The Streetpoet

Jerome got his cast cut off Friday morning! He’s been counting down the days till he could have it taken off, he had even asked me if I could help him “poke holes” in it so his skin could breath. (I did nothing of the sort) And he was so miserable at night that many nights he needed Benadryl to help him get to sleep. As the saw was buzzing through the red fiber glass I could tell he was excited and nervous, but as soon as the cast was cracked open and the padding cut off, he was instantly rubbing his skin and enjoying the freedom to touch his skin! But he didn’t even try to move his arm. Even after the x-rays and the dr. told him his bone is healed, he said it hurt to move his arm. So he still doesn’t have full range of motion and use of his right arm, but it’s only the stiffness from being in a cast. We’ll go back in three weeks to make sure he has his full and normal use back, but we have some exercises to do until then. He was very disappointed that it still hurt and was listing off all the things he still can’t do (with tears in his big green eyes) so I took him to get a hamburger and a doughnut. 🙂  He’s still favoring his arm and cries when he over extends it during play, but over all he’s doing better just a day later.

It’s been a year since I first started keeping this blog. It’s been so fun! It’s also been a challenge. I don’t have the time to write as I’d like to, but it’s nice to have a place to keep the everyday stuff where my long distance family and friends can easily keep up with our life.

To Peter who set up my blog and website and continues to work on making my computer life easier, thank you! To those who leave comments and e-mail encouragement, thank you! And to my boys who constantly make my life bright and interesting, I love you!

We’ve always had a laundry room in this house, someone had built it on before we got here and thankfully left their old appliances as we didn’t have any and couldn’t afford them. But it wasn’t an enclosed room until Dad gave us his extra sliding glass door and helped Peter install it, insulate it, and put drywall up on the inside. Since then Peter’s had plans to finish painting, move the appliances back a few inches to the wall, and install a laundry sink and cabinets. Those were his projects for this summer, and with some hired help, a divine gift of a brand new set of washer and dryer, he’s done it! I feel like we have a brand new room, and now for my part, I’m going to learn how to do laundry. 😉

As I was working on the computer the other day Seth came up to me and started patting my tummy, and with a big grin on his face he asked me “Mommy, do you have a baby in your tummy?” I said no, but I explained that he and his brothers had been in my tummy before they were born and he said “Oh!” with a giggle and then exclaimed, “I was be’d on the other dark side!”. 🙂

Standing in front of my open window, “I smell something yummy! I smell a hike!”

Peter was driving us on the freeway the other day when a dually truck with a covered bed zoomed past us and Seth said “That truck is a car now!”.

This morning he was asking me how God made the world and I explained that God spoke all things into existance and he holds all things together by the word of His power, when he interrupted and asked  “Did God say we needed a storm to help us pick oranges?”

She’s been my neighbor for five years. We had the chance to move to this property because she put in a word for us when this house became vacant, and we desperately needed to move. Peter’s family had known her family for many years, but I was still pretty new to his circle of friends and didn’t know anyone very well. We were friends immediately, and our kids have become friends as they’ve been born and grown up together. Each other’s yards, houses, and hearts are havens to the other. I wish I could say we’ll be neighbors forever, but they are fortunate to be building a house down the road that should be completed by next year. And I am so very thankful that God has allowed us this wonderful experience of living next door to each other on this property.

For many months now she’s been struggling with her health as she was expecting her fourth baby. I had never seen anyone have such a hard time with a pregnancy, and yet her attitude and outlook were always faith borne and God~ward. Their fourth child was born on August 1 to an overjoyed family who welcomed him with such a celebration! He is a precious and amazing gift, and a miracle. I love you, my friend, and thank God for you!

Peter took the boys and a couple of their friends to an archery park where they could learn to shoot arrows safely and with good form. They all did very well and of course begged to go back next weekend!