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I know that funerals aren't supposed to be an enjoyable gathering. But in all honesty, I had a great time attending my grandfather's funeral and being with my relatives this past weekend. Having a pastor father means that my brother and I attended numerous funerals and memorial services. We have seen a wide variety. Nothing is so special, though as watching your own father conduct his father's service. I was deeply touched with the honesty and realness he showed. It meant a lot to know that he loves his dad, would miss him truly, but was so happy that he's now in heaven. Two of my three aunts sang during the time also, and this brought back lots of happy memories hearing them sing throughout the years. My grandpa was quite musical, so the service began with two friends playing several hymns, while we watched a slideshow of his life. My dad talked about what a priviledge it had been to care for his dad in his final week of life, doing things like shaving his whiskers and feeding him lunch. Grandpa was the last of his siblings to pass away, and so a lot of cousins - who had already lost their parents - attended the funeral. After this we drove to the cemetery where many aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents are buried. We sang "Amazing Grace" and listened to scripture. Dad ended with the reminder that while "Death" may have won a temporary victory this time, ultimately the grave has no sting because of the redeeming blood of Jesus. How glad I am for the hope that allows us to grieve with an eye to the future. I know when it comes time for me to close my eyes here on earth, I'll open them looking into Christ's face! 2 Corinthians 5:8 |
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So, my wonderful husband is making it possible for me to fly to the Midwest for my Grandpa's funeral. He knows how important it is to me, so in spite of the fact that his birthday is this Saturday, he is encouraging me to go to the funeral. He is staying with the children, taking off early on Friday so I can fly out earlier. It is no small task for him to be with our kiddos, especially Charity, as she requires just a bit extra. He will no doubt do beautifully, but I am quite sure he will be exhausted, and glad to see me return. I am grateful that he is willing and excited about having all of this time with his children. He is a very involved Daddy and loves to be with these wonderful little people. Speaking of them, I noticed a lot of whispering going on this morning. I assumed that since my head was a little full and I was maybe a teensy bit grouchy yesterday, they were treading lightly, letting everybody know that Mommy was back to normal, but "be careful". However, this wasn't the case. They were planning a little surprise. Knowing that I couldn't take any food or water through security with me, and knowing I'd be hungry, they each chipped in some money and wrote a nice card, telling me to enjoy a nice snack at the airport. How about that? I will definitely do that - Chloe told me to make sure it is nutritious :) I'll miss those guys and wish it was possible to bring them all along with me, but since it isn't, I am grateful for my husband, who will watch over them. |
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http://www.rhapsody.com/-search?query=I%27ll%20fly%20away&searchtype=RhapKeyword Click on this link and pick the Statler Bros. singing "I'll Fly Away" Congratulations Grandpa on finally getting your chance to "Fly away"! I'll bet it is the MOST glad morning for you - we will miss you, but we are glad for the happy memories, for your staying married to Grandma for over 60 years, for raising a great son (my dad) and super daughters (my aunts). Grandpa Ray 1913 - 2009 "Some glad morning, when this life is 'or, I'll fly away..." |
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Those of us in the homeschooling community, owe a great debt to the men and women who have gone before those who have paved the way and to those who are working still behind the scenes to help homeschoolers across the USA and the world. We have a number of heroes who have given much time and energy to allow families to homeschool freely. One such hero is Chris Klicka. Please join me in praying for his family today as they grieve the loss of this wonderful man. Take a minute to read this entry by his wife - but grab a tissue... http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/chrisklicka/journal |
