super Sunday

Today was a very good day. We went to Church of the Ressurection (not our home church) because Andrew, Kathy and John Eastmond were ministering there today. If you are not familiar with their ministry, "New Heart Ministries" you should check them out. Andrew teaches and ministers through his music in over 25 sates in America and other countries of the world. He has a wonderful gift and after the service he prays for/over anyone who desires it and stays until everyone has had prayer. We have known Andrew and Kathy for over 20 yr. when they ministered in a church we belonged to when we lived in Pulaski, NY. They spent the night with us and Andrew, a New Zealander, taught Joshua about New Zealand (we home schooled ) We had not seen them since we moved down here 3 yr. ago. It was so good to see that their son John now played guitar with his father.

Jon Christian got a call back for a second interview on Tues. I would appreciate your prayers for this. It has been 5 months since his job was sent overseas. He spends a good part of each day looking for another job. His severance pay will stop next month and although he can get unemployment for a yr; he would prefer to have a job. They have cut their expenses as much as they possibly can. Please pray that this is the job God has for him.

Friday, Matt and I spent a lot of the day cleaning. He loves to clean as you can see, he is washing the dishes and I have a dishwasher! He used to love to run the vacuum, but since we got the new one, he said it is too loud for him and he goes into the other room and closes the door when I turn it on.

from the pumpkin patch

Papa told Matt it was time to cut some of his pumpkins from out of his pumpkin patch. I think he can be very proud of himself considering it was his idea to grow some pumpkins and he was diligent to turn them every day.

We have more tomatoes and cukes and few peppers still to be harvested but considering the fact we are fast approaching October, and that the nights have been getting colder, I am not sure how long we will be able to have fresh veggies.

We are thinking about going to NC the first week of Nov. I am missing the southern grandbabies and would love to see them again. Will told Matt we were going and he said "I want to go with you Papa". His mother told him it would be a very long ride. "I want to see Max and Morrigan, Papa. I will be able to go for a very long ride". It would be fun to take him but I am not sure he is ready to leave his Mama for a week.

Update on Jon: He did not get a call back yesterday. When I called this morning he was looking for a job. He says he spends most of the day looking and sending out resumes. Thanks to all those who prayed. I know God has the perfect job for him.

Stephanie came by this afternoon when she picked up Anthony from preschool. The boys have such a great time together. They play so well with each other.

afternoon thoughts

I have had a lot of time to think this afternoon. I have not felt well for almost a week now. At first, I thought it was allergies or my sinuses. Now my arthritis is flaring up and the past few days I have had a lot of muscle aches. Not sure what it is but I feel horrid, I was sure I would feel better as the day wore on but the opposite has happened. I will need to get groceries after church tomorrow as I could not bring myself to go today.

Wm. worked on Matt's bed. Oh, it looks wonderful. It was put together once but he took it apart so it could be painted. I can not wait until it is completely finished and Matt sees it for the first time. Funny how this whole construction theme idea came from a lamp I got at the Christmas Tree Shop for $2 when he was a baby. Then I made the Bob the Builder for him to hang up his clothes (or in Matt's case, his broom and dust pan, don't ask) Then we made the cornices to look like road block signs and now Wm. made the bulldozer bed. I am so excited about this. I promise to take pictures as soon as it is painted and in the room.

ramblings of an old fat grandmother....

First, I want to take a minute to say how thankful I am for my DH. I know I eluded to this on our anniversary but it goes so far beyond that. Over the years he has allowed me to stay at home with our children, homeschool - even when it meant he had to work 2 jobs. He has never had a vacation that was not either "homeschool related" or a working vacation. He allowed me to go back and get a certificate in interior design at age 50 because it was something I had always wanted and my parents felt business was the wiser choice when I was ready for college. Thank you Lord for this man of God you chose for me.

In one short week Matt has decided he likes to blend his paints. He is also a collector A collector of everything. Our walks amount to nothing more than a chance for him to pick up rocks, pinecones, etc all along the way. His well dr. visit showed he was 39 1/2 # and 41 1/2 " tall. That is the 96 and 97%. Ali is still his constant companion and he is forging ahead in his "school work". (his words, not mine) He knows the alphabet, numbers to 30. He still remembers all 27 of the signs we learned and can use them if I ask.

The weather has cooled down so walking has become much more bearable for me. Matt and Ali have no problem walking in any weather. Our little garden is looking pretty shabby now but we do have 5 orange pumpkins, a ton of green tomatoes (the storm the other night blew the tomato cages completely over and they are much too tomato laden to stand back up) There are a few green peppers and some cucumbers and even a few more hot banana peppers. This little garden turned out to be another blessing. I love that we had fresh veggies every day, and no I never seem to tire of fresh tomatoes and cukes.

