The Easter Story

I've been doing the last minute preparations for my achievement day class and thought this would be a good time to share. We're putting together the 12 Eggs of Easter, or The Easter Story In 12 Eggs (I prefer the latter).

I was first introduced to this by a missionary sharing a message with my mother when I was visiting home during my college years. I thought it was neat, and using the compilation I was given, put together a set for my family and for some friends. Needless to say, we used it once or twice after having kids before it could no longer be found (I think I may have given it away thinking I would make a new one, only to discover I couldn't find my original copy of the information).

As I prepared for this class tonight, I did some research and found several different versions of this same general project. None were exactly what I had originally had - some may have had the same scriptures throughout and others may have had all the same symbols, but mostly they had some of both. Don't get me wrong, the basic scriptures relating specifically to the symbol were always there - though sometimes the story itself would not be complete. So, I drew from that, and from my bag of "symbols" that I've had all these years, and put together my own version of The Easter Story in 12 Eggs - because I wanted the story and the symbols, not just one or the other. So this is my version - which anyone can use to their liking!

Please note that this was designed as an LDS version using the King James version of the Bible. Feel free to use the general idea and your own bible to create something that works for you.

The Easter Story in 12 Eggs
(You may choose to open & read each egg on Easter or one a day for the 12 days prior to and including Easter)

Directions: Open each egg in order. read the scriptures and set out the symbol for all to see. If doing this over 12 days, place symbols some place where all can see them, lining them up as they come out of the eggs as a reminder to think about and ponder the Atonement and the Resurrection.

Day 1: Matthew 26:26-28, 36, 39, 42, 44 Sacrament Cup
Day 2: Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50 3 dimes
Day 3: Matthew 27:1-2 Piece of knotted twine
Day 4: Matthew 27:15, 17, 21-26 Chunk of hand soap
Day 5: Matthew 27: 27-30 Piece of red fabric
Day 6: Matthew 27:31-33 Nail
Day 7: Matthew 27:35-37 Dice
Day 8: Matthew 27:45-51, 54 Broken rocks (gravel)
Day 9: Matthew 27:57-60 Strip of white fabric
Day 10: Matthew 27:62-66 Flat stone
Day 11: Matthew 28:2-4, Mark 16:1-5 Bay leaf & cinnamon stick
Day 12: Matthew 28:5-6, 16-20 Empty (leave egg empty to represent the empty tomb)

He Just Might Be a Truck!

After prayers and scriptures are done, then Peter gets one more turn at the potty (it means he's likely to be dry in the morning). I was cleaning up the cookie mess (No, Bob... they're not for us, although you may eat the dough in the fridge) when he triumphantly comes out naked with pajamas in hand. He proceeds to put on his pull-up (his choice over night the last two nights), passes gas and then starts laughing.

When I asked what was funny, he said "I just had gasoline!"

Another Mile Stone?

Monday night I told Peter to go get his pajamas and a pull-up so I could help him get ready for bed. He replied with "not pull-up! Undie-pants, Mom!" And thus started the week of undie-pants to bed. He wakes up dry most of the time anyway, so I figured I better roll with it (after all, who knows how long this will actually last anyway). I also thought, well, if he's choosing undie-pants for bed, I wonder if that means he'll go back to undie-pants during the day....

And so it has - the whole week without pull-ups! He had one accident during the day on Tuesday. Not sure what happened, other than he doesn't like someone else to tell him to go potty and he was use to wearing pull-ups because that's what he demanded, and he doesn't care to use the potty when he's in pull-ups. He also had one accident the third night - not really awake, though wet enough that he was fussing loudly and I got up to change him and his bed. He didn't remember any of it in the morning!

The first night was great - he woke up once and called for me, I took him potty, he was dry in the morning. The second night he slept all night and was lightly damp in the morning (as if he was trying hard to still hold the enormous amount of pee in his blander) and the bedding was completely dry. The third night - well I already told you that.

Last night he went to bed, got up about 20-30 minutes later, by himself, went potty. I helped him back into his jammies. He got up another 30 minutes later and did the same thing. After that, he got in bed, went to sleep, and even slept in an extra hour and half for him this morning, and was completely dry! He's been so trilled today - and the only "trouble" we seem to have is if I suggest he go potty (though if I tell him I'll go with him and gently take him by the hand he seems to be okay with it). He's been going potty by his own choice for the bulk of the day and has not had a single accident. He really seems to enjoy the praise and the attention associated with being a "big boy"! I'm liking the idea that we'll be down one more set of pull-ups!

