Time is precious

So, it has been quite a while since I have written anything. I will try to remember some of the things that have happened since I last wrote in no particular order.
The most important things that has happened since I last wrote is that Trent asked the Lord Jesus to save him from his sins. He woke up one morning and went and woke up Lexie to help him ask Jesus into his heart. She helped him to pray. Trent has a very good understanding of his sins. He is trying to be better so he doesn't have to ask God to forgive him as often.
ON March 14th, Lexie played violin in the Watertown Goes Green Festival. She did a great job, and the Trillium fiddlers sounded wonderful. We also got to see some Irish dancing. (Rae Ann and Jaime Lexie would LOVE to do that. Remember when she was little.)
On March 21st the girls had their second gymnastics meet this year. They both did great. Abbey definitely gave the performance of a lifetime. She even shocked the judge that she did her forward roll on the beam with no help. She got a 9.6 on vault, 7.3 on bars, 8.55 on beam and 7.9 on floor. Her coaches agreed that she floor routine should have scored higher. She did awesome. I am so pleased that her coordination is getting so much better and she is building muscle. Abbey got 3rd place.
Lexie got 9.1 on vault, 8.4 on bars, 8.9 on beam and 8.2 on floor. She got 2nd place. Lexie pulled out all of the stops on her bar routine and actually nailed it. She had been having a rough time on Friday at practice.
As a family we still go and minister to the ladies at Centenial Apartments often. Jay preaches and the girls play piano for the ladies.
The kids are moving right along in their school work. Brayden is really reading a lot now. He reads like Lexie....book after book after book. Brayden is also very good at math. He is starting multiplication already. Lexie is getting a really good grip on math. Abbey is still struggling with the speed at which her math book is throwing new things at her so we are slowing it down some and adding more practice. She is doing math 5/4 anyway but is in 3rd grade. Trent is waiting to start real school. He is such a big boy. :)
My back continues to do very well. I have some pain but that seems to be associated with soemthing else and not from the back itself.
Jay had 6 teeth removed on March 16. He is still having a hard time and needs to go back tomorrow because he has bone scraping his tongue making it hard to eat and talk. I actually looked into his mouth today to see if I had any suggestions for how to relieve the pain. Once I saw, I didn't have anything to say except that he needed to go back to the oral surgeon tomorrow.
I have a new nephew now. Praise the Lord for His goodness through such a difficult time. Sawyer Xu Bang is home now with his family. They are adjusting to having him home, and he is adjusting to these new people, home, country etc.
The kids all still play piano. They are all progressing well. Trent plays songs all by himself now-Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Lightly Row, Cuckoo, Mary Had a Little Lamb, London Bridge and Go Tell Aunt Rhode. Brayden can play all of those songs and is also learning to read music. Lexie is perfecting Minuet in G Major and Were You There for her spring recital. Abbey is perfecting Onward Christian Soldiers and is learning a classical piece called Gabotte.
Well I am sure that I left a lot out, but that is all that I can remember right now.

January already

I can't believe how fast 2008 slipped by. I am really, really agrivated by the foot pain which plagued me all year. Perhaps this year, I can get that under control. I am not sure how though as all the dr can say is that I have tons of bone spurs and arthritis in my foot. That is what is causing all of the pain. They don't do anything for them either other than give anti-inflamatories.

The Christmas tree came down yesterday, and the house is almost back to normal except for the suitcases which are everywhere. We plan to pack the van today so we can just get up and go on Mon morning. We pray that the Lord will give us safety and a good time in FL.

The highlight of the year was being able to go to Michigan to celebrate Christmas with family.

Gymnastics

Dec 13 was the girls first gymnastics meet. Abbey went first in the morning. She did great. She did her pullover on the bar without any help. That is only the 2nd time that she has ever done that. She did well on all events. She didn't fall off of the beam either. :) She got a 9.5 on vault. See the picture of her doing it.

Lexie went in the afternoon. She did well too. She did her pullover, back hip circle and her mill circle all without help. That is the first time she ever got the mill circle. See picture. You strraddle the bar then go face first 360 degrees around the bar. It is apparently rough ont he hands.

I was really pleased with how well the girls did. They both have learned a lot since the beginnning of the year.

We are having the strangest weather this year. First we had a very wet summer here. In fact, it was so wet that our well never had less than a full amount of water all summer long. Usually in August the water is very low. Then we had a very wet fall. It rained almost everyday. Our basement was dangerously close to flooding several times. Now we are having an early winter. WE have been getting snow nearly everyday for weeks already. I keep having to tell myself that it is still NOv. You certainly wouldn't know it by the weather. The kids are loving the snow. It is their favorite time of the year. :)
I took the girls to have their eyes checked yesterday. Abbey's eyes are getting better. She doesn't have to wear her glasses unless reading is giving her a headache. Lexie's eyes got worse again though. She should get her new lenses next week sometime.
The Army finally is doing the right thing with Jay. He is being seen by the dr weekly or biweekly trying to get his medicine straightened out. That should have been happening right when he got back. There really is no excuse for them not trying to help him right away. Jay is still having nightmares and general trouble sleeping.
We are planning a trip to Fl in January. I am trying to finalize our plans. :)
The girls have their first gymnastics meet on Dec 13. They are pretty excited.

