Getting ready to fly

We're flying tomorrow for the first time with the boys.  I'm a tiny bit concerned that they may have issues with the pressure change and the popping of their ears but I know that I shouldn't worry - what kid isn't going to want to chew lots of gum - because their ears need to pop of course ... I fear this may follow us home and become a new excuse.

We're flying to Madison Wisconsin for the US Transplant Olympics.  My husband is an athlete in the games.  He's doing a 5K and a swimming relay - though as a dear friend clarified - he's not in it to win it.  He's in it to be part of the experience ... to show that you can undergo a transplant and have a life afterward.  He's probably the most healthy and in the best shape now.  It's funny how much the value of health becomes obvious when it's taken away for a time.

I'm glad he's participating in this incredible event.  I'm glad that he's here with us and able to.  And I'm glad we can be there to support him.  But most of all I'm glad that God used the transplant of my husbands liver to transplant Himself in my husbands heart.  He was saved through the experience realizing that he wasn't in control.  Now, God's in control of it all and it is prospering mightily - as only things that God controls do.  

We're blessed further because his donor was a friend and the transplant was a living donor transplant (liver's regenerate to the size needed by the body).  So we'll be enjoying the games with his donor and her husband as well.

Consider giving the gift of life by being an organ donor and saving someone else's husband - someone else's Daddy.  

Blessings.

Pruning and Gardening

I planted a garden several weeks ago, however, other than an occasional water when it hasn't rained recently enough, I haven't been back much to check on it.  To cut it back, pick it's produce or even just appreciate it's bounty.  I justify it because those plants need some time to grow and produce, but really it's just life "getting in the way".  When my day ends, it's way to late, way to dark and I'm way to exhausted to, well, care.  Perhaps I should plan on prioritizing and fitting that in somehow.  I know it needs some attention and a trim or pick here or there.

I, on the other hand, have been getting trimmed - well - down right pruned by the Almighty recently.  A few passages have really been sticking with me and made me ponder in recent days.  Those being, Lot's wife and the whole pillar of salt thing.  I always wondered why was she being picked on for just wanting to gaze at the car wreck on the side of the road.  I had the epiphany that when she "looked back"  it was not to see the destruction  but now realize it was that she looked back and dare I say it longed for the sinfulness.  

Also I've been pondering the temptation of Jesus when he's led into the wilderness and tempted by the devil.  It says he's led there by the Spirit to be tempted.  Good gosh does the Holy Spirit actually provide temptation to us or us to temptation.  Upon study and talking with other believers ... I understand that God does allow temptations / tests to see what's in our heart - what we're actually made of - where we stand.  

And then ... He prunes.  He cuts off and tears out the deadness so that we can be more His image and less ours.  

I have a friend who keeps calling me their angel.  It's amazing to me how God works to change a circumstance and make them - well mine - my angel that is.  An angel that's shown me the test so that I can understand and submit and hopefully pass God's ultimate test.  

This all to say, as we look to others to fill that space or void or to have the answers, perhaps it's just God, providing us, the opportunity to look to Him for those answers and to fill that space.  

May your earthly and eternal angels be as numerous and hard working as mine.

Sailing

The forecast yesterday was for scattered thunderstorms all day.  Just before leaving work my husband checked the weather and it was clear at the lake, so we took our chances.  We went sailing last night ...  we won the gamble. 

There were virtually no boats on the lake.  There was very little wind too - but just enough to keep us moving with both sails out and, at times, to get us going a little faster to make it a little exciting.

We were able to sail up the lake and turn back and sail toward the marina until this happened.  

How beautiful.

God's creation is so magnificent - the pictures He paints each night and morning are more beautiful than anything in a gallery.  What a gift He gives us when we take the gamble, slow down and just look.

Traveling and Visiting

This is the Grasse River that flows past the farm that my husbands family owns. This is the river that we went for row boat rides on while on vacation.  My husbands family compared to mine is very large and so we spent every day of our vacation seeing new aunts and uncles and cousins.  It was all very exciting and busy - the visiting - but relaxing as well.  The busy of seeing friends and relatives is so much different than the busy of getting to work and getting to karate and getting dinner made and keeping track of little ones and cleaning and laundry and and and....  

We camped in my in laws back yard in our new tent.  It was great for the boys and comfy enough for us.  The great part was that we could run into poppa and grandmas house for food, coffee, showers and other facilities.  Roughing it - the easy way.

We did lots of things that we don't take the time to do or have the toys to do it on at home - like four wheeling, tractor riding, kubota digging (and kubota grass raking - boys can be so creative in their use of toys).  

It was all --- fun.  

Even though some things were work (like cleaning out the pond) they were still fun.  And work like making dinners and treats for the 4th of July family picnic - were fun when done with grandma in grandma's kitchen that smelled WONDERFUL the entire weekend - savory and sweet constantly wafting out the kitchen windows and tempting our olefactories on the back porch.

The thing I noticed the most during our vacation was the way that chores were incorporated into the day - even with family around - and completed with breaks for rest and fun.  I'm an all or none type of girl - either I'm cooking and cleaning from sun up to bedtime, constantly moving from one chore to the next and quickly wearing myself out .... or I'm a nothing girl who will "get to it later, or tomorrow, or never" justifying that it's really not that dirty, or that big of a pile, etc.  When I'm a nothing girl, everything, gets bigger and more time consuming as it mounts quickly in waiting.  

