Poor Shorty...

So, here is the post I promised about the haircuts.  Grandad told Caleb the other day that he figured the reason he was so short was that his hair was too long and heavy:).  Garrison told me a couple days later that I hadn't taken them to a barber in ages!  I guess that would be correct since the only time a barber cut his hair was when he was about 20 months old and I had a coupon for a free haircut.  I took those comments as not so subtle hints that it was time to cut some hair.  The day before my trip to the hospital I used the new clippers Scott bought for me.  You'll see why I chose "Poor Shorty" for the post title;).

Before shot, looked okay when wet and combed:)

Nothing holding back a growth spurt...

Elyssia doesn't think he looks like Caleb anymore.  Hence, he's now called Poor Shorty.

The big guy just had some long around the neck and ears.

That's better.

Daddy said we could!

I wonder if it tastes good?

Good thing the hair grows quickly and the paint was washable.  If it wasn't, it would make for interesting conversation at church;).  Til next time...

Hospitals...

  Last night I had a friend take me to the hospital.  After throwing up for the past 3 weeks, my body was begging for help.  I was starting to feel lightheaded and dizzy a bit and knew that I should at least see if they could give me some fluids.  Dr. Oberleitner was on duty and had them give me some anti nausea stuff and fluids through the IV.  Perhaps I could have gone home, but the drip took several hours and it was 10pm by the time it was started.  I slept pretty well that night, but was awake earlier than usual because I was hungry without the overwhelming nausea.  The nurse told me that they were watching the Royal Wedding, so I ended up watching that to take my mind off being hungry.  Breakfast wasn't served for another couple hours.  When you feel like you haven't eaten in days there are no complaints about hospital food.  The oatmeal seemed like a dessert and the prewarmed toast with honey didn't seem half bad.  Amazing what changes when you're actually hungry. After that it was one more bag of the intravenous fluids and I was free to go.  Now that I'm home I don't feel the overwhelming nausea, but there's something about the extra activity that zaps my energy.  So, thankfully it's just about the kids nap time.  I'll definitely join them.  Hoping the days ahead bring more improvement and a return of appetite.  I have an ultrasound scheduled for next Friday.  We'll see if there are any pictures good enough to post then.  I'll save the boys haircut pics for another post.

Every Little Bit Helps

Many of us purchase gifts throughout the year for family member's birthdays and Christmas gifts.  This past year we've really been trying to look for ways to help others with our spending, instead of the big corporations.  We've ordered custom tees to help with this family's adoption costs:www.myers-r-us.blogspot.com and encourage others to do the same.  Our kids love theirs and here's a pic:

Another friend: http://nilgiristeahouse.blogspot.com is trying to raise money for bunkbeds for some of the children orphaned by the tsunami.  There are SO MANY causes and families out there that it's hard to choose which ones.  These are some that I know personally and the investment would be in the lives of specific children instead of a larger organization.  Even if it's just $5 or $10 I know that every little bit helps.  My friend Abby's blog has links to many more families that are raising the money for adoption.  Many of these families are selling handmade gifts, etc... in order to pay the adoption fees.  Please consider them when you have need of gifts for others.  It really is a worthwhile investment.

1 month to go...

 The other day a representative from our school district called to see how Elyssia was progressing and if she was on target for finishing grade 1.  I realized how quickly we're approaching the end of the school year.  Thankfully we were a bit ahead when I started feeling sick, so we're still on track to finish next month.  Scott's parents went to the Homeschool Convention and were very helpful in picking up next years curriculum for us.  Elyssia's noticed that she gets to do ACE's creative writing and Word Building and is excited to learn more about Ace and Christi.  I used ACE's Learning to Read program with both of them, but that's all Elyssia has seen of it.  Rod and Staff has kept her ahead academically, but the lack of color, etc, has left her a little unenthusiastic about certain subjects.  I'm not sure if this switch will help, but we'll see how this next year goes with a bit more variation.

