Cellu-what?

It figures...

Ryan and I will be married eleven years next week! In all that time, Ryan has rarely gotten in a lake, creek, pond, or stream with us. And if he did, it was usually just a toe or two. He doesn't especially like the water and ever since his Physical Science class his freshman year of college (when they showed pictures of all the bacteria living in water,) he has pretty much refused to go bathing with all those "nasty little man-eating dragons". This year, we all had a blast in the lake. He got in everyday with the kids and I and really enjoyed it! I was just thinking, "All right, finally, we can look forward to more of these great times together in the water.."

Yeah right! About four days after we got home from our vacation, we noticed that a spot on his knee where he had gotten a carpet burn was beginning to look infected-- red and sore. By yesterday morning, he couldn't move his leg at all and if we touched it even in the slightest he would yell out in pain. His leg was swollen to about twice its normal size (from ankle to hip) and had a red rash all over it. We loaded up the kids and "rushed" him to the emergency room in San Angelo. (We have heard awful stories about the doctors here. Most people go to San Angelo or San Antonio to the doctor!) By the time we had dropped the kids off with his mom and dad and made it to the emergency room, he was running a fever and had to be wheeled into the hospital. After a long wait they determined he had "Celluitis" (or something like that) which is basically a really bad infection. Probably staph or something like it that he came into contact with in the lake. It can be deadly. I am so thankful that God protected him from anything more serious. He is still really sore and swollen and can't walk but seems to be feeling a little better after three shots in the rump and a day of antibiotics. (I teased him and told him I was going to put a picture of him getting his shots on my blog!) We are supposed to watch it really carefully for 72 hours and if it doesn't get any better or the rash spreads more, we are to take him back in. Please pray for him!

I am sure he will never again go into any water but the bath. Darn those little man-eating dragons!

Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation! We started out at "The Ranch"-- my Mom and Dad's place in Fredericksburg. Ryan and I took our three camping- had a campfire and roasted marshmallows, stargazed, got rained out-- you know, the whole bit! Then, we met up with Ryan's parents in San Antonio and stayed at a beautiful hotel on the Riverwalk and went to Sea World. Next, we met my parents at "The Lakehouse" in Canyon Lake for a week. We love it there! It is owned by some friends of ours who generously let us have it for a week every June. It is a 5 bedroom, 3 and 2-1/2 bath home right on the lake. It is a very comfortable way to enjoy time with my parents, three siblings, and their spouses and children (technically there is only one other child besides our three; so far.....) We had a wonderful time. Here is a list of some of the things my family loves to do together:

1. play games-- normal games like "You Might Be a Redneck if..." (did I say normal?), "Cranium" and "42" or "Spades" but also this great invented game we started about three years ago called "What (fill in the blank) Could Be Used For"-- this year my sister-in-law's long arms were the topic of conversation as we had a blast coming up with all the things her long arms could be used for-- rescuing babies from burning buildings, anchoring boats, painting her toenails without bending over, etc....... Thanks Dandy for being such a great sport!
2. sing
3. swim, canoe, tube-- anything in the water!
4. cook
5. EAT!!
6. the girls yak and the guys wrestle
7. do a "guys day" and a "girls day" (can anyone say pedicures and shopping?)

I will let the pictures tell the story:

Make a Smilebox photobook

Quiet Companionship

Maya is such a wonderful little companion. She loves to help out her Daddy or I with whatever we have going on. She is so quiet and peaceful and just enjoys "being" with us! Such a joy! Here are some pictures of Maya and Ryan working on the chicken coop.




It took several hours over two days to complete it but she was right there by her Daddy's side the whole time. The other two children (and me too, I must confess) will get bored quickly and run off but not Maya, she will stick with it until the very end.

Would you say quality time was this girl's "love language" or what?

Green Eggs and Ham?

Benjamin loves to cook eggs! We have an "egg lady" here in our new town who provides us with fresh eggs every week. She generously allows the children to go out and gather their own eggs. Benjamin knows just which nest will usually have a green egg and she lets him buy his very own green egg for just 5 cents each time we get eggs! He promptly goes home, cooks, and eats his prize! This boy loves eggs! One day for lunch he had three eggs (after having a couple for breakfast) and I finally had to tell him-- no more eggs! Guess what one of his favorite books is?
Green Eggs and Ham of course!

Completion!

Here's a few quick pictures of Sarah's finished product. I was so proud of her and she was so proud of her new pillow! You can't really tell by these pictures but she hand-stitched around each of the flowers then sewed on a button before sewing the pillow top to the bottom. She did everything by hand except I helped her finish off the last few stitches and knots. She is ready to start another one! Way to go Sar-Bear!

Animal Lover?

I am not an animal lover by nature. We had a few assorted cats and dogs as kids but never really a "family pet"-- one we loved as one of the family and depended on for protection and companionship. Then, in college, I lived with three girls who had two INDOOR cats each-- enough said. I was determined that I would never have an indoor cat and couldn't imagine myself with more than one outdoor dog at a time. And then, only because Ryan loves them so much.

Well....

I am convinced God wants me to change my perspective on all this. He has hand-picked each animal we have and given them to us at a specific chosen time. I won't go into all that now, just suffice it to say, it is true and they each have their own story. Also, I see the love the children have for their animals and it brings me such joy! They will choose to play with them and see taking care of them as a joy--WOW! That is really something to me, especially considering we have so many. I never have to remind them to feed them or water them, they just love to take care of their friends. They love to include their animals in whatever game they are playing or drama they are creating. They truly are their best friends!

A few weeks ago, I was asking God to show me what our family "thing" could be. You know, some families sing together, some play baseball, some ski.... I wanted to know what common love we could share that would keep our family playing, staying and praying together even through their teenage years and beyond. Immediately our animals came to my mind! So, now I have seen firsthand how God not only hand-picked each of our animals for us, brought them to us at a specified time, put a love in our children's hearts for them, is changing my perspective on the whole affair, but also, that He has already arranged to have this "animal thing" be one of the things that draws us together as a family. Who can argue with that?! Isn't the Creator God
amazing?

Make a Smilebox slideshow