Recouperation from the weekend

It wasnt all that busy. We did some extreme rummage saling in the snow and cold on Saturday. It actually was kinda fun although very chilly for end of april weather. Found some good deals and enjoyed the bargain hunting.

It just seems mondays, I find myself extremely exhausted. Maybe its just getting into the swing of the week, not really sure though. Didnt help that I really didnt fell well all of today.

Its Andrews long day today. He starts another graduate class this evening but this one is on campus. And it seems much easier given that its only one class at a time! Its on organizational communication, and communication is one of andrews strengths, so all in all not too bad for him.

Josiah has a track meet tonite. He was supposed to call me with where it was at, but never did. So I wont get to cheer him on in person. Bummer.

Andrews interview at the bank, got pushed back til wednesday. He looked really sharp this morning. It orginally was scheduled for today. The other interview for another job more locally will take place friday morning.

Our 15th wedding anniversary is this week. Im hoping to do some farming out of the kids this weekend so we can have some time together. I imagine we might just sleep lol!

God is good ... all the time
MJ

Random update

Havent felt much like blogging lately, although the topics come fast and furious to write about.

Our new washer arrived Wednesday and I am so enjoying doing laundry again. We decided on an LG Tromm front loader washer, middle of the line model(so no bright colors or steam options). It is a 4.0 cubic foot washer. Our other front loader was pretty big but it doesnt compare to this one. Previously id end up with a fairly full basket, now im ending up with a basket and a half. It really is a distinct difference in how much i can get in there. Im enjoying the features as well. One particular helpful one is the load sensing feature. It tumbles a load a few times to determine the weight and then give you the size of the load so you can adjust your detergent accordingly. It has little chimes when you turn it on and actually a little tune for the end buzzer sound. I totally love it!

Im really thankful to my friends who helped me out by either taking laundry or letting me do laundry at their house. It really helped out a lot! We ended up only having to make one trip to the laundromat since so many friends helped out. Im really excited too that Im finally feelling like im getting caught up-- woohoo -- thats pretty huge for a family of 11!

I have a spring cold today which definitely puts a damper on my energy. Overall dont feel really great either with headache and sore throat, but this too shall pass. I planned a low key day today with the kids watching movies and me doing laundry. So i could rest a bit in between at least. Andrew is bringing home pizza for dinner, so thats a blessing as well!

Looking forward to the weekend, no huge plans, so mostly just hanging out with hubby and the kids! One of these days, maybe saturday even, i reallly need to tackle my bedroom and dig out the mess.

While Ive been doing laundry I have been pulling out winter clothes(not all of them of course this is minnesota) and then putting them away in their respective tubs. I already pulled out most of the summer stuff. We are shy on a bunch but we will hit rummage sales to fill in the gaps. I also started more of rummage sale piles, as im not keeping everything. That feels good to pare down as well.

Its been raining all day, so I guess it was a good movie day. Andrew has worship practice tonite and the two girls have dance but i am trying to motivate the rest to finish chores by offering wii turns tonite!

Well thats all for now folks, God is good ... all the time

MJ

Productive Day

I got a bunch of laundry folded that had gotten down this week and it was put away as well.

Then some ladies that are helping me organize and whatnot came over. We attacked the storage room and the clothing tubs. Its now organized neatly by size and tidied up quite nice.

I am pretty beat though but its a good tired I guess.

Made some yummy lasagna with salad for supper. And helped the kids with homework, negotiated some phone calls, ran a couple of errands and just hung out with the kiddos.

Andrew is finishing up his grad papers, that will be a great relief when thats done.

God is good ... all the time

MJ

Out of sorts

Sort of like our weather today. Its sunny and warm and beautiful out but with a harsh wicked wind. The kind that rips doors right out of your hands. I should be in a good mood and whatnot but I just feel out of sorts like the wind that comes in from nowhere.

Andrew will be late tonite due to a stop at the downtown libary and supper is cooking in the oven. My motivation seems to have been lost by the wayside never to be found again. Dishes pile in the sink, laundry waits to be folded and the kids chatter endlessly.

I did get an appt in this mornign as well as a walmart trip with the 3 littles in tow. So its not like the day didnt hold some accomplishments. It just doesnt feel anywhere near as productive as yesterday was.

Oh well ... there is always tomorrow lol!

