Visiting with Paw Paw

Bruce and I picked the car up yesterday morning from the mechanic. It was nice to have my little ride back! We parked it at mom's house before going to see daddy at the hospital.

I took a picture of mom, but it was less than flattering, so I took pity on her and decided not to post it.

The kids were tired, grabbing a nap at every chance they could.

(sleeping in the hospital chair)

They brought daddy lunch while we were there. It looked....hmm....well, like hospital food. When they brought it in, he asked them what it was. They told him BBQ. Now, 'round here in these parts, when someone says BBQ, you think juicy meat with a savory sauce, right? Yeah, not at the hospital. It was more like two four oz dried up tenderloin, with no sauce. Daddy said it was like eating the tongue of a boot. LOL Poor thing. He actually did eat quite good. I knew if we stayed while he ate that he would eat better than if we weren't there.

Daddy and me

Daddy, Justin, and Hannah

There is no change since the last update, sorry. We had a good visit, although it was difficult to leave him with tears welling up in his eyes.

We had dinner plans with Mr. and Mrs. Parris from church last night. We had a great time talking and laughing. Mrs. Parris will keep you laughing, I assure you! She tells some great stories. I'll post about that tomorrow. Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday. I know we will. The youth will be testifying about their trip. So, I'm eager to hear what they have to say.

Staying the Weekend

(pic taken last night)

One of daddy's doctors was going to send him to the rehab center in Charlotte today, but mom insisted that he stay over the weekend for more observations and if they wanted to send him after dialysis Monday, they could. Providing she felt he was ready. They can not determine why his white blood count is so high, although they did rule out an abscess in his stomach.

Mom said he was quiet and sick today. He doesn't want to eat either. There's really nothing more to tell at this time. Hopefully, they'll be able to learn more over the weekend.

I'm hoping that a visit from his grandchildren in the morning will be a good dose of medicine for him. He has missed them TERRIBLY! So I plan on taking them up there first thing in the morning.

I stopped cleaning mom's house long enough to meet Bruce and Harry at Love's Fish Box for lunch today. When I made it back to the house to finish cleaning, a dear ole' chum of mom and dad's called to check on daddy. It was good talking to him. I appreciate his thoughtfulness and the blessing he and his wife are being during this time. Thank you, Brother Tom and Mrs. Sue, I know the Lord will bless y'all for your kindness.

After I finished cleaning the house, I headed over to Pizza Hut to pick up dinner for us. When I got home Bruce said Mrs. Janet had called and said the kid's plane was running an hour late. Which is OK, I guess. What can I do about it? I sure am getting excited. I can't seem to keep my eyes off the clock. It will be so good to see them and, as Jodi put it, smother their faces with smooches!

Harrison claims he hasn't started missing them yet, but he grins sheepishly when he says it, so I'm having a difficult time believing him. I will say, though, that he has enjoyed being an only child this week. And he's been a riot too.

Justin and Hannah talk about "plans" they have for their future. Well, Harrison informed me of his "plan" the other day. He said, "I know what I'm going to do for my future." "REALLY?" I asked. He shook his head and said, "Yeah, I'm going to save up all of my money between now and the time I'm sixteen. Then when I'm sixteen I'll be able to buy my own car and pay off some stuff." That last phrase, pay off some stuff, struck me funny. So I asked him, "Harrison, do you have bills daddy and I don't know about?" He grinned and blushed a little, then replied, "No, but you never know by the time I'm that old."

Yep, it's good to know my eight year old is planning for his future. LOL

Update

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

I found this at the Jungle Hut and decided to do it. Let me know if you do it too.

Bruce and I went to pay the mechanic for our car tonight. I thought we were going to pick it up, but then Bruce said it was due for inspection and the Check Engine light was on. SO! We paid the man for the job he had already done and told him to go ahead and inspect it. Who knows what he'll find out about why the Check Engine light is on. *sigh*

On the way to see daddy, we stopped at a little country store (the one where I broke down last Friday) and bought a soda and double decker chocolate moon pie. I looked down at Harrison, who had devoured his moon pie, and there was chocolate from ear to ear. Bruce saw him and said, "Boy! That moon pie must have been too big for your face!" lol

So, we saw my dad tonight. (Bruce, dad, my brother John)

There's really no more to tell than what we found out yesterday. He is seeing things that aren't there. Such as a black dog, a midget woman in a yellow dress, small children, etc. He knows it's strange that he would be seeing these things and they're not really there. But he can't explain it. Something else I've noticed is that his hearing is backwards. In other words, if something makes a sound on the right, he hears it on the left. Same with the other side.

