A beautiful sight

Ain't it a beautiful sight? That's the inside of our furnace, with the new motor running and the pilot light kicked on...therefore there is heat blowing out of our vents. Hooray! Of course, today it is warm enough outside that we don't need the heat running...but at least it's ready to go as soon as the temperature dips again!

This adventure has reminded us to be thankful for all of the little things that we so often take for granted, such as having a heated house...

Hey, look -- jackpot!

At our church picnic Saturday evening, they had a Trunk or Treat for the kids. Since David and Abigail haven't ever done anything like this, they were quite astonished at the idea of so much candy at one time! Like all good parents, Bruce and I picked through their candy after they went to bed, squirreling away our favorites. After all, we didn't want them to eat too much candy! :-)

Poll question: Have you ever heard of Trunk or Treat? I am thinking it must be a southern thing, because I had never heard of it before I moved down here. (For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the adults all sit on/in the back of their vehicles [it seems that most people have minivans and SUVs these days, instead of car trunks!] and the kids go around to each one and get treats)

Autumn in full swing

This is the temp we woke up to this morning...unfortunately, we are currently on a "money-saving plan" with our gas bill, too...our furnace is broken, the part is on order, and it is COLD in here! :-) But we are always excited to move into autumn...it's a gorgeous time of year down here.

My friend Jessica was kind enough to share a treasure from our hometown -- fresh-picked NY apples (thanks again, Jess, they have been wonderful!) -- we have been thoroughly enjoying them, and last night I used the last few for dinner...we had Pork Chops with Apple Chutney, Pecan Apple Rice, and Fresh Apple Cake (thanks for the awesome recipe, RaDora!). A very harvesty kind of dinner...and we didn't even realize we would be waking up to frost!!!

Fl trip pictures - at my parents' place etc

FL trip pictures - Matthew & Caleb's place

I have a good reason for not having posted trip pics yet!

Two, actually. First, we are currently battling some nasty computer virus that is causing my computer to drag and get hung up instead of quickly and efficiently running programs. As you can imagine, this gets really frustrating really fast...and I don't have the time to monkey with it when everything drags. Second, I cranked my neck the wrong way yesterday morning and it reacted quite unhappily. I am so sore that when we are home (where no one outside the family will laugh at me!) I keep it all hunched up to relieve the pain -- this afternoon Bruce called me Quasimoto (i.e. the Hunchback of Notre Dame). Isn't he too funny...! Sitting at the computer desk does not help. Truly, I will post pictures as soon as I can make it happen.

Happy birthday, Grandma!

Happy birthday,

Grandma O'Gorman!

We love you and miss you!

Home again...from Florida

We made it home safe and sound, and Bruce got home tonight from his business trip to NC. It's nice to be all together again! I will do my best to post pictures tomorrow...

When she's ready, she's ready...

Abigail usually hollers and clings in fear when we ask if she wants a tractor ride...but last night when David and my dad were headed out for their evening tractor ride, Abigail told Grandpa that she wanted to go. We all played along, expecting her to back out, but she went out and rode, nestled and relaxed in Grandpa's arm like she'd done it a million times before. You just never know with her...!

Fun visit

Yesterday we had a visit from my friend Jessica and her four boys, who live near Jacksonville. Jessica and I have been friends since we were kids -- my dad always called her his other daughter -- and we email regularly now, but we hadn't seen each other for five years. It was so nice to connect face to face again.

We all visited the goat farm next door and then my dad entertained the boys with tractor rides and hikes while we women chatted and the two youngest kids kept busy.

What a wonderful visit...now I am determined that we will not go five years until the next one!

^Gage, Franklin, Rylin, Finn, & David on the John Deere tractor

...the picture of Jessica and me is on my camera, so I will post that one after I get home!

In Pomona Park, Florida

We had a wonderful (albeit too brief) visit at my brothers' place. It was wonderful to spend time with them and get a little glimpse of their lives. Last night we traveled to my parents' place and will be here until we leave Thursday morning. We were able to attend church with my parents today and it was so nice to meet their church family -- it felt like we already knew them, since we have prayed for many of them and they have all been praying for us over these last several eventful months. David and Abigail made new friends there and then tonight Grandpa & Grandma treated us to Cindy's (Wendy's) -- could life get any better for a kid?! We really miss Bruce, of course...but at least it gives us something to really look forward to when we leave here!

In Ocala, Florida

We arrived safely at my brothers' place in Ocala, Florida -- the weather was dreadful for driving (rain almost the entire way, and some of it deluge-type rain that slowed us down a good bit), but we made it and are glad to be here. The kids were good travelers, as is typical for them, and they are ecstatic to be hanging out with their uncles. Yesterday before we came to the apartment, we visited the guys at their stores, so it will be nice to be able to picture them where they work. My brothers' apartment is so nice -- and spotless, wow! -- I will take some pictures today, although I won't be able to upload and post them until I get home. It feels strange to be hosted by my little brothers instead of them coming from our parents' home to visit me -- but it's a good kind of strange! They are currently asleep, but the kids are starting to climb the walls, so I may have to let them loose on their uncles soon...!

