Friday was a little, well, strange. Lara woke up not feeling well, pushed through 1st hour, then came home for the rest of the day. She was sad. Sad to not feel good, sad to get behind in class, and SUPER SAD to be missing baseball. But, she had to rest and get well! Emma's school was out for Good Friday, so she came to Stillwater early in the evening. Lara felt better after some meds and some rest, and we spent Friday evening as a family. Nothing planned, nothing exciting (Chick-fil-A for dinner!), just T I ME together. It was over due and well worth it.
Saturday, we were up and at 'em for some Jake Weaver basketball at Solid Rock in Edmond. He had 2 games - one at noon and one later in the afternoon. The plan was to go to his games, then high-tail it back to Stillwater to make it to the Easter service at Life.Church at 5:30. He won both games, we drove responsibly, and we made it to church basically on time!
In the car, playing UNO
Weaver Family Easter 2018
Jake, 11 - Emma, 15 - Finn, 6 - Lara, 15
Sunday, we spent most of the day in Perkins at Nana and Grandpa's house. We has a taco and baked potato bar for lunch with all the fixings! Everyone LOVED it! One of the most memorable moments at lunch was when grandpa looked up and saw cobwebs on the chandelier in their dining room. This was instantly hilarious - and CLASSIC! Jake, Emma and I made up a new country song called "Cobwebs on My Chandelier!" Good Times!
We also took time to re-create a 2013 family photo! This was our March of Dimes March for Babies Ambassador Family photo from the fall of 2013. In the original, Finn was about 14 months old, Jake was 6 and Emma & Lara were 11. In the re-creation, we are weeks from the girls' 16th birthday, Jake is 11, and Finn is 6. (We need to do it again in 5 more years!)
2013
2018
We also had our annual Weaver Egg Challenge. The kids all pick an egg from the carton without knowing if it is raw or hard boiled. The poor soul that has a raw egg smashed on their forehead gets the PRIZE of winning a LARGE chocolate Easter bunny! This was the first Year Finn participated. I don't think he liked it too much! (And we are pretty sure this was the third year Lara has "won!")
All in all, it was a nice way to spend Easter. Emma had to get back to Orlando in the middle of the afternoon because her dad fell last week and separated his shoulder, so he has to have surgery tomorrow. To prepare for being off from work about 3 months, he had to go to Wichita to tie up loose ends. And she had to drive him! So, while we missed her the rest of the day, she was where she needed to be. The rest of us headed back to Stillwater after some relaxing time with Nana and Grandpa, and spent the rest of the day looking for news about the pending state teacher walk-out... Stay tuned!
March 2-5, 2018
For the first time in a long time – and for another long
time to come, this past weekend was calm.Not a ton of stuff going on – just a few things to keep us
entertained.And the sun was out, cool,
early spring temperatures, and lots of time to just “be.”It was very relaxing, and very welcomed!
Emma came to Stillwater Friday evening to spend the weekend
with us.She got to town after we had
gone out to grab some Chick-fil-A before taking Jake on an adventure with his
friends.She spent the evening playing
with Finn – her biggest fan – and signing in to her family’s Netflix account so
we could ALL binge our favorite shows on our favorite devices.She got to surprise Jake by going with dad to
pick him up from “Open Gym” at Youth Fitness Zone later in the evening.
Saturday was an easy morning.Lara drove herself (well, chauffeured me,
technically – but I went right back home) to Couch Park for the Pioneer Baseball
team’s home opener about 11:00am, and the rest of us joined her for the first
pitch at noon.It was kind of windy, and
that kept us pretty cool.Emma enjoyed
talking to friends she saw around the ballpark, and Lara worked from the dugout
for the 7 inning game.Our Pioneers came
up ONE RUN short, but it was a beautiful day of sunshine and home opener
baseball.
Sunshine and Baseball (Jake was at a friend's birthday party)
The rest of the afternoon was more just resting and relaxing.Lara left for a couple hours to go walk the 3
mile trail around Boomer Lake with Colby, while the rest of just took advantage
of a last day.
