Our Peaceful Household

And this is what I was listening to for about a half an hour today. Gotta love my job!

Present Dust Collector and Other News

I thought I had better write something on here today otherwise Grandma Rutledge and my dear friend Marie are going to think some great calamity has befallen the Joos household!

We've had a great week so far. Taigen got busy on Monday morning first thing. He tore apart our room (including the ceiling fan) and started painting. It's not a drastic change, but the new cream color cleans things up a ton. Taigen had to paint everything: trim, ceiling and walls. Everything was very beaten up. Poor guy! It was an all day project. He was so happy though that the project got done. Our bedroom finally looks like it belongs with a nine year old home.

Tuesday I went and got my stitches taken out. That is a relatively painless process (ahem, Nate Perdue!) though I did bleed some. While in the office the P.A. came in and firmly instructed me that I am not to play the piano for another two weeks. Gulp. Thankfully, we have some dear ladies who are willing to step in at this time and help. It's nice being able to sing in the congregation and even in the choir, at least for a while. Aside from Marshall, the piano is collecting dust at present. Marshall loves to go and "play," though "bang" is probably the more accurate term. It's hard because he loves the bombastic and loud sounds. (I have a feeling he'll prefer Rachmaninoff & Stravinsky rather than Debussy and Chopin.)

The kids are continuing to do well in school. In Math they've started working on subtraction.We've just finished up a unit in their main class that was focusing on Spain and other Spanish speaking countries. They had so much fun trying to speak Spanish. This next unit they'll be focusing on different parts of our country. I'm excited to discuss Hawaii and especially Alaska! I'll have pictures to post on Monday when they discuss New York. I can't wait.

Until then...

So Much Trouble For Such a Small Thing

The bandage was able to come off on Wednesday and I finally got a peek at what all the trouble was about. It's such a small incision and it was such a small nodule. By the way, the surgeon showed it to me while I was still on the operating table. He said, "Hey, Crystal. Would you like to see it?" It was just a pea-sized white object. And for those of you who know me well, the answer is: No. I didn't faint.

My hand is doing great. I haven't had to take the pain medication since Thursday. Part of that might be because the church ladies have been bringing in meals for us and Taigen & the kids have been waiting on me like I was a queen or something. I have not done much this week and feel like a bum!

I went to see the surgeon yesterday and he gave me permission to go without a band-aid and take a shower without having grocery sacks taped around my hand. THAT is a blessing. I still can't stretch my hand out completely and I can't grab anything hard, but I'm thankful that it's feeling pretty good. I drove for the first time today, but I have to admit that my right hand didn't even touch the steering wheel.

Thank all of you for your prayers and encouraging emails & phone calls.

100th Day Celebration!

We have successfully completed 100 days of school! So much has been accomplished in the first 100 days of their next 16 years of schooling (that includes college, of course)! Although Kindergarten is not required (at least in NH), I'm thankful for the wonderful foundation it is giving them. Based solely off of Marshall and Shaylen's performance with the BJU Press curriculum, they are doing very well indeed and I'm so thankful to be a small part of it.

Taigen and I chuckle at the news when they discuss how far into the summer the public schools are going to have to go in order to make up these snow days. I guess that's the glory of home-schooling. At this rate (60 days left), we're scheduled to be done by the end of April.

Desperate Little Porkers

Some squirrels will go to great lengths to eat what's in the feeder. It was funny to watch them try to get at it this summer. You could almost see them think of how to get around the baffle.

We've gotten so much snow though, that it has decreased the distance to the top of the baffle and they can now jump to the top and them shimmy up and then drop. Fortunately for me, the feeder was just about empty.

Post-Surgery Update

Since typing is a chore at present, I won't wax eloquent.

1.Surgery went smoothly. It was the IV's that gave us grief. This has got to be the absolute worst part about these things. The room instantly got hot and I was trying very hard to breathe d-e-e-p-l-y!

2.They gave me meds to help with the post-anesthesia nausea, but that didn't seem to make a difference.

3.I am now sporting a lovely shade of yellow from the elbow down and a much-padded hand. No luck on getting a sticker OR a coupon to Starbucks from the nurse!

4.I felt my first bit of pain today during school, but waited until afterwards to take the meds. I didn't want to fall asleep during their lessons. My first Vicadin was taken today at noon and I'm thankful I did.

5.Tomorrow I get to take off the bandage and take a peek at the dr's handiwork. Let's hope I don't faint at the sight.

Thanks for all of your prayers.