His white blood count is over 23,000 now, they've put him on IVs with antibiotics and they ran a test on him tonight to see if they could figure out exactly why his counts are so high. We won't know the results from that until sometime tomorrow. Always tomorrow.

(my brother and dad)

We stopped for a bite to eat after leaving daddy and then went to check on my mom. Bruce bought us all a Wendy's frosty and we sat in her living room eating our ice cream and laughing at old stories.

My kids will be home tomorrow. I was going to go to the airport with some other parents, but after checking with Mrs. Janet today and hearing that Pastor did indeed say from the pulpit that he would prefer the parents meet their children at the church and not the airport, Bruce and I decided we would respect those wishes and so I will see my darlings tomorrow night, about 7:30ish, at the church. I am so excited about seeing them. I haven't heard from them since Sunday. So this mama hen is ready for her chicks to return home!

I think a traditional, all American supper will be on the menu for tomorrow night. PIZZA! They'll be happy about that, I think, especially since I've heard that the Sam's Club there is not like the Sam's club here. Instead of isles and isles of different foods, there are isles and isles of large cans of refried beans. I heard that Brother Johnny was smuggling several packs of quick gravy for biscuits and gravy. I wonder how that worked out.

Sun Drop! It's for what ails ya.

And Then There Were Three

I got the kids up at 6:30 and while they dressed and got ready to leave for their trip to Puerto Rico, I made chocolate chip pancakes. But we were out of syrup. Well, I thought we were. We actually had a very small amount of maple syrup and we did have a brand new bottle of Karo syrup in the baking cabinet. So, that worked! The kids love chocolate chip pancakes and I knew they would enjoy those this morning. I was right.

Once they were dressed, fed, and ready to go, Bruce and I had a time of prayer with them and then we were off!

We stood around waiting to board the bus and everyone chatted, hugged, told plane crash stories, bomb threat stories, etc.

They'll be hiking through a rain forest so Bruce gave our kids a piece of advice..."Walk in the middle of the group so if anything jumps out to bite, they get someone on the outside of the group. And remember....you don't have to outrun anything. Just the person you're with." Yeah, that's good advice from their dad, huh? lol

Time for a group pic!


Next was checking to make sure everyone had their IDs.


Then it was hug time! This is Taylor and her mom, Kim.


Time to board the bus!!


Jeremy saying goodbye to his Grandma H


Jeremy, Parker, and Justin....what is up with Justin's smile?? LOL


Hannah got on the bus when told and then got stuck when she wanted to give us a hug, so Bruce and I hopped on the bus too. There was no way our little girl was leaving without that hug!!!

Of course, we weren't the only parents hopping the bus for hugs! (Rebecca and Jamie)


Mrs. Marla was driving the bus to the airport. Between driving that big bus and her daughter flying out today also, looks like she's already losing her mind!!

We're gonna miss those younguns! We're praying they'll have a great time with their church family and our missionary. But most of all, that the Lord will show them what the mission field is all about and give them a vision and love for lost souls.

THIS JUST IN: Hannah called on Justin's cell to say hello. They were getting ready to eat at a Sizzler there in Puerto Rico! Sure was good to hear that little voice.

Last Minute Shopping, Goodbyes, and Doctor Visits

I took the kids to do some last minute shopping before they leave for Puerto Rico tomorrow. My babies are going to Puerto Rico and I can't go with them. WAAAH! I called mom to tell her we would be stopping by the bank for them to get their spending money and to say goodbye. She wanted to treat the kids to a special lunch before they left, so she took us to Mountain View Restaurant in our little town. It's locally owned with GREAT food. We were all stuffed when we left. Thanks, mom, it was so good.
Mom has been sick for a couple of weeks, and although she still has a very bad cough and some congestion, she did sound and look so better than when I saw her Sunday.