My mom in law grew up on a farm - with chores that had to be done - and as she's said before "if you didn't do your work, then someone else had to do it" that's a good mantra.  What my mom in law does is nibble away little by little at things and 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there gets things done - like laundry washed then on the line - break to read the paper - bake some cookies - break to sit on the porch, etc.  I'm inspired.  I'm planning on how to incorporate.  I'm ready for the little chunks of keeping up with life mixed with the little chunks of enjoying life.  I'll let you know how it balances out.

Maybe we're a good luck charm...

That's probably inflated head thinking of me - but on the rare occasion that we attend a sporting event it always seems that the team wins.  A few weekends ago T (6yo) attended a friends soccer game and her team won - I think for the first time that season!  Yesterday we went to a MLB game and they won - against a team that they lost to the day before and I believe lost to the day after and ... let's face it ... their record is ... well ... they loose a lot.

I'm sorry all you real fans but we're not going to start watching professional sports on TV or regularly attending games, but on the off chance that we do attend we usually have a really nice time.  Probably partly because we get the tickets either free or at a very reduced rate and only have to purchase food and drink.  So it's cheap and fun entertainment, well relatively speaking.  If I was actually paying full price I probably wouldn't have as much fun.

This past weekend was my husbands company day there - we got the tickets at at least half off, plus we got coupons for a restaurant that we frequent often for breakfast ... and here's the big plus it was a jersey night so we all got jerseys of a great player!  Now we all have something to wear to school / work when it's theme team day.  Here we are sporting our jerseys ... sorry it's a cell phone picture - you can only do so much with those...

We ate hot dogs, nachos, foot high icees and ... dun dun dun duuuuunnn ... cotton candy!!  Which my youngest did not like and proceeded to wipe out his mouth with his new jersey - which is now black, gold and pink.

The game was followed by a fireworks show and concert by Collective Soul ... brought back our college days ... 

Now here's what impressed me the most about the night - it was a sold out game and so the twelve gazillion times we had to go to the bathroom with one or the other of the boys (after drinking the foot tall slushy in 2.1 seconds flat) there was no line - at the ladies room !!! and there was a woman in there keeping it clean and supplied.  

As a mom who has to take little boys to the potty upon a request that should have been made 5 minutes ago and is now a true emergency and who usually has to broken record the "don't touch anything don't lean on anything no i mean that don't touch that - no don't put your hands anywhere near your - oh my gosh not your mouth - wait  stop agghhh germs - do you realize the germs...." It was such a pleasure at this ball field - thank you!! way to go!!!!  You guys did it right.

Yeah so I'm easy to impress.  As far as what actually happened in the baseball game - really not sure - I think I glanced at the field maybe 3 times and there's one player who can bat well and run really fast with his dreadlocks dancing behind him as he speeds by - and oh yeah the perogie race was great... I think the yellow one won - woo hoo.

We had a wonderful time and would definitely go to another game ... the next time we get free tickets ...  

And she floats once more...

We received the exciting news last week that we had received a dock space at a nearby lake for our sail boat.  We were thinking that we were not going to be able to enjoy sailing this summer as the shuttle service to the mooring (shown above) was done away with in an attempt by the commonwealth to save money.  We didn't want to invest in the cost of a "dingy" to get to our boat, so had reserved ourselves to the fact that the boat was going to sit on it's trailer for the summer - my wonderful husband was going to do some work on it - and if we couldn't find another spot to launch it it would go up for sale at the end of summer.

It is absolutely still amazing to me the way that God works.  Here we were responsible and decided to not frivolously spend money on another boat we didn't really need - and God made the dock space become available.  He did - really - we'd been on the waiting list for years - before we even had our last boat - so somewhere in the neighborhood of 7/8/9 years - whenever I first got the itch to return to my childhood weekend routines of sailing with my parents.

We got word today from the wonderful man who trailers, launches, enhances - read - does all the hard work - for our boat that it was in the water.  So I'm thinking that we'll take some time this weekend to go and enjoy our floating boat - our ONE floating boat.  

And ... here's the challenge for all of you ... what should we name her?  We've been thinking about it for the two years we've owned her and can not come up with anything ... 

Awaiting my next calling and a name for our boat ... 

Will the laundry ever get done ...

I have so wanted the warm weather to start ... and then stay ... and now that it has - boy does the routine have to change. The warm ... no who am I kidding ... hot weather has directly resulted in the boys wanting to be outside ... all the time. Well that's all well and good what with getting fresh air and exercise - but there's that little (read huge) pile of laundry in the basement, and the pile of dishes in the kitchen, and the clean clothes in the bedrooms ... etc etc etc ad nauseam. And I just can't find the time to get to them.

Rather, I have really enjoyed watching the plants sprout in the garden and sitting on our patio chatting with neighbors and just enjoying the outdoors.  It's such a different feeling to relax in the sun and to eat al fresco.  Everything just smells, tastes, feels better somehow.  

Should I really worry about the inside stuff that's not getting done, should I cut myself slack because I'm now adding outside things to do as well, should I just not worry about it and enjoy each and every blessed moment I have the privilege of receiving each and every day?   

I think I'll go with the last option ... that seems to be the loudest calling at the moment.