Surgery

Tomorrow is the day the doctor chose to reschedule my hand surgery. I'm sorry to be posting this so late, but honestly, this week has been jam-packed with "stuff." I am to report to the hospital at 6:30 a.m. It's a good thing they told me to not wear make-up because at that hour, I wouldn't want to throw any on anyway!

The nurse that called me must be very stringent on the regulations (either that or the hospital is) because she told me I couldn't bring the iPod (I was originally told I could), I couldn't wear make-up (I was never told before that I couldn't) and in addition to that, I cannot have any hair-spray or gel in my hair. So basically, I'll look terrible. Hee hee! Cracks me up that I can have a c-section and deliver two babies in the O.R. with all that on, but they can't take a pea-sized nodule out of my tendon with any make-up, fingernail polish, gel or hairspray. Oh well, it saves me the trouble. As long as it gets taken care of, I'll be happy.

I'm not looking forward to all of the pricks and pokes, but I've told Marshall and Shaylen that I will try to be brave and not cry. Shaylen says I should ask for a sticker when we're all done. I think a coupon to Starbucks might be better.

Sarah Whitcher's Story

I have another book to recommend to you! This was another one of those old books I found at the Dyer Library book sale one year and we pulled it off the shelf this morning. I didn't have to rehearse for choir so I had some free time to snuggle with the kids.

This book is also written by Elizabeth Yates and illustrated by Nora S. Unwin. 84 pages. You will love the depiction of an early American family who trusts in the Lord even through difficult circumstances. It brought up some great conversations with the kids about fear, trust, and the fact that God is always in control.

Here is the Author's Note from inside:
"The story of Sarah Whitcher is found in History of Warren, New Hampshire by William Little. It was published in Manchester, New Hampshire, by W.E. Moore, a printer, in 1870, as Chapter VII, pp.322.328, with this heading: How Sarah Whitcher Was Lost in the Woods; What Happened and How They Hunted for Her. Together with a Remarkable Dream, and How a Bushel of Beans Suddenly Disappeared."

(How's that for a title, eh?)

Art & Ellen

Today was a day we all looked forward to. Taigen and I looked forward to it because it was "Date Night." We hadn't had one in a while. Between ice storms, programs, snowstorms, freezing pipes and just plain life, it's been hard to squeeze one in. The kids were looking forward to it because it meant one thing: Ellen. I've mentioned her before. She is a dear friend to our children and they love her dearly in return. Marshall said last night, "Only one more sleep!" We knew what he meant. They had been counting down the days all week during school when they changed the days on our pocket chart and put an "X" on the calendar. I think they were looking forward to this more than Christmas!

We also had our very first art class today with our group of home-school families. We met in a home and a retired art teacher worked with the older kids in the dining room and one of our moms had the four younger ones at the kitchen table. Marshall and Shaylen had so much fun learning to draw a bear, a fox and a fish. I admire my friend Karen for being willing to take on the young ones. We were both hoping that Marshall would be excited about branching away from just airplane illustrations. Thankfully, he was!

After art we went home and made chocolate chip cookies for the kids and Ellen to enjoy and then went to go pick her up. All of us had a great time. Ellen brought books to read to the kids, they pulled out the Play-Doh and puzzles were put together. As it was with the infamous Auntie Janelle, it's so nice to go away and know the kids are in good hands.

Monday's Project

Taigen's been chomping at the bit to get back into his home renovation projects. This surprises me since he's been basically doing home renovation trying to find all of these frozen pipes with Dan!

Slowly but surely, he's chipping away at these bare walls (accented with nail holes!!!). Monday was slated to be the day for our bathroom. Fortunately for Taigen it is a small bathroom (smaller than the kids'). After snowblowing and shoveling, he got right to work taking off hardware and clearing out the bathroom. I headed off to the guest room for school. When we came back my bathroom had been transformed with just one simple coat of paint. It went from being dark and streaked to light and fresh. Taigen chose a very faint blue. Boy did it look drastically different from the dark tan that was up!

After lunch and a trip to Home Depot, he put on a second coat. Then he meticulously washed off all the hardware. Our former owners never removed any of it when they painted (including the mirror) so they were pretty splotched.

I went off for dinner with a friend of mine from church and when I came back, Taigen had put everything back on, hung pictures and cleaned up his mess. What a guy!

I'm sorry I cannot get a better picture of the bathroom, but like I said, it's small. Fortunately, you can see the pretty shower curtain (a steal of a bargain) in the mirror. I'm still deciding on/looking for some items to go on the white shelves, any suggestions?