Now.... here's hoping the enjoyment of "Big Boy" and the comfort of clean and dry undie pants doesn't wear off!

Some Thoughts - Some Concerns

I saw this video on my friend's site - please go HERE and watch. It is a little over 10 minutes, but the message is sound and worth hearing. (just go to the video at the end of the post)

I know there are many who feel that everyone has a right to insurance - and as such, fully support Obama's latest designs. However, the way in which Obama and those who are pushing and have pushed this legislation is not in keeping with the Lord's plan - one which is secured in Agency (the right and responsibility to choose for ourselves). It is not in keeping with this because it forces all people to have insurance, even those who do not want it. I believe everyone should have an option - but I do not believe that it should be mandated. Agency - true agency - is what keeps us free, allows us to progress and ultimately brings us eternal happiness.

To top it out, there is now a clause that allows Obama and his family as well as other House and Senate representatives to be completely exempt. This goes against the constitutional amendment number 28.

Yes, there are issues which need to be addressed. Things which ought to be offered in a way which all can choose instead of things which some people can choose and others never have a hope. But taking the "quick fix" road destroys rights and freedoms. And more importantly, destroys the responsibility we each have to exercise agency to the best of our ability.

Our country was founded upon sound principles and upon a sound understanding of Christianity. It is these things that have kept us free for so long. Support Christianity and your country by understanding what the Lord's plan really is. If you don't, you will find yourself without the freedoms you thought you were securing. Think eternally - think of the long term - look at all the points - don't become blinded to the the full truth by the "painted picture."

Gabi's Baptism

As promised, here are some pictures of the night!


It was a big deal working up to this event. First because Gabi had spent the last couple of years telling us she was ready and asking why she couldn't get baptized yet. But also because we talked to her and encouraged her to truly find out for herself if the gospel was true. She read the Book of Mormon completely twice through on her own. We've been reading it as a family all a long and then she and Bob started reading it together. She's prayed a lot, listen to talks, studied the Friend magazine, and never wavered in what she believes.Then there are was the mom in me which wanted to make her dress. Lynne and I picked out fabric, and Gabi choose the pattern. Over several weeks, we measured, cut and sewed. The dress was gorgeous - though I don't think any of our pictures really do it justice. Gabi loved it and, of course, looked like a sweet angel when she was wearing it.

She choose family to do most of the program. She had two friends offer the prayers, Lynne and myself do the talks, Bethie read a poem, the four kids sang a song, Papa and my sister, Clarissa, sang another song, Bob baptized her, and Bud confirmed her. It was beautiful.

Another special part of this was that she invited three very close friends to attend who are not members. Two had other obligations already, and the third came with his mother.

It was a special and exciting night for Gabi - and such a wonderful spirit was felt! It was truly wonderful! I'm very happy with Gabi - for her desire to learn, to know the truth, and to make such a big choice in getting baptized. I could not be more pleased with her!


All pictures were taken before or after the program - some look like they are during, this is because they were taken during the musical rehearsal.

Baby Update

Had another appointment yesterday - if I keep gaining like this, I'll easily surpass the amount I gained with Gabi (which was my highest weight gain of the other four). But, there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it. I'm hoping with the warmer weather and life finally calming down that the boys and I can get out and do some walking again. I don't have a lot of hope that it will slow the weight gain, but I figure it just might put me in a better position for loosing it faster when the baby comes. If nothing else, it will help me feel good.

I measured a little big - but since I grow them big and already know the little guy himself was measuring big, I'm not concerned. We did have an interesting listen to the heartbeat yesterday. We got to hear a clop, clop sound instead of the usual swish-swoosh type sound. Apparently we were listening to just one of the heart valves. Nothing to be concerned about, just that the doppler was pointed in such a way that it only got one valve. This is, supposedly, very hard to do. I figure baby was in a position that just helped that. It was kind of neat, having never heard the heartbeat like that before.