Sunday, was much the same.Catching up, watching TV, playing games.We went to church at Life.Church at 4:00pm - where I forced them to take a picture! If they are all 4 in one place, I try to capture it! I know the days of them being together are getting fewer and farther between! After church, we took Emma back to
Orlando so she could start her week.And, in the spirit of tradition – and keeping the big family going
forward – we had our usual Sunday Night Family Meeting in the car on the way home.Went over
the calendar for next week, checked everyone’s grades, and talked about out
highlights of the week gone by.Prepared
for the week to come – even though SOMETHING always changes last minute!
It was Windy. And Finn is 6.
This laid back, put your feet up weekend reminded me, it’s
still going so very fast – even if we have time to enjoy it more.We weren’t rushing from here to there and
eating in the car and hoping everyone got homework and laundry done!But, we were wishing the weekend away in
other ways.Just waiting for the next
thing.When the next thing is still
coming WAY TOO SOON!And as if the
turning of the calendar pages isn’t enough, the song “Five More Minutes” by
Scotty McCreedy is on REPEAT on the country radio stations around here.It has a linethat says:
Time rolls by the clock don't stop
I wish I had a few more drops
Of the good stuff, the good times
Oh but they just keep on flying
Even on slow, lazy weekends like this past one, I still wish
I had 5 more minutes.To hug them.To soak it all in.To really LISTEN to that rambling story about
friends I don’t really know and inside jokes form class that I’ll never
get.A few more drops of watching them
with their brothers.With each other (I hear
you talking in that room after you “go to bed”).With us.It is still going WAY too fast!And this blog is still my feeble attempt to write it all down.To try and hold on for Five More Minutes…
Hard to believe we have been doing nightly "flu shots" (growth hormone injections) with our little guy for 6 months! WOW! But, the calendar says we have, and it was time for a check-in with our endocrinologist at OU Children's Hospital. While we were looking forward to the visit and any news about our progress, we also knew we were in for updated tests and test results. And that process did not go very well last time, so we were a bit anxious about the process this time. Plus, it's really not ever FUN to take a kid to the hospital. Even when it is an excellent facility specifically geared towards tiny humans. It's stressful, and overwhelming, and exhausting.
Since Finn's appointment was scheduled for late morning, we took the whole day off work. The nice part about that is that we got to take all the other big kids to school before we left town. Such a special treat for all of us! So, by mid-morning we were OFF to Oklahoma City!
Finn watching a video in his sunglasses
He loves Rudolph
Half way there car selfie!
We got to the hospital right on time, and after a quick restroom break, we signed in an waited our turn too see Dr. George. Finn was so great when the intake nurse weighed him, measured him (3 times, of course!), and took his blood pressure! He really is becoming an old pro at all this doctor stuff! When Dr. George came in, and went over all the numbers with us, and did an exam of Finn. I love how he always takes him time with us, talks to us in a way we can understand, and really interacts with Finn the whole time. We never leave with any unanswered questions, and always feel well taken care of.
So here is what we learned this time! The GREAT news is, Finn responds VERY well to Growth Hormone Treatment. Since we last saw Dr. George in late August, Finn has grown 1.5 inches! He is now standing at 40.5" tall! We are so excited about this growth! Over the last 15 months as we have worked towards a diagnosis and started treatment, he has grown a total of 5.5 inches! He started in the 8th percentile, and now is in the 46th percentile. This is GREAT news and we are so happy for Finn!
But of course, where Finn is concerned, it's not always going to be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, since his last visit in August, Finn has only gained a few ounces in weight. From 30.1 lbs to 30.3 lbs. He is definitely not keeping up in this department. In August, he was in the 15th percentile for weight. This visit? He had dropped off to the 5th percentile. *sigh* We attribute some of it to the cold he's been fighting for a couple of weeks. We know at home he has weighed more, but even when Dr. George plugged in our "home" numbers he was not happy with the results. We have been seeing a pediatric GI doctor as well, and we see him again the first part of February. He has been pretty passive in the past, just giving us strategies and diet suggestions to get Finn to eat, but holding back on further testing and such. If Finn doesn't gain a bunch of weight by this next appointment, we may be looking at further GI testing.