Last week had a bit more worth sharing, but I really wasn't feeling up to sitting at the computer.  Scott's parents came on Friday afternoon and although I still wasn't feeling well, it was a nice break for everyone.  The kids were thankful to have more people to read and play with them.  There was a nice Ham Dinner, that I was hesitant to eat and my stomach wouldn't keep down.  It's nice that we had it while there were others to prepare it, otherwise it probably wouldn't have been fixed.  Kiersten actually seemed to warm up to Grandad this visit.  She usually just teases him and then runs for one of us.  Progress is good:).  On Saturday Scott, Caleb and Grandad went over to install a Murphy bed for a family in the church.  Caleb was so excited to be going, but I think the excitement wained as the project went on:)  He's still talking about how he got to ride in the truck over to Allan's house though, so it's a good memory.

  Sunday, found 5 of us a home, while Scott went to church.  The kids developed colds and 2 of them were coughing, so we thought it best for them to stay home.  There was a blessing of 3 first time visitors though.  They came from Provost, about 2 hours away from Kindersley.  I really hope that they keep coming, but understand if the distance is a bit much.  A friend, who's been coming to Ladies Bible Study put a bag on the door for me, which was an unexpected blessing.  It had scrapbooking supplies and some easter candy for the kids.  I'm sure you can imagine how the kids felt when they saw the candy.  The third blessing of the day was Scott arriving with more food.  The generosity of others during this time has been a huge blessing.  Even now the thought of food makes my stomach turn, but the same cannot be said for others in my family:).  Garrison ate 5 pieces of the cheese bread and I think Caleb was pretty close behind him.  Amazingly enough I was able to keep down a little bit.  The spices were mild enough and I think it was whole wheat crust, which seems to sit better than white right now.  A recipe to acquire after the sickness passes:).

  So, the beginning of this week was spent with Scott taking it easy, due to having the sniffles and me trying to catch up with the ladies over the phone. We were hoping to have a Ladies Meeting last night, but things really haven't settled down enough to manage that.  Reading to the kids while laying down is about as animated as it gets right now.  Thankfully Scott kept the kids busy with school and art projects like these:

This was great fun in the water outside, but I think the kids started picking at the foam after awhile.

When you go through a lot of milk, there are plenty of jugs left for crafts.  

That about wraps it up for the past week.  I'm hoping to get the little storytellers to write some new stories
to share later on.  The devotions have been pretty funny lately, but I haven't pulled out the camera much.  Praying for a return of the energy this week.  We've got an evangelist coming next week and I'd really like to be there for the preaching each night.  Spring is truly here, energy is needed for the cleaning and so much more...

Praise Ye The Lord...

For Two Days of not throwing up-Praise The Lord!
For 4 kids and another 1(2) on the way-Praise the Lord! That's 1 or 2 not 12:)
For Scott and Garrison having a great time in Calgary-Praise the Lord!
For The Lord bringing them safely home-Praise the Lord!
For the wonderful blessing of a friend providing supper last night-Praise the Lord!

The tea solution has ended.  Yesterday it was back to throwing up.  If the reprieve from throwing up was just so that I could handle things while Scott and Garrison were gone, then I still choose to praise the Lord and be thankful for that time. I know that Scott needed the break from the busyness and came back really encouraged by the preaching and the fellowship. 

"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." -II Thessalonians 5:18
  Notice that it doesn't say "for" everything?  That's because I don't have to be thankful for throwing up, etc..,  but that while we're going through the throwing up.  While we're in the middle of something that we are to find something to give thanks to the Lord for.  Although the throwing up is not pleasant, I've heard that it means a strong pregnancy and is everyday confirmation that the little one is still growing. I thank Him for saving me, even though I don't deserve it.  I thank Him for the children that He's blessed us with. I thank Him for friends and family, a warm house, knowing that if the nausea doesn't end before I deliver that it doesn't continue after the baby is delivered:).  I thank Him for allowing me to serve Him.  I thank Him for never giving up on me.  We're not anywhere near the Thanksgiving holiday, but why should we only express thankfulness then.  I'd rather thank Him every day, then grumble all year long and save it up for one day:).  So, even when I'm sick and lack the mental energy for a creative post, I'd just like to put one up anyway and Praise The Lord.

SO MUCH to be thankful for!

An awesome family

Cool Brothers

Our little family

Great sister in-laws

Great memories, lots of laughter, hope to make more soon...