I also asked the doctor about the terrible leg pains I've been having. They aren't the normal charlie horse muscle cramps. This hurt is directly in the bone and has nothing (or seemingly nothing) to do with shifting of bones (such as when the hips pop in and out). The doctor said it sounds like I'm calcium deficient - apparently what I described is a very common indicator of such. So, we'll be starting on Tums daily (to start with) which at the very least will help with the acid reflux which seems to be mounting as the weeks progress. I'm just glad to know there is likely something that can take the pain away - this means, if it works, that I won't be waking up in the night hurting so bad that I can't hardly move and can't go back to sleep. (I had even tried Tylenol and it didn't even touch the pain)

All in all, things are going well - baby is getting big - and we're about 15 weeks out! Not quite in the third trimester, but very close!

Tire Swing

One of the many joys of this neighbor has been the elderly lady up the road letting the neighbor children come and play on the tire swing in her front yard. The boys especially took advantage of this and played on it frequently. The girls also have enjoyed it when they've been able to get up the street.


Well, for reasons of necessity, the tree had to come down. We became the proud new owners of the tire swing and it's now set up in our back yard. It's been great not only because the kids love it, but because Beth had been in a non-stop jungle gym mode since before we moved here. Now she has something to climb and play on that helps to get some of that climbing energy out (and not in the house).

Gabi's Party

Okay - so busy is starting to turn back to normal - which is a whole different kind of busy. Time to post some pictures!First - Gabi's birthday! Yes, she really had one (though at times if seems forever away). She is really into nature right now, so she chose to have a nature party. We debated, for a short time, on an overnight, but decided this is not the year for it. Instead, she had 6 friends and a few of there siblings over right after school for games and make your own pizzas. The pizza thing is a trend - Gabi loves pizza and loves to make it part of her party.
The day started out "okay" - I was finishing up the house and decorate her cheesecake with Wilton's meltable (and dyeable) chocolates. Everything seemed to be coming together. Then we ran down to school to "celebrate" with her class bringing mini-cheese cakes topped with chocolate and a strawberry slice. This was fun - but it was beginning to rain. It was still sunny at the time, and the rain wasn't too bad, so I hoped everything would hold out long enough to do the outdoor nature scavenger hunt. No dice!


By the time the kids we coming home, it was raining pretty hard. Fortunately on of the parents loaded everyone (including Bob) into their car and brought everyone up - so at least they weren't drenched when they arrived. It was kind of funny to watch everyone get out of the car - think the never ending clowns out of a tiny car.

Since the scavenger hunt couldn't reasonably happen, the timing of the party was off - it was certainly apparent that it was "done" about an hour early. We got through - chaos as always for a Gabi party - and it was a lot of fun for the kids. They played nature charades and animal bingo. They also played musical chairs and started to play hyper dash. Busy, busy - noisy, noisy!


So, she turned eight! And once the party was done, it was complete focus on the baptism! Eight is great!

Still Here

So it's been a long time - or something - I've rarely even gotten on the computer.

Things are fine, Bob's done with grades, normal is back, the house is staying relatively clean again, I'm hurting more and more in my joints - which nights of severe pain in the leg bones clear from my hips to my ankles. Apparently I was diagnosed with arthritis when I was a young teenager. I don't remember that diagnosis, I do, however, remember being checked for crippling arthritis and I guess that now makes sense as to why. Early onset arthritis does run in the family. Anyway, no idea if that's what's causing it, but it's certainly not like anything I attribute to pregnancy given past experience - but then again, since when was this one normal for me?

Anyway, my hips are starting to do the pop out thing, making it hard to walk or at least get up and down and get started walking. It's rather painful for those first couple of steps - so I've been reading alot. But, when I'm not frustrated with Gabi's dress, I spend the sitting down sewing. It's nearly finished, but I've not touched it all week. I need to take out a few stitches and readjust to make it do exactly what I want. And we had Gabi's birthday party - I'll be posting about that later.

Family is coming in this week - and Gabi will be baptized at 6:30pm Saturday the 20th. It's amazing to think this is really happening! Anyone in the area is welcome to attend. For that matter, anyone out of the area who wants to travel is also welcome to attend. She's very excited - and so are we!

