All Kinds of Things

What a busy few days we've had!  I feel like I write that all time but I'd like some relaxing days sometimes!!!

Thursday we took the kittens to get fixed and the older cats for their shots.  I didn't pick them up until Friday morning.  When we went in to get them, there was a very odd lady there who had a baby kitten.  She said she'd found it and it hadn't eaten or wouldn't eat in days.  She keep walking in and out.  She didn't want the kitten.  She had a 2 or 3 year old with her that was actually holding the kitten in a towel.  I was so worried I offered to take the kitten.  The staff was laughing at me because they know me from all of my rescues.  Anyhow we brought them home and luckily one of our nurses took the kitten home with her. 

 

 

 

 

Shad and I really wanted to keep her but since Gladys was leaving for the farm, we are really trying to get our cat population down not up :)

 

Then I went with Steve to register for classes.  He was able to get the classes he wanted and a great schedule.  He also applied for some on campus jobs.  It's so cool to relive my college experience with him.  I absolutely loved my years at Southeastern and love to see how excited he is to start there.  We've always wanted him to have the "fire in his belly" for whatever he chose to do.  We are finally seeing it with the anticipation he has for school.  His major is Communications/Broadcasting.  He jokes that he can always use this in the prison and do all their broadcasting.  We are so excited for him

On the way home we saw this guy by the side of the road.

 

 

So you know I had to get out and look at him. 




I'm pretty sure the gator was dead, it smelled and he didn't respond to noise but  I didn't' get too close!

Saturday was our Variety Show at church to raise money for the Fine Arts trip.  I committed Jon and I to it for one show but it turned into 3 shows so it was a very long day for the kids (and us too)  But we had a really good time.  Jon and I sang an old Johnny & June Cash song, "Jackson".  Well we mostly lip synched to be honest but we had a blast and had the whole place laughing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jon was wearing black since Johnny Cash was "the man in black"

 

 

 

the whole gang

 

 

Jon's dad and uncles grew up as friends with the Cash family.  They were all sharecroppers' together in southern Arkansas in a little town called Dice or Dyce.  The town was a FDR experiment with communal living.  Basically each family was given some land & a house.  They were allowed to work their land and sell the profits.  Then there also was like a community farm.  Jon's Uncle Harvey, was mentioned as one of JC's best childhood friends in JC's last biography. 

 

We always liked the song "Jackson" because it starts out "We got married in a fever, hotter than a pepper sprout."  It's not a song that usually is sung in church tho LOL! 

 

 

The variety show raised all the money needed for them to go to Fine Arts thanks to the generosity of all that gave.   We had great door prizes thanks to some wonderful local businesses like the Village Inn, Zephyrhills Cinema, Happy Cow, Sunrise Eatery, 5 Guys and a Burger, Hobby Lobby, Zephyrhills Bowling Alley, Sonny's BBQ,  and some more I'm sure I'm forgetting! 

 

 

So after a busy few days, we are happy to be relaxing this rainy afternoon at home watching Netflix :) 

Happy 4th of July pictures!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!  Here's some pictures of our day.  We stayed home and just chilled out.  Steve had some friends who stayed over Friday night and Saturday morning I used a whole box of waffle mix to feed everyone.  That was the start of our day.

 Then after those guys went home we just relaxed and enjoyed a thunderstorm on our porch.  We all love storms, probably me most of all. 

It's funny when I was a kid, I'd almost get sick on my stomach when a bad thunderstorm happened.  But not anymore.  I love to watch and listen to a storm.  This time a year, we get about one a day.  July 4th's was a big one...but as you can see we got a rainbow afterwards.....right in our yard!

In 2004 when we had all the hurricanes, the first one was "kind" to us.  We were staying at my brother in laws as we were in the middle of moving.  The storm was amazing.  No thunder or lightening just crazy rain, so we decided to play in the rain...yep...it was like being in a warm shower.  I can't believe we did that but we ran up and down the street.  Steve and his cousins had a blast.  We probably would not do that again but at the time it was a lot of fun.  It was a memory for us.  Of course now I'm a much more "afraid of something happening to my kids mom" than I was back then.  I have a whole blog in my mind about that subject if I can ever sit down and put my thoughts in writing.  LOL  Anyhow here are some pictures! 

 RAINBOW'S END! 

 

 

Sarah is quite the rocker in her little rocking chair.  She is very intent on what she is doing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We've been babysitting Snickers our friends' dog.  She stays right with me....all the time....every step I take....every move I make....

