Healing at last?

I've been coughing for several weeks, and while the length of this winter's cough doesn't rival last winter's two months, it still seems like way too long. I broke down and went to the doctor last week and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. And as much as I hate antibiotics, I also hate feeling as crummy as I've felt for the past few weeks. So I've been taking them. But I didn't notice much improvement until yesterday, when I talked to a different doctor who prescribed a couple of anti-inflammatories which are supposed to help drain the fluid from my sinuses and speed up the healing process. Wow! The combination seems to be working wonders. So while I'm still having coughing fits occasionally, I'm not nearly as "stuffy" as before, and my face no longer hurts from all the sinus pressure!

And I can smell again. It's a weird phenomenon when you haven't been able to smell for a few weeks and then suddenly you can! It's definitely a good thing (except when changing diapers, changing the litter box, and taking out the trash).

On a much more interesting note, our ladies' Bible study started up again today after a long break for the holidays! This time we're doing a study called The Patriarchs: Encountering the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by - you guessed it - Beth Moore! It looks like it will include a lot of the very early history of the Jewish people, which I'm really excited to learn more about! The woman who has been leading our studies up until this point is moving out of state, which is really sad. So I had a hard time adjusting to the idea of someone else leading, and frankly, I have been a little intimidated in the past by the one who's taking her place. (Note: it doesn't take much to intimidate me!) But after today, I have to say I'm feeling very comfortable with her. I think I just didn't know her very well. (This happens to me frequently. I have "fear of man" issues.)

So anyway, you might be hearing some more about this study in the weeks to come. I'm looking forward to it!

Catching up

Is it possible to actually catch up? (That is supposed to be a rhetorical question, so if you think the answer is "yes," I do not want to know about it!)

I think we're finally over our second round of the flu - not the stomach flu this time, thank God! Unfortunately we've all (except Levi) got a nasty upper-respiratory thing going on. Still. But, at least we're now functioning at about 90%, and for me, that means I get to try to catch up on housework and thank-you notes and Christmas tear-down and et cetera...that could have been done in smaller, more manageable chunks at an earlier date if I hadn't been achy and sleeping for much of the past week or so.

However, since it's nearing the end of the day, I wanted to get one more post in before 2009 is upon us!

So here are a few photos from the past week or so...

Okay, so this picture was actually taken in August, by my sister when she and her husband were visiting. However...it was in my hometown newspaper on Christmas Eve as their Reader's Scrapbook photo of the day! And I quote: "Brothers Drake (last name), 6, and Levi (last name), 1, peer out the window of their (our town), Fla., home on a rainy day. Aunt Crystal (last name) of (hometown) snapped the photo while she and her husband, Jeff (last name), were visiting the family in August. Drake and Levi's parents are Adam and Melonie (last name), formerly of (hometown)." (Whew. That was a lot of editing.) So anyway, my kids are totally famous now. Only problem - for their fame anyway - as my husband's grandpa pointed out: "it looks like they put the wrong end in the paper." Well. At least they have cute backsides.

Super job, Aunt Crystal!

Our family before the Christmas Eve Glowstick Service at church. (Yes, that's Glowstick, not Candlelight!) The kids all sang at the beginning of the service, and it was so cute, and actually very uncharacteristic of our church to do something so, well, traditional. I was about to post a picture, but realized that would include posting scads of little kids' faces on the internet without their parents permission - not cool - so I'm refraining. Although I really wish you could see how cute they all looked!

Some gift-opening action! We do presents on Christmas Eve, stockings on Christmas morning...just in case anyone wonders about the date on the photo. It was a lot of fun! Particularly entertaining for all of us to watch Levi. At first he wasn't too interested in ripping paper off of stuff until he realized that every time paper was ripped, a new toy appeared! Wow! He got down to business after that.


After Levi went to bed, Adam and Drake played with Drake's new K'nex! Drake was very excited to have received them, and even more excited to have Mom and Dad play, too.

We were all feeling pretty well on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (and then got sick again on the 26th), but the guys just got too tired from all that building, I guess! I was on the phone with my mom and dad, and noticed the two of them conked out like this. Very sweet! They were both escorted to bed soon after...


Hey look! Socks in our stockings! Seriously cool stocking stuffers from Grandpa and Grandma S. They are so creative. The boys are both stoked about their new socks - they each got 3 new pairs (the others are very similar)!

Adam's turn for paybacks! Drake and I both had fever and chills, and spent the evening lying like this on the living room floor. Levi never wants to be left out of anything, nor does Heidi!

Drake and I were still sick a couple of days later, but slowly starting to feel a bit better. Here's Drake, catchin' some Zs on the couch, and Levi (of course) trying to do exactly the same thing his brother is doing. Heidi (of course) wants in on the action!

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So I think that's it - a week of exhaustion and illness and fun, all rolled into one. Oh yes, add in a visit to the emergency room and the loss, and recovery, of the diamond out of my wedding ring!! Yeah, can you say amazing? Adam found it, but God totally gets the credit for that one. I was taught by Adam's Grandma Jane many years ago to stop and pray whenever I lose something. (It was lost train tickets at the time. And they were found quickly.) You'd be amazed how often my lost items are found! So anyway...

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There. Now at least my blog is caught up! Can't exactly say the same for my life...

Thank you, Jesus!

And thanks to all of you for your prayers, also. Everyone is on the mend, here. Adam is probably the nearest to still being sick, but he was only on quarters for one day (less than a full day, actually), meaning if he wanted to stay home today, even for just the morning, he'd have to go back into work, make another appointment, and go to the appointment...totally not worth it to him. Besides, he always feels the need to take care of things that need to be done at work. So, I'm praying he doesn't try to do too much today and relapse.

I'm keeping Drake home from school for an extra day, just to make sure he's completely well. He had a fever last night, so it's really not time to send him back just yet, anyway. (Besides, I happen to know they're having a substitute teacher today, because his teacher will be out of town for her son's college graduation. So that's all the more reason to keep him home an extra day.)

I haven't caught their flu yet, and with each hour that passes, I think it's less and less likely that I will. So that has been a major blessing! Well, I have a million things to try and catch up on today, so I'll update again later.

Illness

My babies are sick today! Drake came down with a stomach flu yesterday evening, Levi sometime in the middle of the night, and Adam is now at the base clinic with the same. In the military, you can't just "call in sick." You actually have to go in to work anyway, make an appointment at the clinic, and physically see a doctor, who puts you on "quarters," or rest at home, for as long as he/she deems necessary. So it's not enough that Adam got sick early this morning at home, and multiple times at work this morning. Nope, he can't come home and rest until he gets the okay from a doctor. Go figure! I guess we can all be sure our troops aren't playing hooky - there's no sick leave abuse in the military!

We had a busy weekend getting out the Christmas decorations and setting up the Christmas tree...and finishing shopping...and wrapping...and packing to mail...and going to a birthday party! So it was a busy weekend, for sure! I'm hoping to post pictures soon, but I'm not sure exactly when that will happen with our current circumstances. Right now, Drake is on the couch watching Madagascar, Levi is sleeping on my shoulder, and hopefully Adam will be home soon so he can rest peacefully in bed. My plans for running errands (like the Post Office!) today are temporarily on hold. Maybe tomorrow.

I just wanted to update you all. We could use your prayers for healing around here! God is good. I'm so thankful that I'm not sick (yet anyway) so I can take care of everyone else more effectively, and super-thankful that Adam was able to help me with the boys last night...it was a rough night. Thanks for your prayers! Hope you are having a good week and that none of you get this nasty flu bug that's going around our neck of the woods!