That Time Of Year Again

There are good and bad points to every job. So, first let me reassure everyone that I'm very grateful for Bob's willingness to work, to work at a job that makes a difference to a lot of people, and one which, mostly, he enjoys. I'm also very grateful that he has a job - especially when we keep hearing about others around us who are struggling to find one. It's a job that allows him to provide for our family, and thereby we are blessed.

That being said - there are times when I really wish he worked a different job - generally fleeting moments, but never the less, they are there. The last couple of weeks have been one of those moments. The hours he puts into school work prior to progress reports, late work notices and report cards is always amazing. He's contracted for a set number of hours - and yes, I realize to anyone looking from the outside, those are the only hours they see. And to look at those contracted hours, one might think he's got an incredibly great deal. After all - afternoons, evenings, weekends, all holidays, plus Thanksgiving week, Easter week, and something like 10 weeks in the summer sounds great! It looks great on paper too.

What's not shown is that his contract also requires him to meet certain criteria - like grading his students, parent teacher conferences, and so on. These things are not typically preformed during contracted hours. In otherwise, though they are a necessary part of his job, he's not actually getting paid to do any of them. Does that make sense? See, he's allowed to leave the school by 2:45pm - oh, but on Mondays, though contractually he's allowed to leave, there's a staff meeting. And typically on Wednesdays and Thursdays I'll often find he "can't leave", though he contractually could, because there are parents lined up to meet with him about his students.

When it comes to grading - well, he could be a no grades teacher, but then how would he know if his students were understanding the work. He has lots to correct. There is not enough time in the school day (especially in the current position he's in) to prepare lessons and grade homework, tests and quizzes. It's not uncommon for Bob to stay at school until at least dinner time and often later, getting the work done or caught up. And then comes the progress reports, the late work notices, and report cards. For the majority of the week leading up to these events, he will be found at the school working until the middle of the night - some where between 11pm-2am.

I won't pretend that all the time is spent at the school working in such situations. Take tonight, for example, he's the scout master so he had to take a break for a Court of Honor tonight. But, up until then (skipping dinner) he's been correcting and he's going right back after to finish it up.

Bob's a teacher who cares - there are lots of teachers who care. And one of the marks of such a teacher is their willingness to put in long hours for which they are not paid. I admire this in him and in the teachers I've met at the school he currently works for. They certainly practice the concept of care and concern for learning. They want their students to get a good education, to learn, to enjoy learning and they care about each of their students individually. It shows. But it means they put in a lot more hours than they are contracted to.

Though on many levels this does not bother me (especially on the "normal days" - the work until dinner days), during the worst moments (the last nights leading up to progress reports, late work notices and report cards) life gets rather stressful around here. We all notice the difference between Daddy being home for the bedtime routine and when he's not (consistently). The kids and I usually do well for a couple of days, but then it sort of falls apart. The kids stop listening to Mom, Mom stops having patience, our house becomes a zoo (monkey's flying through the house, kangaroos on the furniture, lions and tigers ripping everything to shreds and leaving it all lying around, etc), and we're grateful to still be in one piece when we go to bed at night.

This is not new for us - one might think we would have finally figured out how to "keep it all together" during these times. I'll admit, generally speaking, we're doing a lot better than when the kids were younger, but we still all have our ways of showing that the family is somehow not as complete when Daddy is missing.

Grades go in tonight! That means normal is coming soon - and Daddy's empty space in the family prayer circle will be filled once again! Relief is in sight!

Baby Names

We don't typically play the baby name game until later - or as my husband has reminded me "it's not the third trimester yet." I think that has something to do with when we were expecting Gabi and I had a whole list and we went through names like they were going out of style... had very few we could actually agree upon. When it came down to it, we had two names for Gabi - the one could only be used if she had black hair because it was Spanish and I just couldn't imagine a Spanish name on a blond... Gabi had black hair for all of one week. So much for that theory. Needless to say, she wasn't actually named until she came.

Bethie was even harder because we didn't learn that she was a girl until she was born. We had a boy's name picked out - though I could not, for the life of me, tell you what it was. And it was the night before going into labor with her that I suddenly had a first name for a girl. Her middle name was written on a scrap of paper and handed to me to okay before the nurses were told her name. Yup... we just take our time.