 

 

 

Selah got her Hoyer lift.  We'd hoped to get one that attached to the ceiling but our insurances would not pay for it.  I was afraid this equipment would be too large but it's not really.  It's smaller than her stander.  She actually seemed to enjoy it, it is almost like a baby swing.  It is used to move a person from one position to another without the caregiver having to pick the person up.  I think it will be used a lot as she gets older.  Our nurses are all trained on it and know the advantage for them and for the patient.  It prevents falls and broken bones. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today I ran into a Dollar General to pick up some snacks and they had a baby pool for $4.  I bought it for the kids, but it looks like the kittens have taken it over! 

 

 

The kittens are scheduled to get spayed Thursday.  Poor babies but we don't want anymore cats!  Gladys aka Mama Cat is going to go live on a farm.  She is not getting spayed quite yet, our friends need some barn cats.  I'll be sad to see her go but she was rescue cat, she just wandered up one day pregnant....she prefers to be outdoors and she can be on this farm and have a place to go when it rains.  She should be very happy. 

 

Our dog disappeared during our move.  She left our old house, must have gotten out under the fence.  We looked around for her but one of the farms around probably took her in.  Most of our neighbors in the area knew Brownie, we all know each other to wave at each other and to know each other's outdoor dogs but few knew we had a new dog.   It's funny how you "know" folks by their animals....LOL that's how you know you live in the country.   There has been someone at the old house almost daily as it is being redone for one of our church members to live in.  I thought the dog might come back and we put out food for her but no one has seen her.  The way our friends "found" her is that she just wandered up to them.  Seems that is her MO. 

 

 

Well we have discovered the joys of Netflix- I'm pretty much addicted!   I've never been much of a tv watcher, I'd rather read a book than anything but I'm enjoying Netflix way too much!  I'm restricting myself to a move a day now so I can get things done :)  Today I watched "From Here to Eternity"  Yesterday I watched one of the "High School Musicals" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Men in Black II" .  You see why I'm restricting myself!    We've watched some classics like "Footloose", "Urban Cowboy" "Saturday Night Fever"  All had way more cussing than I remembered!  One movie we really enjoyed was a WWII "The Man Who Never Was"  Watch it, it tells a story about a real turning point in the war. 

 

I did get something done today

 

21 meals (22 if you count the ones she ate for supper)  put away in the freezer for Sarah.  Beef stew, Taco chili and chicken noodle soup.  Everything is pureed and ready to go, just needs to be heated up for her.   I love doing her meals so I know she is eating good.  Buying baby food or soups to puree doesn't make me feel like she is getting good nutrition.  It's challenging to have a child who can't/won't chew.  There are many meals that can't be pureed for her like sandwiches, or pizza....  So I worry about her getting enough calories and the right kind of calories.  In the meals I make for her, I add a lot to them and make them thick.  For breakfast, she usually eats oatmeal or grits and always has a bowl of applesauce.  She gets at least one  Pedisure a day with a banana and some other fruit in it-usually  strawberries or blueberries.  . She also likes yogurt, I buy the big containers so she can have plenty, those little cups are not big enough for her.  I love the squeezable fruits, I buy boxes of them for her to have.  She will ONLY drink Capri Sun pouches.  So we get the kind that has a full fruit/veggie serving.  If she runs out of them, I have to feed her her drink spoon by spoon.  I don't understand her at all.  I've tried using the straws from the juice box but she will not drink from them out of a cup.  I literally have to spoon feed her the drinks.  You can be sure we do not run out of juice boxes very often!  I do have to feed her the pedisure with a spoon, she will not take it any other way...so I sit there and do it.  I tried to wait her out one day but she absolutely refused to drink and cried so I was more afraid of her getting dehydrated, even tho all her food is pureed...so I gave it to her after lunch when she wouldn't drink!! 

 

 

Well this week continues to be busy.  Tomorrow Selah has an appointment in Tampa in the afternoon.  We'll probably get rained on.  Seems to happen every time we go in the afternoon. Thursday the cats are all going to the vet- that'll be fun.....    Steve has an appointment on Friday at his college, he's signing up for classes, buying books and we are meeting with financial aid. Saturday we are in a Variety Show at our church 

 

 

 

 

Jon and I are actually singing or lip synching to Johnny Cash's song "Jackson"  We have amazing door prizes so if you are in the area, please come.  It will be fun.  Come see us!  You might win a pie! 

Putting it all together!

Well I'm a liar!  I thought having wonderful FIOS internet connection would mean I was on line more but I've not been.  We are still busy on the little things you do when you move.  It seems we've had lots of little things to do.  Me being the weirdo that I am find it hard to relax with things undone. 

