Our Week

For Labor Day we drove out to Nacogdoches.  All of our decisions these days must be spear of the moment because we never know if we’ll have a nurse that shift.  A couple of my kids have never been to Bob’s house and they have been pleading and pleading to go up there.  Our nurse showed up and we had no other plans, so we went.

We sang songs and laughed as we drove up.  I love that about our family – all the music!  We stopped in the cute town of Lufkin for lunch and then drove to Bob’s.  Along the way we managed to kill at least a million love bugs on the front of our van!

We scooped up Bob and headed to Houston.  Things were much quieter on the way home, mostly the kids slept and the adults talked.  I enjoyed listening to Bob and his insights.  We feed him dinner.  He advised us on our fruit trees and then Jason and Lizzy took him up to Mama’s.  The next day Mama took him to MD Anderson to have his staples removed.  His driving restrictions have now been lifted, so we won’t see him as much.  I am just so grateful that he has done so well!

Tuesday brought sickness to our house.  Both Jessi and Joy stayed home from school.  I got to cancel therapies and the pace of the day was slower.  Music Therapy re-started for Bella though!  Happy day! She loved it!  Since Mama was with Bob  (she drove him from the farm to MD Anderson, then to his home in Nacogdoches, then here to pick up the kids, then home to the farm – can we say, exhausted?), Nathan and Mandy were here with me.  Mandy had her Art lesson with Miss Chloe here.  Jessi decided to join her.

 

Lizzy and her science experiment           Doing health outside

The van was in and out and in and out of the shop this week.  It had been refusing to start!  Becca had to call me from school to pick her up.  O’Reilly checked the battery – it was fine.  And then it died in their parking lot and wouldn’t even jump.  Fabulous!  So Jason arranged to have it towed.  The next morning, Jason stayed late so he could go in and talk to the mechanic.  The mechanic walked outside and the van started beautifully!  Ugh!  This is the second time we had brought it in and the second time that when he checked it, it started right up!  Frustrating!  In the end, it finally misbehaved at the lot and Jason ran and got the mechanic.  Finally they were able to track down the problem and get it all fixed.  Becca is a much happier girl with a more reliable means of transportation!

Poor Jason maneuvering vehicles so he could jump the van.  A fledgling Blue Jay the girls found

Wednesday Becca was so busy with Latin Club before school, Kleb volunterring after school, and TFME (Texas Future Music Educators) in the evening.  She was at school for over 12 hours!  Lizzy went to Horizons.  Sammi had Art lessons and the little girls had therapy.  And to make the day fun, I was in a horrible mood!  I think it was a combination of a terrible sinus headache and a realization that this new busy schedule was here to stay for the next 35 weeks.  Ick!  It really is a shock to go from summer to full blown school schedule.  Sad.  Oh well, I’ll live, right? :) 

That night for Young Women the girls had a Service Scavenger Hunt.  Part of the fun was having to wear crazy dollar store accessories while serving.    Bella and Alex playing with the light box.

Bella has started to kiss her brother.  This is huge!  She really doesn’t know how to kiss and has never kissed any of us.  But Alex  is different.  She adores him – she leans her face in, touches his face with hers, and makes a sound.  Adorable and too funny! 

Along with adoring him comes the desire to sit on him.  “Bella, don’t sit on your brother!”  Who thought I would ever have to say that?  :)  (excuse the feeding tube in the middle of the picture!)

Thursday Mandy had surgery on her leg.    Her surgery went well and she went home the same day!  I feel so badly for my Mom right now - running to surgeries every which way.  She needs a month off, but that’s not a possibility.  She’s an amazing woman!  Wish I could lighten her load.  Nathan spent the day with us.  He did his school work and went with Lizzy to Art Club.  Haha! He hates art and anything he thinks is girly!  But I am such a sweet and loving sister, I made him go anyway!  He had fun and created a button tree. (Which as an aside, he refused to take home.  Silly boy!)  Sammi was sick that day and spent it upstairs reading in bed (that part she loved, the being sick part, not so much).  Jessi had harp lessons.  She is learning the region music.  She has the BEST harp teacher.  Expensive, oh my goodness, but she is awesome!  Jessi started playing a few months ago and she is learning region music – love it!

OT for Alex and Bell – Alex is supported in a laundry basket.  I want this boy to sit, so we are stretching his core.

Friday Bella  and Joy were sick.  So therapies got cancelled.  It was so lovely – there weren’t a million people in and out of my house!  I had time to sit for a second.  Ah.  I read a book.  That was lovely.  The girls all had piano – they have a new time with Jessi in Middle School now.  We’ll figure that out with time.

A cool moth Lizzy found.  My sweet Joy.  Joy playing with Alex in his little room

Saturday was volleyball, Orchestra region workshop, washed the van (finally removed the million love bug carcasses from the wind shield and grill) yard work, fajitas for lunch (yum!), more yard work, we got the fall garden planted, the house picked up (I won’t say cleaned :)  ), programs made, and groceries bought.   We also stopped at Barnes and Noble.  Jason and I are trying to decide what to do for our 20th wedding anniversary – something that we can take a four year old along with us.  Sounds so romantic, huh? (That is Becca showing Alex a car book – it had wheels which he enjoyed turning.) After a no nurse night with a little girl who doesn’t think sleep is that important, Jason and I were pretty tired!   And Jason has caught the bug running around the family.  Fun times!

Love that when Joy saw we were going to work, she ran and got some gloves!  Hard to see, but as Liz and I were cleaning out the garden patch, we found this perfect sphere of water in a kale plant – love it!

My tiny little squash!                            Sammi made me a flower arrangement from the leggy zinnias we pulled out of the garden

The three littles                                    Joy and Bella being bounced by the night nurse

So fun – Becca wanted spaghetti and meatballs  which I can’t even say unless I say it with a totally fake and crazy accent to sound like Tony from Lady and Tramp. 

So while we dined on our spaghetti, heavy on the meat-a-ball-ises, we watched that segment from Lady and the Tramp. Fun.

Our weekly Alex giggle video.  A blog post wouldn’t be complete without one.