Time To Catch Up

It's hard to believe it's almost been a couple of weeks since I posted, but as usual life has not been dull.

Gene went to Washington, D.C. for the first time a couple of weeks ago on business. He was there for three days, and was able to do some sightseeing. He feels badly when I have to miss out on things such as this because he knows how much I love history. Not wanting me to feel left out he will call me from all of the places he visits so that I can feel apart of it (Isn't that sweet). While he was there he was also able to visit with our niece Betsy and have dinner with her. When he came back late Saturday night, I drove across Houston to pick him up at the airport. I know, for most people that would be no big deal... but then most people don't have to drive in Houston! Suffice it to say, people here are nuts. They drive like the tailpipe on their car has a molotov cocktail stuck in it which is about to explode at any minute. Driving courtesy is non-exisistent, and impatience is at a premium. Thankfully I didn't have to leave until 10pm and the Beltway wasn't too bad.



Saturday we had our first Family Evangelism Day at the Houston Zoo . It was a gloriously beautiful day with blue skies and puffy white clouds. The temperature wasn't too hot and there was a refreshing breeze blowing. We had two other families that joined us on our outing. One of our purposes for this day was to give our children on opportunity to hand out tracts, so Gene and I stood back, and let them have at it. We were there about an hour before any of our friends arrived and in that time our girls handed out about 700 tracts. After the others arrived and their were more hands, our girls handed out about 300 more and the other families handed out 500 combined. It's amazing to think that we put the gospel into the hands of 1,500 people over the course of a two hour period. Rachel did have one lady bring the tracts back and be rude with her, but she took it all in stride, not letting her dissuade her at all. After we finished we had a picnic lunch with one of the other families, which was also a great deal of fun. It was nice to have that time of fellowship.



After our time at the park we went to The Homeschool Store. They sell both new and used curriculum, and it's a book addicts heaven! I was wanting to buy The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach. I have really liked what I have read and researched about this curriculum. I have always liked the Charlotte Mason approach, but I have felt that many curriculms using this method focus more on the wisdom of man as opposed to the wisdom of God. HOW (Heart of Wisdom) uses what I love about CM (Charlotte Mason) and combines it with a focus on Godly wisdom. I look forward to finishing the book.

I was also able to get biographies on Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and JEB Stewart and John Piper's "Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood." They also have a free table at The Homeschool Store and I was able to to get a set of books on all of the states and "Quest for Love," by Elisabeth Elliot. I love my books, the only problem is, at times they tend to take over.

Saturday night a new and frightening part of our life occured. About 7pm Caroline began to complain of a painful, itching rash on both of her arms. At first we thought she had scraped them playing outside, but then it began to slowly spread and by 11 it went from her armpits to her wrist on both arms. I gave her a mega dose of Benadryl and put her to bed, checking on her throughout the night. We were unsure what it was, as the only "new" thing she had had were some cheese crackers. Monday she ate more of the crackers and within an hour broke out in a rash. I gave her Benadryl and told her to take a nap, thinking that when she awoke, it would be gone. It wasn't. Later on she ate something else and her rash began to get worse and she complained of having trouble breathing. Time for more Benadryl. I was out, so Lindsay administered it. Later when I came home she was still not doing well. I ended up calling the doctor who called in a prescription of prednisone for us. That helped, although Caroline will tell you it tastes worse than Robitussin... and that stuff's terrible! We think the allergy is due to peanuts or soy, but won't know until we do a blood test in a little over a week. We have to wait until she gets the prednisone out of her system. If you think of her, please pray for her. This is very hard on her, as she realizes the danger of eating even a little of either of these. We have had to get an Epi-pen to keep with her at all times, just in case she gets something through cross contamination.

I did forget to tell you about one funny, ok maybe not so funny incident. Lindsay is famous in our family for hurting herself in the oddest ways. For instance, one time she sprained her wrist by running across wet grass and slipping; hitting her hand on the van. The list is quite lengthy and I will spare you all the many times such things have happened, save this last one. Last week Lindsay was taking our Porky (Poodle/Yorkie) out in the yard to go potty late at night. Maggie has the brains of a Yorkie and barks at the wind or anything else she sees. This night (it was about 2am) she happened to see one of the neighborhood cats, we named him Puddleglum, looking over the fence at her. This sent her into a flurry of barking and running in circles. The night before this event, our porch light had gone out, so the yard was quite dark. Lindsay was running after Maggie to catch her and make her be quiet, forgetting that we have a horseshoe pit in our yard. Not some flimsy horseshoe pit, but a 1" steel pole that in concreted in the ground with a base of about a foot. This pole ain't moving for nothin'... especially not Lindsay's two baby piggies. Yes, she hit that pole running full speed. Makes ya wince just thinking about it doesn't it?! She broke the last two toes, and they turned all lovely shades of purple, green and yellow. It's been pretty painful for her, and since that time, we put Maggie on a leash when she goes out at night, so that we can yank her back in from the steps.

If you haven't figured it out yet....there's never a dull moment at our house!