The kids are doing good, Sam is finding his way around and Sarah went down the hallway on her bottom the other day.  She was looking for me.  Selah seems to love her room and her sleep has been great.  She used to wake up every night around 3am but has been sleeping most nights from 9pm-6am which is perfect.  Selah is able to have showers daily!  Before we only gave her a shower weekly as it was hard and dangerous to get her down the narrow hall and into the bathroom..  She would get so stressed out and it was scary getting her in.  She had to be carried sideways which was dangerous for her and for her nurse or Steve.  Now she can be wheeled from her bed, in her bath chair right into the shower.  She loves it.  The nurses love it too.  We also got her a Hoyer lift, something we will need as she grows to move her safely.  Her room is so spacious and airy, she can sit in her chair at the window and seems to enjoy it.   It is so wonderful for her to have all these conveniences and for that I am so very thankful.  . 

The big kids are doing great too!  They love the house and the WIFI, of course.  Even tho they have their own rooms, they tend to play video games or watch tv in Steve's room until it's time for Shad to go to bed.  I love that they like being together even when they don't have to be:)

We're busy.  Our church gave us a housewarming shower last Friday.  Man we were so blessed!!!  A dear friend bought us rockers for our front porch!  Now it looks like home!  Everyone was so generous.  We outfitted Selah's room with a microwave, fridge, coffee pot, a tv ( a nurse brought in) and wifi.  Our nurses are happy.  They worked for 2.5 years in a small room, having to share a bath with the whole family.   Now they are able to have some comforts too. 

I'm so tired every day it is pathetic.  I tend to wake up early as our room has blinds and faces the east.  Once I'm awake I can't go back to sleep because I think of all I have left to do.. Then I stay up late....   All my aches and pains are back with a vengeance.   Somehow in the move, my "bird finger" aka middle finger got hurt and has stayed swollen.  My husband says it's poetic justice because I 've used it too much over the years.

But the house is great.  We are just getting used to it.  It seems more like a resort at this point than our home.  After we'd gotten everything out of our old house, I went back and had a good cry.  Almost a decade of memories were in those small walls.  Some sad times but mostly happy times with my favorite people on earth.  It's been renovated because we have someone moving into it. 

Today we took Sam to Neumour's Children's.  We decided to try an eye specialist there.  Our doctor in NY would like us to have someone near us to follow Sam.  We'd tried an adult ophthalmologist but he seemed too overwhelmed with all the "extras" that is Sam's eyes.  We were pleased with this young doctor that we saw today.  She seemed to be willing to work with Dr A and actually knew of him.  She tried checking Sam's eye pressures but with an implant it is next to impossible.  But if she was right, his pressure is around 23 which is too high.  Dr A tends to check his pressure just by feeling the eye and by comparing the optic nerve to pictures he'd taken before of it.  He'd warned me not to ever get too excited about a reading that someone else does who is not familiar with corneal implants.  So I'm trying not to.....She is going to call Dr A and see what he thinks.  We were planning to go to NY in Sept or October but may have to go sooner if there is really an issue going on.  The pressure measures how the glaucoma is doing.  A reading of 14 is good....19 is worrisome....above 20...is not good.    So we wait and see what is decided.   We did love to watch Sam play with the toys for the first time ever. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's some pictures of my/our work. 

 

 

From White to.....

 

 

Black

Doesn't it look so much better?

I painted them first time ever for me.  I need to add a second coat but I will wait till next week

 

 

Someone gave me these bar stools, the kittens like them as you can see!

 

 

 

 

 

Walmart special.  Looks pretty good!

I FINALLY got my books out of storage.  I felt like kissing them!!!

 

So with the second hand (actually third hand couch), table and chairs from Salvation Army, second hand bar stools and 4 bookcases from Walmart...I spent about $350 on the whole living room and it looks great. 

 

So along with FIOS we have CABLE TV.  Don't laugh at me!  I've lived with satellite tv for  over 11 years.  Nothing like satellite for going off during bad weather.   AND we have NETFLIX which I still do not quite understand nor do I know how to work it but thanks to Shad he takes care of it for me.   I realize that we are just coming into this century.....and for all you folks who live in a big city DON"T laugh at me!    There was a time that you'd never heard of high speed internet or Netflix either...it may have been ten years ago but still.......LOL

 

 

So things are good, just still busy.  We are hoping for some "down" time this weekend.  Maybe I'll figure out the remotes :)

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

Marriage

The Bible is what defines Marriage to me.

Genesis 2:24  "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one flesh." 

