Thursday, July 31, 2008

Another Favorite

It's been awhile since I posted some of my favorites, but today I introduced my kids to another of my all time favs. Shel Silverstein. Where the Sidewalk Ends. Silly poems that kids of all ages love. And sure enough, every time I told them, "this is the last poem for now!" Susi would beg, "then one more!" And so I did. Dozens of them. Delighting in my children's laughter while laughing myself at childhood favorites. While they won't yet understand MY all time favorite, "I Cannot Go To School Today," they learned quite a few things.

Joey threw a stone and knocked out the sun.
Don't put your finger up your nose or a razor-backed snail will bite it off.
Hug o wars are better than tug o wars.
You CAN eat a whale one bite at a time...it'll just take eighty nine years to do so!

And much more. If you have this delightful book, revisit it, with kids, if possible. If you don't have it, check it out of your library or pick up a copy. The investment is worth it!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Luke's Music Class

Last Spring, we enrolled Luke in a beginning music class through our home school network. It was geared towards children ages 4-6 with the intention of just introducing them to basic rhythm, melodies, and music symbols. What a blast! Luke looked forward to going every week, and Susi cannot wait until she's old enough to take part, too.




Luke learned the symbols for several basic music things such as p piano, very quiet and his favorite f FORTE, VERY LOUD!!! He learned what a quarter note looks like and how to march to quarter notes and how to drop to the ground and curl in a ball to take a "rest" when that symbol was shown (I need to make a poster of the "rest" symbol to use at home!). They learned that when Mrs. Hodge had an up arrow, they were to sing very high like a bird, but the down arrow meant they should sing low like a whale.




It was great watching close to 18 children learning and putting that information to use. I was amazed at how well Mrs. Hodge trained these children, many who had absolutely no musical background. They learned several songs, made musical instruments (um, where DID his kazoo and tambourine disappear to????), banged around on the piano, and marched in a circle to the beat that Mrs. Hodge would play, mixing different beats and rests each time.




And the best part -- they had a recital! Following are some pics (of course!).

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Grandparents


We had some fun times at the end of June when Papa and Grandma Toth came to visit. The kids loved all the time they spent with them, the fun things they did together, and of course all the goodies that were brought to them. They continue to talk about the things they did and keep reminding me of the times we went to visit Papa and Grandma and think it's a GREAT idea if we do it again! So, maybe sometime, we will!

Sunday, July 27, 2008

A Blessing

Today in church, we sang the song "Let The Praises Ring" by Lincoln Brewster -- with what I've been going through, the words had an even more special meaning for me and helped me release even more of my concerns. Posted below are the lyrics. I hope they touch you, too.

Oh Lord my God, in you I put my trust
Oh Lord my God, in you I put my hope
Oh Lord my God, in you I put my trust
Oh, yes I do
Oh Lord my God, in you I put my hope

In you In you, I find my peace
In you In you, I find my strength
In you, I live and move and breathe
Let everything I say and do
Be founded by my faith in you
I lift up holy hands and sing
Let the praises ring

Oh Lord my God, to you I give my hands
Oh Lord my God, to you I give my feet
Oh Lord my God, to you I give my everything
Take all I am
Oh Lord my God, to you I give my life

In you In you, I find my peace
In you In you, I find my strength
In you, I live and move and breathe
Let everything I say and do
Be founded by my faith in you
I lift up holy hands and sing Let the praises ring
Let the praises ring

In you In you, I find my peace (in you I find my peace)
In you In you, I find my strength (in you I find my strength)
In you, I live and move and breathe
Let everything I say and do
Be founded by my faith in you
I lift up holy hands and sing Let the praises ring
Lord, let the praises ring(let the praises ring)
Lord, I'm gonna let the praises ring(let the praises ring)
Let the praises ring...yeah
Let the praises ring

Friday, July 25, 2008

Buyer Beware!

