Molly brings a Recliner!

Molly came for a visit today....and she and kelley traded out the LARGE old seat in our living room for a great recliner!!! it even has a secret compartment in the armrest which once upon a time housed the working vibration mechanism =) it is PERFECT...josh, when he got a chance...we were all playing on it, sank down on it and could just sleep with ease....
(ps...thank you ben for the offer on yours!)

Goodbye Boss

last night we had a raging storm...we watched it roll in from the west and then listened as it dumped buckets on our roof (and garden =))...the dogs who are usually happy on backporch futon took refuge under the house and the chickens ran to their house....each to her own. but right at the storm's peak, we heard commotion under the floor. harry and cash were going crazy....josh glanced out as he could in the rain and saw a 3rd creature....we didn't think much of it at the time but now figure it was a racoon or possum...something which likes chicken for supper. this morning when we weren't cock-a-doodle-dooed to waking, i went searching and found the remains of 1 of our pretty roosters...boss. i buried him under a peach tree which has long been needing to get its feet under ground...it is a bit shabby so i hope boss can help it back to life.

on a happier note, we had a lovely day filled with marvelous company...but josh is watching a movie on the downloading computer....so i will write and post photos tomorrow...but it was great....and the urchins are sleeping....and i am not far behind. xray tomorrow to check on josh's neck...he was able to stay up for much of the day today and it markedly feeling better.

We are doing well

esme decided last night was party night...she had so much planned for me! little did i know she wanted to chat and go over her schedule each hour on the hour =)
the little pickle isn't too much of a sleeper...
but is simply too adorable to get even the slightest bit mad at....
8 of the 10 times i got up, josh was up too...thank goodness for itunes (he downloads movies...i think last night was a "rocky"marathon) he doesn't like the side effects of the pain medicine so he is trying aleve instead and it is actually doing pretty well with his pain...today he hurts much less anyway..so between the 2, he feels like he has rounded a corner.
i have a sneaking suspicion it is going to be harder and harder to "keep him down" as he feels better and better...we go for an xray wednesday to see how it is healing...
on wednesday too, i will find out if the disability policy i took out on josh literally 10 days ago (isn't God amazing) will go through...not sure if there is a waiting period or not after applying...
boys are asleep and shockingly, esme is not =)

The Couch

housed josh for most of the day. sleeping is PAINFUL for him...the pressure i think is just so much on his neck...
i picked up jack this morning half way from joan in buford...he had a wonderful time with her...and i am so grateful for a couple days to have just focused on josh (and esme...but not in the same way my attention is required as with jack)....
he wanted to be right next to his daddy...notice his feet in the air on the couch =)...he didn't quite fit to lay down so he snuggled where he could.
andy came over this evening...and snuggled the kids...they love their uncle andy...
he and josh and chatting on the porch right now...i just got the kids down to bed...a peaceful evening and another one where we are just grateful to be alive and well....

Sauerkraut and Pickles

we have lots of perishable food. so i decided today to put some of it "up" so as not to waste a morsel. i blanched and froze squash, made pickles (yanked up some garlic, dill and onions from the garden and popped them in a jar with some vinegar and cute cukes from grace), and attempted kraut (a HUGE head given to us by sandra)....i ended up with lots of shredded cabbage and not a bowl large enough to house it...so i dumped it onto a towel on the kitchen floor. apparently, all one has to do is pack it tightly with salt (which draws the water out of the cabbage) and it will naturally ferment in a week or so.....we'll see about that. that huge head of cabbbage squished down to only 3 jars!

Visit from Dad, Sandra and Alfred

my dad and sandra showed up today laden with grocery goodies...my favorite kind of goodies =) they brought 3 rotisserie chickens so i de-meated 2 and froze it in baggies..we'll eat off of it for ages! and alfred our neighbor came by to offer his help in any way...and his kids help...little do they know =)
all so nice...

Miss Bell update

i talked with miss bell today and shamefully, it has been a while. the past couple months, i have called a couple times but gotten busy signals...and haven't stopped by...just honestly didn't make the effort...for which i am always sorry. i seem to do the minimum when i am out...i am tired and jack and esme are happiest with fewer stops and turning homeward....all in all, i just haven't had the energy ....
all this to say! i finally talked with her this evening and she was so tickled by the magazines and postcards she has received lately from pat morton (pete's mama) and ms teresa (marybeth's mama)...she must have said 5 times "it made my day when...." and her mail wasn't delivered a couple days in a row and she just lamented that bc she is always so excited about checking to see if she has a card or note. you two have certainly filled the gap for me with miss bell....i appreciate it so much and she is over the moon about it! thank you.

o! almost forgot, her birthday is august 5th...so anyone who'd like to send a quick card please do, she would just love it!

