Good Friday, Happy Earth Day and 5 Year Old Well Checks

I hope you had a blessed Good Friday and remembered what the real reason of it was as well as served our earth in some way!

The boys had their 5 year well checks and immunizations yesterday. Their appointments were at 9:30am, which meant we needed to be on the road by 8:30am. My Mom would need to go with us since the men folk would be working on the lower farm and she had just started some new meds and would need someone close by incase something happened.

I also needed to drop the boys Easter eggs and the Easter cupcakes off at their school before the appointment so the boys get easily get back to the Easter party and egg hunt at 2:30pm.

So off we went, I knew that my Mom would need to wait in the waiting room since the boys would be upset after the shots and finger sticks. We got there with time to spare.

I signed us in and paid the $80 copays. Then we had to do udpates (even though we were just there last week with Mason) and then I was off with them to tinkle in the little cups. That went well and then back to the waiting room we went. Then we were called back for finger sticks. Wowzee they were not happy and neither was Mommy. I had to carry Mason back tot he waiting room and he cried for a good little while.

Finally we were called back to see the doctor. All of the typical things were done and finally Dr. H came in. Mason's coughing asmatha had flared up due to allergies and John had a sinus infection as well as a ear infection. John weighed 41 pounds and was 44 3/4 inches tall while Mason was 45 inches tall and weighed 47 pounds. We had to wait on the nurse for their two immunizations and blue forms for their schools.

Then it happened, the nurse came in and they lost it. John went first. He cried and screamed during the first stick and the second as well. Mason tried to escape out the door and I had to catch him, then John pulled the second needle out. The nurse had to restick him to finish giving the meds.

Mason screamed kicked and fought the whole time, during both injections. He just kept crying. My Mom said she heard them screaming the whole time. She seemed ok. I had promised the boys we would go to Dairy Queen for ice cream. It was barely 10:30am but hey that was okay. They both wanted vanilla cones while Mom had a club sandwich and I am grilled chicken salad.

Both to the potty and we set off for home. We had to stop and get the meds at the pharmacy. That was a $103.56, 30 minute stop. Mason was due for Singulair and a new inhaler while John needed an oral antibiotic and an antibiotic ear drop. We also needed some Tyneol and Advil for them.

I got Mom in the house and got her settled and then took the boys home. I had gotten a them a chicken finger box to bring home for their actual lunch and they polished it off. I gave them meds and then they took naps. John woke up screaming with his ear and head, once again (I had been up with him all night the night before). He was also running a 101.2 fever. I gave hima dose of Advil ( I was altenating the Advil and Tyneol for him). Cannot do that for Mason since he is allergic to Ibuprofen. I held my precious baby for a long time. He needed to stay home from the party and egg hunt and surpriseinly wanted to stay home. I went to wake Mason and found he was still tired and also wanted to stay home and finish his nap.

Around 3:30pm the nurse called back and told me to up the Tyneol/Advil rotation to every 3 hours as long as the pain was that severe and the meds were wearing off so quickly. I realized the time and quickly called my Mom to make sure she had taken her meds, thankfully she had.

By 4:30pm Mason was up and the three of us were just laying around while Mommy rubbed backs and we watched Phineas and Ferb.

Needless to say I did not get much accomplished in the house but no worries here, I was needed in other roles today. The boys finally went off to sleep between 9pm and 10pm and slept all night. Thankfully!

Have a great Saturday! Blessings!

Needing To Unload

This will be a random kind of post about many things! Imagine that! LOL

• One of the retreat windows is leaking again. A family friend is coming to take a look see tomorrow and hopefully get it fixed.


• Many doctor appointments all around. I took Mom to 3 last week and one today. Took Daddy to one last week. The boys had dental check ups last week and will have 5 year old well visits Friday. Whew!


• Daddy has cracked ribs and is not suppose to be on tractor, mower, ect. for 4-6 weeks. NOTE** he is a farmer. We'll see how long that lasts.


• Feels like not enough of time in the day here lately. I feel stretched way too thin. I feel like I am not giving my boys enough of attention. I also am praying that I tell them about Jesus enough and HIS love for them.


• Easter is fast approaching, outfits are needing ironed, baskets to be made and the the family meal to be cooked and served.


• I am way behind balancing the checkbook. Thankfully there is money there and the bills are paid.


• The diet is going well but not great.


• I so am need of a pedicure.


• I start back to work June 1. ):


• Trying to arrange childcare for my kiddos on Tuesday's and Thursday's after BIG school! My boys are NOT suppose to be this BIG!


• My heart is still broken about my Mom. So thankful she is is her with us!


• Cooking and taking care of two families/households is a BIG deal!


• I am tired almost all of the time.


• I so wish I had time to eat out with friends, read this shelf full of books, soak in the tub, take a weekend away with just John and then a vacation with my family.


• We took the boys to their first MLB Game Saturday. Go Braves!

The End! blessings!