Jeremy was hard for a number of reasons - and we did finally settle on his name before he came, but not certain enough to announce his name before hand. And Peter - well, I knew his first name about four days or so before he came. And I knew the middle name would be one of two. I was in labor when we decided.

Anyway - though we take our jolly good time about it, it's not like names aren't discussed at least on some level... normally between me and the kids. This time, well, I don't have any names sticking out like sore thumbs just begging to be tried out. Apparently this is one boy too many - or I'm just lacking the brain cells to compute. (Most like it's the latter). So I've been asking the kids what they think...

Part of the problem is we've got some Thomas the Tank Engine fans around here - and as anyone who knows Thomas the Tank Engine will know, there are a lot of names used up there. Not a big deal except that Peter is so into it that any name they have that we might have wanted to use ever now screams "TRAINS! THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE! FRIENDS OF THOMAS!" So that makes it hard already. (But as my husband already said, we're not in the third trimester yet - thus we're not really trying to come up with a name yet)

The cute part to this is that the other day when I asked Peter if he had any ideas he comes up with Isaac. "Isaac?" I said, "Where did you hear that name?"

Beth piped up with something about Gabi's friend back in Maine. To which I said, "yeah, I remember, but I don't think Peter does." So I asked him again "Where did you hear the name Isaac?"

And Peter's response "Because Isaac was a prophet."

(Yeah, we've been listening to the Prophet song which will be used later this year in the Primary Presentation)

Funny Appointment

I know I need to post something with pictures - but that will have to wait.

Yesterday we had another appointment. Being in a rather good mood -most likely because I've been dealing with children who are less than willing to be respectful and obedient when Dad is not around and they were are a sitter - it was a rather humorous visit.

First the doctor tried to tell me I was at 27 weeks. We corrected him, and he glanced at the chart again and tried to tell us again that I was 27 weeks. After a minute of that, he looked closer at the chart and noticed the first markings were listed at 12 weeks, so decided I was at 16 weeks. Nope... corrected again - he looked at the chart again and finally just got out the little dating wheel all over again. Wanted to know when my due date was - so I told him - and I'm guessing he tried to go backwards from there... and ended up with 26 weeks.

Trying not to laugh - because we know I'm not that far along - Bob finally told him when my last period was and he started all over with the wheel going the right direction... bingo - 20 weeks 4 days. It was very comical.

After that, things were pretty much normal routine. Baby was good about hiding off to the side - not unusual - but was found fairly easily this time - let's hear it for baby getting to be too big to really hide! And I got paperwork for my glucose test - which I'm thrilled to report does not involve drinking that nasty "soda-like" sugar drink! Oh how I dislike that stuff! Unfortunately, it does mean I need to have my blood drawn again - and since the first time here I was bruised for over a week (this is not a normal thing for me - my veins have always been good and easy to use and therefore, except when I had hyperemesis and was seriously dehydrated, I've never bruised before - never - and I gave blood all the time)... anyway, I'm not looking forward to that again! Hoping to get someone who "knows what they're doing" - in that they go with the bigger vein, not the small one way off to the side that no one else would touch unless they had to, and that they do a clean stick and draw - not the jab you and wiggle it all over the place routine! Oh well.. we'll see what happens when we do it.

Anyway - it would seem we're both doing well - healthy enough to not worry about! Up 7 pounds - which seems crazy considering the back and forth of gaining and loosing and then slowly beginning to gain again - but then I found that's not so abnormal in the second trimester - just abnormal for me. Always put on my "bulk weight" in the third with my other four.... so, just another way this baby and pregnancy are proving to not follow the pattern - but being much more "normal" in terms of the book.

White Fabric

I finally washed Gabi's fabric for her baptism dress. I'll confess I was nervous to do so because the one fabric cannot go through the dryer and I was a bit fearful as to what might happen in the washer. I'm happy to report, the washer did no harm! Anyway, because the fabric could not go in the dryer (and thus the dress will always have to be hung to dry) I hung up the fabric in the living room (freshly cleaned from yesterday) to dry over night while little hands couldn't ruin it.

Wanting to be sure I got it put away before hands got sticky and yucky from the days adventures, I headed out - and took a picture (last night the lighting was perfect to catch the beauty of the fabric as it glistened.. not so much this morning). Then I proceeded to gather up the fabric and fold it to put away until little hands were preoccupied and I knew I would have sufficient time to pin and cut.

