Here are a couple of videos and pictures of the kids racing their cars at Awana a few weeks ago. They all did great. Caleb won third place for novelty design (an egg cartoon with one cracked egg), Andrew won second place for novelty design (a scroll with a verse written in Hebrew), and Olivia won first place for speed (using her Canadian Flag car). She actually set a Manitoba track record with her car...very exciting.



Here's more...

On the Road Again!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving Weekend. We left Sunday and went to Gerald's parents house. We dropped the kids off and then Gerald and I went to the city to enjoy some time alone. We had a very nice dinner together and enjoyed some quiet time. We also did a little shopping. We were back at Grandmas before the kids even went to bed.

Monday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the family.

My mom has been in the hospital for the last week. Her first round of chemo just about did her in and she has been slowing recovering in the hospital. The pneumonia is still a concern, but there are rumors that she is about to be discharged. The kids and I are going to head down to Montana in a day or two (depending on when the discharge happens) to help take care of her. Her doctor has ordered her to rest and not do any work whatsoever! So we will be there to make sure that she follows those orders. We are so thankful that she is doing better and that we once again have the privilege to help take care of her. That will be her one and only round of chemo - she has decided not to take any more.

Gerald will once again hold down the home front. It is never fun to be separated as a family. If you live in our area please check up on Gerald now and then while we are gone. In September when we were gone I heard that he ate several meals of cheese sauce and chips. :(

The kids are excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Pust again. Pray for our safety in traveling, to stay connected even though we are separated, and that my mom would continue to improve.

Thank you very much,

Sandy

Mental Health Day

I am more behind than ever!!! Have you ever felt that way? Some of the lists are in my head and some are actually written down. Today I feel overwhelmed with it all and so far haven't done a thing except teach school. Don't get me wrong - we have been busy. We've canned apple juice and apple butter. We have also canned pizza sauce and salsa. There are tomatoes on the counter and tomatoes in the freezer. There are cut up peppers in the freezer and way more peppers sitting in the garage waiting to be taken care of. There are also several stalks of celery sitting in pails in the garage waiting to be taken care of. I've made desserts for fundraisers, watched my nephews for a weekend, supervised piano practice, taught school four hours every day, picked apple for the children to host a fundraiser, completed all the necessary paperwork for police checks and child abuse registry for helping out at Awana at the church down the street, said no to directing at Awana. I've harvested seeds from my flowers and stored them away for next year. I washed, dried, and folded countless loads of laundry. I've taken Andrew to the doctor and then onto the pharmacy to get new asthma medicine. We've been to the library to check out books, and driven kids to birthday parties. We've attended a presentation on Noah's Ark, got together with our home school group to kick off the year, had our first gym night, and I've attended two mom's meetings.

I've been busy!!!

But the list doesn't seem to get any shorter. The bathrooms desperately need to be cleaned, I need to make an appointment for flu shots and for Andrew's vaccination (I'm only a year behind on this one). I am always working on lesson plans and making sure that I haven't forgotten anything - although I did discover today I am about a week behind in assigning a science project to Caleb. I am always planning meals, cooking, or doing dishes. The house hasn't been dusted in - well, I can't remember since when. The extra bedroom has become a catchall room that is starting to look like - well, one of those houses that you read about where authorities enter the house to find only a trail accessible. The rest of the room is covered in junk. Those peppers and the celery in the garage need to be taken care of in the next day or two. Floors need to be cleaned, living room picked up, and still piano to be practiced. The garden plants need to be cleaned out as do the flowers. And then there is the quilt that I would love to finish and the next child waiting for theirs to be started. When is there time for that??

So today I am going to curl up on the couch with a cozy blanket and do nothing. That list isn't going to run away and I need a day off. It is a mental health day for me. Maybe I'll make a cup of hot chocolate and look at the quilting magazine I checked out from the library. Everything will seem better in the morning.