The New Normal

We are finding a new normal around here and it is hard. As I have said before running two households is hard. Seeing my Mom in this state is hard. Thankfully my heart is not hard and may not understand but my God does!!!! We have tried to keep things as normal for the boys as we can but sometimes it is impossible. For weeks I had to be at my parents at 6am and stay until after 7am to give iv infusions, then went back at 9pm and did the same again. Instead of being at my house working on the cookbook that was due for publication in May, I had to be back at the parents at 8am to take care of Mom. That left a few minutes in between for me to see my boys, make John's lunch and see them all off for school and work. I would stay at my parents once I went back at 8am until after the 2pm infusion ran. I would get home a little after 3pm and rush to get things done and then go get the boys from school and get supper cooked for the parents and us, then take it back over. Then head back home and do bathes and reading, Bible and time with the boys. I would put them to bed at 8pm and John usually was home by then and then at 9pm back over to my parents. Thankfully that is in the past. The new normal is: Getting up at 5:30am, getting ready, do devotion, take meds, make bed, do a load of laundry unload dw and feed the fish. 6:30am boys up, fed, dressed, devotion, amke John's lunch, give boys meds 7:45am boys and John out the door for work and school, I usually make my to do list, do laundry, load any dishes in dw, empty garbages, wipe down counters, answer emails, make phone calls 8:45am head to Mom and Dad's, get Mom up, give meds, make sure she has breakfast, unload/load her dw, do laundry, clean kitchen, talk with Mom, work on memory exercises, do PT exercises, write out any bills, do any farm paper work, make any calls for them 10:30am IF Mom is stable enough to leave by herself (and Daddy or brother are nearby on farm) I run down to town (3 miles) and pick up groceries, meds, go to bank, postoffice and run errands. Then I go back by to check on Mom and if she's okay I go home. I can see Mom and Dad's house from mine. I call about every hour and make sure she is okay. All the while working on house stuff at my place. I also have a morning snack. About 12:30pm I make sure of her pain level (sometimes I have to go back to give pain meds). I make sure she has lunch. Sometimes I stay on work on housework. I usually start supper prep for all of us then. I usually have lunch about 1pm. 3pm Usually Daddy is home or around and I call him and Mom and remind them of her 3pm meds (just one pill, an antibiotic). Then I satart wrapping up around home and have any cold things for supper already made. Then I go get the boys from school. 4pm Boys home no later usually than this. Give them and I snack, talk about their day, playtime. 5pm Finish supper, take supper to parents, playtime 6pm Feed fish, feed us 7pm bathes, call and check on Mom, John arrives home between now and 8pm. Bible reading, story time. 8pm Lights out for the boys, John showers and eats. time to chill with John. 9pm Call and remind Daddy to give Mom meds and tell them goodnight. More time relax. 10:30pm Bed So that is our new normal. It will to change again before long, as I will be going back to work June 1, here on the farm and at markets. The edges are still rough but we are blessed! Praying for Mom's memory to heal and the confusion to go away. Blessings!

The Last Month

Oh my! Has it really been a whole month since I last blogged?! Things hva ebeen hectic. It seems that is the norm in my everyday life though. I try to take one day at a time and ask God for his guidance and He sees me through. I am doing okay. Still battling staph infection in the sinuses. I will see the infectious disease doctor again next month. By the time I see him, I will have been on this regime of antibiotics for 5 months. I also had a molar tooth in very bad shape that we decided it would be in mybest interest to have extracted. An oral surgeon had to take it out and it was a doozie. The roots were twisted and one root was wrapped around a bone. The bone came loose and had to be filed down. One root was actually in the sinus cavity where the staph infection is. I probably should mention that I could not be put to sleep and gas makes me violently ill so I was numbed up for the procedure. Had it done on Tuesday and am still feeling the effects! AS of this morning John and I have lost 43 pounds together on the diet (in a mont and a day). It is going very well but is difficult at times. Very hard for southern girl that is used to down home cooking and not just eating it but producing it! :) I cannot wait to get the rest of our weight off and keep it off! John looked so handsome this morning! He is finally beginning to see the changes for himself. It's amazing to get up every morning and see you but a little smaller!!! The boys are doing well. Their allergies are going crazy. Mason is on several meds for them and eye drops by script as well as Singular for coughing asmatha. Little John doesn't have the asmatha but does the allergies! They went for their 6 month dental cleaning this week and got great reports. It looks as though they will not be loosing any teeth for awhile. The peds dentist thinks thye are behind at least 12 months. So they will be over 6 when they loose their first ones according to his calculations. Also they celebrated their 5th birthdays on the 22nd, with an army man/camo birthday party! We all had a blast and even my Mom was able to come. It was hard for her but she did make it! Yay! Speaking of my Mom; she has a little set back due to a change up of meds but is back to where we were before the "new" meds. The short term memory is short, no pun intended. It just isn't there. We still have months to go to see if it will return. She is still confused at times but seems more slear headed this week than before. We finally have some meds to help with the tremors as well and we are so thankful for that! She goes back to the neurologist the 19th and the rhuematalogist the 25th. Prayers please..... As for the farm. The pond is full, so the fish are happy! Cabbage is in the ground. Most of the beds are pulled up with plastic and drip tape. Some ground is left to disk up and then beds need to be made. We lost a few plums but everything looks great so far! All of the peaches look wonderful and we are thrilled! Cows are happy but we are still having to feed some hay. just bought another load this week. One stubborn cow got out again this week so the electric fence is goin up as we speak. I noticed when I left Mom she was on the back porch taking in the 70* weather watching the men folk in action putting the fence up. The blackberries and scuppernongs are also being worked out and trimmed this morning. And now, just now the school has called and said that Mason keeps picking at this place on his nose. they think it is staph. So I called the doctor and got him an appointment and off we go to see what it is. Please pray! Blessings!