Finn being cute in the exam room
So, our instructions as we left the office were to keep the GI follow up in February, schedule with Dr. George for a 3 month recheck, head to the lab for blood work (YUCK), get Finn's weight up, and (the doozy in my opinion) reduce his growth hormone dose by almost half. UGH. I totally get why. He's WAY too thin and we're not doing him any favors by not allowing his body to catch up a bit. But it still hurts to turn back on something that's been working so well. We're also going to keep a home weight log to be able to account for the ebbs and flows a little better between visits. Next stop, THE (dreaded) LAB!
As we headed out, the nurse put Lidocaine (numbing cream) and Tegaderm tape (clear Band-Aid) on both of Finn's arms. Again, he was such a trooper during all of this. The sweet nurse said it was lotion and the tape would hold it in place. Then she had his squish it so he could feel what it was like. He loved this! But, he also thought it rendered him unable to bend his arms!
"Look at my lotion!"
Seriously, we all thought it was so funny to watch him walk down the hall towards the elevator. I just had to capture this moment with a video. Here he is walking to the next destination - the lab!
Once we got to the lab, we were again extremely impressed with the way things are done at OU Children's! It is all so efficient, and family friendly! Finn was AMAZING! Once we were in the phlebotomists room, I told him he was going to sit up on the big chair. And he did. The nurse tied the tourniquet on his arm - which he didn't like, but stayed true and strong. He let her peel the band aids off, no issues! Now, when she got out the butterfly needle and he saw it, that was the first *flinch* we had seen. But, he got over it! The nurse got a good vein in one stick, gathered her 3 vials (!!!) of blood, and just like that, WE WERE DONE! Finn did such a great job. She let him pick which wrap he wanted for the stick site. He chose green dinosaurs!
While we wait for the blood test results (not expecting anything out of the ordinary), we are trying to feed him, and we will keep the home weight log. We see Dr. Altaf (the GI) in February and go back to Dr. George in May. Keep praying for positive growth, and for weight gain and fewer eating complications. We are so excited about how much the growth hormones have improved Finn's quality of life (less illness, less lethargy, more personality, more interactions, HEIGHT), but also want to make sure he is WHOLLY healthy so the eating issues have to be contained. While for the first time in his 4 years of life he actually feels hunger and asks for food, he is "full" within just a few bites, and is very hesitant to eat anything that's not Goldfish crackers, Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, or Pedia Sure. We can get some peanut butter, Nutella, and the occasional ice cream treat in there, too, but his diet is very limited!
Thanks for all the prayers and concerns. Finn is a fighter! And has a great suoport system. Including all of you!
Emma – started Volleyball practice; found a club she wants
to join that is FULL of creativity; started math tutoring
Lara – tried out for a role in the Nutcracker Dream, and got
a demi-solo!!!Plus another group dance
in the production; started math tutoring
Jake – survived being in the parent pick up line - he was
convinced he would get left at school!
Finn – weighed in at 16 pounds 11 ounces, and entered a
contest (more on that soon…)
Me – worked 14 hours one day and 9 hours the next setting up
for (and then SHOPPING) the Adorable Affordables consignment sale!(The sale is still going on!Go check it out today and tomorrow!)
Hubby – held it all together while I was off doing my thing,
and worked a 9 hour day at the sale as well!
Family – participated in the Chick-fil-a Stillwater
fundraiser for our March of Dimes March for Babies walk!
It has been a crazy hectic week – but they all seem to be
lately!I am so proud of my girls!They are truly shocking me with their talent,
level of determination, and willingness to branch out on their own and try new
things!Lara literally made me leave her
audition – she wanted to do it all on her own!And Emma has made great strides in volleyball, and is planning on
playing at the college level!They are
growing up TOO FAST!