Resting

i am looking at josh sitting on the chair right now....i just took the photo....
he knows how important it is to "do little or nothing" so he is doing it well....
he did remove his brace to wash underneath it...and cover some abrasions.....the swelling has gone down a lot...
jack is with joan..and having a great time i am told...though i miss him so much.
he has started stuttering over the past week or so...
we aren't sure why...the reasons according to people who know are
trauma, not sleeping or just their minds are going faster than their mouths..
it is adorable and breaks my heart all at once....
he gets frustrated about it and that bothers me for him...bless his little soul!
he told me when i got home from the hospital 2 nights ago,
"i mmmmmm...mmmm...mmmm....mmmmmiss you mama...wwwww...wwww....want hug"
later, when he wasn't looking, i cried remembering it.
the emotions are so full in life, are they not?
i think jack will come home tomorrow or monday....maybe i can meet joan half way...
though i wonder if the trauma for jack isn't something to do with esme SCREAMING on car rides...he gets ansy when this happens and keeps telling me that she needs me.
aaaaaanyway. thank you again for all the prayers and calls and emails...
and thank you to kelley and adam.....the came so i could go to the hospital...and then bought a car seat to take jack to chick fil a!!!!
we are consistantly blessed by your love...

"Want one too"

we are so blessed we just don't know how to fully express it...
the more we have learned of josh's neck injury, the more we realize how close he was to being paralyzed or dead....and yet, we drove home today!
the neurologist said (after another scan) that the bones were indeed aligned which means they should heal on their own with rest and time...with lots of medicine to help with the pain.
when i saw josh this morning, he looked SO much better...could talk without wincing....could remember from one moment to the next...and just seemed overall to have some strength back. pete, when he heard the news yesterday, drove straight to the hospital from asheville....and spent the night with josh....we are overwhelmed by his friendship...and so grateful.
marybeth, being right across the road, took care of esme all day so i could be with josh...such dear people in our life...
and joan drove all the way from canton to pick up jack and take him to her house....he is happy as a lark..i just got the report from marie...
david, who was with josh when this happened stayed with us in the ER all afternoon and into the evening, dropped dinner off at the house last night...and then went with andy to finish the job this morning...wow.
all the calls and prayers....thank you thank you thank you.
when jack saw his daddy this morning...he said "want one too" so we made him a collar =) which he sported with pride.
i am so happy to have him home.

His Neck

a dead tree that josh was cutting down today lost a limb and hit josh.
he was knocked out and when he came around kept repeating himself. david, who was working with him, took him to the ER where they said his head scanned out fine but that he broke his c-1 vertebrae in 2 places and that it was unstable. meaning, i couldn't move his head at all...or it could be really bad. we waited for a couple hours for the neurosurgeon to come and explain further....he said that upon really looking at it, he felt josh could go without surgery and even with a halo (the thing they screw into your head to fuse it to your body)...that he felt it was stable bc nothing came out of line...even though he had indeed broken his neck. he felt good about the fact that everything else is working on josh....his hands and feet, his speech, his memory (which got better the longer we were there...still isn't totally back but it is progressing) they are keeping him for 2-4 days to help deal with the pain...and in case of the outside chance that the actual wound swells (even more than it is) on his right side and impairs his breathing. though they felt this wasn't likely. after that, he is off duty with a neck brace for 6-8 weeks...the long term prognosis sounded good too....could have arthritis, could have some soreness but could also not have a problem there ever again (unless another limb falls on him)
the range of emotions today has been great.
i almost posted at lunch time what a perfect day it was...i got an ounce more sleep last night and so could appreciate the little things more today....swimming with the kids...walking outside and picking beans....holding jack and just watching both of them....
and i talked to josh about 5 minutes before the accident...
and then david called.
my heart just switched into "get jack taken care of...kelley...and get to the hospital" and then there it was running on trying to find out everything we could...keeping him chatting....calling family etc...
and it wasn't until i realized i had to leave for tonight (joan is coming to pick up jack in the morning...bless her...so i needed to get home to pack him up and sort the house out so i could get jack back into town tomorrow for joan) that my heart just faltered.
i couldn't help but cry...i looked at my strong man there in that bed with his neck all scraped up and in so much pain...this man who works so hard to provide for us...so i can be with our children all day...so we can eat all the foods we love....so i can build cob and plant a garden and have chickens....this man who is so honorable, so true...who was trying to put the nurses at ease and joke with them through horrible pain....who was laying there worrying about how to provide and would i call so-in-so and thank them for this and that....who laid there and told me he was sorry. bless him! sorry?