Ready, set...

Well, the suitcase is packed and in the car, the bills are paid, the laundry is done, there are some meals for my hubby in the freezer, Abigail's brace is adjusted and her HA is tweaked (those were today's hospital visits)...I think we are ready for our trip! David had a bit of a relapse overnight but after oral steroids this morning and breathing treatments every four hours, he's doing okay...as long as he doesn't get moving around too much. Any activity gets him winded and wheezing...I am hoping he is feeling better enough to do wild stuff with his uncles this weekend...at any rate, the enforced rest in the car tomorrow will be good for him! Bon voyage...

David's update

David is doing well considering everything he's been through in the last 36 hours. His color is terrible -- chalky with dark purple smudges under his eyes -- but I'm sure that'll be better with a good night's sleep. If he gets moving around too much, he starts wheezing, so we are trying to keep him low-key, as the doctor suggested (if you know David, then you know that this is much easier said than done, especially as he has to use the inhaler every four hours and that Albuterol makes him hyper!!!). He's being very cooperative about taking his breathing treatments, even though he says they have a bad taste, and they are definitely helping him to breathe more easily. Just wanted to post an update, especially for his grandmas, who would like to rock him tonight, I'm sure...!

He had what?!

Well, yesterday I thought David was coming down with the cold that Abigail and I have...he started coughing yesterday morning, but by last night we knew something was up. We spent a fitful night and at 5 this morning he started to get worse, so I took him to the ER. He was having an asthma attack! He hasn't had respiratory trouble (other than a few bouts of croup) ever since his respiratory distress as a premature baby in the NICU. We are home now with an inhaler and an oral steroid...he is tucked in for a nap in my bedroom, and it is SO good to see him sleeping (and breathing) peacefully. As if we were getting bored and needed something to spice up our lives...!

Another one bites the dust

One of the hardest parts of being a mom is being sick but not being able to be off-duty! I still don't feel well today and my achy body is just craving the couch...but David is sick now, too, and is miserable and whiny and he's camped out on the couch (my couch!)...sigh...I keep trying to gently remind him that Mommy doesn't feel well, either, but I am still being kind and sweet to everyone because that's how we should behave...but he just gives me a blank look! So I am plugging away at the things that need to be done and practicing the biblical command to let everything I do "be done in love"...this is not the easiest day to put that one into action!

Fair warning

Since I am such a nag to my friends when they neglect to post for days (or weeks) on end, I thought I'd better give fair warning just in case I disappear for a few days... Abigail and I are currently sick with some lovely cold virus that is making the rounds, so I haven't felt like doing much today. If we recover sufficiently from that, our church is having Bible conference this week (M/T/W nights), so we will be busy all day getting our usual stuff done and then napping in preparation for the evenings' activities, as well as hosting guests for dinner on Wednesday before the service. Thursday is ladies' Bible study (whoops! I need to remember to make muffins to take for that) and a medical appt, and then on Friday the kids and I leave for a mini-visit to Florida; we will spend Friday night and Saturday with my brothers in Ocala and then mosey on up to spend a few days at my parents' in Lake Como (see if you can find that one on a map!). Between now and then, I need to do the usual...school, laundry, pack, clean, pay the bills, make reservations for the dog to board when Bruce goes on a business trip while I am gone, try to make sure some meals are in order for Bruce for the days that he's here and I'm not, get groceries for him and for our trip, and (with Bruce) decide what to do about our furnace, whose motor has decided to retire itself...etc etc. You all know how it is -- but the insanity of preparing for a trip is worth it once you get to the destination! All that to say that I may or may not find time to post over the next week...but if I can't, I will resume as soon as I am able!

Right ho, Jeeves!

Today is the birthday of one of Bruce's and my most beloved authors. P.G. Wodehouse (pronounced Woodhouse) was born in Surrey, England, on October 15, 1881. His writing is full of dry British humor and a tremendous ability to humorously portray human nature. We also love BBC's rendition of Jeeves & Wooster, which we have watched countless times (and still laugh every single time). If, like us, you love British humor and good writing, give Wodehouse's works a try!