This morning, the kids and I took a little trek across the yard, across the road, and over to Cypren and Athena's house to "go shopping" at their garage sale. The kids had some of their "store" money tight in their hands, and even Athena's invitation to Susanna to play with her was met with a very pleasant, "no thank you. I am going to buy something." We bought some bears for Grandma Carter's birthday and Christmas (Grandpa, don't let Grandma read this blog!), picked out lots of books, passed on many toys (except for the "really COOL blue motorcycle), bought Daddy a video on Caribou bow hunting in the north, and also picked out our first Popeye video.

Before supper, Tony popped in the Popeye video and burst out laughing. I had carefully read the back to make sure it wouldn't be inapporpriate for the kids...but failed to read where it said "DUBBED IN SPANISH"! Maybe my first clue should have been that all the other kids videos were in Spanish (Rosie is from Central America), but all the words on the video cover were in English!

Guess what. Popeye laughs the same in English and in Spanish. And guess what else. With Popeye, you don't really need to understand what he's saying anyway (well, does anyone know what he's really saying in English?). The kids were enthralled, every once in awhile Tony or I would burst in to laughter at the absurdity of it all, and Luke has proved he has that "male humor" -- you know, the stuff girls roll their eyes at while boys just go to stitches?

Karen, if you ever visit this far north, we have something to watch to remind your boys of home!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Kid Chatter

Upon waking up yesterday morning, Luke told Susanna, "Remember when we went to sleep at Papa and Grandma's house? Then we woke up, and we weren't sleeping anymore! Remember that?"

And last night when he was obviously too tired to listen to her chatter, "Susanna, don't talk to me. If you talk to me, I am not going to talk back to you. So just be quiet and go to sleep. Now!"

Susanna, upon waking up, noted "What a fair day to go to the farm!" She didn't...and was devestated!

Luke, coloring a ladder in his coloring book with an orange crayon, when reminded to color in the lines and not scribble across the whole picture, "But I'm making a sunset, Mama!"

Susanna, upon being waken up Sunday morning for church, much too early for her, "Mama, stop singing that song. You are DRIVING ME NUTS!"

But redeemed herself at supper tonight: "Mama, thanks for all this really great food!"

Gotta love 'em!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Prayer request

Awhile back, I asked you all to pray for me as I've been going thru some health difficulties. I'd like to ask you to continue praying as I fill you in on some detail.

Right now, I'm being screened for multiple schlorosis (MS). I have many of the symptoms for it, including lots of itchiness, temperature sensitivity (anything cooler than 68 or so and in the upper 70s and higher), some numbness in my arms, extreme fatigue, unexplained shaking, fumbling fingers and sometimes footsteps, and much more. As I'm typing, I'm experiencing some shaking right now and it is FRUSTRATING!!! Right now, it is just some trembling mainly in my hands, but a few weeks back, it went into full fledge shaking, mainly in my upper body, non-stop for over 2.5 hours until I fell asleep.

My doctor did several blood tests to rule out other potential problems, including Lyme's disease, and they all came back clean. An MRI also came back clean, although MS shows up in MRIs about 90% of the time. She said I have too many symptoms to let things go, so I am scheduled to see a neurologist on August 1.

I don't understand what is happening or why, but I continue to trust that God knows and understands and will take care of me. In a way, I'm understanding some of what Job must have been feeling, not knowing why. I pray that my faith and trust continue to be unwaivering as the doctors continue to try and figure out what is wrong.

Things get really bad when I don't get the rest I need -- like today when I had to work a full day at the market. We've hired extra help so I don't need to be in as much, but there are still times when I have to be there. Things also get bad when temperatures get too warm or too cool, like when we went out to eat last week and the air conditioning in the restaurant was very cold. It triggered a spell, and I spent the time laying down in the car while Tony and the kids enjoyed their meal.

Tony has been a gem thru this all. In our busiest time of the year, he has been doing not only his round-the-clock work, but also has taken over many times with the kids, cleaning house, and more. What a man!

Just pray for me. Pray for us. I get discouraged when this happens. For four days I've felt great; no negative affects or anything, even thru today. But after supper...it started again. I'm sad. And yet, I'm listening to some great praise music to keep my focus on my Father.