My latest endeavor is to win Finn some “1 year”
pictures.But not in October when he
will celebrate his first chronological birthday, but in January when he SHOULD be
one!So, I got wind of a fun Facebook
contest, and decided I wanted to try our hand at it.Touch of Wonder does AMAZING work, and I love
the props over at Shutterfly, so helping them get some likes and showing off
one of my favorite Finn Pics is all I have to do to win.But, I need help.That’s where you, Finn’s Fans and my readers,
come in to play!This is a 3-click
process, and here’s how it goes (all the links are hot links so you can click
directly from this post!)
This weekend we are still chasing the wind with kids
activities!If you need a car wash, come
to Richmond Elementary tomorrow morning between 9 and 11 and the Rocketeers
will fix you up!It is a fundraiser for
the 4th & 5th grade choir.Emma has first 2 volleyball games of this
fall season, Lara has Nutcracker rehearsal, and I have sorority
obligations!This big wheel just keeps on turning!And we love it that way!
First off, welcome to the new blog! All of the old blog posts from the fivedreamweavers site are still here, we just thought it was time to use our new family name and address for the blog. Plus, I know I was tired of looking at a picture of my family's feet! LOL! Please take a moment to look around and check out all the features. I tried to migrate all the things from the old site, as well as add some new things, so if something doesn't seem quite right or a link doesn't work, please feel free to let me know! This is still a work in progress. I'd like to thank The Cutest Blog on the Block for the cute templates and artwork, and @JakeWeaverSays for making the final decision on the background! I think he liked it because of all the orange, but it made the final choices list for not only the orange, but the blue, and the chevron pattern as well - all some of my favorite things these days! I think it's a perfect way to decorate this new chapter in our lives!
Yesterday, I got to experience a "Human Moment" that really made my heart sing. My human moments may not be the same as Bella Swan-Cullen's, but when your existence consists of the 4 walls of a small, dark house in (an albeit mild) winter, getting out of the house is quite a feat - something that used to be so typical and NORMAL 6 months ago! Because of the biannual Adorable Affordables consignment sale I participate in, my dining room table has been taken over with piles and piles of clothes, gear, and STUFF, with high intentions of getting it sorted and tagged. But, yesterday Finn was a HIGH NEEDS baby, plus it was a school (but not work for Britt) holiday, so I had Emma, Lara and Jake to entertain, too. Another true Mother of 4 Day! The big kids were great all day - did lots of chores with minimal whining, played nicely with each other, even spent the majority of an hour outside making up games to play - but when they ran out of something to do, they had to have my intervention, making progress on the sale items very slow. By 11:30am I was DESPERATE for a Diet Coke and a BREAK! Of course when Daddy got home for lunch a mere hour later, everyone was being good, but he brought me the Diet Coke and things immediately seemed much better! ;) Needless to say, come dinner time, the table still looked like a closet bomb had gone off, so it was time for a new plan. This is where my human moment comes in. We actually loaded all 4 kids up in the car, and went to Chick-fil-a! Now, don't get too excited, Finn and Britt stayed in the car, while I took the big kids in. I forgot Monday nights are so busy there, so we had to stalk out a table, but I ran into some folks I have known for 30 years, enjoyed a meal with my excitable kiddos, and got to be out in public without worrying about hurrying home to relieve a babysitter and check on my fragile baby! I felt human - for the first time in a long while. Thank you, Britt Weaver, for making that possible and for being SUCH a great dad and husband! And for making parenting my favorite job of all!
