4 months...

That's how long it's been since blogging...I've heard that there have been those who have been checking...and Surprise....here is a new post....Well, it's been a whirlwind 4 months...when I last posted, David had just had his surgery...he probably had his cathetar pulled on that very day...So August and September had us VERY concerned with Joshua's health and we ended up taking him to Children's Hospital on September 13th...We had been trying to get him healthy in more natural methods, but as he was not putting on weight and slowly losing, we just got to the place where we could not have him one more pound down. We stayed in the hospital for 6 days and had MANY tests done...and were given the diagnosis of basically Juvenile Arthritis...so he has a mixture of meds that is helping him to feel better and EAT MORE...in the six weeks since we have been out of the hospital, he has gained 27 pounds and we are thrilled...pretty soon we are going to have to make good on a promise...when he reaches 100 pounds, we told him he could have a cell phone...I am on the quest for how to fill up teenagers and when I figure it out, I will probably write a book...
Speaking of books...ever the book lover...I am reading a couple of good ones right now...
Do Hard Things...a great book to motivate your teens (maybe even tweens) to rebel against low expectations...
I just finished a book about Princess Grace that was interesting...didn't really know anything about her, Rainier or Monacco before...or her death...
I'm also reading John Adams by David McCullough...I enjoyed 1776, so I am looking forward to this...the trouble is that I am reading it before bed, so I only get a page or two done night...even that will get me through it eventually...after that, I have another McCullough book on Harry Truman...I am looking forward to reading that because he was not considered a good President until many years after his term...interested in learning more about his life...
I have been collecting books for our history year...Fall of Rome through American/French Revolutions
So enough about books...the holidays are upon us and we are in the middle of planning our gift giving...we will be making A LOT of what we are giving and are gathering supplies and ideas. I think we will be making our first things early next week. Any great ideas you would all like to share? I'm not going to share much here...just in case anyone is peeking. We have hockey tournaments Thanksgiving Weekend and Christmas weekend beginning with the day after, so we will need to be organized, which is laughable if you know us well!!!
We are frantically sanding some 1 x 4 pieces of wood for a craft bazaar this weekend at church...I felt kind of bad not getting very much done, so I had an idea to make these nativity sets, which we are making for Christmas, but I am leaving these ones unpainted...so people can paint them how they like...anyway...the sanding is going SOOOOOO SLOOOOOOWWWWWW...what I wouldn't give for an electric sander right now...if I didn't always get these last minute ideas, I'd be doing good...Just call me last minute Larry...
Well, I need to go...gotta get busy getting children doing what they need to do...
Talk to you soon!
Carrie