Some facts of life I was reminded of this week

~I have become dependent upon my cell phone! I forgot it one day this week when I left to do some errands, and felt lost when I reached for it only to remember that it was home on the table! ~When vigilantly stirring a pot of sauce, waiting for it to warm up, it helps to turn the burner on. ~There are people who do not know the boundaries of their vehicle (grrr). While driving through the grocery store parking lot, I stopped because I saw that some young thing in an SUV was going to back out of her spot even though I was coming. As I sat there waiting, I began to realize that she was going to keep on backing up more...and more...I laid on the horn, but she didn't stop until my bumper forced her to do so. Thankfully, she was going slowly enough that it didn't do any damage, but it was interesting, to say the least. It gives new life to our family refrain of "Give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around"! ~A five year old who knows better is still not exempt from succumbing to the temptation of cutting one's own hair. Why? I'm sure I couldn't begin to understand, so I didn't bother asking....but we did have a serious discussion about why he may not do it again. At least it was only one chunk off the top of his head!

David's first field trip

Today David had his first homeschool-group field trip. We visited the Sunrise Planetarium at Camp Sunrise, up in Fairmount, Georgia (northwest of us). David learned that the sun is actually a small star -- that was the most interesting fact to him. His favorite part of the whole trip was probably the picnic lunch that followed, when he got to eat and play with his cousins, who are also part of the group!

Abigail stayed with Ms. Jeanie, a lady from our church -- I'm not sure who loves whom more when it comes to her and our kids! Our group allows younger siblings to come on field trips, but since this was our first and I wasn't sure what to expect, I felt it was better to go one-on-one. Everyone ended up happy, so it was a success!

Camo girl

These adorable camo pants, shirt, and blaze-orange socks were one of my Children's Place clearance sale buys -- very redneck, I know, but I love them! (You all know I'm a country girl at heart and I look forward to being able to hunt again when the kids are older!) Abigail has no concept of hunting yet, but she calls them her soldier pants.


Note the girlie touch on the pants, so that both parts of me are satisfied -- the camo for the redneck part and the flowers for the girlie-girl part!

Not to be left out, David insisted that we share a picture of his new construction socks... (also note the big old Minota feet -- he wears a size 13!)

Personality glimpses

^David was starting school for the day, but didn't want his sister to play with the stuffed animals while he was in school...can you guess where he hid them? Pretty inconspicuous, don't you think?!!!^This morning Abigail woke up screaming from a bad dream -- when I brought her downstairs, David took it upon himself to hold and comfort her. I love how much they love each other!

Old Testament fast food?!

This morning Abigail was 'reading' a book to her daddy, and she was explaining a picture of some people sitting and eating when Jesus fed the five thousand. She pointed to a man who was eating and said -- very seriously, mind you -- that he was eating a burger, after which she explained that they were eating at Cindy's (that's what the kids call Wendy's). She was totally serious, even when Bruce and I started laughing uproariously! She was not about to let us confuse her with the facts...! She has made a big jump in growth in every way, and lately her increase in verbal skills, thought processes, and confidence are converging to supply us with plenty of laughs.

Children's Place sale

A heads-up for those of you who shop at Children's Place (I shop on their clearance rack for my kids), I stopped there today for a baby shower gift (not from the clearance rack!) and was rewarded with a bunch of stuff for Abigail -- skirts, shirts, pants, tights, and even two purses -- stuff that I had eyed earlier this year but refused to pay $15-$20+ for -- and today I got them for $4.99 or less! (There were even gorgeous shoes, sneakers, and boots, though we couldn't take advantage of those because of Abigail's brace) I checked their website and this appears to be a chain-wide sale both in-store and online, so I thought I'd share the news. (And for Debbie, who bemoans her excessive distance from a mall, they currently have $5 shipping for online orders, too!) The kids had a blast while I dug through the sale racks...there was a little girl about David's age, whose mom was also shopping, and the three kids played in, around, and under the clothes very happily while the moms shopped! Playdate at the clearance racks...!

Our annual autumn hayride

This past Saturday we went up north for our annual hayride at Burt's Farm. We ate a picnic lunch, went on a hayride, drank fresh cider, ate popcorn, and played in the stream...the leaves are already turning up in the mountains, so there was a good bit of vivid color, too. A wonderful day all around!

Tea party

For a long time I have been searching for a nice kids' table and chairs...my parents found this handcrafted set down in Florida and emailed me a picture -- we loved it and they brought it up to us (they arrived Wednesday evening for a long-weekend visit). The set is just beautiful, and Abigail is thrilled to pieces and has been busy having tea parties. It's such a classic little-girl thing to do -- it's great fun to watch her!

David's doings

Today David got to go to school dressed up as whatever he wants to be when he grows up. He had trouble deciding between a farmer who drives a John Deere tractor and a construction worker...so he combined the two and is dressed as a construction worker wearing a John Deere shirt (who drives John Deere construction equipment, of course!).

Yesterday David got to wear his very first "big boy" tie (i.e. not a clip-on). Bruce had to tie it a half-dozen times, but once they got the length perfect, it looked great!