Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Thankful

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving! And a few adventures. The night before Thanksgiving we went to church, taking two different cars. Marc, who should have arrived early, still hadn't arrived half an hour into the service. And all I could think of was:


He hit a deer . . .
He hit a deer and is in a ditch somewhere . . .
He hit a deer . . .
But at least my house is clean if everyone has to come over to comfort me in my grief.
I promise that last part was just a little thought in the midst of my panic, but I will admit, it did cross my mind. {Shame on me!} I finally had to send my brother-in-law, Dave, out to call him, but Marc pulled in the church parking lot just as Dave called him. Turned out it was not a deer, but he was rear-ended on the expressway by a dad trying to deal with a toddler tantrum in the backseat. Everyone was fine, and the damage to both cars was minimal. So we had extra reason to be thankful!

That night, we went back to our house to celebrate Dave's birthday. I mention this because a neat thing happened as Dave was opening his presents. Ryne volunteered to read a card that my mother-in-law gave Dave. Dave has had a tough year, and the card reflected that. It was very sentimental and beautifully written, and Ryne got teary reading it and said, "That was a sad card." I've written about Ryne's soft side before, but it is still encouraging to see him develop these connections.

Photobucket

Thanksgiving day went smoothly and was such a blessing. Dave had two of his college-age kids there, in addition to our family of five and my mother-in-law. Marc gave a beautiful sermon devotion on thankfulness.

Photobucket


Photobucket

We then spent the rest of the week relaxing, having fun, and staying up way too late. Marc's mom left the Tuesday morning after Thanksgiving. I think we were all ready to get back into a normal routine, but it was not meant to be. I woke up with a horrible cold and Anna woke up with a 104-degree fever. And to top it off, Jessie, our old black lab, was having problems. She had peed on the rug in the kids room, and was sleeping in it. I finally realized it was because she couldn't get up. This is just the latest in a series of medical issues with this dog, so I fell to pieces, thinking this was the end. The piano teacher was scheduled to arrive in an hour and I had to go out to the garage to call her (to cancel) because I was bawling and I didn't want to upset the kids. I'll spare all the details, but Marc came home from work, we took her to the vet and it turned out to be another manageable problem, so it was not the end for Jessie. Marc made a joke that this dog must really be a cat, because she is getting really close to using up her nine lives.

So I spent the rest of the week being sick, only to discover that the world didn't stop while I was in bed. In fact, the Christmas season is in full swing and I'm not ready! Oh, we managed to have a little festive fun before I got sick.

Photobucket

But by this time last year I was already done with my Christmas cards. And homeschooling? Don't ask. I think, by default, we will now be schooling through the summer. But I'm not going to panic or try to squeeze too much into December. Ruthanne's article over at The Homeschool Post helped me put things into perspective. I do not want the busyness to detract from our celebrating of this beautiful season.

Mind you, that is not going to be easy because we are starting what is possibly the craziest thing Marc and I have attempted in our almost 17 years of marriage. We will be refinishing our basement so Anna can have her own bedroom. My dad is coming later this month to help us get started and we're planning on begging everyone we know for help, but I still expect this to be a year-long project. Marc and I have made a promise that no matter what happens, we are not going to take out our frustration on each other. We are just going to laugh. We've done enough home projects to know that things will go wrong. In fact, right now we're laughing because it looks like we're going to have to move the stairs. Ha, ha, ha . . . I can't stop laughing.

Whew! How's that for an update?

5 comments:

  1. Wow! Let me give you a big ol' Southern "Bless Your Heart!" I am so glad Marc is okay and that your dog is okay, for now at least. I had to laugh, though, because I have had similar thoughts about whether the house was clean enough for tragedy to occur. Ryne is precious. Your house is beautiful. I will be praying for your remodel. Remodeling... leads me to end this long comment with another "Bless Your Heart!"

    ReplyDelete
  2. How beautiful of Ryne, such a blessing to be thankful for! And can I just say 'Wow'. You've had a few days to reckon with. I have those weird thoughts when Eric is late coming home from work. I just keep making dinner, trying to figure out what I'll do next and will I over come the grief. Isnt' there a scripture... sufficient is today's trouble!?..lol.
    anyway... wanted you to know, DONT' SELL THE BLOG! :) We enjoyed more of LIberty's kids complements of Blue House Academy's generosity & fun-loving, sharing spirit! My son is engrossed and can't wait for the next installment as we are studying loosely the United States & our Country.
    Can't thank you enough. I mentioned you today at a playdate, and am thankful that you're all ok, including the dog. We have an older dog too, incontinent & old. But she protects us and loves us, and is keeping my feet warm while I write.
    Blessings on you and yours- Laura

    ReplyDelete
  3. Move the stairs? I think I would have to laugh, too ~ or I'd be crying.

    Thanksgiving sounded lovely. I'm glad Marc was okay. I can certainly relate to the other dad ~ toddler tantrums happen quite frequently in the backseat of my van. :D

    Your Oreo turkeys are adorable! What a fun idea.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your pictures are wonderful!

    My husband and I have been through four remodeling projects, with the last one making us move out of our house for FOUR months (and kids were then 6, 4, and 1). And, just when we got back in, we accidentally conceived our #4. Talk about stress! LOL We made it though, and feel like since we made it through that, our marriage can handle about anything.

    Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Aren't those moments with Ryne so very precious? I am thankful that God blesses us with hearts to see those moments and I always pray that I won't be too "Martha" to miss those times. You've been hit with a lot these past weeks but I'm encouraged that you aren't going to push and stress about missed school. I feel like Christmas just "hit" this year too! And though I only have one home student, I'm always trying not to let the busyness come before the lessons. This is why I'm thankful for our August start each year - lol!
    Blessings,
    Andrea

    ReplyDelete