I'd no intention of sharing all this until we found out more, but I'm to the point where I really need prayers to get thru each day. I really need prayers for encouragement. I am learning more and more to set limits and keep them; to say no when I have too much going on, and to turn more and more things over to people just as capable as I am and sometimes even more than I! God has been so good in providing helpers and prayer warriors...and I hope that I can include each of my readers as prayer warriors.

I look at some of the things that God has either removed from my life in the past year or so or laid on my heart to step back from, and I am so thankful! Before I knew, He knew that certain things were going to be too much. We have an awesome team of employees at our Market, and I know beyond any doubt that He put that team in place so that I don't need to worry about how things are going when I'm not there...that I could take the extra time off that I need when things like this start happening. I'll most likely spend most or all of tomorrow in bed or on the couch...so pray that the kids will be cooperative. When I get the extreme fatigue and other symptom, just their general actions as preschoolers is often too much for me to deal with. Pray about that, too, would ya?

It's times like these that I start wondering...I want God to completely heal me of all this...but I want His will done, too. Am I doubting God's healing touch if I also am praying that He will help me deal with this and accept it, whatever it is? Am I showing a lack of faith? So much runs thru my mind....

But now...I need to go lay down. Thanks for your prayers.

Friday, July 18, 2008

Idle hands....and unsupervision....

Yesterday morning began as most mornings do in our household now. Tony is up and out the door by about 6:30 to get ready for the u-pickers at the farm. Shortly after, a small little girl* crawled into bed with me for snuggles while her slightly bigger brother* continued sleeping away upstairs. Said little girl was in a mischievous mood yesterday...which should have been my FIRST clue...but this mama has been pretty tired lately and wasn't thinking too clear. I soon felt little fingers on my toes along with hearing the ditty "this little piggy went to the market...." followed by giggles and "was that funny, mama? Was it?" Assuring her that it was, she quickly hopped down with the ominous words, "I'm gonna go find something else to do!"

Now, most days that would've immediately triggered red flags. But...did I mention that I've been pretty tired lately? And was up for a few hours during the night when that same little darling crawled into bed with us earlier?

When her now-awake brother and I finally ventured down stairs about 30 minutes later (yes, 30 minutes of unsupervision for my little princess), I found she had nearly emptied the brand new liquid soap that smells really pretty in the kitchen. On the floor. The counter. In several of her toy cups. The lid of another container. The sink. (of course, she didn't wash the dirty dishes that were also in the sink...okay, she's only 3! I'll give her another year!) Thankfully, it was only soap. It washed up quickly.

Then my husband called to ask me to check the weather on the computer. I headed back upstairs to our slow dial up computer to check on the weather. And heard two sets of little giggles. "Get out of the bathroom!" No response, just more giggles. "Come up here right now!" No response, just more giggles. And the sound of water. "TURN IT OFF RIGHT NOW!!!" No response, just more giggles. And more water sounds. I head downstairs. To a VERY wet bathroom. Wet clean clothes. Soaking wet children. A feminine little voice saying "I love you, Mama! And Luke got me all wet!" A deeper but still childish masculine voice saying, "Hi, Mama! How are you?" I didn't answer.

Several different things occured yesterday to the point where my son finally looked at me and said, "Mama, I REALLY need to pray and ask Jesus to forgive me for all these sins I keep doing today!"

Last night I had a Watkins party. It went great! And much faster than usual. I was home earlier than my hubby and kids (although, come to think of it, they should've been home getting ready for bed by the time I got home!). I walked in and smelled a distinct chemical odor in the air. Nail polish remover? What??? Why would I smell nail polish rem.....I headed downstairs. To the bathroom. And to our beautiful beige marbled sink and counter top...now streaked with metallic purple nail polish (which originally had been two shelves up and, I thought, out of reach of little hands). All over. And the kids' stool. The wood on the bathroom cabinet. Sighing, I drew some bath water while getting out more nail polish remover. Quickly cleaned up the mess I saw, then crawled into the bathtub to the nasty smell of fumes.