Storm Pictures

Just look at what we woke up to today! Taigen said we got at least 13 inches.

Snowed In...Again

It seems that all the significant snow storms are hitting on either Sundays or Wednesdays this winter so far. Last night, the weatherman was forecasting snow starting at about 3 am. today. I don't know when it started because like any sane person, I was sleeping, but what I do know is that there was already a bunch of snow on the ground this morning when I woke up.

We were able to squeak in Sunday school and a morning service, but when we left the church the parking lot looked like it hadn't even been plowed. It was accumulating fairly quickly. Taigen canceled our evening services.

It's been a restful afternoon and so peaceful to just sit here and watch the snow come down while sipping my coffee.

Here are some pictures from the back door. I have to throw in a disclaimer regarding the deck photos. There was some snow already on the deck before this snow came, but still...there's a ton on there and more to come! Don't you just love New England winters? Such a beautiful picture out there.

Carolina's Courage

When we were still up in Maine we would go to the Dyer Library book sale every summer. Mom Mac worked there and would always tell us when it was. It was at one of those sales that I purchased several well-loved books to read to the kids when they got older. Yesterday Shaylen got out her stool, pulled Carolina's Courage off the top shelf and brought it to me to read. The cover is not appealing to the eye as it lost its dust jacket years ago, but the story was still enthralling to Marshall and Shaylen. We read five chapters last night. Since the twins were pestering me this morning with questions regarding Carolina and the outcome of the story, we sat down and finished it after breakfast.

You can still find this book for your young ones here or here, and read more about the author here. She has written so many good books!

From the inside it reads: "This is the story of Carolina Putnam and the doll that was her treasure. She loved it more than anything else in the world. She knew that she would never part with it, nor did she until -- but that is the story." Written by Elizabeth Yates. Illustrated with simple ink drawings by Nora S. Unwin. 96 pages.

Brrrr! It's Happened Again

We had record lows here this past week. Before we went to bed Thursday night we were a bit concerned about the laundry room because we haven't gotten the new insulated door on it yet. It was supposed to get super-cold overnight and we didn't want the pipes freezing and exploding like last time, especially since Dan, Nate and Taigen had just fixed it! We took the necessary precautions by placing a small oil heater (don't worry...it was safe) in the room to keep it warm.

I had worked hard all week to get ready for seven very special guests: Brennen and Lydia and their five cute munchkins were going to come for dinner on Friday and stay the night and spend a leisurely Saturday with us. What a special treat.

When Taigen woke me up yesterday morning, I knew something was up. He was supposed to be at church already since I knew he had wanted to get to church fairly early. He said, "We have another frozen pipe. The heat isn't working on the main floor again." I groaned. How could that pipe in the laundry room have frozen again? Taigen ran to church to get some things so he could study at home.

Thankfully, the heat upstairs and in the classroom were working so we were able to have school yesterday in a comfortable climate. Taigen paced like a caged animal, checking here and there looking for the culprit all day. I'm afraid he didn't get any studying done.

We called the Jorgensens and had to cancel. It was so disappointing, but we knew it was for the best. It would not be relaxing for them to have to clean up a mess should our pipe burst.

Dan Perdue graciously came over again after work and went through the house with Taigen to find the guilty pipe. Only after feeling along every pipe and eventually cutting through drywall in the laundry room did they finally find it. Thankfully it wasn't frozen hard and a bit of hair dryer magic loosened up the slush to get the heat working again. God is so good! Had that pipe been frozen rock hard and then exploded, that mess would have been so hard to clean up. It was in a very hard-to-reach spot: in the wall behind the dryer, running between the main part of the house and the garage/guest suite addition. Taigen had to lay on his belly and shove insulation in there with some sort of tool.

Poor Dan, he was at our house until close to 11 o'clock! All he would accept from us was a piece of my chocoloate chip cookie dough cheesecake that I had made for the Jorgys. I sent one home to his wife as payment for letting us borrow her handyman hubby. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did giving it.

Thankfully our living room is warm again and hopefully (PLEASE!) all of the non-insulated pipes have finally been sufficiently taken care of so that this won't happen again.