MJ

Blessings

I have felt very blessed to have the house we have. I enjoyed our family room a lot and really loved all the space we have had. We previously had some used furniture downstairs but it was very comfortable and we enjoyed using the space. We were content with replacing furniture as we came across bargains at rummage sales etc.

I never would have envisioned it as it looks today. We are indeed mightly blessed. I feel so blessed that God has allowed us to get some new furniture and to decorate this room. It looks night and day difference from before and IM just amazed at how much I really do like it.

Now that being said, I can say without a shadow of doubt, that I would not "choose" the sewer backup in our basement, not even to get all the new things we have. I see the blessing thru the struggle in this.

Andrew spent a good portion of his day yesterday putting the boys room back together. He was out in the garage at 730 am cutting trim even before church! We even had to make another run into menards to get some boards for Zechariahs bed. Their room looks great! Andrew did a great job on the trim and I love the beds we found for the boys off of craigs list.

Our washer died this week and its another reminder to be thankful for what we have. Somtimes it takes a trip to the laundromat to "remember" how blessed I was to have a washer at home. We are trying to nail down which front loader we are buying. We have already repaired the one we have a month ago, so we have decided its not worth investing another 300+ dollars into it. I may be coming to visit some of you with a load of laundry in tow :)

We also finally settled on which bookcases to purchase and Andrew even got one of those up last night as well. Very productive weekend and Im so thankful to have our basment back again. Still have boxes to go thru and unpack, a dresser to buy, a bedframe for k to track down and some detail work like curtains and a doorknob to put on. Im so thankful for a husband who has worked really hard this weekend to get it all together for us.

God is good ... all the time
MJ

Triple Expresso was a hoot!

I totally loved the show! I havent laughed that hard in a long time!! So hard that i had to wipe tears away from my eyes more than once!!! I would highly recommend going if you can sneak away before they close in the next few weeks. Or if it comes to your city, even with different actors, its well worth the cost of tickets.Andrew got us front row seats and it was a small intimate theatre. I very much enjoyed that.

It really was a nice night despite the nasty weather we had to drive thru. It was rainy, sleety, snowy and a tense drive home. But the date itself was fabulous. We ate out at applebees and the steak was divine. We even had time to browse the mall before heading over to the theatre for the show. The find of the night was a tv stand strong enough to hold our tv. We have been looking for over a month, so Im glad thats out of the way.

Its been a long while, I think since we have had a date, so that was a great treat! It may have been close to a year since we've been out. I cant really think of when cept our anniversary last year when we went out to see spiderman 2.

We even got mochas to drink during the show and they were really tasty. We bought coffee mugs to commerate the evening. I will remember the laughter for a long time! It was the orginal actors and authors as well, so that was neat to get to see the orginal cast in action.

God is good ... all the time
MJ

Lots of stuff lol

Gideons birthday was interupted due to a jumping session from Ezekiel. He decided that jumping off the back half of the couch was a good plan and it ended badly. Badly in terms of landing right on top of his head and earning himself a concussion. Thankfully hes okay now but we ended up running to ER cause he wasnt acting like himself at all, lethargic, crying in pain and throwing up. Scary stuff ... supposedly hes supposed to take it easy for the next two weeks... hmmm yeah keeping a 4 yr old lying low, yeah right.

I find it sorta ironic as Gideon went to the hospital on Ezekiels birthday, so now Ezekiel went to the hospital on Gideons. A bit of revenge perhaps? Not likely but still sorta funny in a weird way.

Its official, i took the official doctors test lol. We are expecting number 10 in november. Not exactly in our plans but God does have a sense of humor. I think this is the last one for me. Feeling really really exhausted and of course all day sickies have their places in my world right now. So Im hoping that will ease here in another 4 weeks or so. So on to the fun part of naming. I love picking out baby names, its one of the fun parts of being pregnant.

Right now, which is always subject to change without further notice, Im liking Tobias Daniel for a boy and for a girl, something with Audrey as the middle. Perhaps Gabrielle Audrey or Marika Audrey. Not settled at all on the girls. I really like the boys one though.

Carpet is in-- woohoo! Furniture for the family room will be delivered friday and we hope to put the kids bedrooms back together this weekend. The end is in sight. I plan to go thru all the boxes as we put things back together and really try to decide to keep only what we are using. So i will likely take my time putting the rooms fully back together. The goal though is to have the kids back in their rooms, even if we dont have all the dressers yet, by monday.