As Peter watched me do this, he said "Is Gabi getting married? When's the wedding? Can we go?"

Too cute - that even at his young age glistening, pure white fabric means marriage!

Snip, Snip

Last weekend I finally "fixed" Gabi's bangs. She had been working on a project for school - laying down, bent over whatever it was she was cutting and caught a small chunk in the scissors. I had waited for a few weeks because it was short enough that it would have just looked awful... for that matter, even now that we've "evened it out" it doesn't look great. Her bangs are still rather short. But, since she'll be getting baptized next month, I wanted plenty of time for everything to grow out - to not look so "freshly cut".

Anyway, while I was at it, I trimmed the bottom of her hair - it'd been at least a year. And then moved on to Beth. I think I should have done what my mother always did for me - flip her over the table and just cut one fresh, straight line. Natural layers and maybe more luck with the curls. Beth wanted layers, so that's what we did - and though her hair is cute, we rarely see a curl any more. And even though I layered it with the longest layer on the bottom, shortest on the top, it's acting like it was cut the other way around. Yup - it has a slight curl under (if you can call it a curl). Very cute, but we miss her dancing curls. I'm hoping that within a couple of weeks (when the hair fully relaxes and realizes it doesn't have to hang like it's heavy) that the curls will start to pop up again. Water does help a little - but we'll just have to see.

The good news to the short hair cut (which she's not had in at least two years, maybe three) is that she can brush it herself - and she doesn't wake up with horrid rats nests that have to be ripped from her head! It looks healthier and more full. And it's still long enough to pull up (and her hair grows really fast) so dance recital should not be an issue.

I'll post pictures after I locate the camera (which seems to have found a new home) and after there have been a couple weeks to see what the hair will really do.

What We Do Matters

Back in November, the father of two boys (both classmates of my girls) was killed in an emergency helicopter flight accident after delivering a patient. Though I do not know this family - not really - the accident impacted our family as well as our children. Our hearts have pulled and hurt for them.

The younger boy made a connection with me when I volunteer - so much so that whenever he sees me he runs to me for a hug. He's so precious, so innocent to it all. And so hurt. His brother has likewise been hurt and even angry at times. His reaction was so strong and so confusing to Gabi that she asked me about it back in December.

It was a wonderful discussion that we had about how grief affects different people in different ways. That the important thing for us was to remember that they were hurting and continue to be the friend we were before the accident happened. Gabi has spent many a night and day sobbing for the hurt of this young boy - while at the same time reaching out to him and being his friend even during the times when he tried to shut everyone out.

Today was full of valentine parties at school. The girls were eager to look over all their precious valentines when they arrived home. Gabi pulled one out - a very special, way more than expected valentine. She was the only one in the class to receive one. It came from this same boy because he was grateful for her continued friendship through all he's been and continues to go through.

Gabi was not looking for reward or compensation. She was simply reaching out to a friend in need, refusing to turn her back on him. She was shining forth as a remarkable example of Christ-like Love - true Charity.

Our family is so blessed and so lucky to have her as part of it. Her example shines through and we are constantly learning from it. But what amazes me most of all is that this little boy noticed - and it made a difference. We are always watched - our examples are seen by all around us - and what we do really does make a difference in the lives of someone else.

Things To Do

Yesterday I took Lynne to the airport so she could visit Marie's family (and help out with the new baby). We're excited for her return so we can see lots of pictures, but truly hope she has a terrific time while she's there!

While in the area, she and I stopped in and found fabric for Gabi's baptism dress! Gabi had told us several things to look for, and in the end we found stuff that we were fairly certain Gabi would really love, but it wasn't exactly what she told us to look for. We went with it - and sure enough, Gabi loves it! She's so excited. I'll be cutting out the pattern between today and tomorrow and then she'll help me get it pinned to the fabric on Saturday. I'm not sure we'll get it cut Saturday - likely I'll wait and do that part once the girls are back to school this week. Gabi will get to help with some of the sewing - though it will be limited - since she's had experience already with sewing clothes and she wants to be involved!

