Family: August 2005 Archives

This weekend has been long. I am sorry if I have not made it around to your journals yet. Thank you all for the lovely comments on the previous post. Yes, I know I am very blessed to have the life I lead now but it wasn't always so. I don't take one minute of my time with Steven for granted and neither do the children. We love him completely, totally, beyond what I can put into words. If you leave my journal with one thing let it be this: Love your spouse and your children as if today is the last day you will have to love them. Love each other well for in the end all that counts is how much you loved and were loved. Now for the update: Gracie has a problem with nose bleeds every so often. We don't know what sets them off or when they will happen. We may go for a week with a nose bleed in the middle of the night and then months of nothing. Friday night she had a mild nose bleed. Saturday she had 3 or 4 which prompted us to agree we should see a doctor ASAP. Saturday night on the porch in the rockers she had a huge nose bleed. She said she felt the pop in her nostril and then it just poured. It hurt to the point she had tears. Saturday middle of the night another nose bleed. Sunday morning a small nose bleed, then another, then a huge one that lasted 30 minutes and she passed huge clots. Off we rushed to the local Medical Center/Hospital. Outside a huge sign read NO EMERGENCY ROOM ... WTF? By this time her nose has stopped bleeding and we decide to go back home. She seems fine. We are home 30 minutes and another huge nose bleed and clots the size of your thumb. In the truck we go to the hospital in the next county. This ER is a triage. Most service is first come first served. We saw some gruesome looking people waiting in pain and injured and they were not taken right in -first come first serve! After two and a half hours we were no were near to be seen by a doctor. Gracie's nose had stopped bleeding and we decided to take her home. It is 6pm and so far so good. I have the a/c cranked down low and she is not allowed to jump around and play rough. She is on the sofa upstairs in their TV room with a cold drink and a remote for the TV. I will be making an appointment tomorrow with an ENT to check her sinus. My sister had terrible nose bleeds as a child and ended up having to have the capillaries in her nose cauterized. I seriously think it may come to this with Gracie. In other news - children had told me they had everything clean and everything in its place upstairs. I go up and begin looking in closets and under beds and find huge messes. They have spent most of Saturday and Sunday cleaning. I mean deep cleaning. Every bed was stripped and every stitch washed. Floors have been mopped. Furniture is dusted. I doubt they will ever tell me something is clean and I find it is not. They do not like it when I stand over them and inspect every single thing. I know: I am a mean momma. So be it. Upstairs is clean. I have read three books this week: The Secret Life of Bees - This is a great book. If you have not read it you must obtain a copy and devour it for yourself. You will not be disappointed. I read The Mermaid Chair a while back by the same author and enjoy it as much. You really must read these. Miracle - Short read. This one doesn't take much concentration. Simple story. Quick romance. This is one for keeping in the bathroom and just reading a page or two at a time. You won't get lost or loose the story line. The Good Wife Strikes Back - This book is for someone more in a very late 40's - early 50's state of life ending one era and begining again, discovering a new self heading toward 60. I found that it took over two thirds of the book to get to the point and then it was lost and muddled in memories that had NOTHING to do with the current scene of the book. It is first person by an English wife and I struggled through it finding pieces and parts of other books and movies pulled into it. It almost made me feel as if I were reading something from a junior Red Hat Ladies reading list. Don't waste your money on this one. With tomorrow beginning the first whole week of back to school I have planned and prepared for my current project. In order to have a safe nursery we are moving Gracie out of her bedroom and into the bedroom opposite of Colby. It has direct access to the bathroom and it also is nearest the stairs, front and back. The reasoning is I don't think a toddler would be safe in that room with a bathroom and 2 staircases nearby. Gracie has wanted that room since we moved into this house. So now she is getting it. I have purchased the paint and will begin painting her room tomorrow (I hope). I have my white cast iron bed I brought up from Georgia ready to go in. I have ordered her a new set of mattresses. I have purchased beautiful bedding of white and cream with pink and raspberry roses -very pale and dainty. I need to find a large rug for that room. I have 2 weeks to finish up the big stuff before her mattress arrive. I am a woman on a mission with a deadline. I want to give you a tip. I know alot of people have a real problem shopping at Walmart. I on the other hand am all about getting the biggest bang for my buck. When we have replaced mattresses for beds I have ordered them from Walmart.com. I have purchased Simmons Beauty Rest luxury mattress sets for far less than buying them in a local store. The freight is usually around $50 and they bring the mattresses to the bedroom and unwrap them and put them in place. Seriously, be frugal and look for deals and you can purchase name brand top of the line items for discount prices. Steven and I went to Lowes Saturday morning and we found they were putting most of the summer patio furniture pieces on clearance. I bought three tables and two lounge chairs for my pool area for next summer at below 50% off the regular retail price. We have stored them in the pool house (tobacco barn) until next spring. I really hate to pay retail for anything. Last week our pool was dug. I have lots of photos of the process. This week the iron work should be done and ready for the gunite to be blown. I really hope we will get a week or two of use out of it before cold weather sets in. And how was your weekend?

