2012 Week Seven

We had a very nice Valentine’s Day. Jack and I exchanged flowers and movie tickets and the kids were absolutely swimming in sweets. We celebrated Liz’s birthday with supper and some fun gifts. Grandma Jackie gave Liz the sweetest poster of puppies, but I’m pretty sure her favorite gift so far has been the folding money.

We were touched that Thomas and Emma both spent money of their own to buy Liz something for her birthday despite Emma’s worry that it might be offensive to spend money she received for her own birthday on someone else. She doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Oh, the traumas and dramas of the tween years. I have a very clear memory of a sleepless night spent worrying about my lack of funds and my parent’s upcoming anniversary. I know I had to be older than 11 because we were living in Brookston, but I couldn’t have been much older than that because I had a job by 13. I feel very blessed that my –and Emma’s- worries were not more serious.

Jack took Liz to a maxillofacial dentist this week. She has a pearl tooth coming in in such a way that its roots are causing problems with her incoming permanent teeth. The super-dentist wants to cut it out, a 45-minute procedure that takes place under sedation. I’m not too thrilled about the sedation part, but I guess that’s something I’ll have to pray about. Y’all pray with me please.

We managed to lock three –yes, I said three- sets of keys in the pickup this week (thankfully all at the same time, otherwise I really would’ve looked stupid.) Yeah, I locked my keys in with my purse and then found out Jack left the spare key he had been using -because he can’t find his keys, which are in the floorboard of the pickup- in the cup-holder. Oh …  joy. Thankfully the local PD sent their new officer to my rescue (at no charge!). At which time I further embarrassed myself by introducing myself to a man who I’d been talking on the phone with (in the course of everyday work), for over three years. What a great day.

And finally in this Week Of Liz we had a birthday party Saturday. Our friend Andi made the cutest cake and Liz had a wonderful time with her friends. I had a wonderful time with my friends and family too. We should do stuff together more often, don’t y’all think?

Hello?

The Year 2011 in Review

In looking back at this blog over the past year, I realize I haven’t done a stellar job in documenting our life for posterity. To be honest it’s been a stressful year. Jack and I have started calling it the ‘Year of the Waiting Room’ since we (okay, mostly he) averaged at least one waiting room visit a week between his dad’s, his mom’s and his own doctor’s appointments this year. Jack even waited out a couple of Grandma Alma’s doctor visits. I also blame my higher education. I average approximately 15-20 hours a week writing for one class or another. That’s time I used to spend writing here and reading other people’s writing everywhere else.

Anyway, I’m determined to do a better job of documenting this year. In the meantime, I wanted to record the highlights of 2011 in some way before 2012 started piling up:

January:

• Jack traveled to Dallas for the RA Camp Director’s Meeting and was well received. This is always one of his favorite trips. God was really watching out for us on that trip. On the way home Jack hydroplaned his dad’s pickup off the interstate and into the median, doing a few di-does and experiencing some near misses along the way. Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt and the insurance completely covered the repairs.
• Jack also visited a rheumatologist and received the good news that Jack’s arthritis is not rheumatoid, but is some form of osteoarthritis.

February:

• We celebrated Liz’s 6^th birthday with a Pinkalicious party in the park. It was a lot of fun to put together. Not sure how I’m gonna top that one!
• Jack’s mom fell and cracked her wrist and as a follow-up to the osteoarthritis verdict, Jack visited with an orthopedic surgeon who suggests Jack have both hips as well as both knees replaced, but only after extensive weight loss which he suggested Jack achieve by gastric bypass. Finally a doctor with a plan!

March:

• Ella and I snuck off to Wichita Falls for some much needed sister time. We left each other on Sunday planning to make the weekend trip an annual event and I’m please to say the 2012 trip is already on the calendar!
• Spring Break went by with no one really memorable event. Based on past experience I’m sure we had some cold weather and some warm weather, but not necessarily in that order. I’m also sure the kids spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa and I do remember Granny and Papa visiting at the end of the week. I hope that we enjoyed some much needed rest and time with each other.
• I celebrated a relaxing 41^st birthday. Yea, me!
• Jack and I spent a weekend with his assistant RA Camp director Bob and his wife Regina inventorying and organizing the RA storage at camp. It was a very dusty job, but we’re one step closer to being ready for July!

April:

• Jack made another trip to Dallas. He is now a Royal Ambassador Regional Trainer. Anything you need to know about RAs he can now officially fill you in on!
• Easter rounded out to one (1) Easter pageant, two (2) baptisms, three (3) Easter egg hunts, four (4) versions of potatoes and a lot (#!) of deviled eggs. It was a really great year.
• TAKS tests were administered and passed with flying colors!
• Jack had his first appointment with the gastric bypass doctor and the upshot is that Jack must lose 50 pounds while under a dietary clinicians care over the next 90 days. Water anyone?