Ike

We got the very tail end of Ike last night. Rain and wind and then about 2:30, the power went out. It did come back on a little after 8 this morning though. Our yard was littered with tons of branches and sticks and Matt and I picked them all up, I am talking many, many arm loads of branches in both the front and back yards. Not any real damage, PTL.
Our neighbor, Don, was not quite as fortunate. He has a tree in his front yard that he was very proud of. He told Wm. how it was an Aspen and how it grew like a triangle.

When it came down, it landed on the wires. If you look closely you can see it is burning where it touches the wires. First, the fire chef came, then the fire truck which waited for National Grid to come. They waited 4 hours to be exact. (National Grid never did come) Finally, they just taped off the area and left. The news said there were 40,000 homes in the area without electricity this morning.
Exciting stuff going on right out side our house you say. I thought so, I thought Matt would love the fact that a fire truck was directly in front of our house. Not Matt, he wanted to play with the story reader video plus and the click start computer. I kept asking if he wanted to go outside. His answer, "Absolutely, when is the garbage truck coming" All righty then!

on my mind...........

Allergy season has hit us full force. I can function with Nasonex but my poor Matthew is having a hard time. He has been taking Benadryl on the days his allergies act up on the dr. recommendation. It no longer seems to touch his symptoms. This morning he was sneezing non stop so I gave him his medication. Being a typical 3 yr. old he hates to have to blow his nose. He will wipe it but that will not alleviate the problem. I was getting his clothes out of the dryer from where the majority of his Benadryl ended up when he called me to tell me he felt awful. By the time I got from the dryer to the LR, he was throwing up gobs of phlegm.; all over himself, his blankie, the floor, the chair and me. So for the second time in an hour, I was washing his clothes (not to mention mine) as well as cleaning up the LR. From there, our day seemed to go down hill quickly. I feel so bad for him and at the same time, there is absolutely nothing I can do. He needs to blow his nose and refuses. On the up side, he has an appt. with the pediatrician on Thurs.

My wild little garden is bountiful of late. Every morning we go out and pick what is ready and Matt turns the pumpkins, which are now bright orange., to keep them well rounded. In the last few days all the tomato plants have become so heavy they are all tipping over the cages. Our cucumbers are finally coming and even the pepper plants have peppers on them. (not just the hot banana peppers) I am so very grateful for fresh vegetables every day. PTL
We did manage to get the cornices up in Matt's room (OK, Will got them up, I just held them while he screwed them in place) I was pleased to finally get the curtains up. I was not that happy once I hung them up and saw how wrinkled they were are. I do love the way the cornices turned out. I painted them to look like road block signs and I put plugs over the screws and painted them silver to look like bolts.

So now I need to take down the curtains down and iron them again.......I made the curtains back when Matt was still in diapers and the borders on the curtains matched the diaper holder. Now if I could just get the bed finished and put in the room, I would be one happy camper (Matt too)

We have been working on video games (included in the video story readers) for hand/eye coordination as well as learning the alphabet (he knows it and can count to 30 but this not only reinforces this but helps him recognize the numbers and letters on sight) I got the player and the story books at Ollies.

Not feeling well has not stopped him from keeping me in stitches as usual. Today, he came out of the bathroom and told me he had to turn on the fan because he tooted up the bathroom. Uncle Roy asked him if his legs were dry and Matt said no, it is hair on my legs Uncle Roy.......I am just a hairy guy. Where does he get this stuff???

Lessons I learned from a 3 year old

This week was a short one so I thought we would do some different things. Tuesday we painted a lot of the day. He loves to paint and does a great job. "I am blending colors because you think it looks good Gramma, but I like my colors to be separate". Alrighty then! Yesterday we decided it was time to take down the crib. He was not using it anyway and it was just taking up space in his room. (Maybe a big empty space would be just the incentive we need to finish his bed, or maybe not) So we got in his room, took out the mattress and moved the bed to the middle of the room. "Gramma, I do not think this is a good idea for you try to do this; we better wait for Papa, he will know what to do". I should have listened, I tried to get the crib apart but to no avail. ("Gramma, you really should be wearing a hard hat when you do this kind of work" and yes, he did have his on) We gave up and went out on the porch just as Uncle Roy came to visit. "Oh, Uncle Roy, Gramma actually tried to take apart the crib when I told her she should wait for Papa, and she couldn't do it. I told her, but she wouldn't listen!" You will all be happy to know that the crib is down. Papa and Matt dismantled it at 5pm, yesterday.