4 Pokes + 4 Pokes = Lots of Tears

We just got back from Marshall and Shaylen's Five Year check-up. This was the first time they have been to the doctor in a while. It was also the first time they have been to this doctor. She was a gem and the kids loved her. She made the mistake of asking Marshall if he could draw. He nodded his head and she asked, "What do you like to draw?" You know the answer: airplanes. Then she made a second mistake. She asked him if he could draw a simple airplane on a piece of paper. Pshaw! He started drawing and proceeded to do one of his infamous drawings and wowed her. She said she would hang it up. She liked Shaylen's picture of a sunflower and promised to hang that up as well.

I'm thankful to say that they both are developing very well. Weights and heights are just over the the 75% mark and are proportionately great. The doctor said that they are speaking well (we all knew Shaylen could!), developing well both mentally and physically, and are very healthy. It was a great visit and I'm very impressed with the doctor.

However, the visit had to end with immunizations. Both Marshall and Shaylen don't remember having their previous ones so it was a new experience. I made the mistake of having Shaylen go first AND keeping Marshall in the room while she got them. (Dumb, Crystal...truly dumb.) Shaylen put on a brave face with her first two, but cried out with the 3rd and 4th. Poor baby. Even I cried! And then, it was Marshall's turn. He wanted none of it. There was a bit of a struggle and he started crying way before they even got the needles out, but it got done quickly. The good news is that they won't need pokes again for 6 years. Hallelujah! I think it's harder for me to watch all of it.

Other than four sore arms, the kids are back to their cheerful selves and have two Band-Aids, two stickers and one pencil to show for their check-up.

Shaylen's Stats:
43 pounds
44 1/2 inches tall

Marshall's Stats:
47 pounds
46 inches tall

Little Adults

Shaylen wanted so badly to help me yesterday. I was busy making a huge pot of potato soup and she offered to help cut up the veggies. Even though it made me very edgy, I allowed her to cut up the celery with one of my duller knives. She was ever so careful and did a wonderful job. It was cute to watch her chop off the end, set down the knife and pick up the small piece and place it in the measuring cup. In the time that it took me to chop up six cups of potatoes, one cup of carrots, and one cup of onions, she diligently filled her one cup with celery. What a good and faithful helper!

Marshall meanwhile was typing away at the computer. He loves typing big nonsense words, but loves making it appear that he is typing up letters and emails like Mommy and Daddy. I was able to download the font their curriculum is in so he can make his "emails" look like his school papers.

Speaking of school, we have successfully completed the 2nd quarter of school. I am so very thankful and pleased with the twins' hard work. I always think they are doing a great job, but when I look at the total number of points accumulated at the end of the quarter, I realize that they did do a good job! Of all the reading and evaluation papers that were to be recorded for the kids' Beginnings class (Reading, Phonics, etc.), Shaylen only missed one point and Marshall only missed two. If grades were given, they would both have gotten A's. Math & Bible are no different. It makes my heart so glad (and relieved!) to know that they are still eager to "go to school" and are excelling in their work.

Our New Red-Bellied Friend

A while back, Taigen mentioned that he saw a new bird at the feeder. When he described it to me, I thought it was a Downy Woodpecker. This one is black and white with a small patch of red on his head. Taigen insisted that it was a large patch of red on the head. He looked in the handy-dandy bird book and pointed to the Red-Bellied Woodpecker. I told him that we've never had one at the feeder before. This was exciting news! We spotted one that same week and when I went to go get the camera and turn it on, the batteries decided that it was time to be charged. I missed him entirely!

I had noticed this morning that there was some activity at the feeder. The Tufted Titmice and Blue Jays were going back and forth and the Juncos were gathering up leftovers on the ground. I looked a bit more closely one time and saw our new friend swinging on the suet! I grabbed the camera and started snapping. He is so big and beautiful! The pics of him on the suet didn't turn out well, but he flew to a tree and was still long enough for me to grab a couple of shots. I'm delighted he came back!

2009 In With a "Bang"

Last week we noticed that the main floor of the house was not heating like it should. The upstairs and guest room were heating just fine so we were a bit confused as to what the problem could be. Our friend Gary came over on Friday morning to check things out but couldn't find the problem. He thought that there was possibly a slush dam in one of our pipes since there were parts in the basement that weren't as insulated as he would like. He showed some things to Taigen to help remedy the chill in the basement. Valuable advice!

We put a space heater in the coldest part of the basement (the storage area) as a quick fix until Taigen would have time to get down there and fix the insulation issues. On Friday and Saturday, we were in Massachusetts. Our hope was that when we came back, things would have returned back to normal. Thankfully, (I say now) it hadn't. It was still about 54 degrees.