Baby, are you British?

  Funny, eh?  The thing is...  I was SOOOO sick, throwing up everything including water, until this morning.  I got up and took a shower and thought I'd try a cup of tea, suggested by my friend Laura.  I don't have peppermint tea and really can't stomach most flavored ones when I'm well, so tried good old Red Rose.  It tasted surprisingly good:).  I'm now on my 3rd cup and it's only 10!  I had a couple slices of cheese and I really don't have the overwhelming nausea from this past week.  A Very good thing since I found this morning when I weighed that I'd lost 10 lbs.  Definitely not a recommended weight loss plan! Hence, the question about this baby being more in touch with our British roots:).  If that's what it takes to eliminate the nausea then I'll be drowning myself in tea daily!  I know that the prayers of my friends and family also have a huge impact when I'm feeling like this, so PLEASE keep PRAYING!

Children's Interesting Things I've overheard or seen while lying down this past week:

Garrison getting all dressed up for church and saying, "I look pretty spiffy.  Elyssia likes it when I look spiffy and escort her around at church." I've heard her tell him that before and he offers her his arm after he opens the door for her.  It's even funnier when she demands that he do so, because we've reminded her that a real lady isn't demanding.  So much to learn, thankfully they have LOTS of time:))).

Caleb told Kiersten, "Daddy and Garrison are gone, I'M THE BOSS now, cause they're gone.  Now OBEY!

Caleb telling me over and over that we get to go to McGowen park when I'm feeling better.

Elyssia's name suggestions: Cere Bellum and Cere Brum.  Wonder what she's been learning in school.  Garrison thought Esther Pester sounded good:).

Kiersten saying"Boo" when told to say "Please" or just wiping her hand down your front when you try to get her to do the sign language for please.

Kiersten eating all the ketchup off her hamburger soup then moving in to steal her siblings while they were distracted:).  Her giggle when she does it is so infectious too. 

I love how when she goes to kiss you she kind makes a pttt sound with her lips. She's trying to do the smooch, but loves to do her version instead.

  That about wraps it up for now.  Scott and Garrison are having an adventure that includes staying with Uncle Kirk for the next couple days, so I'm excited for them.  Thankful that today the Lord is helping me to be feeling a bit more normal too.

She has the ear of the Lord...

Many of you probably remember a couple of posts where I talked about Elyssia's prayers and how she let us know ahead of time that she was praying for another baby(ies).  She said that she would wait until March because she didn't want me to be sick on vacation. Well, she kept her word and God answered her prayers.  For those of you wondering why my posts dropped off so suddenly, this would be your answer. We confirmed our suspicions a week and a half ago and shortly thereafter the usual all day nausea appeared.  Trying to get in to see a doctor has been the challenge.  Right now Kindersley only has 3 doctors servicing those in town and from the surrounding areas.  In May it will go down to 1 doctor all by himself for 20 days!  I cannot imagine what will go on then.  My doctor is on maternity leave, since she had her baby on Monday.  She has graciously told the other doctors that she will only take 3 months off.  That is a great kindness on her part, considering that she's allowed to have a year of paid maternity leave, should she want to take that much. I'm very thankful that she will be my doctor for this delivery too:).  Dr. Monte said that there are supposed to be 8 or 9 doctors in Kindersley by the end of the year.  A busy summer with the shortage, but a blessing to look forward to.  So, after finding that there was no chance to get into a doctor I went to the hospital to get a prescription for Diclectin.  It has helped somewhat, but the nausea is still there most of the time. It does prevent the constant throwing up, which is a blessing.  There are not the normal cravings of a pregnant woman, as the mere thought of food usually makes me nauseous. This too shall pass though, and hopefully even faster than the previous pregnancies. It may sound crazy, but I have to admit that we're looking forward to having another little personality around the place.  That's not to say that the current personalities don't drive us a little wonky sometimes, but we're all a work in progress and have areas that others don't appreciate:).  So, to wrap it all up, we're looking forward to meeting this new little blessing that the Lord is giving us. An early Christmas present since the due date is around the 5th of December.  I'm going to try to keep that date in mind, but if the baby arrives in November I won't be too surprised.  These little ones seem pretty eager to come out and join in the commotion of the other siblings.  I wonder what they think of all the noise sometimes. So, posting might be a bit sparse for the next while, but at least you know why:). 

