Joanne Heim

Family Matters (Toben)

This has been a good week to be a grandparent in our family. Adrey spent a very fun day with Joanne's parents at Cherry Creek State Park. She went boating, did a little fishing and ended up in the water fully dressed! She returned home with a great attitude, a smile on her face, and a killer sunburn! All signs of a good time. And she thought she didn't like camping.

Emma spent the day with my parents yesterday. They ran errands and then Emma got to go to the dealership with my dad to pick up his new Honda CRV. She was very proud to be the first official passenger in his new car. Then they came up for dinner and my sister Bethany took them swimming. After wards a great classic American dinner--baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green been casserole, and stuffing. Oh, and cranberry sauce. What a treat!

After that Audrey decided she would go down to the Springs for a sleep over. We'll get her back sometime today.

Family is so important! As I look back over the last year and a half since Joanne's stroke I am profoundly struck that the experience would have been totally unmanageable without the support of our families. I literally have no idea how we would have survived without them. And here is the blessing--we still all love each other! With the stress and strain and constant presence many families go after each other and fall apart somewhere along the way. But we have managed to stick together with just a few bumps and bruises along the way. God is good! We will keep praying for his blessing and thanking him for keeping us all together.

Other news: Looks like we are getting a new roof after the hail and wind storm that passed through a coupe of weeks ago. It;s not a done deal but the insurance adjuster is recommending us for a replacement roof. What a blessing that would be! We need a new roof, no question, but to have insurance cover it would be amazing!

School update: For a number of reasons Audrey has decided to go to Cherry Creek (public) next year. She really came to the decision on her own but it is a really great thing as there is no way we were going to be able to afford to send her and Emma back to Denver Christian. On the DC side the news has been disappointing. There isn't much financial aid for Emma. We need to come up with about $4000 to cover her tuition. I have to admit that I have been discouraged over this situation. We have given so much to the school of our time and energy that I really thought they would make a better effort to keep us there. And Emma is a kid that really NEEDS a Christian middle school. She has such a tender heart. So we are in the process of figuring out what to do and calling out to the Lord for guidance. The cool thing is that Sister Kristen had a garage sale for Emma's tuition fund and made almost $1300! That's great! But we still need to find more money. Pray that God opens doors and shows us a path to keep Emma at DC! I feel like making bumper stickers: "Keep Emma at DC!"

Joanne news: We went to the podiatrist this week. Joanne's toes on her left side have been causing her pain and curling under. They don't hurt as badly as they did a few weeks ago but they are still bothering her. The podiatrist, who is also a surgeon suggested clipping the tendons and fusing Joanne's toe joints together to keep them straight. But this would be in violation of Joanne's New Years resolution: No surgeries in 2012! The podiatrist said no problem and to keep an eye on things to make sure nothing gets worse and we'll take it from there.

Other News: Living Proof Live is next weekend and everyone will be headed down to that. Joanne is really looking forward to that She has seats reserved in the front row!

Audrey saw a pediatric psychiatrist this week and is starting on a mild anti-depressant. She has really struggled with sever mood swings and he thinks this might help. He also gave her something to help regulate her sleep. She was going to bed at 9 some nights and at 3 on others. She was all over the place. He says regular sleep will help set things right for her.

Emma is a delight. Not sure what else to say about her. She shows such love and care for her mom that it breaks my heart. She is precious. I do worry about her taking too much responsibility but I think she has hit a good balance of being attentive to Joanne but still being a good, healthy 11 year old.

Wow this post has gotten LONG!

Prayer requests:

1. Please pray that Joanne has a BLAST at Livign Proof Live. This could be a real spiritual pick-me-up for Joanne. Please pray for all the logistics from getting her in and out to availabilty of handicapped restrooms, etc.

2. Please pray for Audrey and her meds that they would work wonders and help even out Audrey's mood swings. Also pray that she doesn't have some of the negative side effects that can accompany such meds.

3. Please pray that God provides for Emma's tuition gap. Very rarely in life have I been forced to my knees to plead with God for something like this, but that's the position that we are in. Simply, we need God's provision!

4. Praise! Through all the trial of the last year Joanne and I have a stronger marriage than ever! We have pulled so much closer together and we are in sync like never before. I love the opportunity to help her and care for her and she knows now beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am crazy about her.

5. Finally, a big praise for family, without whom we would be up a creek without a paddle. Praise God for loving, Godly parents who have surrounded us with love and support.

Toben

 

Everyone In The Pool

Yesterday was a big day! We went to the neighborhood pool, which has been a staple of our days in summer's past, and Joanne got int he water! Now, this may seem like a minor deal but for Joanne to go in the pool is a big accomplishment. First of all she had to overcome the embarrassment of being carried into the water. As you can imagine it makes her feel a little weird to have me scoop her up and get her in the pool. But she did it. And what a great time she had. First, she walked around the edge of the pool and then one of the lifeguards grabbed her a noodle and she floated around for the better part of an hour.

