One Life to Live {A summary of Summer 2012}

We've gotten haircuts and gone swimming, we went to the lake and to the water park. Trips to the drive in, staying up way to late stuffing our faces with popcorn and soda. Quiet days spent at home snuggled in with good books and chocolate chip cookies.  Some went canoeing. One got stitches. We lived a FULL happy summer getting to know each other.

The girls at a park early this summer. Right before the boys came to live with us.

Only two very short fast and furious months and already SO much has changed.

The important thing here is we ALL survived the first two months.

No more poo accidents. Everyone except the baby is FULLY potty trained. It took longer than two weeks but it DID happen.

No more trying to sneak out of the house or set fires or playing with dangerous items. I even started going to bed without unplugging the microwave or cuddling up to the drill!

There has been a lot of learning and growing and testing boundaries and ... and some of that was the kids.

School has started in full swing.We've completed all our back to school shopping, took our first day pictures, read the kissing hand, and adjusted to a new routine. The girls and I get to enjoy some one on one time doing their lessons together while the boys get a break from us at public school. I love being a Momma who gets to enjoy the best of homeschooling and the best of public school.

Currently I am away from home and I miss my treasures so much it hurts BUT I know they are making special memories to last a lifetime with Daddy. Memories mean old Mom would say no to. LOL... I think Monday we are going to journal about things Daddy does different than Mommy... I want to make sure they hold on to these precious memories.

Since I am staying with my parents this weekend helping to take care of my Grams, {she was sent home from ICU under the care of hospice} I am getting time to look through the chest of memento's that were special to her. She scribbled prayers onto post it notes... weaved the important right along with the mundane. One side a conversation with her Savior, the other side a recipe. Makes my heart smile. I found a very precious autobiography written by her brother that tells about their childhood. I've been reading it aloud to her. It calms her, she doesn't seem as agitated when the room is filled with stories of her past. I like to think that in her mind she is reliving the happy memories, that she is little Sally again helping Mom in the kitchen and being tormented by her brothers, completely oblivious to the fact she has about used up her entire life and is now stuck in a bed with no control over her body. The stories are absolutely fascinating. I've already decided that this is how I am going to teach my kids history. Autobiographies. Real people. THAT is history. Not the textbooks I was bored with through my educational years. I hated history then. It is now one of my favorite subjects. I can't wait for them to get to learn using stories that include the people that came before them whose blood they carry with them. It also makes me feel as if my blogging is worth it. That one day my words will be fascinating to the young people who don't remember me but carry my blood. {They certainly aren't much now.} I plan to share the autobiography on here. It is way to awesome to not be shared. It may not interest anyone else but I'll be sharing anyway so they are preserved for those who come after me.

A sneak peek from the book. This is my Gram's parents.
I'm not sure how old she was when this picture was taken but
based on what I have read she must have still been a young girl .

These past few days have been a very surreal, very radical change from what I am used to with my brood of nine. We speak in hushed whispers and the normal day to day activities such as meals and laundry and caring for a bunch of grown men (my Dad's brothers) have to be continued as we hold her hand, smooth her hair, sing and talk, and count breathes & administer medication. It is as if I hit pause on my real life and am living in a dream. It almost feels wrong to sit down and eat or to carry on a conversation and go about 'normal' life alongside of Grandma's hospital bed... It has been a special time though, I am thankful Josh took off work and let me be here Thursday and Friday. Thursday was the last time she was able to sit up and be an active participant in life. I will get to cherish those memories for a lifetime. And to get to bring comfort to her as her room fills with angels to carry her to Glory... priceless. To be able to help feed my uncles and clean up dishes for Mom is an honor and I am so thankful for my wonderful Mr. who is allowing me the chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this home this weekend.

Grams and I Thursday afternoon. We were sitting by the window watching the hummingbirds.
Her eyes were getting heavy but she was still able to hold herself up and talk some.

Sometimes when it is my turn to sit with Grams I am trying to write. My parents asked me to write her obituary as long as I don't put too much 'Erica flair' into it. :0) Writers block plaques me. Not for lack of words, but because I must whittle down an entire lifetime into just a few words. It his been said that a good writer can say alot with just a few words. Well guess what, I'm not a good writer, I'm not even a writer at all. I'm just a reader who is in love with words. I love them so I string them together and scribble them down in my own personal collections. I'm just a collector of words. This is one thing I want to get right though so I'm going to need your prayers... I have a word limit and a deadline. I don't do well with either. Not to mention it is hard to write about the death of someone who is holding your other hand. Whose blood you can feel pulsing and whose raspy breath is the only audible sound in the room. Dad is anxious though and wants to get every detail perfectly prepared and done with, {I think it is his way of coping with this sucky situation} so I had better hurry or he will write it himself.