As for sweet, chubby cheeked Mr. Finn, he is doing well. Last week was a little intense as he had a stomach bug, and we had no idea what to do for him or how to help him, plus we were scared to death it would turn into something respiratory, which is super bad for him. It lasted about 4 (long, agonizing, sleepless, GROSS) days, and we did go to the pediatrician to make sure we were doing the right things - which for a newborn is really nothing but to let it runs its course and stay hydrated. He got his first taste of something other than breast milk or formula in the form of pedialite. He drank it like a champ! The doctor said we would know he was staying hydrated as long as he was having wet diapers, and crying real tears. Well, up until the time of the appointment, he had not cried real tears yet. I know infants don't do that right away. But, lo and behold, a few hours after the visit to the clinic, he was hurting and mad, and REAL TEARS came running down his cheeks! Such a bittersweet moment for Mommy! Finn weighed in at 9 pounds 10 ounces last Wednesday - in the middle of his sickness. So, he hadn't lost any weight, but he was definitely not gaining like he was before he got sick. He is now feeling MUCH better, and seems to be eating better, so I am sure he is making up for the few days he lost while sick. It's been a pretty quite few days for him since then. He has started smiling occasionally - almost on accident - but still cute.He is also cooing up a STORM. He has to speak up to get a word in edgewise in this crazy house! It's so fun to watch him work his mouth and tongue then to hear a sound come out! He is also finally grasping at toys (or his oxygen tube) or his bottle and starting to play a little bit. He has become a professional at removing his cannula and adhesive dots on his face that hold it in place, so we got the go ahead to turn the oxygen down to 1/4 liter on Sunday at church when we saw our pediatrician there. So, maybe only a couple of more weeks with that! Keep praying!
I also want to send up a shout out and ask for prayers for my cousin who lives in New York. She is pregnant with her 2nd child and has been on hospital bed rest since the week before Christmas due to preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM - same thing I had, but her has been a slow, replenishing leak, while mine was accompanied by unexplained bleeding, which led to placental aburption, and spontaneous rupturing of the membranes at 26 weeks 5 days). She will be 34 weeks at the end of this week, and it looks like she will have her baby girl before the end of the week! We are praying for a safe and easy delivery, a well baby and healthy mommy, and a very short NICU stay!
YAY! Made it to Friday! It has been a CrAzY week, where I have felt marginally better, but have not been great. The highlights are 4th of July (day off work, and blowing things up), registering for baby items (and the barrage of Transformers movies and shows my son is now obsessed with), getting all of my chicks back in my nest (the girls were gone for 2 whole weeks!), going to court (where we got to kibitz about lawyer fashion) and for Britt, finding out that the Peach Shake is back at Chick-fil-a! I have been looking forward to this day (Friday) as it is OFFICIALLY the start of my second trimester. I just got an email that said THIS:
Welcome to the second trimester! This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him -- a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches -- about the size of a lemon -- and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.
Monday was the 4th of July, and no one had to work, so we loaded up the van, and took to the City. My folks went with us – Babies R Us is quite a draw when you haven’t bought baby items in almost 5 years! We started off there, and made a short registry of the basics – Britt was hoping that would help me get more excited about the pregnancy. It helped! I came home with a tiny diaper – it’s SO CUTE! – and some ideas, so that’s fun. After BRU, we went to lunch at Jason’s Deli – a family favorite with lots of healthy choices. And of course, free ice cream at the end for the kids! And Dads! Britt and my Dad were both loading up on the ice cream! ;) After that, we headed to Bricktown for a quick stop at Pinkitzel – we can’t be that close and not stop in! Got some treats to bring home for later! Then, it was off to our FAVORITE shopping destination – TARGET! We started a baby registry there, too. Added a few of the same things that were on our BRU list, but got some others as well. This is where Jake decided he wanted the transformers movie, but he is a bit disappointed with it, and likes watching Transformers: PRIME on the Hub channel much better. My DVR will never be the same… *sigh*
Got the girls back on Tuesday night, and Jake was in HOG HEAVEN! I thought I had never heard him talk so much as when they were gone, but he ramped it up into OVERDRIVE when he had them back – he had to tell them EVERYTHING from the past 14 days since he had seen them! It is so nice to have them back in the house – even if it is louder and messier! Wednesday night we hung out with our “LTC” LifeGroup friends at the Perkins splash pad, which was fun and refreshing even if it was like 102 outside and the splash pad water turned off an hour before it was supposed to! We all needed to get home to bed, anyway, right? But, the most EXCITING part of Wednesday was THIS:
That’s right! It was late afternoon, and I was at my desk at work, and I stretched my arms up over my head and leaned back in my chair, and I felt my whole uterus do a flip flop! WOW! I know it was the baby, and it made my WEEK! I was so excited to tell Britt, and the kids thought it was pretty cool, too! (My mom was torqued because she found out on facebook – I forgot to text or call her… OOPS!) I guess it also led to my first craving, as this was my tweet soon after we got the kids all to bed:
We also had the distinct pleasure of sitting in a court room for 3 hours yesterday afternoon. We finally got the settlement entered from when Lara got hit by a car in the crosswalk in front of her school in February of 2009. I am so glad that is OVER! We still have a few small steps to take care of, but they all fall on me (the victim, of course – why do other people’s negligence always cause the victim work and stress?), and I have some time to carry them out, but it will be COMPLETELY over soon!
