2 years home

I should be one of those people who put together a slide show celebrating the day, but I'm having trouble getting our MN pics onto a post, so what can I do? We spent a pretty low key day with kids at vbs, then some fabulous fun at our friends' house, followed by a movie night supporting the girls' missionary fund for vbs. I did run some errands with Hannah, and she ran, literally, beside me as we rushed into one place after the other. I thought as I did - we've seen some big changes in her during this time. Mobility-wise is just one. We recently watched video of her from our trip to ROG and are amazed at the difference. We saw little Nika and so wish he could be home, too! Then there were the thoughts of Evan. I remember being on the plane home thinking that when we flew to be with our family, he was home in heaven. So many emotions and thoughts. Happy 2 years being in the Wright family!

July 1st. New adventures are on our plate today. To think last week we were enjoying great weather and memory making opportunities of Minnesota. I have to say, 50's for morning temps beat 80's by a long shot! E kids travelled well, and we have a chance to hang out with cousins we hadn't been with for any extended period of time in many years. There were new people to meet, good food to eat, lots of time choking in smoke from the fire the kids were good enough to feed with the leaves that were nearby, fishing and playing on the rafts. It was so relaxing we decided to stay another day. We got home Monday night, quickly unloaded the kids and travel paraphernalia, and got everyone into bed. Catherine starts a summer intensive, a day late at TBC, where she took ballet a year ago. Sadly, our travel schedule didn't allow her to be there last school year. We had to learn how to sew on ribbons and elastic,and tie them the right way. I'm thankful there is another CC student who lives close enough for us to car pool. Every day she comes home full of stories and new things she's learned. In the middle of all of this, Samuel left ths morning for Northern Tier for 2 weeks, and we had much to accumulate for the adventure. At least 8 days portaging in the Boundary Waters, wearing the same thing every day, changing at camp (wearing the same thing at camp every day), into sleeping clothes, then back into portaging clothes. They do shower and use a suana when they end the journey, which is a very good thing. Everything he needed for that trek had to fit into a 30 liter dry sack. Sleeping bag included. Packing it all in was an adventure in and of itsled! I'm so excited for him to have this opportunity. Looking forward to hearing his stories and throwing away his clothes once he gets home. To show the effects of these older kid activities on their younger brother, you would have to have been in our living room a few nights ago. I was in the back of the house enjoying listening to them trying to get his attention. C was trying to get him to do ballet with her. "good job, caleb! First position. Keep your feet just like that. Perfect! Now, releve'. (Clap, clap) pay attention! I am not pleased with this. You need to releve'!" Meanwhile, Samuel kept coming over. "Caleb, want to come fight with me? Let's go get our guns. Boys fight, they don't do ballet!" this lead to loud hand clapping by C. Back and forth it went, but I believe the fighting won out! A few funny Caleb sayings. For some reason we were talking about getting married. He asked a lot of questions- who will I marry? When will I get married? Etc. we knew she had to love Jesus. What he then informed us was- "she has to like my clothes." as we were traveling up to MN, it's frequently snack time, in their minds. Should more than an hour pass without something entering their mouths, it's almost more than they can bear. "Mom! Can I PLEASE have a snack? I'm fanished." he had a great time with his "husband" Kasi, whom he's only met one other time. Kasi was so patient with him. They were great fishing buddies. He couldn't quite understand "cousin" vs. " husband." some days reading lessons go very well. Sometimes we have to use bribery. Just think if I'd realized I was able to teach the older 2! We read a lot, but I thought the school would do it. Sad. In the midst of all of that, Hannah is having fun hanging out with every one. She just had a procedure done to fix some damage on her ear drum. She was a trooper and came out of it just fine. Back to herself that afternoon. I think she enjoyed her time in MN, and everyone was so impressed by her abilities, and the improvement from out last trip there in Oct. 2010. We did deal with some behaviors while we were there that normally we can handle in private at home. It was very tough discussing it with the extended family. I know some of the things we do in helping her overcome some issues, people don't understand. It's been almost 2 years, and I'd hoped we be farther down the road. It'll come in time, I know. Patience. I'm so glad she has Caleb. He certainly makes her keep up, and she does her best to do just that. Best friends/enemies, but great playmates over all. Tomorrow starts a week with only little ones at home. It'll be fun to see how that goes. I'm thinking this is a good time to be in the little pool and at the library. Pictures another day!

We're still here! Again, life is busy with not much to report but the day to day "life" things that are too boring to share.

Quick updates on everyone:

Samuel- happily scouting and earning his way to Northern Teir for this summer. He's also getting ready for Philmont next summer. Thrilling that he has these chances. I haven't measured, but I'm sure he's passed me in height by now. Denial works for a while:) he's getting ready to test for Memory Master. I so enjoy how he goes off by himself to study and comes back excited about his progress.

