Friday, September 26, 2008

Fireproof

Are you going to see it?










I am.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

In preparation

for shed moving day tomorrow, we've torn down more of the fence to allow the truck and trailer to maneuver the shed over it's new home. This morning, the kids and I worked more on leveling the site, rototilling it up, raking it, and then driving the van back and forth over top to pack it down. Earl and Isaiah took turns helping me "drive" the van, thrilled to learn how to shift from drive to reverse.


You can see the shed on the trailer in the driveway in this photo Isaiah took. A week and a half or so ago, Marty and a few other fun-loving men worked all day in the POURING rain to jack the shed up from it's former home, get it loaded and steady on the trailer, and pull it slowly down the road to our driveway - in the POURING rain. It was an adventure, I tell you.
The window you see on the back of the house there is the one above my kitchen sink. I love being able to look out and see where the kids are, and watch all our animals.

*An update on Marty's burns....He had another appt. this morning. Two fingers are doing well, and are slowly seeping the fluid from the blisters, which is good. It's better than bursting open which would increase chances of infection. The other two still have enormous blisters. We have to change the dressings on them twice a day, which Emma has enjoyed greatly.
Unfortunately, they are 3rd degree burns, which means more than likely he will never have feeling in the burned places. However, that does mean he has not had much pain since the evening he was burned. We are praising the Lord that the burns aren't directly on his fingertips or palms and that they are progressing nicely.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

One year ago today


Moments after birth.



A wonderful daddy.



Exquisite. A half hour old.



Joyful mama. Inquisitive siblings. An hour after birth.



That afternoon. Enjoying being together.

Happy birthday, Solly. We are dearly blessed to have you.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Branded

Determined to STILL accomplish something yesterday while home sick from school, Marty planned his day with the kiddos.

1. Do animal chores.

2. Watch The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course with the kids. (Since everyone was sick, we actually brought our little tv out of the laundry room pantry shelf, and rented a few videos.) This one was rated 5*'s by our young'uns - a rare thing in this household! Since used ones are SO cheap, I'm pretty certain we will be owning this one soon.

3. Nicely stack the piles of boards from the chicken coop we tore down last week against the back of the barn. This was to be a special "training" session for the kids. Each one would be instructed on their particular aspect of the job, evaluated by Marty as to their willingness and diligence, and would be compensated accordingly. Emma had to sort the boards into like-size piles. Isaiah had to carry and stack the larger boards. Eli and Earl carried and stacked the smaller ones. It was an effective lesson, because a couple of the children were good hard workers and a couple were more lackadaisical , and everyone saw that when Marty parceled out what they had earned.


4. Take it easy.

Later in the afternoon, Marty decided to burn a few of the useless boards. Unfortunately, he grabbed the wrong end of his metal poking stick. Knowing immediately it was not just a simple burn, he raced to the hose to douse his hand in water. The hose water was warm from lying in the sun, but he did manage to get cold water on it. I arrived home from the grocery store shortly after the injury. He came to the car and showed me, and I immediately had him go back to the sink and hold his hand under water. The main parts of the burn are across the insides of his first three fingers, and his thumb. I think his thumb actually has some charred skin. It's blistered pretty badly, and burned deeply. The pain was pretty intense if he tried to remove it from the water, so off to urgent care he went holding a bag of frozen peas. Emma and Isaiah went with him to help, and to learn about first aid for burns. Hey, if ya' gotta go, ya' might as well make it a field trip, right?
Afterwords, he called to let me know they were on their way to Kroger to pick up his prescriptions. He had turned down the injection for immediate pain relief they had offered him their at the clinic. If he had gotten it, he would have had to stay for observation, and I would have to come pick him up as he wouldn't have been allowed to drive. Naturally, that seemed like more of a hassle than it was worth, so he decided to wait until his prescription kicked in.
His wounds had been tended to and dressed, each digit's bandages covered with a stretchy sock to hold the bandages in place and provide further protection. Strict instructions were given to go to a burn clinic in less than 24 hours - either the one in Toledo, or the one in Detroit. His burns are significant enough, coupled with the location (his right hand), to require further care. I guess the concerns are with nerve damage, loss of sensation, and scarring closed.
Additionally, while driving to the pharmacy, he called to say he didn't think the car was running correctly. Yep, then he called me again, saying it wouldn't run, they were stranded at the pharmacy, can I please come pick them up, and to find the number for the towing place. So I ended up having to pick him up anyway!
Today we will find out more information when he visits the Henry Ford burn clinic in Detroit. It isn't too far from his school, and is also where he had his reconstructive face/head surgery after his accident in July.

Psalm 68:19 "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens."

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."

Monday, September 15, 2008

Without great fanfare


Here I am in this space again. I've been wanting to be here all along - taking photos I thought would be especially nice to share, composing post upon post upon post in my head, etc.
So I'm letting go of my perfectionistic tendencies. I don't have to have an exquisitely beautiful layout. I don't have to have perfectly photoshopped photos. I don't have to have the most riveting stories, nor the most facinating writing. Nor do I have to post EVERY single day. There can even be a grammatical error here and there. Right?!
I've always been slightly awed and intimidated by those bloggers that start out writing with a purpose statement for their blog and always stay within those parameters. Yikes! But upon more consideration, I've realized that my desire to blog can be broken down into 4 different reasons. Since I love lists, here you have it:

1. To capture the precious, oh, so fleeting moments of my days with my children. (Certainly a blog can't take nearly as much time or expense as a scrapbook for 5 children!)

2. To allow family and friends to keep up and stay connected to all the ins and outs of daily life here at Joyful House Farms.

3. To share the abundant blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me and the occasional thoughts of my heart regarding the life lessons I am learning along the way.

4. To have an outlet to share my creative endeavors and curious passions. (Cause, really, I just don't know too many people locally that get all giddy over the granny chic nature girl stuff I love so much. But I DO know that some family and friends new and old will, or at very least find it amusing.)

I've gone back through all my old posts from long ago, leaving only the ones I felt worth saving. If you happen to go back and read what I've left, you're bound to happen across some dead or broken links. Sorry 'bout that.

So, with that little bit of housekeeping, and this intro, I begin again.

P.S. That photo above is our home late Saturday afternoon as the rain began lifting.