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I LOVE HOMESCHOOLING!!!! I mean it...I really do. There is nothing like being with these little people all day long, and having the priviledge of teaching everything from "where babies come from" to "what is 2 plus 2" . I especially have enjoyed watching my oldest children grow so much in their ability to think things through logically and to question why people are the way they are. I like watching them as they try to figure out what the right thing is, and what to do about it. I get truly excited when they pick the upright and moral way, or stand up for injustice, and speak out for those who have no voice. My children are all brilliant in their own unique way. The best part of having more than two children, is that I get to teach the same things again and again, but to different people. Harrison is learning the same things that Ellie learned and Chloe learned and Tucker before that. Charity will come next, and believe me, she will have more than one teacher. The super deal with homeschooling, is that once one of my children masters something, they can't wait to teach one of their siblings everything. Ellie will no doubt catch on to multiplication tables easier this year because she has already been memorizing them - thanks to Chloe. I get tickled when I hear Ellie teaching Harrison the correct way to pronounce his letters, and Harrison is in on it too. He is making it his personal goal to teach Charity to walk... So, maybe homeschooling isn't always easy. Some days we don't accomplish much. Some days we skip altogether when Charity ends up unexpectedly in the hospital. Sometimes, I have a headache, or everybody is sick. Some days I feel discouraged because NOBODY IS LISTENING TO THEIR TEACHER!!!!! But, thankfully those are just some of the days :) Most of the days, we learn a lot, more from each other than our books. Most of the days, we pray on the couch for our country, for our family and for people who need Jesus. Most of the time, we are delighted to be together, and I'd choose homeschooling again and again. Maybe it isn't for everyone, but I'm glad it is for me!
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The kiddos and I made a quick jaunt to the hospital on Monday afternoon to have a ultrasound for Charity. She of course, yelled through the whole thing, but the other four sat quietly glued to the TV set where a kid's movie was playing. Charity can't stand anyone poking or proding her anymore. I wonder if she has just enough already!?! Regardless of her opinion, the technician was glad to report that she was "stable". Last time we went in for a check-up, we ended up being admitted for three days. It was the same technician and she was thrilled along with us...stable doesn't mean super, but it doesn't spell H-O-S-P-I-T-A-L either! We will return on Monday to meet with the urologist to discuss the ultrasound results and to check out that very nifty vesicostomy site. So far, Charity is doing very well after the surgery and I personally am happy about our new nighttime schedule. In times past, Charity would wake up every few hours for a drink or a fuss or whatever, but since the latest vesicostomy, she has been sleeping at least 7 hours in a stretch. I am definitely feeling more rested!
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overheard conversation between my son, and a neighbor boy... neighbor: "Do you wanna get married?" son: "I dunno" neighbor: "well, if you do, you should try looking at Baskin - Robbins" son: "what?" neighbor: "yeah, there's always lots of girls there..." |
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It has been wonderful to be home for a week now. Charity is healing nicely, though we don't want that hole to heal up too nicely and close itself up again! She appears to be getting another yeast infection around her vesicostomy site, which is likely due to the antibiotics that she has been on for awhile. Last time the infection spread and became quite uncomfortable, so hopefully we will catch it before it gets too itchy and sore. The weekend was fun, the boys went to a motorcycle extreme hillclimb event, see www.skipspromotions.com they enjoy the noise, and the bikes and the food and everything. They come back sunburnt, exhausted and totally bonded! Harrison is wishing he can join them, but he has to wait another year before he can do the all-day or overnight event. It is a highlight each year, and because Charity was in the hospital in the Spring, they willingly skipped the event...however, Tucker is now trying to figure out how he can earn enough money to buy a motorcycle in order to enter the amateur events next year. Anybody need their lawn mowed, garden weeded, toilet cleaned...?