Shortly after, the front door opened, cheerful little voices heading downstairs. "Hi Mama!" And not too long after, a much deeper voice saying "Susanna, we need to go talk with Mama." The door bursts open and a little girl flies in repeating over and over how much she loves me. She almost falls into the bathtub several times as she's slathering kisses over any part of me she can find. "Susanna, what do you need to tell Mama?" "Mama, look at my pretty fingers! Oh, Mama, I um, I love you! And I spilled some of the poiple stuff all over, so I'm sorry, please forgive me, I love you so much, Mama!" Luke then had to come in and show me HIS pretty purple fingers that Susanna colored for him. Sigh.

We need a lock on that bathroom door.


*Names not given to protect the not so innocent (some of the time)

Monday, July 14, 2008

Interesting Reading

One of Tony's cousins sent this email to a bunch of us last week...VERY interesting reading! So I wanted to share it with you all.....I don't know where it originated, but it is amazing!

God's Pharmacy

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.




A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.




Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.




A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.



Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.


Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.




Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.




Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.


Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.


Thursday, July 10, 2008

Busy Days

I'm home right now, having been at our county fair all morning, laughing at the things Luke is saying while laying down for "rest" time. Hic. "I don't like hiccups." hic "Don't do that again, hiccups." hic "I love you, God." hic

Susanna cracked me up yesterday afternoon as I was taking the kids to the farm before heading in to the fair for the evening. "God, we need some rain. Send some soon, okay, God? Hey, do You hear me, God? Are You there? Hey, God? Do You hear me?" Luke must have been tired of hearing her because in a deep voice he replied, "Yes, I hear you. I'll send rain." And boy, did it rain! I was getting ready to call her from the fair to tell her, "Tell God we have enough rain for tonight, Sus!"

The fair -- yep, good ole Hubbard County Fair. I remember the first time I went to the fair. I was amazed there was no gate admission...then I saw how small the fair was (compared to Trumbull County where I grew up, Broward County (Florida), and Orange County (CA) and understood why it was free to get in! Last year, I had a Watkins booth at the fair and did okay business...but this year, it's really going great! It's fun being with most of the same vendors, seeing people I know from church and the market and other places, and just getting to know new people.

If you live near by...stop in and say hi!

(Luke's hiccups are gone.....)

Monday, July 7, 2008

Another new life

"Queen Susanna" on her throne and in royal garb

Susanna cracks me up. She is so different than Luke and me...very similar to her daddy in many ways, but definitely her own unique person!

We've been trying to get them to understand the concept of "yesterday." Often, anything in the past is "last year." She finally created her own word to describe the past. Lasterday. Hey, it works for her!
Susanna is a very literal person and will take your words exactly for what they are, whether you mean them that way or not. And if she doesn't think she can do something you ask her to do, she'll not even attempt it, telling you "I just can't do it, Mama."
She is also quite fickle, changing her mind every few seconds, which often drives us nuts! "No, no, oh wait, I mean yes! Oh, no, I don't want that. Wait! Yes!!!"

Susi also has her own friend, "Alex Tender." We have never met Alex, nor will we ever, but Alex tells Susanna quite a few things and goes thru experiences very similar to favorite Bible stories. We hear many things about Alex Tender!

Today, Susanna was excited because she got to go to the farm and take a nap with Grandma while Luke was going to be Daddy's helper. Luke left for the farm while Susi finished up lunch over a nice chat with me. She informed me, quite matter of fact, that she loves me. And she loves Daddy. And Luke. And, of course, she loves Jesus. Very much. In fact, just last night, she told me, she prayed and asked Jesus to take away all her sins, just like Luke did before. "And you know what, Mama? He did. Well, He left some of His blood behind on me, but He let the rest of it wash away all my sins!"

This Mama's heart has been bursting ever since! Thank You, Jesus!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Well, if you say so...

