Update

Hey there gang,

Well, life has started to settle a little around here.  I have been busy with homeschooling the two younger boys.  We got Joey off to college and he has been home once during “Fall Break”.  That is one thing that these kids get now that we (my hubby and I) never had.  He probably won’t be home for Thanksgiving this year due to his time off being so short.  However,  I insist that he is here for Christmas.  I felt like a piece of me died the night we left him.  There was a part of me that was a little angry too.  I didn’t like having to let go.  I had tried for months to prepare myself, but it really didn’t do any good.  On the way home, Sierra asked hubby and I what was the best part of the visit.  Mine was when we were leaving and I was hugging Joey goodbye and I let go and he didn’t.  I wanted to just shove him back into the van and take him home.  But I didn’t, I walked as fast as I could and did not look back until I got seated and buckled.  Yea, me.  Joe was lucky enough to be in Tulsa to pick him up for his fall break and then me and the kids met them both at a truck stop.  Joey got out of the truck and came running to meet me.  All I could see was a grown man with a little boy’s face… all smiles.  The only thing I could do was cry and  thank God for this.  I still am to this day.  I thank God for giving me the opportunity to experience all of this.  All the up’s and all the down’s.  It has really helped me grow inside.  I think it has also helped me with the other kids as well.

The day we took off for ORU!

Speaking of other kids, Sierra decided that she wanted to stay in school and since I haven’t had problems with her teachers and the fact that she is a excellent student, we decided that it was ok for her to do so.  I haven’t had to “teach” any of my kids in a long time, so getting use to new schedules and the subjects has been a little tough.  But we are getting through it and Wil actually said that he likes it better than going to school.  I was a little worried about him and being at home.  However, he is doing great.  Sam on the other hand has been trying to get away with everything under the sun.  I might look old in his eyes, but I’m not so old that I forget how kids try to trick others so that they can get out of things.

Last month I fell.  I was upstairs on my computer and I was looking at a crocheting video and trying out a new stitch.  All of a sudden I hear Sierra yell……”Mom, there is a fire!”  I jumped up ran down the stairs and through the living room toward the kitchen where she was.  It was at that point that my feet got tangled in my yarn that had followed me all the way. I fell on my hands and knees.  I fell with such force that I could not move for several minutes.  I had to have Sierra help me get up.  For those of you who do not know, I had my right knee operated on about 2 years ago this next summer.  Oh and there was no fire.  Something had gotten under the burner while she was cooking and it sparked up.  I had a nasty looking bruise for a couple of weeks on my right knee and I have been getting pains in both of them off and on since.  My hands were for the most part fine. Just a little red the first night and a little stiff the next day.  But they are doing good now.  Yea, me.

My surgery

As most of you know I use to live in Indiana.  Well, I am still  registered to vote in Indiana.  So on the 6th., I gave the boys a half day of school and we drove over.  All the while I was trying to explain to them all about election.  Sam still can’t understand why it is that we the people won’t let God be in charge of us and not have a President.  They watched me cast my vote and thought it was “neat”.  We then went to the mall that we use to go to all the time and then got a bite to eat.  By the time we were coming home it was getting dark.  I don’t drive on the highway.  When I was younger, I did.  But the older I get the less I like it. So we were on the back roads coming home and getting close to crossing the State Line when all of a sudden a huge buck came out and ran into us.  If I had had a few more seconds, I could have missed it.  I called Joe almost immediately after.  He has a great way of calming me down.  I didn’t stop to see just how much damage was done because where I was, there was not enough light to have done so.  I figure, once I was home I could use the large lantern and see everything.  Well then the engine started getting hot.  So I had to stop and let it cool off.  Then we would start down the road again.  She would get hot again and we would stop again.  It wasn’t until we crossed the State Line and was in Ohio that a car stopped.  The man inside asked if we needed any help and I asked him if he had any water.  He said no but he had some antifreeze.  He got it out of his trunk and opened my hood and used the entire gallon.  I offered to pay him back and wanted to thank him for helping us.  He would not hear of it.  He just looked at me and said,”Just do something nice for someone else.”  He asked me if we had far to go I told him where and he said that he would follow me into town because he was on his way to the hospital.  That man was no ordinary man, he was an angel.  We would not have made it home had God not sent him along that road to help us.  When Joe was able to come home he said that the pictures did not do justice to the damage.  Deer can really tear up a van.  I am officially an animal road killer.  During the past year I have killed birds, ducks, and now a deer.  Big or small they should stay off the road when I am driving.  I told Joe that there needs to be some kind of scent coming out of the exhaust to warn the animals that I am on the road.  Yea,me.