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I know that God answers prayer. We have had our share of prayers answered. But...sometimes I forget. I'm so glad that God is in the business of reminding me how good He is! We asked people to pray for Charity in specific ways. #1 for me, was the lack of food she would have on Wednesday. She has been known to be quite grouchy if her belly isn't full. As the day unfolded and her surgery time was moved from 1pm to 2:30pm, I continued to marvel at how happy and content she was. I knew it was an answer to our prayer. She and I had a delightful morning and early afternoon together. The pre-op appointment is usually about an hour long, but ours was two and a half hours. If you've ever sat waiting in a little bitty doctor's office or tried to keep a little one happy, you can appreciate the challenge that was set before me. Unbelievably Charity had a ball in that room. We sang, we played hide the sock, and we blew up the latex gloves. We made masks (thank goodness for scissors in my mini sewing kit) and we somehow passed the time with no fussing or complaining. The surgery ended up being twice as long as we expected, but everything went extremely well. The doctor looked into her bladder with a mini camera and found that her ureters (which connect to the kidneys) were extremely wide and had no flap on them. Normal ureters bring urine from the kidneys to the bladder and have a little covering or flap to help the urine stay in the bladder. Most likely born with this, she has been experiencing severe reflux for a long long time. What this means for her long-term is uncertain, maybe the vesicostomy will be a permanent fixture on her body? She has likely suffered and struggled with infection and discomfort but has still managed to accomplish so much in her three and a half years. After surgery Charity and I were transferred to a private room which was a treat! We didn't sleep a lot during the night, but we did sleep and were grateful for the care of the nurses and doctors. All around are reminders of how good God has been, and this song has been a new favorite for us: "I like to think about the goodness of the Lord, He gives me everything I need and so much more, I just want to lift my hands and say that 'I love you', I just want to lift my voice and praise...I want to be thankful, I want to be grateful, I want to remember everything that the Lord has done. I want to be thankful, I want to be grateful, I want to be, I want to be, I want to be..." (by Jay Stocker, (c) 2008 Group Publishing Inc.) Click here to listen |
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more later, but we are home and happy! So glad for your prayer... |
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Charity's surgery is scheduled for 1pm today so that means we leave around 10:30 to arrive in time for pre-op and paperwork. She is doing fairly well considering she hasn't had anything to eat this morning. That is probably the hardest thing for little ones - or big ones - the, not eating before surgery part! We are confident that things will go well today and are excited to see how her body continues to heal and grow stronger... please join us praying for : a successful surgery and no more closing up of the site good sleep for Charity and Mommy all of the details and loose ends coming together perfectly... Thanks for the emails and notes of encouragement from so many of you - hoorah! for Charity's fan club!!!!! |
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The first thing that my children said when we found out that Charity had to be admitted into the hospital last week, was, "can we still visit Aunt Michelle and meet Mikala?" Will's sister lives in Kauai with her family and we hadn't seen her for about three years. Since that time she given birth to an adorable little girl we had not ever met! All of us were holding our breath to see if Charity would be well enough to make the over night trip to the mountains(where Grandpa and Grandma live) in order to see our family...thankfully Charity is a spunky gal and she did very well with the drive and stay. Our hearts were so glad to spend time with Sis Michelle who supported us long-distance with prayer and biblical encouragement, during Charity's hospital stays. Our niece is the cutest little thing, and all of us agreed that we need to see her again soon!!! We always are so glad to stay with Grandma and Grandpa and were so grateful for their wonderful hospitality to us all, even giving up their room so that we could have enough space and beds for all!!! Another highlight was spending time with Will's aunt, uncle and six of their seven children. This wonderful family has been highly influential in the way that we have viewed family, children and marriage. They have also loved Charity since her birth and have prayed diligently for her healing. We were so happy to be together with all of these people we love so much! Now, for this week. Charity is scheduled for a "do-over" on Wednesday. The doctor will be re-opening her vesicostomy site and since he said he rarely sees them close up, like hers did, we will hope that this doesn't happen again. She and I will stay overnight Wednesday and hope to be home before too late in the day. Thankfully the tests came back showing that she did not have an infection in either the kidneys or the bladder. Great, great news!!! |
