This Week at Our House # 33

1. We had an extremely busy week. Monday was the only normal day. Tuesday, John went to get his NC licence so we can get the care registered, but then he failed the vision test. On Wednesday, I took John into an eye doctor and he is seeing 20/80 and didn't even know his distance sight was bad. I think this is because he mostly uses a computer.
2. Like I said, we had a really busy week. I spent 8 hours on Tuesday driving to the birth clinic that I am planning on having the baby at. (It is a 2 hour drive away.) Then I took Kate to one of her favorite hamburger places from Utah, which happens to have a chain in Raleigh. When we got home, I went with John to get his licence where we found it he could not see well enough to legally drive without glasses. So I got home and made him and a bunch of the kids eye doctors appointments because everyone in our family actually needs to see an eye doctor. On Wednesday, I took John to the eye doctor (they dilate your eyes, so it is good to have an escort.) Then later we went swimming. A member of our ward is on a 2 week vacation and has offered us the use of their pool in exchange for taking care of the pool and feeding their cat. We think this is an extremely generous deal, and no matter how busy we are, I know the kids desperately want to go swimming. On Thursday, I was actually able to do a normal school day, but the evening was filled with having the missionaries for dinner, John going off to join a community soccer game and swimming. Friday morning I had to take Ruth to the eye doctor. Her eyes have gotten pretty bad too. But before we could pick out her glasses, we had to rush the car home to John to get to work for a meeting. Later we had to go back and get her glasses and run another errand before dinner and swimming. Saturday, I left in the morning to take Ruth and Kate to Charlotte to see my parents before Ruth heads off to college. We had fun with my family. But it s 8 hours of driving for 4 hours of visiting and I am completely exhausted. Next week is looking to be just as busy doing all that is necessary to get Ruth off to college and to getting the van registered in the state while homeschooling and taking the kids swimming. I didn't get the grocery shopping done or even to the pharmacist to get a prescription for a UTI the midwives discovered, so those move on to the Monday and Tuesday schedule. I just need to make it one more week.
3. We bought plane tickets on Wednesday for Ruth to go out to BYUI. She and I are going to fly out to SLC and then drive up to Rexburg. It's all settled now. She has her housing, her plane ticket and much of the things she needs to take on the plane. Some things we will purchase when we get there. She also receievd pelgrant money which will pay her full tuition and all of her books. We still owe a bunch on her housing, but otherwise, she is all set and ready to go, minus a few more things we will do this week. Ruth has been called as a relief society teacher in her current singles ward and had to teach her first relief society lesson today. She said it went well.
4. Kate was happy, happy, happy to get her hamburger. She got to see her friend Elizabeth in Charlotte and go shopping with her grandmother. I think she had a pretty good week. But she got the stomach flu two weeks ago and is still having a hard time with her stomach and feeling dizzy.
5. Johnny was my stay at home, babysit a ton, and clean the house hero for the week and he did a fabulous job. Johnny only started piano last January and he is now playing advanced classical pieces and harder hymns. I think he has talent on the piano much more so than his mother or father.
6. Adam was Johnny's helper. He struggled a bit this week learning to subtract negative numbers, but by Friday he seemed to have all of the concepts down. Adam is my superhero diaper changer or my kid who will do just about anything for money and that was real helpful this week.
7. Rachel got paid $5 to babysit Susan all day on Saturday. Susan was a challenge all week, and was not any easier for Rachel, but Rachel did a good job. Rachel was also good at doing her school independently all week. Rachel loved the swimming and can swim the long side of the pool now without any trouble.
8. Anya LOVED the swimming and is doing so well. She has never had lessons but she swims like a fish. 
9. Joseph didn't do his school work independently. He thought I would not check, but I did and then he had to do it later in the day. On a brighter note, he had a lot more self control this week and sat down for scripture study every single day.
10. Joshua enjoyed swimming. He wears a life jacket. On Friday, we took off his life jacket when it was time to go and John caught him just before he jumped into the deep end without it. It was getting pretty dark, and I was herding the other kids into the car, so that was a blessing. I have always thought that Joshua has a whole team of angels watching over him.
11. Arwen is a bit afraid to swim but always wants to do it. She was a but feisty and mouthy this week, but I was not around all that much which could explain that.
12. Susan completely regressed this week and I know it was because I was gone a lot. She pooped in her diaper and started getting into things again. On Tuesday while I was gone she broke a dozen eggs, climbed up a tall dresser and got into my jewelry box, she poured out sunscreen onto the carpet, and got into Ruth's make up bag. After that, I either made sure someone watched her every second, or took her with me. She was actually pretty good at the two eye doctors appointments, but I am sad that she is now pooping in her diaper again.
    
    
    Tender Mercies

I am adding a new section to my blog to help myself and the kids recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives and see His blessings more clearly.

1. Having access to a private pool for 2 weeks is a definite blessing. It is my favorite form of exercise; it is perfect for the hot North Carolina days; it is great family time during a busy week, and the kids love it so much!
2. John caught Josh just before he jumped unprotected into the deep end of the pool in the dark while I was herding the other kids into the car and would not have noticed.
3. While we have been extremely busy, the kids have still been able to continue on with home school.
4. I got to hear the babies heart beat for the first time. The growth of the baby is on track. I passed the 1 hour glucose test, and we are all just happy that while I am old things are going well with this child.
5. Ruth's pelgrant came through so we will not be burdened with tuition bills while trying to pay off our debt from more than 3 years of sparse employment.
6. John's job is going very well. 
7. The drive to Charlotte was cool, which was a blessing because the air conditioning died in our car last summer.
8. I woke up from a nap and felt prompted to get back on Facebook right away. I got on and the first thing that I saw was from one of my dearest friends, Natalie Larson, had serious complications and her baby will very likely die. I got the message within hours of when she posted it. I felt blessed to be able to pray for her and mourn with her.
9. At the same time I was prompted to get back on Facebook, I also felt chided because I felt like I needed to buy the plane tickets on Sunday and did not and needed to get that done. When I got on, the website warned that the flight traffic to SLC on those dates was very heavy and flights were filling up fast. I paid $60 more than I would have if I had listened on Sunday, but felt blessed to get the flights we needed and a rental car for reasonable prices. 

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