Emma is off school for the next few days for Fall break. Needless to say she is quite excited. Although there was some confusion today as Joanne tried to wake Emma up at 6:30 so that she could get ready for school. Emma informed her mom that she wasn't going to school today and reminded her that she is on break! Fortunately Emma was able to go back to sleep and had a nice sleep-in until about 8:00 which is a real rarity for Emma--she is an early riser. She is still in her jammies and I expect that she will probably have a pajama day as there is no where in particular that she needs to be.
Pajama days are celebrated in our house. Do you have pajama days?
Audrey actually made it up today without too much pushing and pulling on my part. I got up before 6 to wake her up and she was already in the bathroom getting ready. I think that's a first! Usually I have to go to her room three or four times to get her going. I don't know how many of you have high school students, but Audrey has an amazing ability to get out of bed at 6:25 and be ready to go and in the car by 6:35. It's like a time warp! Of course she is finishing getting dressed while we drive ot school, pulling on sweaters and shoes but I have to give it to her; somehow she makes it happen! Her fall break is the week after next and she gets the whole week off. I am so excited for her to have those days off. I think high school is a little more demanding on her than she thought it would be.
All the leaves on our trees are in their full Fall regalia. We have half a dozen massive trees in our backyard and this time of year they are just beautiful. Of course those leaves end up on the lawn which means lots and lots and lots of raking. On an average year we end up with over 20 trash bags of leaves. I bet my dad will come up and help me rake this year. He loves to help out; he loves a good project to tackle.
My dad spent the night at our house on Tuesday night. He was up taking my mom to the Denver airport--mom is off to Zurich to do some teaching at a women's ministry school. So we got her to the airport and ten dad did a couple of local hikes to take pictures. He is a great photographer. Then he came back to our house and we went to Los Arcos (our favorite cheap mexican place) and then he spent the night in our guest room. He hung out with Joanne on Wednesday while I went to work. He's coming back up tonight for a couple of business meetings then we will see him again for an hour or so. He is a good man and we love having him around! He and Emma have a special bond--they both love to hike and take pictures.
Joanne had a good appointment with a new physical therapist at Kaiser last week. Her suggestions: get Joanne in the pool. She feels like aqua-therapy would be very beneficial. Unfortunately she suggested that Joanne spend 4-5 hours in the pool every day. Perhaps a bit unrealistic! But we are hoping to get her in a couple of times a week. I am scrambling to try to find a pool that we can use. We have one at the local rec. center but it is usually pretty crowded and very noisy, which is a but overwhelming to Joanne. So we are talking to them about letting Joanne work out during off hours. Looks like we might be able to do that.
I guess that's about it.
Prayer requests:
1. Thanksgiving for Emma's Fall break. Please pray that it will be restorative for her.
2. In a similar vein: please pray that Audrey can tough it out until her break in a couple of weeks! She is feeling pretty worn out and frayed at the edges. A week off will do her a world of good!
3. Pray that we find a good pool solution for Joanne that will allow her to do some new kinds of exercises and rebuild some strength on her left side.
Toben
Small world: I am one of your readers who happens to live in Zurich. I am not a regular attender of the School of Ministry, but several of my friends are. And tomorrow I am helping with the meals for the leadership training. I hope to have a chance to say "hello and God bless you" to your Mom, Toben.
Thanks for blogging, and I am pleased to keep you all in my prayers.
Posted by: Susan | October 18, 2012 at 09:37 AM
Thanks for the update Toben. I would LOVE to volunteer to take Joanne to a pool once a week, if that would help get her there more often! I have some time during the day on Mondays and Thursdays while Cassidy is at a homeschool program. You can contact me by email if I can help! I would LOVE to spend this time with Joanne (even if it was just once a month...or whatever!). I've wanted to see her, but our family has been dealing with some tough medical issues the last 2 years too. Things are calming down and I'd love to help Joanne!
Let me know if I can help in ANY way!!
Cheryl Veenstra
(303) 807-3219 cell
[email protected]
Posted by: Cheryl Veenstra | October 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Praying it for you!
Peace,
KimFeth
Apex, NC
Posted by: Kim Feth | October 18, 2012 at 03:18 PM
Praying for the girl's and a pool for Joanne. I had actually wondered if they ever suggested having her workout in a pool. Praying for you all.
Posted by: Patty | October 18, 2012 at 09:19 PM
Praying for each of you--and am so thankful for your updates.
Just wondering if we could see a photo of the leaves that you described as here in Chicago the wind & rain has caused most of our colors to fall early :(
Blessings, and btw PJs are celebrated at my home about 1x each month, just trying to convince my 85-year old father (new roomie) that this is a good thing ;) Thanks for the help.
Maureen
Posted by: Maureen | October 19, 2012 at 08:22 AM
Toben,
Enough talk about those leaves---we need pictures :-) Here in the northwest we also have beautiful leaves. Maybe we need to have a photo-off of leaves! Praying for the powers that be open up the pool just for Joanne.
Thank you for the updates.
Linda in Seattle
Posted by: Linda Hughes | October 19, 2012 at 10:18 AM
Can you take her to a warm water therapy pool? She might need water warmer than what the public pool offers.
Posted by: Erin | October 19, 2012 at 11:19 AM
I remember high school days of being ready in 10 minutes- much like Audrey, putting shoes on in the car.
I hope the girls both have wonderful and restorative (as you said) Fall breaks! Keeping the whole family in our thoughts :)
Posted by: Jennifer | October 19, 2012 at 08:12 PM
Hello Toben, me again - your reader, Susan, in Zurich. I just wanted to let you and your family know what a blessing your mom was to us at the School of Ministry. What a wise lady; she shared valuable information and I am so glad I could be there.
I wanted to echo a commenter above - a warm water/therapy pool is a wonderful place to have physical therapy. I wonder if you have one nearby.
I hope your fall break is a great time for you all. God bless.
Posted by: Susan in Zurich | October 20, 2012 at 10:15 AM
Thank you for your faithfulness...blogged about your story today.
http://thimblefuloftime.blogspot.com/2012/10/over-past-year-as-i-have-explored-world.html
Posted by: Laura Taylor | October 21, 2012 at 05:05 PM
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Posted by: nursing shoes | October 22, 2012 at 07:48 AM
What happened regarding tryouts for school mascot?????
Posted by: cynthia | October 23, 2012 at 12:59 PM