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Charity has been doing really well with her catheter. Aside from a couple of days where she experienced much pain and discomfort - perhaps bladder spasms? - she is much more her old self, very happy and engaging. The best part of everything? She has begun crawling. We have never ever seen her crawl and figure that since the catheter makes bottom scooting (her preferred travel method) uncomfortable, she realized that crawling on her knees was more efficient and also quicker. The first time she crawled was at home on Friday, but over the weekend, she has perfected this skill. Pretty creative way to get her to crawl I'd say! Makes the catheter seem "worth it"... She is also standing and cruising, two skills she rarely if ever displayed. Her body is becoming stronger each day, and my back, I mean, my family is hoping that she will soon be walking!!!! |
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How much I appreciated my bed last night after staying two nights with Charity in her room. In all reality, we both slept fairly well, but it was GOOD to be home again! During our stay we were able to see lots of our friends both doctors and nurses who have treated Charity over the past six months. We love this because we are forever grateful for those who have not only taken care of Charity but our whole family in so many ways!!! Charity now has a catheter which is helping the urine to drain instead of backing up into her kidneys. Her kidneys were swollen and showed particles floating around with increased "bad" activity. By the time we left on Wednesday night, these had all returned to normal. So far, the tests weren't showing any infection, but sometimes it takes a few days to be sure. Unfortunately for Charity, the catetheter causes much discomfort. She cannot move around at this point without being in pain, so we hope that soon, the doctors will be able to re-open her vesicostomy site and remove the catheter. We are grateful for the fact that her vesicostomy has worked so well for her, now we just hope it stays open for a bit longer than six weeks :) One of my personal favorite parts of the hospital was seeing the food that was sent to Charity each lunch and dinner. I had no idea that there was so much creativity involved in food preparation. Since many people are unable to chew or, as in Charity's case, don't want to chew, the hospital cafeteria prepares foods pureed, but nicely shaped to resemble the food in its original form. I loved how the green beans were shaped like beans and the turkey slice, looked like a freshly sliced turkey breast smothered in gravy. I don't know if Charity was as impressed, guess sometimes it's the little things that tickle my fancy! Anyway, we're glad to be home, thankful that it was a quick stay and so very grateful that God has once again proven faithful to us as we quickly juggled work schedule, school, meals, etc etc etc...
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Well we had an event filled day. We headed to the hospital this morning because we thought Charity's vesicostomy had closed up and we wanted to find out what was going on. We started with an ultrasound that was scheduled for 10:30 but ended up being at noon (Charity's naptime) her mom and brother had to hold her down while she screamed through it all. After the ultrasound the technician wanted to make sure that we were scheduled to see our Dr. next. We said that was the plan they said OK, we are calling him now to make sure he is available. All that to say is yes, Charity's vesicostomy had closed and it has only been six weeks since the surgery. We made it to the Dr.’s and once they inserted a catheter her bladder was able to drain and they were able to obtain a sterile culture for tests. It appears that she has another infection, we are waiting for results but everything points in that direction. Because of her past, her doctor did not want to take any chances, so she was admitted into the hospital for the next 48 hours. Definitely not what we expected or wanted to hear. We should know more Wed. afternoon, but either way she will need to have another vesicostomy procedure done, which is a bummer. This was a hard day for all as we were not even thinking this was going to happen so we were not prepared. We do have a game plan now and would just ask for your prayers. -Please pray for my wife Elizabeth who is with Charity tonight, that they both sleep well As my wife and I said our goodnights over the phone, she shared with me that even though this is not what we planned Charity is doing well and recovering. There are other families that their little ones are not doing so well. We appreciate all of your prayers, love and support through this entire journey and it is such a blessing to be able to share with such a large family that loves our little family. Hug your little ones tonight and say a special prayer for each one... Love, The Gouldings |