So, this weekend I hope to get some rest in between sorority meetings, church, and kids’ commitments. Will probably have to visit Chick-fil-a for that a fore mentioned shake for Britt, and I need to clean my house a bit, too, since this energy drain in my belly is not really allowing that to happen these days! Here’s to the dog days of summer - and the SECOND TRIMESTER!
So, I didn’t make it very long in Women of Joy world. Everything was irritating me. LOL! The music was too slow, the crowd too old, the hotel room too small, the location too far away. The things I liked were hearing Sarah Palin talk about Guns, God and our Constitution; Anita Renfroe singing about husbands being sexy when they bring you a babysitter; and the company. I was doing OK last night through dinner, the singing, Sarah (who was introduced my our Governor, Mary Fallin), and the hotel stay. Even resisted the urge to head home with Britt texted me this picture of my crying son who was missing me at bedtime: This morning was tough; I was tired and missing home. We got there super early to get better seats than what we had last night, and I was not doing a good job of being a happy camper. So, when there was a break after Anita Renfroe, I made a break for it! Stillwater was calling!
Blessings: Friends who invite me to spend an entire weekend with them; Christian women’s conferences designed to lift you up; a van to take me where I want to go; a supportive family.
The very first thing I wanted to do when I got to town was to go to the funeral home to see the room where Brian’s visitors are going. I knew the casket was in there, and I knew my mom and Britt went to decorate and personalize the space last night. And I knew the video I made was playing in the room. And I knew I had helped pick out some of the items in the room. I just needed to BE THERE. I called my husband from about 15 miles out of town and told him I was going straight to the funeral home then I would be home. He totally nixed that idea, and asked me to come straight home to our house so he could accompany me. I did, and we decided we wouldn’t be gone that long, and the 2 8-year olds could watch the 4 year old. Besides, they were supposed to be picking up sticks in the back yard and taking the Christmas lights of the deck railing (*blush* - I know, right?). We hadn’t been there 5 minutes when my phone rang, and it was Emma. The kids had managed to lock themselves out of the house. Yup. That’s right. But, it is a beautiful day, they had outside chores, and we would be back soon. We got home, and they were all still in the (fenced) back yard, so I guess it wasn’t so bad.
Blessings: A precious husband who is always there for me (and for my mom!); sweet memories of my incredible brother; cell phones; fences.
We went to lunch then needed to run a few quick errands. Unfortunately, a pity party by YOURS TRULY prevented any of that from getting done. You see, when I am tired and/or stressed, I tend to think my kids are the most annoying humans on the planet, and I lash out. Not only did the occupants of Derek (our Chevy Uplander) get the brunt of my meltdown, so did my mom who was on the phone with me at the time. OOPS! Not a pretty sight, and glad we are all past it now.