And in Mathew 19:4 Jesus shares this verse and truth again. 
And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

That settles it for me.

I'm going to believe what the Creator of this world and all that is within and not what five people in black robes say. 

What a change a week makes!

We went almost a week without internet or tv.  Basically I got my news off of my phone from FB.  Of course we heard about the terrible shooting in Charleston and the amazing response by the church and the victims of this horrific tragedy.  God bless them.  They have shown the world how to react to tragedy as Christians.  They've shown forgiveness- I don't know if I could do what they've done.  I pray God is with them every day and that He will continue to give them the strength to go on. 

Then after all that news I start seeing absolutely crazy posts about people going nuts about the Confederate flag.  I didn't know how the shooting and the Confederate flag played in together until a friend told me that the shooter was pictured with the Confederate flag in the background or holding it.  And the news kept coming....soon their were calls to change the name of streets, schools and monuments....even the Dukes of Hazard because they had some relation to the South's past......

My great great grandfather fought in the War on the South's side.  He was no slave owner.  He lived as a small farmer near the banks of the Steinhatchee River in Dixie county.  From what I understand of our family's history, his parents or grand parents were probably indentured servants themselves.  He lived well into my grandmother's and great aunt's life time and talked about the War to them.  From every story I was told ( and believe me they didn't try to tidy up anything) he fought for state's rights.  He had no dream of owning slaves.  I'm not saying that slavery was not a part of the War but it was not the only part at all.

I have no great love for a Confederate flag, don't think we have one.  I don't really care if it flies at a state capital or not.  But I do care about the rewriting  or sanitizing of history

What came to my mind immediately upon hearing all this crazed rabid talk, was that we are living in a country that is becoming like communistic China.  Our history is being rewritten and erased.....that is exactly what happens in other countries.  Are we going to let it happen here?  That worries me. 

So Wal-mart and other companies are no longer selling  Confederate flags or things that have that image on it.  But yet they sell nasty music and other things?  Come on.....this is nuts!

The CF has never represented to me slavery or racism.  I've seen black people wear clothes with CF flag symbols on them.   When I think of the CF (which I don't too often) it just symbolizes the South. 

You know everyone has differences.  Southern folks are different from Northern folks.   I have more in common with a Southern black person than I do with a Northern  white city person.  That's the truth.  I lived up north in NYC for about 5 years, I really know there is a difference.  It's not that one kind of person is better, just different. 

Now I do think about my friends who are black, I don't want to see anyone hurt by anything but I don't really think this was a real issue. 

It amazes me how something gets all blown up in the media!

What the media SHOULD be focusing on is the love and forgiveness that the church and family of the victims are showing. 

A flag did not cause this shooting.  I've seen a picture of the shooter holding a burning  American Flag.  Does that mean that we attack the American Flag next?  I've seen it called for already.....

And don't blame the gun....There are millions of gun owners in America who will never use a gun for a wrong purpose. 

We have several security plans in place for our church.  I'm not going to discuss them here but we are prepared if we ever have to deal with something like this.  It could happen.  We had something happen a few months ago that made us all more cognitive of the need to be prepared. 

Did you know there was ANOTHER church shooting last weekend? A black man killed five people in a black church.  I just caught a snippet of a news piece about it.  Isn't that interesting?  A black on black crime is not widely reported by the media.....

When a Muslim extremist does something we are told that the person(s) are not acting for the whole group.  Yet when something like this happens, the media goes nuts.  And every talking head or politician is busy trying to out do each other. 

Folks we live in crazy times. 

New House!!!!!!

We have moved!  We had the House dedication on Wednesday afternoon.  It was roasting hot!  But a beautiful ceremony.  We estimate about 200 people came to the dedication, or came later.  We got to see some friends we haven't seen in years and meet some new friends. 

Thursday we were up early ( 4:30 am I woke up)  We'd packed two of our vans before our friends got there to help.  Then once the whole gang, about 15 people helping) we got the big truck packed and several trailers and we were off!  To be honest, our friends helped keep me focused.  it was a huge job and I found myself jumping from one thing to another.  By Thursday night we had our beds over and spent the night here!  We were not expecting to spend the night till Friday.  We brought Sam and Sarah's twin beds and their cribs but by the time we got ready for bed, we were too tired to put the cribs back together so we put them in their beds....both of them went right to sleep:)   So we are a crib-less family!!  They've both done fine.  Sam will put himself to bed.  He climbs right up in and pulls his blanket up. 