Today after taking the crib to the cellar, and checking the garden so Matt could collect the veggies that were ready as well as turn the pumpkins (so they stay nice and round, Gramma) I suggested we give Ali a bath. I thought he would jump right on this idea.. First came the questions: Matt:"Are you giving her a bath in the tub"?

Me: "No, I thought outside would be a good idea, then I won't have to lift her into the tub."

Matt: "This is not wisdom, Gramma, I think you better wait for Papa" . (I am in the habit of saying this is not wisdom all the time to him, must be a little too much, eh)

Me: "No, Matt, I know we can do it, especially if you help me"

Matt: "For crying out the window, Gramma, I am just a little boy. (If you think I probably say for crying out the window all the time too, you would be right)

Well, it was a trial, Matt had a hard time holding Ali when I tried to spray her with the hose, he stepped in dog poop and had a meltdown. I had to stop with the dog wet and soapy to clean up Matt's crocs. Now we are talking vinyl crocs here folks, I had to wipe the dog poop off them, wipe them with disinfecting wipes, wash them in hot water and soap, spray Lysol on them and then put them in the sun to dry before we could finish Alice's bath. (Matt was giving me instructions on how to clean them)

I am thinking I should have listened to Matt's advice in the first place and saved myself a lot of work. I am learning that he is very intelligent for a 3 year old.

Tomorrow we are going out to lunch and to to Ollie's with Uncle Roy. Matt has some money and he wants to "buy" something for himself. When Uncle Roy left on Wednesday, Matt said "That Uncle Roy is a really great guy isn't he Gramma"? "He sure is Matty, he sure is"!

unexpected little blessings

This weekend was one of quite a few unexpected little blessings.

Betsy and Kenny came down on Friday evening to close up Carol's pool on Saturday. Betsy told me that she would attempt damage control on my hair from when I went to Supercuts earlier this summer. Once she looked at it she told me she would do what she could but that it was going to take at least 2 more cuts before it would blend in like I wanted it to. (let me say right now, it was not so bad a cut that people would be pointing at me on the street and snickering, it was just not the way I wanted it and it did look exactly like the hairdresser's, hmmmm) I was disappointed but what could I do, nothing but let it grow out! Betsy told me to try to curl it towards my face (same thing the other hairdresser had told me). I tried it but it was just "not me". Anyway, to make a long story short, I colored my hair and when I was blow drying it, it blew away from my face and blended in perfectly. (blessing #1)

Saturday afternoon we went to get water at BJ's with Uncle Roy. I asked if we could look at Sears and see if they had any vacuum cleaners on sale that we could afford as our little one died last week. Matt and I tried to fix it but to no avail. We had gotten it at Aldi's for under $20 when we lived in Canton and had 3 bassets (which equals a lot of shedding) so this little lightweight (easier on my back) had served us well. I found a Eureka for 1/2 price so it was only $49 and has great suction. (blessing #2)

Sunday afternoon we took Uncle Roy and met Betsy, Kenny and Carol for lunch at Cracker Barrel (Uncle Roy's favorite and we were celebrating his birthday yesterday) We stopped at Wegman's to get some non dairy ice cream for Uncle Roy to have with his birthday carrot cake and found they had carrot cake ice cream (blessing #3) Ok, you may not think of it as a blessing but I am sure it was for Uncle Roy who was expecting vanilla tofutti.

Susan, Tom and Matthew came over to celebrate Susan's and Uncle Roy's birthday. Now if you will remember last week I mentioned that we got some clothes for Susan's birthday and that is where blessing #4 comes in. Well, this is not so much for Uncle and me as for Susan but in the last week, she has lost yet another size.(blessing #4) Yes, we do need to take back her clothes and get a size smaller but you have to admit, that is a good thing!

So, all in all, we had an excellent weekend shared with our family and friends and we still have today left to finish up some of the little projects we have been working on. No, not the bed, (I know, Matt will be in high school before we finish it)

Thank you Lord for all the unexpected little blessing you give us and we take for granted.

edit: I almost neglected to mention one of nicest of my unexpected blessings: I asked my DH to please move the furniture in the LR so we could clean behind them before everyone came for the party. He not only moved the LR furniture and cleaned behind it, he also mopped the LR, hall and kitchen floors.......an added bonus, especially with my back. *blessing #5