Steven, Colby, Gracie and I had dentist appointments yesterday. Mine was simple. Back when I was so morning sick and had trouble brushing my teeth and the taste of the stuff they clean your teeth with and the water touching the back of my mouth made me gag the dentist and the hygienist decided to clean my teeth in quadrants. It is about all I can sit through without becoming completely ill. I have the lower left side to go. Sounds silly I know but you imagine gagging over and over and you'd hope the dentist would do the same for you. Steven, on the other hand, was not so simple. The past years since his divorce and until we married last summer, Steven would grind his teeth at night. It sounded like he was crushing rocks. He would wake up with his jaw sore from the grinding all night. I had asked him on several occasions what his dentist had to say about the damage to his teeth and he said, "Nothing. He has never mentioned it." I found this hard to believe. I was very sure his teeth must be ground down to nubs. Well, the first trip to our all new family dentist and he asks Steven, "Do you grind your teeth at night?" Steven told him that I said he did -and very badly. The dentist (whom we like!!) told him that at the rate he was going his teeth would not last 20 years. He had worn the point of his canine down until it is flat. He has broken the enamel on 9 ofhis teeth and that is why his mouth is sensitive to hot and cold. He took a full set of x-rays and the panaoramic view and found more. Two of his teeth were chipped. One had a pit from brushing too hard and he had torn away his gum from some of his teeth in the process. One place was to the point the dentist was sure it would cause a cavity to form and he would need to have it filled as well. The dentist did all the repairs yesterdays! He resurfaced 9 teeth, fixed the chips and filled the one tiny spot. Thank heaven for dental insurance because if I had had to write the check for the total amount they might have had to call the EMT's to bring me some oxygen! When he walked out from the back exam room I was shocked -frightened for a moment. One side of his face was red. His eye looked droopy, the corner of his mouth was hanging and he looked like hell. I swear I thought he had had a stroke! However, that is just how his face reacts to all the novocaine. As it wore off his face began to return to normal. Poor Colby. I know she wishes she had stayed home. She had her cleaning but also was told her wisdom have to come out. Yes, she is getting oral surgery next month. Then a trip to the orthodontist to see if he reccommends braces. Next was Gracie's turn. She is getting oral surgery, too. But it is simple. She has 2 little baby teeth that are not coming out on their own but are in the way of 2 permanent teeth trying to come in. So the baby teeth have to go. Once again can we all say thank heavens for a thing like dental insurance! Pork Roast in a Crockpot 1 pork shoulder or boston butt roast 1 large onion, chopped 1 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper Place in crockpot the pork and the onion. Cover with water. Set on low and cook 8 - 10 hours. Remove the roast when cooked -it should be just falling from the bone. Set aside. Place some of the broth and the onion in a saucepan on the stove top and adding white rice (measure the broth and cook the rice in the broth according to cook directions on the package). When the rice is done taste it. Rice always needs salt. This rice should be a little wet, not drowning in broth, not soupy, but moist and delicious. Slice some of the pork roast, dish up a serving of rice and a steamed vegetable. The rest of the roast, using 2 forks shred the meat. Line a muffin pan with paper liners and pack each cup full of the roast. OR before filling the cups mix with some of your favorite BBQ sauce then pack in the cups. Freeze until solid. Put all of the cups in a large freezer bag, lable and date. Each cup is the perfect serving for a BBQ sandwich. Simply remove the number of BBQ cups you need and thaw. Remove paper cup. Heat till piping hot and pack onto a nice bun. I would serve the sandwiches with slaw, bread and butter pickles, chips and nice big glass of iced tea. My recipes are simple. They are not gourmet. They don't take a lot of skill to prepare and come out great every time. Steven likes simple foods. I do too. Sometimes we venture into more exotic or complicated food, things I need a recipe to follow but most things I cook off the top of my head, sort of instictively, like my grandma and my momma. Any of you who prepare these recipes I sure would appreciate some feedback on what you think. I know we like them but other people may have ideas to make them even better.