anyway....marybeth lives not a block from the hospital so i am going to camp out there for a couple days....
josh's room number is 2209...so i think the number would be 706-475-2209
i think he'd like calls...and i'll be there bright and early if he doesn't to intercept...but he will want to know people are praying.
the kids are in bed...and i miss my husband.

Jamaica Night

my dad and sandra just went to jamaica on a "build a house" trip...they worked like crazy for a week straight...and brought us home shirts, rum and cake! so nice. so we had jamaica night! =) i bought coke and we had rum and cokes and ate our cakes in our shirts...must have gotten a little loud bc esme decided she wanted to wake up and be part of the fun =) and it was....fun =)

The Portal

Kelley and Adam are finishing the extension for us!! yippee!! i am so ready to have rooms for the kids...i think this is part of why esme wakes up so much...every little peep and i run to her bc i don't want everyone else to wake up...so funny we are going from 1 bedroom to 5!

this window in the bathroom will be the door to the hallway leading to 2 rooms downstairs...and right now serves as a door =)

Those Sweet Faces

jack told me today:
"when i get big, grow up, i fight fires...fire fightin' "
i sure do love these little mites.

Maryloo, how not to look in an interview and Giant Sunflowers

mb met me at the house late last night...esme cried for 1.5 hours of the ride home...bless her heart, she was sooo gassy and trying to pass the blueberry skins that her dorko mom had given her earlier that day. mb heard the desparation in my voice i think and met me here (josh in asheville) to help me unload.....so great.

you know how you have silly conversations and you can get so far down the talking trail and just laugh at where you end up? well, josh and i discussed what not to do in an interview and how not to look =) we decided shirtless, with a bottle of cheap whiskey toting lines like "so, have you seen aliens, the movie?" and "what do you think about time travel?" would top the "don't do" list =)

and here is a specimen from the sunflower house! it's huge!

Marie

she is a beautiful friend in my life....i love that she loves my kids and loves her garden and loves to play and chat....i love the times we can hang out...even if i have to take those times when i can get them right now..as they are few and far between...but o so good.

Matt and Monica

sometimes my forgetfullness is great =)
i left my sling (which is an attachment of my arm) at dad and sandra's house when i stopped by for a visit and yummy dinner...and monica was working that night so even though i was able to hug matt's neck, i didn't get a chance to see monica...
so, they brought the sling to marie and bill's house just before i left to come back to athens...it was WONDERFUL to see them...
monica is hurting...it is all so fresh losing her mom...
it brought back so much aching in my heart thinking of her without her mom...and all the firsts she is walking through..i am glad she has matt who has walked this road too...but o how sad they have both lost their moms!
the kids love them both...monica and esme played and laughed....and jack wrestled on the floor too....

Bill and Blueberries

joan, marie, the kids and harry and i piled in the car and went to visit with heidi's grandma, emily. she is truly a fascinating and kind and wonderful woman...who looks the same today as when i met her over 10 years ago! she is 88 and vibrant! heidi thinks it is all the blueberries she eats....=)
and bill...or "doc" as jack calls him (coined by his grandson, hunter)...he has such a gentle, easy way with people and jack is so drawn to this. bill is so ready to play with jack too...he takes him tractor rides and lets jack help pick up sticks and they go and pick peaches and look at the fish in the creek...doc makes jack feel so special...i found them a couple times just sitting together chatting....eating peanut butter crackers, watching tv while munching on handfuls of peanuts, jack filing bill's nails....just so beautiful.