Catherine- still happily spending time with friends, doing school with Caleb, and planning her business, "Weeds No More." She will weed all your flower beds for $5. We're looking at getting her back in ballet this summer in prep for the fall. She's missed it and I know it'll be quieter this year, somewhat, so she can make use of her talent. She has also been going with me when I teach my knitting class. Nice to have extra hands to help. She's also working hard for MM.

Hannah- has a new pair of shoes with purple butterflies on them. Her class went to the zoo this week, and she was able to tell me three things she saw. School is still very fun, as is her PT time at home. Her hair is growing out again, reminding me of when she first came home. I'll let it go a little more, but I won't be able to let it get much longer or we'll be dealing with the hot, heavy hair we dealt with the summer she came home. Too much to comb through and too hot for OK.

Caleb- learned what the 5 little monkeys did. He was jumping away on the bed telling Samuel how he would get some apple sauce in the morning if he behaved. Hmmm Next thing you know, he's crying and dripping blood from his mouth. Best thing for that is sleeping with your mom, and daddy finding some place else to sleep. He looks a lot better today, but provided a great example of how our immune system works, which we'd just been studying with the older 2. He's learning to read and mostly enjoys it. The best part is when he sees a word in a book that he knows.

Hank just got fixed and has one of the funky collars like the Little Rascals' dog had! Chasing the cats is a lot harder now!

As for the adults, life is good and full. We've been able to drive together the past few weekends we've gone to Branson. How much better to ref the kids and read to Buddy while we drive than being the driver. We're reading about Benjamin Rush. Amazing Founding Fathers we had.

Have a great weekend!

I'm enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we're having lately. It sure makes it nice to take walks and be outside. I'll take it as long as I can! It's funny to see swimsuits in the store and imagine being able to skip cold weather all together. Not so.

We are getting ready to again make some changes. Although this season has been good, it hasn't been easy. I'm seeing how many loose end are held together not so well, that I really do need to spend more time taking care of some things I've let go/band-aid treated for the past few months. Plus, we miss being together as a family. So, we're making a switch in Hannah's school so we can be in OK more. We'll still be going to Branson, but will probably be going as a whole family instead of the kids and me (and the cats.) God has good things, and we look forward to when we can all be together all the time in Branson, but we'll be patient.

Today we started having PT come to our house, which will be a great blessing. There is a possibility that we can do all 3 therapies at home! Running has its benefits, but a lot of drawbacks, too. Being in one place, being able to focus on things will be great. CC will continue in Branson, and I'm very excited about all the things we'll be doing next year in our community.

One quick funny thing from Catherine, then I'm off to tackle my counters. (Pray for me!) Back in the day, your hair was all the same color, and heaven forbid your roots show. Now, with multi-colored-no-doubt-it-came-from-a-box-with-one-hair-having-mulitple-colors fashion, I guess it doesn't matter. So last night she said to me- "Mom your hair looks so nice with that color from whole foods and then your real color showing by your head!" Gotta laugh!

1000 gifts

If you're like me and the days get filled with so many needs and have to's and should do's, time goes on and I forget to notice the little things. The joys that come softly into our lives. God is faithful and good, but if we don't stop to notice, we lose somle awareness of His presence and His strength carrying us through our days. So, I was reading this blog about being thankful and looking for God's love in each day. How if we find just 3 things a day, in a year we'll have seen 1000 gifts from God to us. That's pretty significant.
Can't promise I'll do it everyday and blog it, but I'd really like to open my eyes more to His goodness around me this year. I have some catching up to do.
So, here goes...
#1- help at CC that lightened my load and enabled me to enjoy my work there many times more
#2- jelly beans that helped perk up kids during Essentials this afternoon
#3- friends for my kids to hang out with who love Jesus, too
#4-beautiful sunrises on chilly mornings
#5-sunny afternoons that lend themselves to a walk home from school (remember the 1/2 mile hilly driveway?)
#6-horses that eat apples from your hands and let 4 year olds practice giving them hugs
#7-cats that have more sense than I do- pushing themselves in front of my work, so I have to stop and pet them instead of working on something that can definitely wait
#8-soft yarn and time to knit so I can share love, wrapping around total strangers needing some hope
9#-words in season that whisper His love and faithfulness
10#sleepy snuggles

This morning, as we entered the New Year, my sweet Grandma entered eternity to be with her Jesus. I can't tell you how glad I was to hear of her peaceful passing and the hope that she is actually experiencing. To know that she's with our loved ones, the ones she knew, and all the babies of ours she hadn't yet met, is really a fabulous thing. My mom and 2 siblings were there before she passed, even though a snow storm came in as mom was driving into MN. How thankful I am that we made a trip last year, that Hannah and Caleb could meet her and make some memories.
With such a hope as heaven, what hope we can have for the year ahead.