Our vacation was exactly that -a vacation. We went to a quiet, noncrowded beach and stayed there. We went out one time on the very hottest day when it was 114 degrees because the kids could not stay on the beach in that heat. We found air conditioned entertainment and had lunch out. Other than that we did nothing but sit on the beach, swim in the pool, eat, sleep and watch some TV. Steven really needed this vacation away from everyone, just us. We had not even considered going anywhere at all this year. At the last minute I asked him to lets take the kids to the beach. I got online found a quiet reasonably priced house and off we went. I can't even begin to tell you the stress that was showing on Steven's face and in his body especially over the last month. His job is not physically challenging but it is filled with stress and mental fatigue in the extreme sense of those words. Had we stayed home he would have spent the days working in the yard which in many ways is good. It gives him great physical release of stress but it does nothing to recharge his tired body. Steven needed to do nothing but eat and sleep and that is the main reason I really pushed taking the kids to the beach. No internet access so he couldn't do any work while we were away. Cell phones turned off so no one at work could call and ask a million questions. No one knowing the phone number to where we were staying. Completely cut off from this part of our life was a great thing. When you scroll down and look at the photos you will see he did indeed need a vacation. This is what our days looked like:

7:00am Kids wake 7:30am Big Family Breakfast 8:00am On the beach or in the pool 10:00am Snack then switch from beach to pool or pool to beach 12:30pm Dinner 1:00pm Naptime 4:00pm Kids on beach or pool and their pre-supper snack. You know all that fun builds a HUGE appetite. 6:00pm Steven wakes from his nap - Big Family Supper 7:00pm Kids ready for the pool, Steven and I sitting pool side with camera and DVD cam. 10:00pm In from pool, dessert, kids to bed. 11:00pm Steven and I to bed

This is how each day began and ended. These two should be wrinkled still from all the time they spent submerged in liquid. This lovely construction is the sand castle and the moat that held a crab the kids caught. Three girls, surf and sand. Do you know how many shots we have of them facing the other way? Most of my photos are butt shots. This handsome thing is my sweet husband. He slept late each morning. Had breakfast. Went to the beach or the pool. Had lunch. Slept ALL afternoon (1pm until 6pm) causing the children to remark, "All Dad does is sleep and eat." Then an evening sitting until after dark poolside while the babies swam some more. He really needed this vacation. The dark circles left his eyes about day 5. This is what afternoon nap time looks like. Children must nap if they want to swim until 10:30pm. The oldest bathing beauty very happy to be on vacation. Gracie was hesitant last year about being in the water above her waist. She did not trust herself or anyone else. She would get out of the pool and sit on the side if anyone tried to help her learn to float or swim. She refused to put her face in the water. She would not jump in. She had to slowly ease into the water often stopping at the steps and sitting down. This summer she has learned to trust herself. She learned to swim with her face in the water. The first day she was very hesitant. By the third day she was swimming like a little fish. I was so proud of her accomplishment in the way only a mother understands her child and her child's fears. She overcome one of her greatest fears of all time. I was proud but you should have seen Colby beaming at Gracie's success. Anyone looking on might have thought Gracie was Colby's child.