  We're holding down the fort today while Scott is off in Saskatoon helping another pastor reshingle his roof. It's a most unpleasant day for it with wind and rain mixed with snow, but he called at noon and they're making the best of things.

A couple of the ladies have been a great blessing in sending over some meals.  I'm SO thankful for the opportunity to not have to stand over the stove and smell the food:).   Until next time....

Surprise!

Yesterday we received a very nice surprise at church.  Elyssia ran down the stairs to tell me, "The Goffs are back!"  We were all very excited to see them return from Arizona.  I had just e-mailed them the day before to see when they planned on returning, but there was no reply and now we know why:).
 In spite of my lack in blogging the past week has been very full.  Today is a bit overcast, but I've heard we may be getting rain after last week's abundance of sunshine.  We're watching things downstairs as the snow melts and so far there's nothing unusual.  Scott was talking to the Heberts last night and they reported 4 feet of water in their root cellar.  Another family in our church has been hauling water from their basement for the past week, so we'll keep watching.  I should have taken my camera yesterday to show how submerged the fields are right now.  There are major ponds, rivers and lakes EVERYWHERE!  I wonder if they'll do aerial photos of SK like they do in Manitoba.  It will be interesting to see when Spring planting happens too. Hopefully I'll have some pics for my next post...

Making Memories

Here are some pictures of our first spring time memories:

Elyssia in short sleeves and wearing crocks. A really hot day, but the mounds of snow are solid enough to walk on top.

He's playing a pirate game.  The deck is the ship.

Caleb is either a fellow pirate or the enemy depending on the mood of the day.

Kiersten watching the fun and waiting for the door to get left open so that she can escape outside.  She gets out a lot:).

The propane truck came today!  They overfilled it again:(...

Building lego in between trips outside.

School or snack?  Both!

My 4 big helpers have worked me out of a job:).

Yes, that's what you think it is.  A big spring memory is Caleb being potty trained. He received a sucker as a reward and had to document it with a picture because Daddy was at work.  Sorry if it grosses anyone out.  I promise not to post any more:)  We're very thankful that it only took a week.  He doesn't have to be reminded all the time now and wakes up from naps and bedtime dry, so I "think" it's safe to declare him potty trained.  Next task=Kiersten.

I was checking to see if we're on schedule for Elyssia to finish grade 1 in June and I'm excited to say that we are!  We might even finish a bit before then if we keep up this steady pace.  She's been doing times math drills and actually seems to do even better under pressure than when she's left to do it at her leisure.  Her last drill was 35 addition problems and she did it in 1 minute.  I remember doing those when I was her age and I always got quite nervous. 
  Garrison is going through his school books at a 1 pace a day.  That means he would finish 1 years work in 12 days!  I think I'll probably have to give him some more challenging work. We have plenty to work on with reading though and his brain seems to have made the connection.  If I put him on the same schedule I did with Elyssia we should be able to get through about 4 books a day.  It may seem to be a bit much, but their ability and confidence grows much faster when we do it like that. 
  Caleb has many other accomplishments other than the one pictured above.  He's loves to get the clothes out of the dryer and haul them up the stairs.  He's the milk man, making sure that the milk is on the table for every meal.  He's also the master puzzle man.  He's quicker than his siblings and even his parents sometimes. He's quick to say, "no, that doesn't go there", then proceeds to take the piece from you and put it in.  I'm not talking about 24 pcs anymore.  I think he's up to 100 and he's mastering ones that have been given to his siblings.  His uncle sent him a puzzle postcard and he can put it together not even having a picture to go off of.  Such a smart little guy.  Too smart for his own good sometimes:).
  Kiersten is quite a busy girl now.  She's adjusted to sleeping with Elyssia in the big bed and seems to have picked 6 as her wake up time.  It's okay with me now that she's sleeping through the night all the time.  Her last molar has been very stubborn, which I think was waking her up for awhile.  She seems to have moved on.  She loves the cats and this afternoon I heard her in the back bedroom.  I came there to find her talking to one of the cats, who just happened to have made itself comfortable on our bed!  That cat didn't realize what a huge mistake that was.  I would've taken a picture, but I didn't want the cat to think that it had any place in the house, let alone in our bed.  I asked Kiersten if she told the kitty to go on the bed. She just smiled. Her favorite book right now is "Biscuit makes a friend".  She's quicker to climb up into our laps to read now and gets offended if one of the other ones won't let her up.  Fun times.  WELCOME SPRING!

