It has been a bit of a whirlwind lately.
Aman got appendicitis a week and a half ago - so he rapidly had surgery one weekend. The good news is that he is doing amazingly well and it was caught early and we are so grateful!!!! I am so very grateful, because as it happened, it happened so fast and surgery within hours of taking him in to the ER with stomach pain that began just an hour before we took him to the ER and no symptoms at all until about 18 hours before surgery occurred. It was just a huge whirlwind as we just took all the steps. Thankfully, we really didn't have time to panic at all, just get to the next step, realizing that things were going in ways they shouldn't. I am most grateful that it didn't happen a year ago!!!! As Aman was in surgery, that occurred to me - what if it had been before??? Hyperventilating. On my part. Aman was calm throughout, trusting us to get him the care he needed and that they could make him well and keep him comfortable. I am so grateful that he could trust us with something so very outside of his realm of experience. Thankfully, we have the medical care we have here. Thankfully we have skilled doctors and nurses and medicine and all. Thankful. That is all there is to it.
And then the kids' play run was this last week - just days after Aman's surgery. The craziest time in general, wonderful and busy. And trying to keep Aman resting, quiet, not overdoing, while we did stuff. It was wonderful, the kids did great, what a great experience! Faith was an amazing Wendy and Alex was his usual spunky character, having a blast with it, and Tsion really came a long way with learning projection and speaking clearly her lines (in English of course!). She was wonderful. It was truly amazing to look at her and realize that she is the same quiet child who came home to us almost eight months ago! She has come so far!!!! It is truly amazing to watch all the kids blossom into who God has made them to be!!!!
That ended on Sunday, and on Monday morning was our homestudy appointment and inspection at the house! No stress there - especially after we were hardly home the week before and all!!! Amazing what a team of ten can do in a short time!!! I have decided that once a week we need to have two hours where all ten of us tackle the house and or projects like that! Teamwork, wow. Twenty hands helping - wow. The house is fabulous, the crib is up, things rearranged, scrubbed and in general, wonderful! The kids are being so good, picking up after themselves so carefully to keep it "always looking so nice". I don't know quite what it was, but all the kids are on board and really saw what we could do when we all pitched in. Hee, hee. they seem to have the idea now!!!
Anyway, the visit went well and it looks like we are good to go! Couple more documents to get in, but all set for whenever baby may arrive. And that looks like it possibly could occur as soon as next week! An ultrasound is scheduled, and if it is determined that the placenta really isn't as good as it should be, it sounds like baby boy will be born. He will be at 37 weeks by then, so it would not be considered a premature birth! I have no idea what his weight might be at this point, but I am hoping for five pounds! LOL! Our smallest birth baby was eight pounds six ounces, and our foster baby was seven pounds! I cannot imagine snuggling a little one that small!!!! Oh, it is so exciting and very hard to wait.
Spring is arriving here - no robins sighted by us as of yet, but we did see a sandhill crane!!! And the weather has been between 40 and 50 all week, which is just heaven as far as we are concerned! Warm enough that the goat is out of the laundry room!!!!! Hooray! And there is a new baby in the birthing stall! Cute little boy. Of course, after three weeks of waiting on him, he decided to come at the wildest time - smack dab in the middle of play week, Aman's recovery and while friends with five littles were visiting our life!!!!! Talk about screaming excitement! I truly thought the kids were pulling my leg when they said that there was a baby goat! Nope! So, the visiting kids got quite an education! LOL! Nothing like seeing a newborn and the placenta and all. Should I be sheepish or proud that my kids can identify when a birthing is done, complete to all the anatomy?? And identifying the placenta and that it is all complete so that means that there are no more babies coming? Oh, yeah, and to top it off, I forgot to give the mama and baby the shot we always give them after birth - a selenium and other vitamin shot to give them a good boost. Alex recalled right as I was leaving for work - "No problem Mom, I'll do it!" and sure enough, he and Aman did it all by themselves. Our method of teaching involves first observation, then hands on assistance, then doing it with assistance, and then just doing it. Alex had reached that point, yay!!!!! I was so grateful, and so proud of him!
I never really thought about these kinds of skills when I thought of all the things I wanted to teach my kids. Most of the things I teach my kids on a day to day basis are things that are taught hands on. If they can be taught through daily life, then they really learn a lot. One of my greatest wishes is that the kids will grow to be independent people, confident in their ability to learn and do and care for themselves and others. So, we very carefully chose things that we want the kids to experience so they learn by doing.
I want them to learn about service to others. So, we do that as a family, serving others in big and small ways. And I am seeing it pay off. My proudest mama moment this last week was not at the play, where my youngest child was one of the "stars", but when we were driving to play practice. We passed a man on the side of the road, holding a sign saying "Will work for groceries". At the time all I could think was "wow, I really could put you to work if we didn't live so far away". Our house needs so much. But Alex was really bothered by that. He asked if we could go get the man some food. So, we went to the nearest store we could find, and got a few staples. Nothing fancy, bread, peanut butter, cereal, some snack bars, a cup of coffee (it was chilly out that day) and I don't even remember what else. Two bags of food. And took it right back there. Alex hopped out of the van and took the gentleman the food - it was really important to him, he wanted to do it. Well, the man talked to him for just a minute and Alex came back. The man was concerned that we could really afford to do this for him. Alex had insisted that we could - yep, no problem. It really affected everyone. It wasn't anything much, just two small bags of food, enough to get him through a day or two at the most. But it was important to do.
It was important. In a small way, it was profound. Alex truly reached out on his own, met a need, didn't do it for anyone else to see, just did it because it was a need. I was so very proud of him. If he sees this at 15, what will he do throughout his life?
What if all our kids could reach out at one time or another? Or even if they did it as a regular part of their lives? What could they do with their lives, and with others lives? Hands and feet of Christ. Little things make huge differences. We know that from the people who have been part of our lives, who have reached out as we have done life in the last few years with all that has gone on. God has used so many people at moments when we needed tangible touches from Him. What huge ripples in life there are when we reach out, when we provide what is needed. Wow.
Well, after a very long few days, I am heading to bed! I don't know if much of this musing makes sense tonight. It has been such a whirlwind!
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