My son the 2nd back...

I havent updated in a bit and I was honestly starting to think that I would soon be closing this chapter of our life as it seems that things are where we are going to be and there doesnt seem to be much to update anymore these days... then football season started and Sam joined the team. I have been to practices and am going to be brutally honest hernd say that it was so hard to not cry as I watched him walk on the field and then line up for plays. He is so much smaller than the other players at 5'7" and only about 115lbs (if we are lucky!) and not to mention that he is also the youngest on the team at 13yrs. I have been trying to get him to eat a bit more as he is so thin and "breakable" looking but he isnt a big eater. I am thinking about maybe just getting him to drink protein shakes or meal replacements to help him. The doctors say not to worry about his weight but as he gets taller he is getting thinner-- not too great for football or my nerves!

Last night I sat in my van and watched and worked very hard at holding back tears of fear and trepidation as he ran, was tackled and -- much to my relief-- got back up to do it all again. I am glad that I was the only parent there at the time and that I was in the van, with not only the engine running and the radio playing so that no one could hear my cheering him on and clapping for him and choking on my tears. I am so proud of how far he has come and where he is at now but then it hurts my heart to see him out there with boys that are not only older and bigger than him but the intent is to drop him like a stone... i am trying to get over all this before his first game so I dont make a fool of myself (or him). Then Sam tells me that he has been getting pains in his head (he describes them as shooting pains that last for a few minutes and then go away) when he is playing -- we have our next appt with the neurologist in mid-Oct and with our family doc at the beginning of Oct(these pains are normal and had all but stopped until now)... so i have been telling him that if they get worse we may need to go see the doctor and if he sees stars or any pain after being tackled we will have to get him to the doctor too... He is totally agreeable with this and then ...

this morning he is so over tired and very mean to me and I wanted to tell him that football is just not worth it to me. It is a fight to get him up, fed and out the door without him picking fights with his siblings over their spoon making noises in the bowl (he is sensitive to noises alot of the time now) or that someone has eaten the last of the cereal, bread, fruit, etc that he was planning on eating or that ask him to take his laundry to the laundry room. I know these sound like normal teenager stuff but the injury makes everything that much worse and my days are subsquently starting on a bitter, and sometimes down right nasty, note.

That has been our house the last little while... I prayer things get settled in and to our next new norm...

normality??? we'll see...

Well our summer is coming to an end... saddly way to fast! We are moved and living in our new home. We got lots of work done on it and the week before we moved in we got the flooring done!!! YAY!!! We also had some excitement with our "old house" and on Monday morning (we were moving on Thursday) we had either a tornado touch down or a funnel cloud come close to touching down! It took out 1/6th the shingles on the south side of the barn, part of a corral wall, 7 trees that hit the ground (a few that just now have a nasty lean on them), our trampoline was thrown into the bush (took Josh and I about 10 minutes to pull it out) and it basically made a mess of the yard in a matter of seconds! Dennis and I were having coffee in the morning (at about 7.30)and it was stormy and raining... then the rain and wind stopped, then all of a sudden it sounded like a train coming thru the house! Dennis called to grab the kids and get tot he basement so we did and before we were there it over... it was scary and freaky. And i am glad it is over.

Sam had a great 2 weeks at camp (he got home on Aug 23) and is still trying to recouperate from it. He sleeps long hours, he is grouchy and basically your eveday teenager. But i am trying to get him into the new school routine before school starts. we will be getting up earlier this year so that they can catch an earlier bus. He is also starting High school so there will be new challenges to face. I had to write a letter to the school that they went to last year requesting that they go back to it this year, as we live not just out of town but also out of that school division. they have their meeting tonight so i hope that they will accept our request so there is no changing of schools. I just told them that there is already a plan in place for Sam for this year and so hat we have to lose another year we would like the kids to continue going to it, and we also would like to keep all the kids going in the same school division... so please pray for this request to go thru!

There are alot of other plans having to be made -- not major ones but enough that it will require alot of organizing and planning... piano lessons, guitar lessons, cadets, basketball practices, volleyball, etc. now that we are 30miles from town it will be abit trickier to get the kids into things (especially with the gas prices!!!)

We have one more set of appt with Sam too in Wpg in Oct. One with the neurologist and one with the psychologist... might be the last set!!!
I am off to Wpg next week on Tues for a set of 24 hr. tests in Wpg for my hernia. I will not be home for the kids first day of school that week. i have to go and have a tube put in my nose and then spend the day as normal as possible so that i can journal my hernia 'pain'. I asked the lady how i was going to haev a normal day when i normally live 3 hours away and am staying in the city over night, and who wants to go out and about with a tube in your nose and taped to your face!? lol she agreed but asked me to do my best.... sigh... we will have to see just how brave I can be i guess in going out in public. might even be picture worthy! lol