A Visitin'

i don't ever regret coming bc i love the people i come to see very much...
but i do make private oaths to not do it again for a loooooong time.
i have always been a "going going going" type of person but whilst i have younguns i have learned it is just hard on them...and then in turn on me and josh.
i have wanted for a while to come and see marie and bill, and joan and my dad and sandra and brother and monica and grace and tom...all of whom live mostly close together and all of whom mean so much to my little jack and esme (moreso jack right now =))
but o goodness, it is sooo hard to sleep for the kiddies away from their normal routine...they have a hard enough time IN their normal habitat.
all this to say, i think i am heading home tonight...as they get heavy eye-lidded and think they are going to drift off in bed, i will place them snuggly in their carseats and whisk them home...

had a LOVELY day though...went to pick blueberries at my friend heidi's grandma's farm...jack ran through the bushes...esme strapped on my front grabbing leaves ...i squished berries and let her snack too...emily, heidi's grandma is SUCH a neat woman...88 and driving her tractor still and reading scientific health journals...

took a nap when we got home...a child flanked on either side of me snuggling up...so sweet....i drifted off too after a sleepless night of last....

josh is in asheville visiting pete and kassie and some new friends there...he arrives home tomorrow ...we talk a lot on the phone all through the day,,,so strange to not be in the same place.

ok...off to snuggle esme while jack is riding the tractor with doc (bill)

sleepless

2:03 am
esme has been up about every half hour,,,,i think she is hot....
jack restless,,,
and mommy's nausea returning.
i know this sleepless season will end 1 day but i am just sick with exhaustion
going to try to lay her down again

Not so Happy Bat

the extension to our house is larger than our house =)
we originally decided on the addition of 2 rooms downstairs but talked ourselves into 2 above it too...1 foundation and 1 roof, how much more money could an extra floor be? as it turns out, quite a bit. but we are happy we took this course even so.
well, today, josh put in 3 windows...which look great...i took photos but can't seem to find them on the camera...anywho...he then pulled off the black paper on the old "outside" wall which will now be the hallway between the 2 houses...and found a bat!
good thing we don't speak bat, for i think it would have hurt our feelings the way he was carrying on! unsure of what to do to remove the bat, josh and he (she?) just stood looking and squeaking at eachother....the bat doing most of the squeaking part.

during this time, i took the kids into town...feeling like they'd at least nap in the car when they couldn't bc of the nailing noises and home. we met marie at the farmer's market (a bummer i thought....everything was PRICEY and kinda click-ish feeling) and then dropped off some stuff at the thrift shop. ventures like this, however, always end up with me bringing something or many somethings home...found this little side table for esme's future room...marie bought it for her at the bargain price of $10! i think i'll paint it green......

A Swallowtail!

i am delighted to learn the caterpillar is a swallowtail!
thanks ellison! eat on little guy!

Wayne's 32nd bday

maybe it is not having sleepless kid nights yet but wayne looks the same as he did in college! amazing. i, on the other hand, have huge circles that surround my eyes =)
it was such fun to see them...crazy with the kids but worth it.

Mexican Dinner with Mb and Brent

mb has said before that mexican restaurants are perfect with kids bc they are usually loud and have chips as soon as you get there. she is so right...we went to agua linda before meeting up with wayne and ingie so the kids could eat at their normal time...

Found a Puddle and Produce for the Day

jack delightedly played in this puddle for about half an hour....jumping splashing and laying down...it was the best playtime for him!
i have been remiss for a while in picking beans and such...so we put up beans today, froze peppers, made zuchinni bread looked at the squash...haven't decided on that yet. it is actually an edible gourd and not a squash.

Morning Walk

Jack and Esme and i started walking down our drive to the mailbox and Buff ...the golden retriever-esque chicken followed us a good ways! i finally remembered the camera en route to the box bc i have wanted to photo these wondeful little wrens! there are 5 and they are snug as a bug in there....even have a window! otherwise known as a shotgun hole (you can't live in the country without these perks)
we walked on to see Red the horse....who is so sweet. jack loves the idea of petting him when he is far away, but the closer he comes to us, the larger he gets and jack has fully changed his mind by the time he is just over the fence. esme, strapped to my chest doesn't have a choice and gets nosed.
and even though this beetle (i think a wood borer) wasn't found in the pool, he was found floating in a raincatchment container....so i think he will qualify for our collection. =)

ahhhgg!! it is the reeking havoc kind!

maybe.
i just looked at that site about the monarch and it says it can ONLY eat milkweed and unless it vacations on parsley when not eating milkweed, it is eating my parsley hence making it an un-monarch.