The weather forecast was possible showers this evening, so on the way home I told the kids we needed to pray for rain (so Tony wouldn't have to irrigate as much and so I wouldn't have to lug water for our little garden and our flowers).

Two little heads promptly bowed. I heard whispers. Then, "Mama, God said He would!" "He would what, Luke?" "God said He'd send rain!"

"Um, Luke, what does God sound like?"

"huh?"

"Luke, when God said He'd send rain, what did His voice sound like?"

"Oh, Mama! He sounded like a chicken!"

Well, whatever He sounded like to my little boy, God sent some rain tonight!

Thanks, God!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Fourth of July

Now, some may wax eloquent about Independence Day and what it all means to us as a nation and as a people, and don't get me wrong, I am so thankful for our nation and for God's blessing on it, our rich history and more, but that's not my topic today.

Nope, I'm writing about our local Fourth of July parade! We are not in it every year, but we usually are. Last year, we opted out and had a great time sitting front and center, seeing all the floats and local businesses go by, collecting candy, toothbrushes, stickers, and sponges (hey, the 3M resort is in Park Rapids...what else would they give out???).
This year we once again were in the parade. We had several of our workers, a good collection of Carter family, and a couple friends who were desperately trying to find someone who would let them walk in the parade with them and hand out candy (we were short handed...it was a good fit!).
We usually hand out strawberries...we're usually in the thick of strawberry season. This year, our strawberries are just starting and there was no way we'd have enough berries to hand out. We passed out strawberry taffy and information about u-pick (starting on Wednesday, for you locals!) as well as our pumpkin parties....and had several of our pumpkin party characters along for the show! We were missing our bear and gorilla, but had a blast with the crow, scarecrows, and the newest addition...our giant chicken. Our kids looked forward to walking and passing out candy, but neither made it very long...Susi couldn't keep up the pace (shoot, the chicken could barely keep up!), and Luke quickly got tired...but they did keep Grandma company in the back of the pick-up while I drove!
The person riding the chicken asked not to be identified, so I won't tell you who it was...but you may be able to figure it out! I think he probably got the most attention out of anyone in the parade! (and people think he's so quiet and reserved...if they only knew!)

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

My Power and Other Stuff

This is just going to be a montage of many things that don't really connect with each other, other than they are going on in my life right now...

I'm not sure where he got it, but lately before I leave somewhere (Watkins party, working at the market, Bible study) without the kids, Luke always reminds me to take his "power" with me in my heart. Susi is now doing the same. Just now as Daddy was leaving for the farm, she yelled out to him, "Don't forget to take my power with you, and keep it with you in your heart!"

She is getting to be quite the cutie (okay, she always was, she just continues to do so!). There are more and more times I have to hide my face from her so she can't see my grin before I speak in a firm, motherly tone to her. As she was dawdling on her way back in to bed last night ("I have to go potty!" only to pick up a stuffed animal then turn right back around upstairs), she admonished Tony, who was headed back out to the farm, "Don't forget to put on your boots, Daddy! You must wear your boots so you don't get all that farm mud all over your feet! And then take them off outside so that farm mud doesn't come into the house!" She then continued, "Mama, if you need a helper, you just call me and I will come back down to help!" Meanwhile, I'm telling her to stop talking and get into bed (it was almost 10:00). Finally, with the threat of a potentially sore tushie, she scurried upstairs, continuing "But I will not come back downstairs tonight to be your helper; I will come down only after the sun wakes up!"

One of the best things about summer and all it's busy-ness is that things slow down for me on Tuesday nights; this is my fourth year of partaking in a ladies' Bible study with between 5-8 great sisters of faith. It seems like even during winter when things are slower, we usually have time to just tell each other a very rushed, "hi, how are you?" but in the hectic pace of summer, we have the time to connect with each other and discover more of God's Word and Truth. Last year we had an awesome study of Search for Significance; this year we are doing a Harmony of the Gospels...it is tremendous!