I can't image what it must have felt like for her to be weightless after having so much stress on her body for so long. And I know it felt good on her left leg-ankle-foot to be in the cool water. After she was done I scooped her back up and we got her back on her lounge chair. She really enjoyed herself, and that's not an everyday occurrence around here. Most days it's survival mode, but yesterday was fun! We will definitely be back at the pool again many times this summer.

The downside of the whole thing, if there is any, is that I didn't use sunscreen. I sprayed down Emma and Joanne and thought "I'll just stay in the shade." But apparently when you sit under a pergola you only get the "illusion" of being in the shade. I have a striped sunburn. And it hurts. Alot. Next time I will be wiser and get that sunscreen going no matter what.

It was hot here yesterday getting into the low 90s but today it is a much cooler 70 degree day so we are all out on the deck enjoying the nice  weather and a cool breeze.

One last thing: May dad turned 70 yesterday. He and my mom went to Aspen for a few days to celebrate but we will get to celebrate with them on their way back through town tomorrow. My dad is a good man and is entering a great stage of life where he will be able to enjoy his hobbies (biking, photography and hiking) and his family and friends. I am so excited to see what fun he can have and our family is lucky to have him in our lives.

Prayer requests:

1. Praise for Joanne's new-found love of the pool! You could pray that we find a better way to get her in and out rather than me just scopping her up and walking her in. The pool director said they are getting a lift, but not sure if it will happen this summer.

2. Praise for my dad's new adventure as a retired person! Please pray that he has a good, long healthy life ahead of him to enjoy.

Toben

All's Quiet (Toben)

Everyone is still asleep. Even our early-bird Emma. I can  tell that summer is upon us. everyone is staying up a little later and sleeping in a little longer. I am still up and about at my regular time--Joey the cat must be fed at sun up and stands on my chest staring at me until I do something about it. SO I shuffle downstairs, turn on the coffee and feed the cat. Then I do little tour of the down stairs. Picking up this and that and tidying up a bit. One thing about our new reality is that was are much less concerned about how clean the house is or isn't

We do a pretty good job on the main floor. I vacuum from time to time and run a broom over things. When I get really crazy I get out the mop and go to town. But the reality is things aren't like they used to be when you could literally eat off the floors (as they say). Joanne always kept a perfect house. We have "relaxed our standards" since the stroke.

The upstairs and basement are a different story. Anarchy reigns! I do try to keep things tidied up but "the stuff" just multiplies and gets the best of me. The girl's rooms a re a mess, although from time to time it gets so bad that they feel a desperation to clean and they get in there and get mot everything put back where it belongs. Audrey did her room last week and Emma did hers yesterday. I think it came down to the fact that they had so much stuff int heir rooms that there was no where to lie down and go to sleep. So at least now we can see the floor in both of their rooms and all the big stuff is put away. Still, miles away from the standard we used to keep, but it is what it is. Other things have taken on more importance.

The basement is still craft central. Although Audrey moved out to the driveway yesterday to experiment with bleach and it's chemical impact on Denim. She had a blast made some cool denim shorts. Besides that, she smelled very clean all day!

Looking forward to a good weekend. Audrey is off to SkyLinn's house later--they are going to a carnival of some sort tonight. And Emma, Joanne and I are planning on hitting the pool for a while. The weather is supposed to cooperate for the next few days.

We did make it to the pool one afternoon last week and I was struck by how non-handicapped friendly that environment it. The parking is far away. The stairs are right there but the ramps are way off ot the side and definitely represent the long way around. There is virtually no easy way to get Joanne into the water other than to just scoop her up and carry her in, which is pretty embarrassing for her. It would be great if the pool had a lift that could get the special needs folks in our neighborhood into the water, but so far no dice. We will continue to experiment about how to get Joanne in the water. I would think it would feel amazing to her to get in and be weightless for a while.

It's getting a little silly but we still haven't hear back from DEnver Christian on additional aid for the girls Starting to feel like maybe they don't want us there next year! After much consideration and a lot of discussion it looks like Audrey is going ot go to Cherry Creek HS and emma will return to DC, assuming we ever hear back from them. Audrey has articulated that she is ready for a big change and a change in schools could be just that. Her BFF is going to public next year and that has Audrey  feeling a little more confident about trying it out. Of course my first option would be to keep them both at DC but I just don't see that happening at this point.

I think that's about it.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for a fun summer for the girls. They deserve it! Last summer was sort of lost as Joanne had come home from Spalding and we were in full blown transition mode as to what life at home would look like for us. For this summer I would love for the girls to have  some adventure!

2. We need to hear back from Denver Christian. Period. I have emailed everyone I know to email and will be taking to the phones this week to try and get to a real, live person.

3. Joanne has a Beth Moore conference at the end of the month down in Colorado Springs! So excited for her to do but still a little apprehensize about a night away. Her closest friends will be there to help her and I think they have even scored front row seats! Please pray for a great time for Joanne and her friends!

Toben