A Pictureless Post?

Well, practically, considering how full the others have been.  We've just been busy with life and forgetting the camera lately.  I had it all ready to go last week for anniversary Sunday, but didn't need it.  Then this week when we had services I forgot it!  Thankfully Brenda had hers, but I don't have any pics to show until she e-mails them to me.  Services went really well.  It was wonderful to see almost everyone there yesterday.  We even had two visitors. They'd come for the Christmas Eve service, but not to a regular one.  We were able to visit a bit during potluck and enjoyed them quite a lot.  They're sisters and I think that they're around 80 or so.  I'll have to ask Sharon, since one is her mother. The weather was beautiful and sunny.  It's actually been quite nice since last Thursday and we're seeing quite a bit of the snow melting.  Yesterday we had 3 awake all afternoon, for some reason they thought that 15 minutes was a sufficient nap.  Garrison on the other hand thought he was Rip Van Winkle and fell asleep in the van.  We had to wake him up for the evening service at 6!  I'm wondering if he's having another growth spurt.  The boys insisted that they weren't tired on Sat.  This is what happened after Scott read them a couple books:

Proof that they aren't too old for naps yet.

 

Today was a busy errand and grocery shopping day.  It was the 15% off day, so we can't miss that:).  I ended up saving $45 because I got up to $100  three times!  I usually only spend $200 at the beginning of the month and save the other $200 for the second half, but there were too many items that were a good price that I decided to get them today and save even more.  One of the best deals was the flour.  It was 10 kg for $5.98!  The normal price has been around $13 lately.  I now have a full flour drawer and will have one in reserve for later.  I'm really hoping to get ahead on my baking in the next couple weeks so that I won't have to do much once it really starts warming up.  It's also a good way to keep the house a good temp without using up the remaining propane.  We're very thankful that the outside temp has been good. I've been able to keep the thermostat at around 15 C.  I had these two sweet, angelic boys help me do the shopping today:).  They actually did pretty good.  Garrison helped me push one of the carts until it got too heavy for him.  Caleb made sure that his favorite foods didn't fall out of the cart:).  Garrison even fetched several items for me so that I didn't have to push both carts down every aisle.  He would forget that he was in the store every once in a while and start singing a bit loud, but it was kind of amusing.  We managed to get everything bagged and almost into the van without incident.  I went to put a bag in and it slipped out of my hands.  The only thing that broke was the carton of whipping cream!  It got on several containers and wouldn't you know, this was the day I didn't pack extra wipes.  So, I had to purchase another carton and THEN we were ready to head home.  The rest of the day was spent putting things away, fixing meals, planting some seeds to keep inside til the weather is right, and snuggling a particularly fussy Kiersten.  I think I can see the top part of her last molar and I'm praying this is the real thing. It's been bugging her for a month off and on and really seems to hurt her.  In between she'll get cheerful, but then she starts to cry.  She also bit her lower lip today when she bumped her chin.  Her new thing is to beep her nose and ours.  I have to remind her to be gentle because she does have a strong pincher grip. She's very good at identifying her nose, eyes, mouth, hair and eyes now. I think we're going to see quite a bit of development in the next 6 months.  Yesterday was her 18 month mark and she's showing more growth every day.
  Well, I think that's about it for today.  Scott heads back to work tomorrow and there's lots of school on the agenda.  The kids have been really great about helping with dishes, laundry and taking out the trash, so we're all caught up on that.  Speaking of which, one more thing.  We cleared all the bags of milk jugs, etc off the porch today.  There were about 10 bags saved up.  We got close to $3 for them, which says a lot because I think they only give us 2 cents per jug.  The bigger reward though was not having them on our porch anymore:).  There might be another bag somewhere, but I'm going to enjoy having a clean porch once the last bit of snow melts.  The boys have been helping with snow removal too, so it should be fairly soon.  Signing off for now. 