May:

• May was a blur of field trips, school projects, achievement parties and graduations. School is out for another summer! And we’ve got a new pool to prove it. Hoorah!
• I cleaned out and filled up my flower beds again. It’s an addiction I think.
• It was either late this month or early next month that Jackie fell and broke the wrist she had cracked earlier in the year. Back problems abound (Ella, Grandma Alma and Jackie) and Jack’s dad is suffering with breathing problems again. Jack’s diet showed very little progress even though he stuck very closely to the program.

June:

• The girls and I (plus four more!) attended Girls Camp at Plains Baptist Assembly the second week of June and had a blast. We’re already excited for next year.
• The Sunday after Girls Camp, I rush Jack to the ER for the beginning of a week-long odyssey into emergency health care. Long story short he had a gall bladder infection that had turned septic, which then led to a severe depletion of potassium, which then led to atrial fibrillation of the heart. It was scary, more so after it was over and we finally understood how close Jack was to losing his life. God was watching out for us again!
• While we languished in hospital, Jack’s parents, sister and nieces gave 110% in keeping up with the kids and even managed to take them to Vacation Bible School. Their willingness to step in was a God-send and the kids loved it. Maybe we need to have Camp Sheran as well as Camp Granny.

July:

• Just shy of a full recovery, Jack, Thomas and I (plus five) attended RA Camp.  With nearly 325 boys and men attending and 80-something decisions made, I’d say it was a great success!
• Emma celebrated her 9^th birthday with a sleepover and we attended the annual Border Town Days parade and celebration in the park.

August:

• The kids attended Camp Granny while I finished another semester of school. Four down, four to go! (Semesters, not Camp Granny’s. Camp Granny should last FOREVER.)
• I took the kids to the County Fair, school started and the girls attended Cheer Camp. Exciting days!

September:

• Jack continues to suffer near-weekly migraines and started seeing a new primary physician to discover the cause.
• Jack’s mother undergoes an ablation procedure that corrects her heart rhythm.
• We managed to celebrate Jack’s 48^th birthday. For some reason he always seems to get kind of a wave and kiss instead of a full-blown celebration. I’m gonna have to do something about that.
• Unfortunately the day after Jack’s birthday, his dad unexpectedly passed away.  It was a shocking and traumatic event, but ultimately we know that he is with Jesus and no longer in pain or suffering. The services were very nice and we celebrated Joe’s life with family, some crying and much laughing.

October:

• Jack’s mother develops an embolism in the groin wound opened during the ablation procedure. The surgeon re-opens the wound to repair the embolism and the healing process slowly begins.
• The girls and I attended a Secret Keeper’s Pajama Party in Clovis. I was so proud of Emma for volunteering to help out on stage. She is so adventurous and willing.
• We spent a weekend visiting Mama and Daddy and helping out (or did we?) at Ella’s new house. It has a long way to go, but it’s gonna be so great when she gets done!
• The post-camp RA storage inventory was completed by Jack and a great team from Park Drive Baptist, Levelland. The countdown to RA Camp 2012 begins!
• Work begins on RA racers and the kids Sunday School teachers take them out for pizza and a movie. Emma is not allowed to attend due to being grounded for a pretty severe offense.  I don’t think she’ll consider cheating on another test anytime soon.
• Jack’s headaches continue and he is scheduled for a sleep study.

November:

• Jack has a sleep study and they send him home with a CPAP machine which made an immediate difference for the better in his sleep. He still has occasional migraines so doctors continue to work toward better blood pressure control.
• Jackie’s wound continues to heal slowly. She is dividing her nights between our house and Sheran’s house as the wound has to be cleaned three times a day.
• We celebrate Thanksgiving with Jack’s family at Sheran’s house.  It’s fun that we’ve gone from four cooks to seven or eight cooks when you count all the grandkids who want to contribute to the meal. Lots more yummy stuff! Ashlie made a picture of a turkey using only crudités. Too cute!
• Between holidays, comp time and vacation days, I manage to schedule myself every Friday off for the rest of the year!

December:

• December events include the school Christmas Concert, the church Christmas Concert and Chili Supper, the church Ladies Christmas party, three school Christmas parties, late starts to and early releases from school, Christmas with the Smallwoods in Lubbock, Christmas with the Eubanks in Brookston, some home renovation at my sister’s and New Year’s Eve movies in Lubbock.
• In and amongst and for all that we made three dozen pints of apple butter to give away as gifts to neighbors, family and friends. It was fun and not too stressful and smelled wonderful. We’re gonna have to do it again soon because we gave it all away without saving any for ourselves!

