making the bed.”
We got that all going and Anthony says, “Man, that’s better.” He rapidly finished the bed.
While I was holding Miles he gave me a slight grin. I think he was letting me know that he thought the whole thing was silly too.
Ya know…I haven’t seen Anthony in a while. I wonder what lovely tasks he’s been up to.