Tag: life

We drove to Denver for Memorial Day Weekend.  It was a wonderful, whirlwind weekend full of family and fun activities.  Our main purpose for the trip was to celebrate the 8th birthday and the baptism of my niece.


She’s my sister’s daughter, and it had been WAY too long since we’ve seen their family.  I’ve really missed my sister, and I was so excited to see her.  Her house is adorable, and it was fun to be there to celebrate Sav’s big day.

I walked into her home and saw this:


Um, hello.  A vintage robin’s egg blue singer sewing machine!  Have you ever seen something so awesome?  Her house was full of garage sale and thrift store finds.  The sewing machine was my favorite.  I wish I’d taken tons of pictures of her house.  Every room is painted a bright, happy color.  Her garage is full of furniture she’s refinishing.  Her kitchen was full of amazingly delicious food, served in her cute collection of polka dot dishes.


She fed a large crowd, and we all enjoyed being there.


Do you like that brown wall lined with brightly colored mirrors?  So cute!  My sister has a real knack for using color creatively.  One of my favorite things was her $5 clearanced votive holder that she painted and filled with brightly colored candy.  Adorable.


It’s really cool to have a super-creative sister like her.  Just being in her home for a few hours motivated me to get my house cleaned up when we got back in town.  May was so grueling that I’d almost forgotten how good it feels to be in a house that’s tidy and pretty.  Her example, combined with my Mom’s, energized me to get my house whipped into shape.

She and my Mom also organized a marathon shopping afternoon for the ladies.  My mom slaved the day before we came so there would be food for the men and children while we were gone.  It was fun for us to be together for several hours.  I enjoyed seeing the different things that we were all drawn to.  We all had some tastes in common, but there were also things we liked that expressed our individuality.  I’m increasingly grateful for both of my sisters and the way they are pressing forward with their lives, even when things feel tough.  It’s such an honor to be associated with them.

Thanks, Em, for a great visit!

Jennifer

Wednesday was my husband’s birthday.


I can’t remember the last time he had a more exhausting day than his birthday turned out to be, and we’ve had some tough days in recent weeks and months.  I bought doughnuts to go with breakfast so we could sing to him early in the day, but the box sat on our counter until 6:30 p.m.  The doughnut was the first thing he’d had time to eat all day.  It was  a really crazy day and I wish I’d been able to soften it more.  Relentless days like this remind me what a huge commitment it is for a man to provide for a family.  He does it without complaint.

I am so grateful for him and for all he does in behalf of our family.  He is by far the better parent in our marriage.  I feel so blessed to have him.  He is one amazing man.

Monday was the big day.  Time to get three pins removed from my son’s finger.  We took a picture before we went, and you can see one of the pins just begging to pop out of his hand.  The other two were less obvious.


At the Doctor’s office, more x-rays confirmed that the bone has healed properly, so we decided to remove the pins.  The specialist numbed my son’s finger and went to work.  He felt around carefully and located the end of a pin, then pushed (hard) on that spot.  This forced the pin through out through the skin.  When he had a little hole in the finger, he used pliers to get hold of the pin and yanked it out of the bone.  Wow.  He did this three times.  The second pin was stubborn and required a bit more digging with the pliers, but my 12 year old was a real champ.  He held still, never flinched, and tried to tape most of it with his cell phone!  (His friends, upon hearing how the pins would come out, had requested videos.)  Personally, I’m proud of myself for watching the entire thing without getting a little queasy.

So, this is what his finger now looks like.




Do you think it looks better?  You might, until you see this picture of his whole hand.


For a finger that’s “healed” it sure looks bad!  It’s still so swollen and flat that it’s hard for me to look at.  I’m grateful that the bone is properly healed, and excited to see the swelling go down.  It’s nice to have the pins out as well.  He’s proudly carrying all three of them in his wallet.

He has two weeks to be his own therapist and see how much movement he can get out of his finger.  After that, we’ll see if he needs physical therapy.

This little adventure has cost plenty of time and money, as well as pain.  Yet in the long run, it’s a small price to pay for a fully functional hand.  Someday these hands of his will be providing for a family.  Thinking that thought makes me happy.