Flashback Friday- RA Lock-In

Back in the early part of March, Jack took a group of boys to a RA (Royal Ambassador) lock-in in Shallowater. Apart from a broken tooth suffered by Thomas (and because it was Thomas, you know there was MUCH suffering) everyone had a great time. Jack and I have always been proud of how our group of kids is so willing to blend with other groups and make themselves at home.

MUCH suffering on Thomas' part

 

Two of these boys belong to us.

 

Two of these boys (Terry's a boy at heart) do not belong to us.

A Storybook Easter

We Smallwoods had a storybook Easter this year complete with Easter pageants and egg hunts and new dresses and ham and deviled eggs. There were even patches of green grass! What follows is our Easter Week itinerary with commentary. It’s not the royal wedding but there are more pictures of Liz.

 

• Saturday, April 16: spent the day buying groceries and being frustrated by the lack of suitable ‘church’ dresses for young girls. FINALLY found acceptable clothing and shoes only to be stranded by a dead pickup battery. Enter a kind stranger and AutoZone and we were good to go.
• Sunday, April 17: attended church with Jack’s family at which the children of several of our good friends performed an Easter pageant and two of the kid’s friends were baptized. Lunched with family and then scrambled to our church’s annual Easter egg hunt. Three Easter baskets and two WalMart sacks FULL of candy later, we relaxed for the day.                             
• Wednesday, April 20: attended RAs and God’s Girls where the God’s Girls teacher (aka me) used the girls blatant lack of respect as a teaching tool about how sin separates us from God. And in this case our friends. And also in this case candy prizes. It wasn’t as educational as it was angry. But it did get them to sit and listen for 10 minutes. Which is all I was asking for.
• Thursday, April 21: hid eggs for and attended Liz’s Kindergarten Easter egg hunt. I’ll let you draw your own picture by sharing that there were six labeled eggs per child, a piñata and one mother who did not attend, much to the … disappointment of her lovely child.
• Friday –Good Friday, April 22: we mowed and otherwise cleaned up the yard in preparation for yet another Easter egg hunt and then the kids colored eggs and spent the night at SIL’s while Jack and I laid ground cloth in flower beds in preparation for mulch. (Mulch that has still not been spread.)
• Saturday, April 23: bought yet more groceries and clothes. Did not clean house. Did not finish flowerbeds. Did not get Thomas a haircut. However: Did get everyone clean and Did get the ham in the oven on time.
• Sunday, April 24: Easter. Found and donned new Easter finery. Attended church (with Jack’s family as our guests) where Emma and Pyper sang a special. Returned home for lunch of ham, baked potato salad, mashed potatoes, pea salad, green salad, hot rolls and ice cream (it’s a Smallwood thing). Watch twenty-somethings hide eggs. Watched twenty-somethings follow children as they hunted eggs. Ate candy. Watched family leave as Jack feel asleep in his chair. Napped. Put all Easter decoration and candy away. Watched ‘Lemonade Mouth’ with Emma. Made A LOT of deviled eggs. Ate a lot of deviled eggs. Crashed.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Well, I made it another year. And, according to the latest statistics, I’ve hurdled the halfway mark of average life expectancy for US woman (and we all know I’m nothing if not average.)

I had a very nice birthday weekend that included lunch with co-workers, an animation-free movie with Jack, a supper picnic with Jack and the kids, a visit from my parents and lots of time to relax. I read two books and finished a cross-stitch project I’ve been working on for years.

Thanks very much to all who called, texted and messaged me. Being remembered is a great birthday gift! Ogden Nash says, “Senescence begins and middle age ends the day your descendents outnumber your friends.” By that definition old age ain’t got me yet!

KC’s Prayer Journal

If you’ve been keeping up with our God’s Girls blog you’ll know that we began studying prayer this week. Nothing could have better convinced me this is a timely (or God inspired) topic than my phone conversations from last night and the news this morning. The prayer journal I made with the girls Wednesday night out of construction paper and yarn, is full. My heart is both heavy for my loved ones and their situations and soaring with praise and thankfulness for our relatively calm existence.

