ugh. been so busy

wow, i haven't written in a while and i so need to. i'm typing like mad bc the kids are upstairs getting ready for the next chapter in the voyage of the dawn treader. we are almost done.

so it's been summer. school's been out and i haven't had time to breathe...
just to catch you up. my brother entered the army chaplaincy. he got a lakehouse for a weekend that the kids and i and some of their cousins got to enjoy thouroughly. it was fun. and it was kind of bittersweet bc we knew it was a goodbye party of sorts.

next...chris got a scooter. we were following him home and he wrecked within 5 minutes of owning it. the kids all witnessed it and were freaked out!!! so they prayed... little ponto who was then not yet 4 said, "the lady in the highways...pray for us!" the worst part of the accident was a stubbed toe bc v was wearing flip flops of course.
he hurt a toe on his other foot playing indoor soccer the following day. he went to get it checked out a week later and found out it was a torn tendon. the worst part of the visit was weighing himself. 250lbs!! he still fits into his pants so we're wondering where all the weight is. the tv's in the garage so he can walk to watch tv. we're hoping this regiment will get him healthy a trim again.
then....my dad got breathless taking my brother to the doctor. the doctor talked my dad into getting a heart catheterization. they found 3 blockages of about 70% each and the following day they performed a triple bypass. he's been in the hospital for about a week now. we've been visiting constantly and trying to bolster mom's spirits. she deals so horribly with stress.
then...yesterday we were all at my friends house picking up our co-op order. samantha falls out of a tree 12-15 feet from the ground. i really wanted to throw up- the sound of her body hitting the dirt just sickened me. her lips were white. she immediately got up and started pacing about while my friend and i chased her poking here and there, asking where it hurt, suggesting her to sit down. we then realized she knew best and just backed off a bit. i decided to call my sister(pediatrician) and ask her what to do. she said, "bring her in."
we went in and my sister asked her to do several motions. none hurt too bad except bending over. my sister ordered xrays to be taken of both her left shoulder and her middle back.
the xrays came back later that day and the diagnosis was a grade 1 spondylolysis in L5- with about a 20% slippage. i looked it up and it didn't look too scary as long as we monitored it well, kept her from too much high impact stuff for the time being and maybe did some pt with her.
my sister called me this morning after talking to a back doc and said that she should remain pretty sedentary until the pain abates. then in six months we'll go in for a repeat xray and see if it has healed. i might go get her some chiro in the next week or so.
so today has been a day for blessings. thank you God for helping her land in a way to avoid paralysis. thank you God for ALL my children. they are such blessings. now i must get upstairs. the audience awaits me.