Blessings: Chick-fil-a; my adorable children who are not ALWAYS the most annoying people on the planet; meltdowns to vent emotion; forgiveness.
Britt took Jake and Emma to the OSU Spring Football Game. Lara is napping. I am pretending I don’t hear the buzzer on the washer and dryer, or the lawn mower. I just want there to be peace – which is one reason my dear husband separated our kids. Any 2 at any time or place are fine. You all the 3rd one, and all hell breaks loose! I never liked odd numbers…
Blessings: Distractions, BEAUTIFUL Spring weather; washers, dryers and lawn mowers; even numbers
Today it is my goal to find the blessings in what is going on around me. I am sad, worn out, drained, beat down, torn up and just plain hurt. But, I am so blessed to have my family, my friends, Brian’s friends, my church, my readers, and countless others praying for and supporting me. THANK YOU ALL – you are SUCH a blessing to me in this time!
I will be going to bed soon, so I say Day 6 is over, and again a success! I did have one *tiny* lapse, but I’ll describe that later…
We have presented ourselves with a few challenges the past few days. Thursday night, the kids wanted to eat at one of their favorite places, Chick-fil-a. My husband figured we could handle it, so off we went. And we DID it! They had their nuggets and strips, played in the playground, and a couple of them even traded the toy inside the kid’s meal for ice cream! He and I shared a large fruit bowl, and drank our water! Friday was relatively uneventful (except the power went out in my building for the 2nd time this week and I again went home early). It was the 5th anniversary of our wedding, so my husband and I wanted to go out and be a couple. In our culture in this day and time, that usually means going out for dinner. Well, that was out of the question! We had babysitters lined up, and pre-purchased movie tickets, so we popped our own popcorn, grabbed some water bottles, stuffed it all in my over-sized purse, and enjoyed a few hours of each other’s company. It was an early movie, so we wanted to go do something afterwards, but couldn’t come up with something to do… Typically we would go get a drink or dessert somewhere… This left us both feeling a bit empty – and there was a very short discussion about throwing in the towel. But, we just picked up the kids, came home, went to bed early, and knew that today was another day!
Today was FULL of challenges! We had a full day planned – 50 miles from home! At 9:30, we loaded up the car with the kids, the coats, a movie for the road, bananas, cutie oranges, nuts, and bottled water. And it worked! We went to a pre-inauguration event hosted by Mary Fallin for Oklahoma families at the Science Museum of Oklahoma. They served us all lunch there, courtesy of McDonalds. The kids all got nuggets and apple slices, apple juice or water. The adults were offered a salad (or nuggets). We decided we could do the salads; we would just have to pick off the tortilla strips and cheese. Plus, only one of our kids likes apples slices, so we got those as well. Picking the stuff off the salad was tedious, so we didn’t eat too much of that – besides, there was a WHOLE museum to explore!
After a few more stops, we decided we needed an early dinner, and headed to Souper Salad. My husband thought this would be a good choice for us, but it was harder than we expected! Lots of salad and fruit choices, but also pasta salads, breads, pizza, and more! We both did well! My favorite thing I found to eat was a baked potato, then there was a vegan soup on the line today, so I poured the soup over my potato! YUM! Our next stop was church, and I had eaten red onions on my salad. And they were STRONG. I needed SOMETHING to get rid of my dragon breath. I fretted about it all the way to church, every time someone spoke to me and when we dropped the kids off at their classes, and I didn’t want to SING with that taste/feeling. Worship is my favorite part of a service, so I HAD to do something. I prayed about it, and found some Extra gum in my purse. So, I chewed it for about 10 minutes, felt SO MUCH better, and threw it away. Definitely not on the Daniel fast, but it got me through church without any more stress!
We headed home – security! – after attending church, and we both feel revived and ready for another week! I am excited that at this time tomorrow, we will have been on this journey an entire week. I am stronger than I thought I was, and God provides. 2 truths I should know, but that are being sharpened by this experience!