On Taigen's day off, he closed up the bulkhead door really well and made sure that there was no draft coming through. On a whim, he thought he would check the laundry room which is actually in the garage. The garage and guest room were an addition and the former owners put the washer and dryer in this little heated area right off the kitchen. The room is never really what I would call warm, but I think that's due to a hollow door. (We definitely need to replace that with something more efficient!) Taigen checked the heat register in the laundry room. It was stone cold. After feeling around outside, he found a gap between the wall and the siding that he could stick his hand up into. There was NO insulation. No wonder the pipes froze! Taigen fixed the insulation issue and we put the space heater in the room and shut the door. Maybe that would move our "slushalanche!" Boy did it.

We left to run to the store and were gone about an hour. When we came back there was water flowing out of the laundry room and down into the garage. I guess the space heater defrosted it, eh? Taigen ran and turned off the water and I grabbed the wet/dry vac and started vacuuming. It was a mess.

Our good friend Dan Perdue came over right after work and brought his son Nate. He took a look at it and was willing to fix things right then and there! After a quick trip to Home Depot, and him pulling out his special tools (I have no clue which ones they were, but Taigen loved them), they fixed the entire register for just under $30. Maybe to someone who does this all the time it would not seem like a big deal, but to us, it meant the world!

We have so many things to be thankful for:

1. Friends. We are so thankful for these men who know what to do (they are a wealth of information!!!) and are willing to do it. It is so true that a church is made up of many members and each of us have our own talents to use for Him. I don't know if Dan and Nate had any other plans on Monday night, but we're sure thankful they dropped everything and came to our aid. It was nice of his wife, Karen, to share her knight in shining...uh...blue jeans.

2. The leak was in the addition, not the main part of the house. All the flooding went to the garage and not into the basement where the storage was. Surely there would have been damage to our stuff.

3. We were only gone about an hour. Any longer, and Taigen's garage would have been an ice rink. OR things could have defrosted while we were in Massachusetts and caused a lot more damage & run up our water bill!

4. The cost: $30 and a batch of cookies for the guys. There was never a happier $30 spent! We were worried that the problem with our heat would require so much more to fix.

God has been and continues to be SO good to us.

Massachusetts Trip

Jason's birthday is December 29th and this year he turned 30! Joni confided in us when they were here for the kids' birthday that she was wanting to throw a surprise party for him. It worked out beautifully for us to go down this past weekend. Taigen worked on Monday and we both worked on Thursday (New Year's Day) so that we could head down on Friday evening and stay until Saturday afternoon. We called and "asked" Joni if we could come and spend some time with them. She said that she would "ask" Jason if that was okay. Since we've done this before, he wasn't suspicious. Aren't we sneaky?

Enzo was so excited for Marshall and Shaylen to come. The twins were so excited to go and play too, but also thrilled that they could sleep in the "spare room" like Anne of Green Gables did when she stayed with Aunt Jo at Beechwood. Cute! I love Marshall and Enzo's matching jammies and Curious Georges. Don't you?

Taigen packed the snow stuff so that he and Jason could go take the kids sledding while Joni and I stayed back in order to ensure "Julia got her nap" on Saturday morning.(and we could secretly prepare for the 40+ guests that were going to arrive). The guests started pouring in at noon.

Taigen said that when they pulled up Jason noticed cars that belonged to people he knew and only then knew that something was up. Boy was he surprised to see a house full of friends! We hope he had a wonderful time. It was a blessing to be part of the festivities. God has given us such wonderful friends.

New Year's Eve Fun

You won't be shocked when I tell you that we had an additional storm on New Year's Eve. Seems like they always hit on church days, huh? The storm wasn't too bad so we continued on with our plans for the day. We went over to the Dustin's (a family from our church) home for a get together and we enjoyed the company of several other families. We brought along the kids' snow stuff and they went outside and went sledding with the older kids. They had so much fun! I think the older kids enjoyed "babysitting" them too.

That night we had a very small group of folks that braved the storm to come to church. Afterwards we pulled out the ping-pong balls & table, the foosball table, the board games and whipped out some munchies. I waited and watched the kids to see how long they were going to last. We knew they wouldn't last until midnight! We had brought two cars so that Taigen could stay late and I could go home and get the kids into bed. Surprisingly, they ran around as if it was only 7 o'clock and groaned when I finally decided to take them home shortly after 10. It was such a wonderful time with our church family. There was laughter, hollering, smack-talking (from the men at the table!) and kids running around and playing. Good memories!