Sandy

Grandma' s House

The kids and I arrived home last Saturday evening after being at my mom's house for a week. The kids didn't really want to come home yet. They did miss Gerald but thought that he could just come to Grandma's house. They had a very good time - even though Grandma was recovering and spent lots of time in bed. They were good helpers too, mowing the lawn, watering flowers, feeding the birds and squirrels, and helping in the house with dishes and anything Grandma asked them to do. Grandma Katie also spoiled the kids by sending me to the video store so they could watch the original Star Wars trilogy. They were thrilled and loved them!


We also decorated cupcakes and went to the nursing home to help my Grandma celebrate her 95th birthday.



We also enjoyed beautiful sunsets!!


My mom is still recovering from her surgeries. She will be starting chemo shortly followed by radiation. We had a great week at her house with her and feel so blessed to have been able to help her out. The following picture is one week after her surgeries!


This past week was spent getting back into our normal routine here at home and connecting as a family again. Tomorrow I hope to get some work done in my garden and enjoy a quiet weekend.

Sandy

Off to Montana...

This past week flew by much too quickly. We had another great week of school, the kids started piano lessons, I had an appointment with the doctor about my shoulder, the moms of our home school group met to plan the year, my mom had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, and we let Andrew open his birthday present early.

School is going great - I am loving that we are organized and the school days are running smoothly. The kids are getting into the swing of the routine and picking up where they left off last year.

I had an appointment on Tuesday for the surgeon to evaluate my arm. He sent me for an x-ray and I will see him in three weeks. We assume the plan is still to try another cortisone shot. The surgeon (he is doing the shot - we are not considering surgery) wants to be sure which tendon is giving me all the problems before we precede. It is almost a year since my shoulder first starting hurting.

Our home school group is gearing up for another year. We love being part of this group. We are planning a penny carnival for the kick off. The kids have some great friends in that group and so do I!!

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a little while ago. This is a secondary cancer in that she was diagnosed with multiple myloma several years ago. She had surgery Thursday to remove the tumor. They got most of it - but not all of it. Three hours after her surgery they took her back into surgery to try to get control of the bleeding. She is still in the hospital and starting to recover. The kids and I are leaving in the morning to head down to Montana. We plan on being there when she gets out of the hospital and spend some time at home with her helping her out. We packed up all of our school books. We will have school and help mom in any way that she needs.

Andrew's 10th birthday is on Monday. His birthday wish was for our family to spend the day together, have a scavenger hunt, and have brownies to eat. Since then Grandma had surgery and we will not be together as a family. We let him open his present tonight. He was thrilled - a new watch! Hopefully on Monday we can do something to help him have a special day. He told Gerald that he has a week to get his scavenger hunt ready.

We would covet your prayers for the next week,
Sandy

Weekend News

We finished our first week of school. We're off to a good start - the week went smoothly and it feels like we are starting to get into a routine. For the next few weeks a few more things are added to the schedule. We are attempting to keep the schedule somewhat simple this year - we will see how successful we are at that.

To celebrate the arrival of the weekend and the successful first week of school we had a fire last night.It was nice to sit and relax as we watched the flames.

This is how Caleb looked - see what he is holding in both of his arms!

Do you think he wanted to play catch??? He asked Gerald if he thought his knee was good enough to play a little football catch. When Gerald told him yes, he would throw with him but not do plays or running Caleb acted as if he won the lottery. He ran to the garage, got both footballs and sat down on the chair by the fire to wait. How patiently do you think he waited?

Later the kids played with their swords - something they have been into for a long time already.

By the way, the boys took the last two pictures. They are definitely getting better at using the camera. They love to take their own pictures.

We spent all morning in the basement cleaning and rearranging. If I would be honest I would admit that the basement only gets cleaned about once or twice a year. We went through ALL the toys and cleaned out what was broken or what the kids didn't want any more. We changed things around so that it is a little more user friendly. We also rearranged the school room. It is nice and clean down there - a good accomplishment!!

Tonight Olivia helped me make Cream of Broccoli and Cheese Soup for supper. The carrots, celery and onion came from the garden. They were picked, washed and in the pot within a few minutes. Olivia informed the family at supper time that the soup was very healthy! That is one of her favorite meals.

We're looking forward to a day of rest tomorrow!

Sandy

Wordless Wednesday