Sickness

We have been fighting colds around here, but I think yesterdays hike sent little Hannah over the edge, sadly.

She spent most of the morning and afternoon in bed, but I am happy to say she doing lots better tonight!

My youngest treasures have not been sick much, there is some questions running around out there as to whether kids who have suffered some kind of early trauma are sick as often as other kids.  Their early trauma usually puts them on high alert much of the time, hence their bodies are like hyper-vigilant, and possibly this keeps them from getting as sick as other kids.  I am not sure of this, but I do know mine are not sick very often at all.

This was probably the one of the sickest I had seen Hannah with a high fever and sweats.

All this got me to thinking how differently all my kids have been when they are sick.

Danielle my wonderful first-born who introduced me to motherhood----when she was sick everyone knew it because she was a moaner!!  Kind of like she wanted everyone to suffer with her--LOL!  Lets just say we were always very excited when she got well!!----Love ya Danielle :)

Erinn my middle child peace-maker---when she was sick just give her a good book, something soothing for her throat and some quiet and she was happy and would come and let you know if she needed anything else.  We did not so much rejoice when she got better, because she was so quiet when she was sick.

Drew my rough and tumble boy who never stopped---he spent his first 10 months sick and in someones arms, after that when he got sick it was about the same.  He was my snuggler when he was sick, not so much at any other time, because he was so busy all the time.  I almost enjoyed him getting sick, just for the snuggle time!

Caleb my curious kid who is always fidgeting---the few times he has been sick he is up and down and back and forth, as though he would get more sick sitting still.  Kleenex are torn apart and blankets are everywhere!  I just pray we can keep him caged enough he doesn't get everyone else sick with his constant motion and sniffling!

Now my little Hannah the baby of the family---she never complains, I am serious, we are working hard on her verbalizing her needs, so when she says she is not feeling well it is a BIG thing.  Today she stayed all day in her room and I never heard a peep.  I had to keep checking, just because I was worried and she was so quiet.  When the fever went away, I had to go tell her it was OK to come out an join the family. 

So there you got it.  Five kids and  5 very different outcomes to sickness.  I just thought it was interesting and that I should put it down before I forgot the uniqueness of the situation.

Now don't ask me about David--Let's leave it by saying Danielle got it from somewhere!

Joy abounds

 Our at home kids who enjoyed sleeping in till 9 o'clock!  No early risers around here!

 Little Miss Joyful with her Pooh socks.  No, it does not take much to make her happy.

 My boys wrapped my present for me and put it under the tree like this!  Can you guess what I got?

 At least this one was totally covered!  In their defense I guess wrapping a new soup pot is a hard task!

 Drew with his annual traditional duct tape wrapped gift from Caleb and Hannah.

 We did not let him use a knife this year.  It took a while for him to find his treasure.

 As you can see Caleb was very proud of his wrapping of his Dad's meat tenderizer!

 Liberty usually had to get into the midst of things.

And here she is with some help.  She did leave the ribbon around her neck all day!

While we are waiting....

 Thought I would post some catch up photos while we are waiting and waiting for little Fowler to show up!  A grandma has got to keep her mind busy!
So these are from when all the big kids were here this summer.

 We tried some fun "science" experiments while Drew was home.

 Mentos and soda---who knew!

 This one is called elephant toothpaste--peroxide, dishsoap, yeast, and food coloring.

 Yep--gross stuff is always fun :)

 Of course there is always the wrestling when Drew is home.

 He is going to have to start watching out though because Caleb is getting stronger, and you can see him trying to use his Jui Jitsu moves on Drew.

 Visiting with Great Grandma Jordan----soon to be a Great, Great Grandma---yes, that is 5 generations on both sides of the family.

 Gotta love the difference between sister bonding and brother bonding.  Notice Hannah's hand on Danielle's belly.  Hannah loved it!

 Liberty not wanting to miss out on the action---checking out the salmon on the grill with David.

 And though this dog is a tremendous amount of trouble---I think she is very loved.

 Danielle getting in a little bonding with her "little" brother.  Drew really looks like he is appreciating it!

This is his face when he is saying---get it over with Mom!  I love how Hannah is always leaning into her siblings.  No bonding issues there.

Now back to waiting...............

The old guys against the young'uns

 David and Caleb both had the opportunity to run in the Rogue Valley Challenge Relay today.  It is a 100K (62 mile ) race around the Rogue Valley with teams of 10 each running 2 legs.  They stagger the starts to try to get everyone to finish around the same time.  And it worked.  All the teams finished within 1 hour of each other.  Caleb's younger team started at 6:30, with David's more mature team starting at 8.  The young guys did not allow the older team to catch them!

 We knew this would be a challenge for Caleb, as he has not been doing much running and he would be on a team of Jr. Higher who have been training some.  Caleb was the youngest and only knew one person at the start of the day.

 He ran leg 2, which his dad ran with him, which was flat and on the bike trail.  These pictures are from leg 15, it was mostly down hill with a couple of short steep spots.  Both his legs were right at 3 miles each.  And yes, he caught that team in front of him!

