Thankful

Thank you friends, for your kind words and prayers. We appreciate it so very much. Knowing that family and friends care and will pray is the best!

Have a wonderful holiday with your families.

Sad News, Prayers Please

We received word on Friday evening that my husband's Dad passed away. This came as a complete shock, and was so very unexpected. This is the kind of news that you never want to receive, ever.

My father-in-law was having coffee with a friend and he just collapsed, with a heart attack. The paramedics could not revive him.

Friday night was just surreal. Phone calls in, phone calls out, constantly. After about 5 hours, things settled down a bit.

Stunned, we were just stunned. No other way to describe it.

Alan has traveled to be with his siblings. They have so much to do and plan. Alan's stepmom lives in a nursing home, due to a past acute illness. So it is up to Alan and his siblings to do the funeral planning, go through much personal and business paperwork and try to figure things out. Prayers are needed in this area. So much is unclear at this time, in the area of sorting through paperwork, and where to find this or that.

The kids and I will travel soon to be with family for the funeral.

We ask for prayers for now and in the coming days for the family. Each day it becomes a little more real. I know there will be tough times ahead, and I'm sure we will not feel or know the entire scope of what we will experience for some time.

Thank you so much.

Good News, Bad News

Well, the Good News is that my symptoms aren't just because of my age. That's a good thing!

The Bad News is that I do in fact have the flu, along with Bryan. Not so fun at all. This too shall pass, and I hope it does so quickly.

As we sat under our blankets last night, watching Survivor, I was thinking about what a sight we were. I thought it would be a funny picture for the blog, but didn't have the courage to tell Alan I thought a picture would be fun. That's just a weird idea anyway, isn't it?? If you are a blogger though, maybe you understand. It's all about the photos and blog post ideas. :)

Anyway, I had no makeup on and that's not good.

I've been wondering which kind of flu it is. Bryan told me that he now has some "bathroom

symptoms". Sounds like swine flu to me.

Jadyn has told me 2 or 3 times that she is so, so, so, so sorry I'm sick. That kind of makes me feel better. (mentally anyway)

What to do today, what to do? At home... sick, with 2 kids. Help me! :)

I spent some time looking at around on the LOL Cats site this morning. Along with the cat photo above, I also found this one...

It made me laugh, and that's great right now. :)

The Flu Is Here

Well, I just knew I was probably doing a dangerous thing when I posted about how much hand sanitizer we use.

I seriously thought, "Yeah, I'm probably jinxing this whole thing and now we'll get sick."

When Bryan woke up yesterday morning, he was very sick. No school for him. I suspect it's the

flu. Poor guy, he's been so sick. It's pretty bad when sweatpants, hoodie, and 3 blankets aren't enough to make him feel warm.

Honestly, I don't feel normal in my body right now. I noticed that it hurt to swallow my food at lunch and I'm starting to feel sort of stiff and ever so slightly sore. It seems more of an effort to

climb the stairs. ....or, maybe I'm just getting OLD.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Someone from Bryan's school office said that they have a LOT of kids out right now with the flu. Two of his girl friends are out too, and they all came down with symptoms at almost exactly the same time. I wonder who the guilty party is? Ha.

Yesterday we shopped at Target for a few minutes. Jadyn asked me to take a picture of her on the big red ball. Cute!

Yesterday, Jadyn decided to make a "club" behind the chair. She asked her dad to come join. Gotta love it.

Paranoia and Pictures

Goodness, I almost can't believe it's been over a week since I've posted anything. So what's up with us? Much of the usual. We've done a little of this and a lot of that.

We've been well and that's great. I'd like us to stay that way, but I'm sure our turn with illness may come. Yesterday I did some shopping and errands while Jadyn was at preschool. I realized after the last store (I'd picked up Jadyn by then) that I'd put hand sanitizer on myself and/or my child about 4 times in the space of a little over 3 hours. Just call me paranoid.