Andrew is nearly done with this doubled up graduate classes. Down to the two final papers and then a 2 week break! Then he will take one on campus, but one seems like a piece of cake compared to the two!

Still waiting for the surgeon to call to schedule Gideons hernia surgery. I suspect I will have to be a bug in their side to get it scheduled.

Well thats all for now folks,
God is good ... all the time, he puts this song of praise in this heart of mine!
MJ

Happy 1st Birthday Gideon~

My mighty warrior is 1 today. Its been a long year from being in the NICU at birth, to being hospitalized for pneumonia to his many challenges. Today he is doing well, crawling, pulling up to standing, making messes everywhere lol.

Gideon has a fondness for finding the dog food in the kitchen and for pulling down everything within his reach. He is getting more and more independent by the day. Eating mostly table food. Today he got to try hot dogs and mac and cheese, he loved that!

We will have a little family celebration tonite. He will open his presents when Andrew gets home and we will have our family cake, black magic!

My baby boy is officially growing up!

God is good ... all the time

MJ

Nice but a long day

Beautiful weather today, close to 60, a little windy and cloudy but really nice.

The kids and I even walked to school to pick Ariana up for her dentist appt and then to the dentist. Thankfully there were toys there. The appt took an hour and half and Gideon was so beat that he fell asleep in the stroller on teh way home. He even slept for an hour and a half!

Its just been a long drug out day. Things are not quite right around here and i can feel the stress. Thankfully its friday. Its womens night tonite but i havent even touched base with andrew on it, so I dont know that I will go.

Plus I promised Zechariah his celebration for reaching his 300 point milestone. Hes actually 313.8 in reading. They read a book and take a test on it and get so many points per book. Hes the highest in all the school! Pretty darn impressive. He chose chocolate ice cream with gummy bears and strawberry syrup(yeah i know ick). I bought vanilla for myself, i couldnt stomach the thought of that combo. Andrew is off at a late day medical appt, so i guess ill toucch base with him after.

God is good ... all the time
MJ

Triplicate

Gideon, indeed does have a double ingroinal hernia as well as his umbilical hernia. So he will have surgery on all 3. Due to his medical history and kt syndrome, the surgeon is recommending we have the surgery done at downtown childrens in minneapolis. That way we are there already if he needs to stay overnite.

Generally its an outpatient surgery and the doc doesnt expect any issues but is just doing it as a precaution. The scheduler will be calling tommorrow to set up a time in the next week or two.

Im a little nervous thinking bout my little guy going under anethesia. But hes already made it thru that with an mri, so this hopefully this will just be a piece of cake.

God is good all the time

MJ

Thankful

Lately there has been a number of stories in the news that make me thankful. Im thankful we are not living in the cities anymore. As I read the story of the 14 yr old that was almost abducted in St Paul;I cannot but help thinkof my own 14 yr old daughter. It just hits a little close to home for me and I am thankful God has allowed to move to a mostly safe little town.

Every town has crime but the leval of crime is greatly reduced compared to st pauls crime rate.

Gidoen has an appt with the surgoen today. Hopefully we can find out when he can get his hernias fixed. Although I must admit Im not looking forward to having my little baby guy put under for the surgery. Nathaniel had it done as a baby and i remember being an absolute mess even knowing it was a common surgery.

Gideon is such a delight to watch these days as he explores his world. He loves pulling up to standing and then pulling down whatever he can reach, just to throw it to the floor. Hes been making more vowel sounds too which is encouraging. His eating has taken off as well, he eats so much at suppertime, that his belly is bloated. Its rather funny looking and makes you wonder where he puts it all.

Josiah has his first track meet tonite. I hope he does well, I think hes running the 1 mile event, not sure if he is running any others at this point. They only started practice last Tuesday, talk bout not much prep time.

Only a week and half left of double up grad classes for andrew! I think he will start an on campus course later this month but that seems like a piece of cake compared to the two online ones at once. The end is in sight! I think he only has maybe 7 classes left, maybe even a little less than that.

Everyone is fairly healthy right now, although Josiah still has a cough and his voice is rough.
Thats all for now folks!
MJ