In Brief

A few newsworthy notes tonight:

As we are still processing through my dad's Alzheimer's diagnosis, some decisions have been made for the immediate future, at least.  Mom and Dad will continue to stay in their home in Iowa, where they have excellent support from their church and community, Dad still knows his way around, and Mom has some income from her piano students.  We feel this is a wise course of action for now and though I'd love to have them here in Louisville, there isn't any real immediate need.  They are well-cared for there and their daily life is blessedly routine and familiar, something my dad needs a lot of these days.  I am thankful for that. 

Chloe and I have been back to the doctor again.  During her recent appendectomy, it was discovered that Chloe had a "twist" in her bowels at one point which caused her appendix to be located on her left side rather than her right.  This was unusual but "a conversation for another day" said the doctor.  Well, "another day" arrived last week as we visited Dr. F at her office.  She shared with me that Chloe's condition, called a malrotation, is potentially quite serious and can be fatal.  Though Chloe was asymptomatic, she felt it was necessary for Chloe to have a Upper GI test done to determine the extent of the malrotation and the potential dangers--essentially, to see whether Chloe needed surgery to fix this problem or not.  So, we spent a large part of Thursday at outpatient radiology and Chloe cheerfully and willingly drank the "special milkshake"  (some of you know just how "special" it is) and they xrayed her insides every hour or so to see how the barium was progressing.  Thankfully, though she is diagnosed with malrotation, it is "functional malrotation" and there is no need for surgery at this point, PTL!  We are very thankful for this!  We have one more follow-up appointment to discuss potential warning signs of future problems, but hopefully that will be the end of the story.

The girls and I continue to keep on in home schooling and are making some nice progress.  I feel like this is the year Clara Anne is going to "take off" in her reading ability and we've been having fun with our math, memory verses, reading time, handwriting, and playtime as well.  John will be starting History soon with the girls and I am trying to be consistent in getting Clara Anne to practice the piano.  Our most anticipated time each week, though, is our Music Time--we have four other little girlie friends that come over on Friday mornings and I am teaching them a music curriculum that I borrowed from my mom.  These girls are doing great!  Everyone can keep a steady beat--even the 3 year olds!--and last week we had such fun with rhythm instruments.  It's been a special part of our week!

We have some neighbors who live just up the road that are members of our church and we are now doing a date night swap with them.  They have four boys and our girls think it's great to play with boys once in awhile too!  So, Tuesday nights are fun for everyone as the kids get some quality playtime and the adults get an evening out every other week.  We're thankful for new friends and playmates!

Our neighbors next door are an interesting couple--he is an astrophysicist and she is an artist.  Last week she invited us to to come over and let the girls make a small clay figure which she will fire in her kiln after they have dried.  The girls had a great time working with the clay and we had a fun time getting to know our neighbor better too. 

Small groups have begun at our church for the fall, and we were asked to co-lead with some friends of ours.  We are excited to be a part of this ministry!  We've only had one meeting but I am already thankful for this group.  We're looking forward to learning and growing together this year.

And, the last bullet point for you: I foolishly and impulsively decided to get a flu shot on Saturday.  Why did I do it?!  I had never had one, and hadn't even researched it much, but suddenly decided I should have it done.  Within six hours I had a temp of 102 and was absolutely miserable.  Thankfully that fever broke after about 12 hours but then I felt like I had been pummelled by some invisible hands.  My shoulder muscles are still sore but I feel generally much better.  Let's hope it actually prevents me from getting the full-blown flu later on!

Well, I titled this "In Brief" and it hasn't been, really!  Hope you enjoyed the update from our family, though, and hope your week is off to a great start!