 As you can see, he was really pushing himself.  I think to prove his worth to the older guys who were giving him a bad time about not being old enough for their team.  I think he showed them he could pull his own weight.

 Congratulations Caleb on a job well done.  He even ran an extra leg with the last guy because their bike broke down and Caleb didn't want him running along our sometimes scary bike trail by himself.  Here you see him handing off to the girl on his team who was to run next.

 David ran leg 8 along the river and 18 here at the end with lots of uphills through the vineyards,  beautiful, but hard.  If you look closely you can see his teammate across the highway.  They were allowed a wave pass off here due to the high traffic at this intersection and not wanting anyone to take chances getting across.  Love the smile.  YES, running makes my man SMILE!

 His legs are taped up.  I am getting pretty good at  it.  It seems to help his Achilles tendon not be so painful.  For the last 4 years or so most of his arthritis pain settles in his ankles.  He has beginning fusion there, but does not allow it to slow him down if he can help it. Love his little wave to me :)

It was a wonderful day for all.  I finished Hannah's hair with NO burned fingers, but wax all over my carpet :(

I got 3 checkbooks (Ours, David's work one, and Grandma's) all balanced and bills paid!  Yeah!

Drew ran his first race of the season today too and was very happy with his results---Go Cougars!

This and That...

The kids went fishing with Dad today, and as you can see were successful.

Hannah was even successful at napping between the catches and waking up to get the net ready for each catch!

Caleb was successful in catching the most and the biggest fish!

David has been successful at playing well all day--fishing this morning, golfing this afternoon, and dessert with friends tonight.

I, on the other hand, had great plans for my quiet morning with no kids, and other than finishing the small basket of ironing, most of what I had to do today came to frustration and incompleteness.

All I can say is God was working on my get it done attitude and saying, take it easy!

So I will try this afternoon :)

You ever had one of those weeks where you got so much accomplished, you feel very in control.  Well that was my week.  Guess He is reminding me that He is in control and His timing is best.  Though I want to get so much done before we are called away to hold babies :) --guess I am doing my own nesting---  I need to recall that all is in His amazing hands and His grace will cover all my sort-comings and that it is through His hands that I accomplish anything at all.

So now for a few minuted of down time before heading out to jui jitsu and some reading while Caleb is working out :)

I Heart Rogue Valley

 Our family joined many other from our church and other churches around the the valley to participate in I Heart Rogue Valley this morning, and we look forward to hearing Nick Vujicic speak this evening.

 Our project was to paint benches, tables, garbage cans, and signs up on one of the local hiking paths.

Here are David and Caleb working on one of the benches.

You might notice the quantity of paint on both Caleb and his friend Cora, I think there was a little paint fight going on there !

 My friend, Nichele, Hannah and I repainted this really old sign that was barely legible.

We were thankful we were mostly on the shady side :)

Though you can't see it here, Hannah decided to paint her arms mostly white while I was not looking--She looked like my little Oreo.

Fun day, now looking forward to hearing Nick Vujicic speak tonight.  If you do not know who he is, please watch the video and be encouraged. 

A Baptism

 Caleb decided a month ago that he wanted to get baptized.  He accepted the Lord a few years ago during our home group and has just decided he was ready for this step.

 David spent some time with him making sure he understood what it meant.  Pastor Dale spoke with him also.

 And here is our brave boy going first, he was very nervous.

 But very excited to be making this step.

David and I are very excited for what God has in store for this young man.  It has been a struggle for him to get past so much fear to get to this point.  And to learn to trust in a level that would allow him to trust God with his whole life.  We continue to pray that he may grow into a strong young man who lives for Christ.

The BIG fishing trip

 Drew was home for two weeks over the 4th of July.  What a wonderful time!  They were blessed by a trip fishing with our friend Dustin who does lots of salmon fishing.

 Drew started out getting used to a fishing pole after missing out on this for so many years with his running.

 Looking like he is needing to concentrate on how to do this again.

 David showing off the first catch of the day, just posting this for size comparison.  LOL

 Dustin and David with the big trout of the day--HA HA

 Now why would they need such a big net?

 Not yet, I am enjoying teasing......

 OK, now I would say we are getting there.  Hello salmon!

 Yep, stretch him out guys make him look as big as your stories!

 Sadly, he was a native fish and had to be released.

 Preparing him to swim FREE!

 NO--NO  Don't go!!!

 Good bye little fishy!

 Off to try again, look at that pole bend.

 And it is a WHOPPER!  Look at the size of that guy!  Makes David's little trout look even littler!

 I think he is ready to swim away too---and sadly he gets to because he is another native fish.

 And Drew with his muscle man pose with the big fellow!

 David getting in on the action too!

 David's turn to catch one!  And you really have to know David to know how overly excited he gets with this kind of thing.  I believe everyone enjoys watching him go crazy praising the Lord for the experience.

 Love this one of my guys!  They sure look a lot a like in this picture.

 And here is the big guy, not as big as the last but hefty.

 David looking pretty proud of himself!

 And yes, you guessed it, also a native so back he goes........

 And the final cool off jump for the day!

The guys had a wonderful time, though they did not bring any big ones home :(   We praised the Lord for the wonderful day and the awesome experience and the memories made.