Today as you go about getting ready for the weekend or packing for that Spring Break trip, please say a special prayer for:

• A wife and mother struggling with issues of infidelity, health and suicide,
• A church family exhausted and working to do the right thing,
• A school administrator with no concept of boundaries and a school in need of leadership,
• A 16 year old’s chronic illness,
• A missionary family who, with an entire country, is devastated by natural disaster,
• A single mom’s effort to reclaim both her property and charge of her life, and
• A husband and father facing major health decisions.

James 5:13-16 says

Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Things I Could Blog About, But Don’t Feel Like Blogging About

Things I could blog about, but don’t feel like blogging about:

• the weather
• Thomas’ bout with reflux
• my Spring sememster schedule
• the assignments I have left to complete before the end of the Winter semester
• missing lunch with BFFW for 5^th Monday in a row
• 2010 tax return
• these burning questions regarding my children: is Emma dealing with a bully? has Thomas started puberty? how many kids should I invite to Liz’s birthday party given her teacher says she doesn’t interact much- all of them, none of them, the list she gave me?
• missing three weeks of God’s Girls, but still having nothing more than a lesson title for this coming Wednesday
• my new love for ‘Fringe’
• the kid’s PIP performance, including photos
• not calling Kaley on her birthday even though I thought of it several times
• my MIL’s fall and subsequent damage
• my in-law’s lack of water if the wind-chill drops below freezing and how frustrating that is to me
• the fact that I haven’t mailed Luke’s birthday present OR the Christmas/New Year’s/Valentine’s Day cards yet.
• Jack’s doctor’s appointments.
• Jack’s automobile accident.
• my apathy about blogging and/or reading blogs and how I soo don’t want this to be another thing I start and then stop, never to be looked at again.

Aren’t you glad I’m back?

Wonder-full

I’ve been noticing a marked lack of Christmas-spirit ‘round here. Everybody’s rushing to meet deadlines, worried about money and just basically tired. Office parties, family obligations and knowing that we should be happier about all this are weighing us down. Even my kids are stressed, evidenced by short tempers, high emotions and annoying aches and pains for days now.

Sunday evening was shaping up to be another of those let’s-just-get-it-done duties. Jack was not thrilled about singing with the choir, my kids needed an uninterrupted day at home for rest and play and I was making lists in my head of all the things that I could’ve been doing if not for this responsibility.

It was a grim looking crowd that showed up for the church Christmas program and chili supper. Then Brenda announced the name of the program was ‘Wonder-full’, so I made a conscious decision for look for the wonder, at least for the next little while.

The kids performed perfectly, even the little angel who saw her grandma and crawled under the pews to get to her.

And the choir sang beautifully, but best of all was the fellowship following.

Visiting at the tables.

Working together in the kitchen.

Family.

I vow to remember the true reason we’re celebrating Christmas and enjoy family and friends.

Have you looked around for the Wonder in your life?

OLUMC Ladies Christmas Party

Last night the ladies of Oklahoma Lane United Methodist Church gathered for their annual Christmas Party. This year, in a change of venue from Grandma Alma’s home, the party was held in the church Fellowship Hall.

16 ladies ranging in age from the mid-20s to the 90s enjoyed fellowship, plenty of festive food and a gift exchange. This year each lady brought a pair of gloves for the Chinese Gift Exchange. Gifts that have been exchanged over the past years have been Christmas socks and Christmas ornaments. I lucked out in receiving a pair of gloves each for the girls. They’re fingerless gloves with the fold-over flap that turns them into mittens. I think they’re called flip mittens. So cute!

(Photo courtesy Mary Carr via Grandma Alma)

Flashback Friday- OLUMC RA Week, Pinewood Derby & Spaghetti Supper

The Oklahoma Lane United Methodist Church culminated Royal Ambassador Week with a Pinewood Derby and Spaghetti Supper Sunday, November 7 in the church Fellowship Hall. Participating with the RAs were the local God’s Girls chapter and several parents and church members.

Royal Ambassadors and God’s Girls are discipleship clubs for kids in 1^st through 6^th grades. OLUMC sponsors 14 kids in both clubs.

In the morning RA Week Celebration, the boys acted as candle lighters and ushers as well as reciting the RA Pledge and Mottos during the service.

That evening the kids hosted a spaghetti supper complete with spaghetti, salad, bread and desserts to over 80 guests before the Derby began.

The Derby final was extremely close as Landry Henderson and Emma Smallwood’s cars were so evenly matched. Landry Henderson’s championship was finally determined by a fierce game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Pyper Belcher won the Car Show competition with her zebra-striped car.

The RAs and God’s Girls would like to thank Wayne Pierson for acting as Starting Judge, Pastor Ken Peterson and Kenny White for acting as Finish Line Judges and FBC Farwell for loan of a track.