So this is Spring?

Our van got stuck on Sun.  We didn't get it dug out until Tuesday.

Scott's parents and the tractor that came to dig us out got stuck and the men had to dig both of them out.

At least 3 little people are enjoying the mountains of snow:).

I can't remember what devotions they were part of this time, but it was pretty cute.

Caleb's Birthday quilt from Nana.

Enjoying the rays of sunshine.

Kiersten loves sunglasses(these ones are Caleb's).

Elyssia made "stone" soup with carrots(Nana and baby ate it).

2 more kind people that agreed to eat it, even though it was cold.

Enjoying the Toy Story Lego set that Kirk gave to Caleb.

It's been a crazy week since we got home.  We've had one thing after another and this afternoon seems like the first time that we've just gotten to sit around and enjoy just being home together.  Scott's family came for Spring break, but when they arrived on Tuesday it really wasn't very Springy.  Thankfully there was a neighbor down the road that was willing to come help us get the yard cleared.  The propane truck was supposed to make a delivery this week, but they never showed up.  When we called them today they said that they tried on Wednesday, but they were told the roads were too muddy.  I think we're below 8% and they said that if we really need it they'll bring a small container to tide us over.  Scott went into town on Wednesday to teach at Caleb Village and run some errands, meet someone for lunch and check out some potential jobs.  He arrived home to find that the drainage system for the toilet wasn't working properly.  Poor guy couldn't even sit down.  The smell of sewer gas was pretty bad, but thankfully the sewer didn't back up into the basement.  On Thursday they were able to get a pipe and get it flowing out into the field again.  They figured that part of the pipe had frozen up, but I'm really not sure about all the details.  I do know that it's now working, Praise the Lord! Then this morning, part of the tooth that he was waiting to have capped broke off.  The dentist' office said that they should be able to do that sometime this next week or two.
  The other major job has been working on potty training Caleb. The first day didn't go so well.  He would sit on the potty, but only while protesting.  The second day I told him that I would give him a treat if he went.  He went to the toilet, sat down and got the job done. Since then he's gone on the potty at least 10 times each day and we've praised him loudly each time:).  We found out that the Nutters store in town was closing and Scott picked up a bunch of yogurt covered raisins and special mints at a good discount.  They've really come in handy for the potty training.  Elyssia and Garrison have been volunteering to read to him while he goes so that they can have treats too:).  I usually let them do it once or twice a day.  By the way, all 4 kids have been wonderful helpers lately.  They've all been volunteering to wash, fish and dry the dishes, taking out the trash, making their beds and generally being quite helpful.  They don't always want to set the table, but they've been doing it anyways, which is a great help and blessing.  Looking forward to seeing more and more of it as they get bigger.
  Another exciting thing has been watching Garrison's reading skills improve.  Seeing him recognize the words he's been reading from the easy readers in the more advanced books too.  Today he read through a fourth of a book without all the prompting.  I even skipped around to make sure that he didn't have it memorized:).
  Thursday night we went to Prayer meeting.  It was the usual 2, our family plus Kirk.  The kids did pretty good, considering that they've been going to the children's classes while we were on vacation.  I know they're going to miss the extra fellowship, but there's not much we can do about it since we don't have any other kids coming to Sunday School right now.  On Sunday(when we were snowed in) we were able to watch the preaching from Pinecrest.  It was kinda like being at church with the family and thanks to the time difference we can watch their evening service at 4 and be preached to before going to our evening service at 6!  I think it will be good for us, as adults, to have the extra preaching.  It's neat to hear Elyssia and Garrison talking about their "teachers" in Georgia and identifying them singing in the choir and serving the Lord.  So, now our prayer is that we can go forward, renewed and encouraged by our time away and be ready to give more in the coming days and years ahead.  Thankful for all that the ways that the Lord has blessed us.  To God Be The Glory, Great Things HE Hath Done!