An update on my washing machine: After doing the research, looking at prices, and seeing what is available, we (Tony) elected to not go with a high efficiency washing machine right now...just a bit out of our budget. However, we found a GREAT used washer that someone had just traded in. It's even bigger than our old one, looks to be only a year or two old, and I am very pleased with it! I don't know all the ins and outs of washing machines, but I am convinced this one cleans even better than our old one. I know it wrings out even more water, because instead of two or more dryer cycles to get an average load of clothes dry, a large load of mainly towels and blue jeans now takes less than one full cycle to dry. (does anyone even care about this part of my update?)

Our irrigator at the farm has not been working for over a week now. It's the pump, and we're hoping they've finally figured out what is going on and have fixed it. Tony has been hooking up all the hoses he could find to get water out to the fields, especially the strawberries (which are FINALLY just starting!). God sent some well-timed rain showers during the past week, but it will be a relief to us all once that irrigator is up and running again...hopefully today!

We are finally getting very busy at the market, doing quite good business, especially considering that our strawberries have been really slow in starting. Part of that is due to this being a holiday "week" with tourists coming through out the week; Park Rapids also hosts the Professional Bull Riders Tour each year over the fourth of July (July 3, 4, 5) and that's located just about a mile down the road from us. I am again very thankful we have great help at the Market!

My parents were here for a few days and have been gone now for over a week....I do have some photos I'll post at a later time since I've not had a chance to download them yet. The kids keep talking about how Papa and Precious Grandma must come back to our house very soon!

For those of you who used to get my "email updates," you may remember about four years ago when I wrote about our neighbor boy, Cypren. The bus used to drop him off here after kindergarten since his mom didn't get home until about ten minutes after the bus left. Luke would crawl all over him and just get so excited every time he saw him coming! We haven't had much time to spend with our neighbors since (I know, terrible thing!); mainly because it gets so cold in the winter, so busy in the summer, and we've both had babies during that time, too. Their daughter, Athena, is six weeks older than Susanna. Well, Cypren came over to pick up some Watkins for his mom earlier this week, then later came over to bring some cookies. Luke decided he must come over more often! The next day, they stopped at the market, and Cypren and Athena played with Luke and Susi in their playhouse. Later, when we came home, Cypren came over and rode bikes with Luke, racing up and down the driveway. My Mama's heart was touched when Cypren told Luke that he would ride his bike slower so that Luke could "win" their races! That night, Luke just cried and cried at bed time because he missed Cypren so much. Even Susi woke at 3:00 in the morning upset because "I miss Cwypwen, Mama!" Yeah, we will be making more of an effort whenever possible to reach out to our neighbors!

After lots of prayer, I've also stepped down as AWANA secretary for now. It was a hard decision; I LOVE the kids and working in the administration side of AWANA, but with so much going on and new things being added to my plate, God showed me I wasn't irreplaceable in AWANA but needed more to focus my attention on other things. So Tony will be working with AWANA again, taking the kids in each week, while I'll have a full evening to catch up on things and plan for the week in between...cleaning, paperwork, accounting, preparing school work, or just relaxing!

And one last note: I've been having some health problems that I'd like to have you all pray about. Until test results come back and my doctor figures out what's going on for sure, I won't go into detail other than to say that I get fatigued at the weirdest times and that if I do very much physical work, even going up and down the steps a few times or being on my feet all day at the market, I get really worn out and have some bad physical repercussions. No, I am NOT pregnant! I've also lost 14 pounds in five days without changing my diet. It's a bit scary and even more annoying, especially for this to be happening at such a busy time of year for us when I need to be going full swing, but it's also a lesson in faith and trust in God....and my husband has been wonderful through it all! He asked me to stay in bed all day Sunday (even brought me lunch on a tray, artfully decorated with pieces of pineapple!) after a particularly grueling day and evening Saturday and told me to please take it easy all day yesterday since I overdid things Monday by hauling water in buckets to water our small garden and flowers (remember, all the hoses are down at the farm!). It's a lesson in patience for me and in learning and enforcing physical limits, especially until we know for sure what is going on. We covet and appreciate your prayers!