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We're still here!

Life is good -so good!

We are busy doing nothing, and it is wonderful.

Our minds are hearts are full and God is at work in our family.

I can't wait to share what He has been up to!

In the meantime, a few pictures of life these days.

Little Miss Two Year Old

It's been a challenging few months here in many ways.  The stress of medical issues, the exhaustion of living with a little one who just will not sleep, the difficulties of barely having a moment alone with my hubby...I have felt weary.   Honestly I was too weary to write about how weary I was!  

Adding to the challenges was a certain little two year old who decided that "No!" was her favorite word and screaming was her favorite activity.  I so wish I was kidding.

I used to think, "Terrible two's? Is that even real?"

The other day as I was thinking this, a line of a favorite song came to mind...

"Then I saw her face...now I'm a believer..."

Only it wasn't that sweet, adorable face that made me a believer :)

It was this one:

Man, I saw that face a lot the last few months.  Try to imagine the noise that's coming out of her mouth, too!  It was like nails on a chalkboard for me.  Shudder.

I started to wonder how long this would go on.  Daily battles.  Hourly battles.  I could not to anything without her following me around screaming, "Uppy!" Which is her version of up :) I tried to stay calm but I will admit I failed often and made that face a little myself!  

I don't want to say we are on the other side of this completely but...I do think we have turned a corner. The battles are less frequent.  We can make it through the store without a meltdown.  She doesn't just scream at me much anymore :) she has mostly stopped scratching my face with her nails when she is angry about not getting her own way.  She is learning more and more words which helps us work through this stuff.  And three is right around the corner!

I must say that for all the trouble this little one gives me, she really is such a joy!  She is smiley and hilarious and full of life.  She is spunky and happy (except when she's not!) and loves to sing and dance.  She throws her arms around my neck so tightly when I pick her up and she makes me laugh out loud all the time.  She is awesome!  

Now if only she would start sleeping through the night...

Happy June Days

Phew!  We finally finished school for the year!  It has been a wonderful first year of homeschooling and I feel like I learned a lot (and so did they -bonus!).  Matthew finally finished his math book today (we got behind because of all the medical stuff) and he was so proud of himself.  This year he has learned to read very well, has learned to skip count by 2s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, and 100s, has learned to add and subtract, has learned about place value and reading numbers into the thousands, has learned how to read a clock...its been amazing seeing him soak it all in!  I'm so proud of my little guy and I am looking forward to the fall so much!  In September when we start up again, Matthew with technically be a Kindergartener and Nathan will be kind of doing preschool/pre-kindergarten.  And Hannah will continue on being a happy little girl who goes off and plays while we do school....right?!?!?!

And some random pictures :)

My favorite time of day...snuggling a clean little girlie and tucking her into bed!

With my foot still in a walking cast I am not able to drive so we have been hanging out at home a ton.  It's actually been so nice to slow down and just enjoy the kids without having to rush off anywhere.  After having a tea party at their Grammie and Grandpa's house we just had to have one at home!  The kids talked about it for days!

Now that Hannah's a bit older it's been fun to get out some of the toys I had put away, like this marble run.  She loves it!  And - bonus - the boys can now build the towers themselves!

These are good days and we are happy summer is here!

Around the House

Happening right now...a little glimpse into my day!

Jack is enjoying our new kitchen floor!

Time for a nice cup of iced coffee!!

Hannah is building a little fort and playing with the tea set :)

We just finished painting cherry blossoms after reading a book about a man who moved to America from Japan.

I'm sporting this thing and it is forcing me to slow down a lot and do less...which is good but frustrating!

The boys are playing in the sunroom...

Fort building continues...

My new diffuser is giving off a lovely smell  (rosemary, lavender and lemon)

It's raining outside which kind of fits my mood.

It's a low-key, mellow, quiet kind of day around here!

The Foot

I don't know what I did but somehow I broke my foot :/

Well, not the whole foot! Actually just a teeny tiny little bone called the sesamoid bone (there are two  of these in each foot at the base of the big toe in the ball of your foot.  Who knew???).

It started more than a month ago, when I vaguely noticed pain in my foot and that I was standing on the outside of my foot pretty frequently.  Then one day I was going through a drive through and I realized that I was switching feet to hold the brake down because my right foot hurt so much.

Hmmm.

Still life was so crazy with sick kids that a couple more weeks went by.

It started hurting at night.  A lot.  Throbbing sharp pain that made me get out of bed and hobble to the kitchen for ice and pain medication.

I finally made a doctors appointment, had X-rays and was told everything was fine.  My doctor told me I could see a podiatrist if I was still having pain so I scheduled the appointment.

Turns out that the X-ray actually showed a fracture in my sesamoid bone, which explains the pain so much!!

Now I am in this post-op shoe that has a flat sole to keep my big toe from moving.

This week I will be getting a walking cast and I hope that will help with the pain.  From reading about this injury (and I really don't know how I did it) it seems like a tricky injury that can take a long time to heal.  I hope to be back to running in a few months but I guess we will see!

Never a dull moment!

A New Season

It's time to blog again.

At long last I am starting to feel like I can breathe.

A difficult season is o-v-e-r!  Praise the Lord for that.

A new one is beginning, a season of slowing down and taking it all in and enjoying the moment.

It's a good one, and I'm so thankful it's finally here.

The countless doctors appointments, hospital visits, round-the-clock medications, surgeries, and wondering if my child has cancer.  They're all over!  There is so much relief in that I cannot even explain it.

Matthew is back to himself and is doing so well.  We are so grateful!

Nathan had his tonsils out, does not have lymphoma (did I even mention this was a possibility? It might have been too hard to write), and seems to be feeling so much better.  It is amazing and wonderful to see his smile return.

Hannah is doing great, as usual :)  She is talking up a storm, learning new things all the time, pushing me every moment of the day, and bringing so much joy to our lives.

Summer is almost here, and I think it's going to be a good one!

Oh yes, and I broke my foot...but that's a story for another day :)  

It's all good!