After dropping mom back off at the bank, we went to see daddy. He's been sick for a few weeks also and I have not seen or heard any improvement in him at all. After noticing that he had two black eyes from busted blood vessels, and that he could not see out of his right eye with the left eye not being able to focus, I called his doctor and got him an appointment for 4:30. I rushed the kids home, helped them do a little more packing, threw some laundry in the wash, and Harrison and I headed back to take daddy to his appointment. Being totally freaked at germs, all of this had to wait until after we all washed our hands and downed vitamin C and zinc....of course!

The doctor said he has a touch of pneumonia, which did not surprise me at all. He has a sinus infection and I believe his ear is infected also, if not both. Bless his heart. Because he has kidney failure, the doctor was a little leery about giving him this particular antibiotic. It's very strong so he just takes it every other day. I dropped his prescriptions off, ran him home, helped him into the house and got him settled back into his chair. Harry and I went back out to pick up the prescriptions, dropped them off at mom and dad's, and made it back home just in time for Justin and Hannah to return with Bruce from having their luggage weighed at church and packing the bus.

*sigh*

They'll be leaving early in the morning so please pray for their safety while traveling. I'm sure the entire group would appreciate those prayers!!

Birthday Party

Being a true blue Carolina fan, Justin wanted a TarHeel cake. How beautiful is that?


My friend, Amy, made the cake. She can make some YUMMY cakes. Her icing, especially, is so good. I could eat a whole bowl of it, it's so good.


BroKen always has some unusual facial expressions to share with the camera.


This is Pastor and Mrs. Ava. That's Jordan giving Pastor bunny ears. SHAME ON YOU, Jordan!!

Sweet Crystal. She has an infectious laugh and I love to hear it.

That's Justin's picture slideshow from birth to present that Bruce put together in the background. It turned out good. I'm going to try and figure out how to post it. His baby pictures are so sweet.

Everybody seemed to eat good, even though we had lots of leftovers. We had nachos and cheese, tacos with the fixin's, and mom's homemade sloppy joes (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MANWICH) and of course cake and ice cream.

Tammy!

My Sweetie Pie

Haili, Nicole, Cheyenne, and Hannah were enjoying their food upstairs in the game room.

Justin C...poor thing. He opened up a strawberry 2liter and it erupted like Mount St Helen, spuing it's contents everywhere...including all over him.

Evan being as attractive as he can be for the picture he KNOWS will be on the blog. Yes, folks...one fine boy there!

His dad, on the other hand, smiles with his mouth full of....well....food.

Brother Joel caught me taking a picture of him getting ready to lick his fingers. We did have napkins, but why use a napkin when God gave us tongues?

Caleb is a sweetheart too. He'll be going in SIGMA this year. Hard to believe!

My Harry-boy with cheese sauce and chocolate all over him. He must have skipped the plates and ate straight from the trough.

Malachi, Isaac, and Joseph were so sweet sitting in the kitchen eating their food. Are they not cute?

Their little brother, Ethan, was content to sleep behind the couch.

My brother-in-law Barry came by and brought my nephew Zach. We were so happy they came!

Eventually, it was gift time. I thought this was a neat gift for a sixteen year old boy. He has a car sitting in the back yard ready to be worked on and I'm sure these gadgets and liquids will come in handy for that! Thank you, Corriveaus!

Justin was very pleased with the strings Gary gave him. Three sets for his banjo, fiddle, and mandolin. That's true musician brother-hood, wouldn't you agree?

Uh-oh! Gary + Evan + Jeremy = TROUBLE!

Brian and Amy were holding Baby Ethan. Ethan is a Douglass child, but we all share him. We just can't help it. lol Oh yeah, that's Brandon in the background. He's our "special" friend.

Naomi was so enjoying her ice cream. Don't you just love her hair? I think she's the prettiest when it's everywhere like that. Sometimes she'll take her little hand and brush it out of her face. I think that's precious.

Justin with the shirt and hat that Taylor gave him. I was so thankful that she bought him a new hat. The one he had was getting on my nerves. THANK YOU, TAYLOR!!!!!!!! It was definitely time for a change!

Of course, Justin was ultimately thrilled with the birthday cash received. It's his favorite color

and it always fits!

Some of us played air hockey, ping pong, and pool.

While some played video games.

Of course, Celine, just had to show off her new hair do. Isn't it lovely? She looks more and more like her mom everyday! LOL