Nov 19

Today marks 2 1/2 years since my first back operation. Yesterday marks that day that the lawyer submitted a claim against Dr Baird, North Country Orthopedic Group, and Samartian Medical Center. He hasn't done his research yet though. He will be doing that, and then letting me know if I have a valid case. Either way, today was the deadline for the claim.
We don't have much new to report. Jay is gone for 3 days. He should be home for Abbey's birthday.
Lexie has mastered the back handspring but is scared to do it independently. She actually bent her glasses last night because she didn't trust herself that she could do it and fell on her head.
Abbey's schoolwork is really improving. She is doing much better with spelling words on day one. She is also doing great with her math.
Brayden is eating a lot. I hope that means he might grow. :) He is doing great in piano. He is playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star after only 3 lessons. Brayden is also reading really well now. He read Burglar Alarm off of a building yesterday. He also told the piano teacher that if her piano said song instead of sons it would say "song". I really didn't know that he knew how ot spell that. By the way, that would mean that 3 of my kids now learned to read the natural way. They were all reading by 6 1/2. We don't teach phonics. We just read to them.
Trent is keeping busy. He loves to build with Legos. He usually spends most of the day playing with them. Trent is keeping his piano teacher on her toes. He always has intelligent questions to ask her. In fact, she asked if I had had him tested because he is soooo smart. lol
Lexie doesn't have CF. I still don't know why she has so much trouble running though.
Jay's dental appt that he waited 3 months for was today. He isn't here. So now he has to wait another month to have the appt. I don't know how long after that appt before they do the work. They will pull the baby teeth and then to a spacer and then either pull down the adult teeth or do implants.

Time is flying by

Well time continues to fly by. Lexie has started violin lessons since I last wrote. She is liking it. :)
This is the shortened version of what the piano teacher tells me every week. Abbey is doing great. AFter only 4 months of lessons she is reading music. Her playing is good too. She is doing far better than the average student. Lexie is blowing her teachers mind. WE ended up choosing to pay more for their lessons to get them a teacher who is out of the box and really really gifted. I think that we are getting our money's worth. Lexie is playing Minuet in G Major after only 4 months of lessons. That is not normal. In fact, the owner of the store can't believe what he hears when my girls come in for lessons. He knows when they started, and we have lessons when no one else does so there aren't other kids playing too. God has blessed Lexie with perfect pitch. I can't quite grasp that as I don't have perfect pitch. She can be playing a song that she has never heard before and will know by sound if she hits a wrong note.
We are finished with our first quarter for school this year. Everyone is doing well with their schoolwork.
We got new living room furniture, and I also got an elliptical. I love it. I am enjoying some relief from walking which agrivates my plantar fasciatis.
I wanted to post some pics, but that will have to wait until next time.
WE have quite a few doctor appointments lined up. Brayden is being seen for his issues. I can't write them off to shyness any longer. He is missing out on fun things because he can't get the courage or whatever to participate. He even does this at home. He misses out on fun things because he is in the fetal position on the floor.
I went to the dr today about my very very painful periods. He did some blood work. That would indicate whether it is likely that I am perimenopausal already. It is not a 100% accurate test though. He is also running a thyroid test to make sure that that is functioning properly since there is family history of issues. The bonus was that I asked if I could get more of the shoe inserts for my plantar fasciatis, and they gave me 2 more pair. You can't buy these good ones at the store. So I am very thankful for more. In fact, the lady told me anytime I need more just to come in and ask for them. :) Now I don't have to wear the same ones I workout in all day.
The kids are also having their eyes checked in Nov. I hope to "convince" Brayden to have his checked too because he reads with his books very close to his face.
Lexie is having a sweat test to see if she has cystic fibrosis on Nov 5. It is unlikely since the boys have both tested negative. However, it is not normal for an otherwise healthy 8-9 year old to get pneumonia 3 times in the coarse of one year.
The kids are growing up so fast. I keep thinking that once the kids sleep through the night life will slow down, once the kids are all in school, once the kids can do most things independently, but it never does. It seems to be gaining speed at an alarming rate. One thing is for sure. We are getting in all of the quality family time that we can. We are also committed to getting into God's word with the kids daily as well. That is really the highlight of the boy's day. Daddy does devotions with them every night.

Dr Dhawan

So, I saw Dr Dhawan. Everything is great!!! I can ride water slides and roller coasters. I can do whatever I like except run. I can lift the boys now. :)
Mom, he said that he would do your knees too. ;)