Friday we had help again thankfully!   We moved Selah's room.  Two of our nurses took her out for a while and everything got moved and put back together for her.  She was a little stressed that night but she soon understood that she was ok and not in a hospital and she has done excellent since.  She is actually sleeping better.

Saturday we with the help of the H Family (who had been helping daily) got almost all the boxes unpacked (expect for the books and DVDs) 

Sunday we went to church and did a little work on the house.

Monday one of my best friends came and helped me hang some of our pictures & rearrange some knick knacks.  Her home is very "clean" and that's how I want to do ours.  I've never had too many things up on walls but I could be tempted here to get a little too much things up if I'm not careful. 

Tuesday we settled in more and I got two crock pots going for Sarah.  I made her beef stew and chicken noodle soup.  Then I pureed it all and she now is back in business with "her" baby food brand.  She was tired of the canned soups of the last few days.  I make her own 'baby food" and I make it thick and with a lot of ingredients to try and ensure she gets her full nutrition.  She also drinks some Pedisure shakes that I add fruit too.  Sometimes she can eat our meals if they are kinds that will puree.  It just depends so I like to have plenty on hand for her. 

Today we got our internet & cable up!  HAPPY Day!  We have REAL internet!  NO more satellite!  YEAH!  Now I have no excuse not to blog. 

So it's been a wild few days!  I just really want to thank everyone who helped us move!!  We couldn't have done it without all the help we got.  It was a huge job-the biggest move that we've ever tried but it went smoothly thanks to all the willing helpers we had!

Habitat for Humanity outdid themselves on this house.  Every little thing was thought out for our family.  The house is absolutely wonderful.  Selah's room is amazing and our nurses are so happy.  Their job is so much easier now.  It's been great to see their expression and happiness. 

Sam and Sarah have done much better than I thought they would.  Sam is starting to explore the house some.  He has figured out where the front porch and the swing is for sure.  Last night I asked him if he wanted to go swing and he led the way.  So I sat with him and rocked him while we listened & watched the rain. 

Sarah has adjusted.  The hardest thing for her is that I've been so busy and she wants me to hold her.  We've had a wonderful young lady helping us with the two little ones and that has helped her a lot.  She likes her various toys that roll, she has plenty of room to scoot around. 

So here's some pictures.....


The long road to our house.....

 

I love living off dirt roads.

 

 

HH planted Confederate Jasmine  for me!!!!!!  It's growing like crazy in front.

 

 

 

Front porch swing

 

Patio

 

 

We've not got a lot of chance to enjoy the backyard yet.  It's literally almost 100 degrees daily with high humidity.  Then by the late afternoon the thunderstorms start. 

I LOVE the pines trees so we put the kids playground back there.  The pine smell is my favorite.  There is just something about the smell of pine needles that brings me back to my childhood.  The town I'm from Perry Florida is THE Pine tree capital so I guess I get my love for pines naturally.  The big pines in the backyard is what made me fall in love with this property the first time I saw it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The storage room is full

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selah's suite!

this is her bathroom.  the shower is fantastic.  She used to get a shower once a week and a bed bath every day.  Now she can get a shower daily.  In our old house, it was very hard to get her into the bathroom, but not here!

 

 

 

 

 

this is today:)  Selah is enjoying the big chair.

 

 

 

the cat's area

 

 

Sam's and the other kids' bathroom

 

 

the laundry room which has been in great use as always

 

 

Shad's room

obviously we have not done all the decorating.  Shad has Star War pictures to go up

 

 

 

 

our room with our own bath

 

 

 

Sarah's room

 

 

Sam's room

 

 

 

 

 

Steve's room

 

 

 

Kitchen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My plan is to sand and repaint the dining room chair and table with black trim instead of white.  I've got everything bought but I'm a little afraid to do it but the white just doesn't do it! 

 

see the little half door?  That's to keep Sam out of the kitchen and safe!

 

So I hope you've enjoyed all the pictures.  We feel so blessed by all that was done for us.  If you are wondering Habitat for Humanity helps families but the houses are not free.  We still have a mortgage, insurance and taxes.  But there is no way we could have afforded a home that was handicapped accessible for our kids without Habitat's help.  We had looked at homes on the market and what we could afford, was about the same size of the home we already were living in.  And none of the homes had anything that was handicapped accessible, we would have had to have them all remodeled.  But with some much labor, materials and even the land donated, this home became something we could afford for our family.  We are truly grateful to everyone who had a part in this.  It makes life so much sweeter and easier for our kids, especially our little ones. 

 

http://tbo.com/pasco-county/pasco-family-overwhelmed-with-gratitude-for-new-home-20150620/

 (article about dedication)