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We are heading to the hospital on Monday morning. It isn't an emergency, or else this would be being typed from the ER! Charity's vesicostomy site has been letting out less and less urine over a two week period. Over the past 24 hours, there has been no output. This means that she has been pee-peeing the normal way. So far, she hasn't seemed too concerned about it, but we are...the doctor is hoping that this means things are normalizing for her, but would like to check to make sure that her incision hasn't completely closed. Also, we want to make sure that she doesn't have a urinary tract infection. She has seemed much more agitated over the past few days, so we hope it isn't due to infection. She is also having a lot of trouble with her g-tube becoming irritated. The skin around the button gets rubbed and tends to bleed. This has been happening especially the past two days. Icky mess! We'd appreciate your prayers and we will update on her status! For now, we are off to a picnic ...tough life here... |
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Yes, a fire truck event...but, no need for alarm, the "event" was a planned "field trip" here in our neighborhood. One of our friends, has a two-year-old who adores firefighters, fire trucks and anything related. She thought it'd be fun for all the children in our neighborhood to enjoy a visit from our local firemen. Scads of kids and adults showed up for the event, enthralled by the entire thing. We learned fire safety, what to do in a fire emergency, and a complete tour around and in the fire truck. The firemen encouraged the children to stay in school and stay out of trouble, since many are disqualified from applying to become firefighters, simply because of a "'stupid" mistake during adolescence. They took lots of time to answer loads of questions, as well as help the children try on the cool outfits. Tucker, is fairly sure he wants to be a firefighter someday and although this may change, he is even more motivated to work hard in school. Once we arrived home, my four oldest children thought it'd be nifty to plan their escape route in case of fire, and time themselves doing this. I believe that they made it out the windows into the bushes in about 45 seconds. This was from being pretend asleep, putting on pants, and getting the littlest ones out first. I wish I had taken a picture, but hilarious was the scene indeed! The girls, delicately maneuvered their way out of the window, onto the step below and into the bushes. But, in the boys' room, Tucker sent Harrison flying out of the window straight to the bushes, where he somehow managed to land on two feet, while Tucker torpedoed out and they raced to the meeting tree. All in good fun, and we hope to never need our new found preparedness, but should we, I think we'll be ready... |
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Ellie Mae is a lot of things... She is the one who will tell you, if you ask, or if not, that she is going to have 20 children! I believe that she may, and that she will be splendid at raising such a brood. She is gifted in many ways, not the least of which is being an able teacher. She knows how to train and prepare those younger than she. In this case, Ellie decided that Harrison needed to learn how to clean the counters, the toaster oven, and the front of the refrigerator. He thought it was the best thing he'd played all day, and I was highly impressed with her ability to keep him on task. I'm hoping they'll be as excited about cleaning the toilets, tomorrow...
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So, it has been three months since Charity's g-tube went in, and it is time to change the tube or button, as we like to call it. From here on out, we will change it each month, but for the first tube, it is to stay in for three months. Quite honestly, I have been putting it off, dreading the actual procedure, being sure that I'd end up in the ER begging them to "fix" my boo-boo. Thankfully, for all of us, mostly Charity, I finally took the plunge and did it!!!!! It was disgusting to watch - and yes, four little faces were crowded around mine and Charity's observing the icky plug with green stuff growing inside of it, come out of her belly. I was sweating as I gently placed the new one in, and made sure it was in the correct spot...we all cheered, well, except Charity, she just yelled...but, I did it and I'm feeling doggone pleased with myself!
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What a fun weekend we had. Our church has purposed to be diligent with good works in the community, so about twice a month we have opportunity to get involved in a variety of work days. Once it was painting park benches, another time, it was checking in on an older widow, and helping her repair a light. We aren't always able to attend, but like to bring our crew as much as possible. Even if we can't help, it is a good opportunity to get to know the other members of our church body. This past weekend, we began our day sweeping, clipping and dumping a bunch of old overgrown trees and bushes. After getting all sweaty and dirty, we headed home to make lunch. Some new friends from church joined us for a lengthy lunchtime, followed by tea, a soccer match and more fellowship. Today began with church, lunch out, and then naptime! The boys spent part of the afternoon sprucing up our front yard, it's looking fantastic. We went as a family to visit a family who has just given birth to a little girl who has Down Syndrome. She was absolutely beautiful and my children were enamored! Our day ended with a little bike riding, leftovers for dinner, a downpour of rain, and a group hug on the couch...contentment...sigh.... |