Last Wednesday during the parent-child portion of Jadyn's class, we did activities requiring parents and children to hold hands. I had to hold hands with other parents and children. I was thinking, "Oh great, I'm probably going to get their germs." I did manage to enjoy myself very much during the activities though. At one point we played a game which was a mini-war between the parents and kids, throwing about 100 soft pompom balls back and forth. So fun!

When class was over, I of course, needed hand sanitizer. Dear heavens, what is wrong with me? I never used to be this way. Am I becoming Howard Hughes, or am I a product of our germaphobic society? I really do exhibit this behavior only during cold and flu season. :)

My kids would tell you that also I have a love affair with wet wipes. I love the individually packaged ones. This is not necessarily about germs, but about clean hands and faces. Really!

On a totally different note - Jadyn and I met some new friends last week on Tuesday and then we had playgroup families over on Friday evening. It was a lot of fun, and surprisingly I have no photos of those events.

I went to the Ladies Craft Night event at our church on Friday night. We have these once per month. I enjoy going, and visiting with the other ladies. Our daughter, Lauryn attends also, and

it's always fun to visit while we do our scrapbooking. Here's a picture of us.

Here's a fun picture of Jadyn in the tub. She put her feet up and I had my phone handy so I snapped a pic. I thought it would be fun to have just her head and feet in the photo.

Here is my little cookie tucked into the shelf at the store. I was on the phone, and she decided to take a little break. I remember sitting on the shelves at the store when I was a kid too, only my mom didn't have a cell phone to snap pictures. :)

Friends Are Flowers in Life's Garden

Plant a seed of friendship; reap a bouquet of happiness. -- Lois L. Kaufman

To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of differences or thoughts expressed - that can make life a garden. -- Goethe

Jadyn and I potted some plants yesterday. Some were needing a bit more space to grow. I planted, and she watched. She was dying to get her hands in the dirt, but maybe we will wait for a warmer day when we are planting things outdoors. I think it would be a bit better for her to dig outside, not inside. :)

Today we spent time with some of our playgroup friends. We were a small group today, just 4 moms, 1 grandmother and 6 children. We had a great visit, and I left there today with my heart just full of joy and thanks. What a huge blessing to be with these friends with whom I have so much in common. We shared much, we laughed much, and a couple of us almost cried, when sharing about some tough experiences.

Friends in life can come and go. Some are only for a season, some are for a lifetime. Oh what a blessing that our Lord planned for us to have friends on life's journey. I appreciate all of you as well. Have a wonderful weekend!

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun. -- Charles Swindoll

Our Halloween Weekend

We had a great weekend. On Friday morning, we joined our playgroup friends at someone's home for a little Halloween gathering. It was a small group this year, but we had a good time visiting. The children had tons of fun as usual.

Jadyn with playgroup friends.

Our Friday night was pretty quiet. Alan was out of town on business and didn't return until Saturday.

On Saturday morning, we joined our small fellowship group from church for a project. We raked leaves for an older friend who attends our church. It was a chilly morning out, but we had a good time. Many hands make light work, and we had it all done in no time. She invited us in for coffee, hot cocoa, muffins, etc. Yum! What a great way to warm up.

On Saturday evening, we carved a pumpkin with Jadyn.

Lauryn and Aaron came over for dinner. We played a game and also took turns handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. We each had our share of Halloween candy too. :)

Lauryn and I took Jadyn out trick-or-treating for a bit. We really only did about 1 block of homes and she was done.

When we started out, Jadyn wanted to hold Lauryn's hand for the walk. At about the 3rd or 4th house we went to, there were a couple of motion-activated things on the porch. It was 1 small skeleton and a skull and creepy music. That was enough to make Jadyn pretty nervous. After that, she wanted to hold my hand. I thought it was kind of funny that she thought I could keep her safer than Lauryn. I told her that her sister is almost as big as her mom. LOL. She wasn't even brave enough to ring the doorbells after that. Oh well. All in all we had a good time and she brought home plenty of loot for one little girl.