But, the bulk of the day today will be spent trying to get the house back in order. It's gone rapidly down hill - at first it was because sick kids (even with just a cold) are cranky and mean and I was too tired because I spent my days dealing with that instead of slipping in a nap here and there.

Then, because that wasn't enough, I cut my finger last Friday night. I was cutting onions and apparently had my finger set just right to slice a small chunk off. Fun. Washed up and wrapped up - but knocked around numerous times - and it was throbbing by bed time - it kept me up most of that night. The next day it felt a little better - I figured it must have been positioning - but then the pain picked up again. With some Tylenol I got through a good chunk of the day (reading a book mostly) but finally gave up. After a shower, I unwrapped it to reveal a slight infection and then, on the completely opposite side of the finger, what appeared to be a second infection - or at least fluid gathering. I guess that should have made sense since that's where the pain was radiating from (at the worst points it was all through my hand and running up to my elbow).

Well, I had Bob rewrap the finger with some really good, heavy duty, antibacterial cream, took more Tylenol and laid down. When I woke up, the pain was contained to the finger. This was good - and we had it rewrapped another time the same way - the fluid pocket appeared to be going down, though we were only treating the actual cut on the finger.

Yesterday, I noticed what appeared to be a change in color at the "fluid pocket" tip of my finger at the top of the band-aid. I pulled it off, the sliced part was healed enough that there was no longer a flap of skin to worry about (just tender with direct pressure), but I definately had an infection at the "fluid pocket" - which no longer appeared to have fluid. It was a weird whitish - yellow at the tip, but there was a "blood stain" under the skin that extended most of the way to the first knuckle. Needless to say, the finger is still being wrapped, but the antibacterial cream is being focused at this other point - already the "blood stain" has subsided...

Who would have thought onions were so deadly?

Anyway, so the house is no where near ideal, and that's what I'm attempting today.... we'll see if I can put that finger in water for dishes - but even not, there is plenty else that has need to be completed!

It Would Seem...

that we're having another boy.... Peter may not have gotten his twins, but he did get his first choice of brother... the girls, on the other hand, don't think it's quite fair.

Safe Arrival

It's my understanding that our nephew made his grand arrival last night! Welcome Eli Scott Johnson - 8 lbs, 20 inches long, nurses say he's a red head.

Okay - so the details come from Bob who talked to (I believe) both his mother and his sister... but he's a guy and sometimes such details aren't as detailed so we'll forgive him if we're off a little.

Congrats, Marie and family! (Peter's excited that his cousin has red hair just like him)

To Make Me Smile

We've been pretty lucky to not be sick much or for very long this winter... especially when you consider we moved to a new location, which normally spells trouble for such things. But, this week we've had a cold moving through the family - rapidly, but it's still around since it didn't hit everyone all at once.

Last night the boys came down with all the wonderful symptoms - mostly just a crazy runny nose with runny eyes. Nothing that can't be survived easily, just symptoms that make you shake your head and yell "ARGHHH"!

This morning every time Peter's eye would fill with tears and start to spill over and he needed a tissue to dab at it, he'd yell to me "My eye has water in it! My eye has water in it!"

Though I know the feeling of runny eyes (by far worse than a runny nose in my book), I couldn't help but smile. The way he said it, and with such innocence, not frustration, was just way too cute!

Nature Lovers Unite

Talking in the wee hours of the night with Bob, I learned that Gabi and at least one other friend had started a Nature Club at school. He didn't really have any details, but said he hoped it wasn't (and wouldn't become) exclusive and have to be shut down.

So this morning, as I'm preparing her breakfast, Gabi starts to tell me about the Nature Club. I don't know how many people are in it, though it's enough to play tag and hide and go seek. But not just any tag or any hide and go seek... their first order of business was to create their own versions in a true nature theme. It's Monkey Tag (and, no, I don't remember how to play that one) and then Lion Hide and Go Seek (where when the lion is done counting he / she just creeps up on the people never having hollered "ready or not" - when the lion tags someone, then the lion yells "NEW LION" and everyone scatters to hide again while the new lion counts).

She's hoping as it warms up that they can look for birds - she's excited to have at least one other member over to "play" while they explore the nature around them.

Seriously - what a great club - and so easy, since, at least for now, it's all kid ideas that don't cost money and just explore what God has given us all!