A Monday with Olivia

 Allie began her second semester of college today. It's back to the grind. Stacia began her first college course today. Liv got a day ahead in school because her parents come home tomorrow, and she doesn't want to have to do school!! Her teacher was wonderful and sent daily work for her to do while she was at our home. 

I delivered 4 dz eggs to a customer and had a massage today. Thank you, Michael. 

Michael had an appointment today about future ministry he is pursuing. 

I grabbed Liv when I got home, and we went out for our Baachan Christmas date. Yeah - it's been a SEAAAASON! We found some fun welcome home gifts for her parents and she and I stopped for drinks and a treat for her at a local cafe.  Livie had some rather deep thoughts on her mind to discuss and it was an honor to be the one she decided to chat with this Monday. 

Look what we saw when we drove into our driveway! Moose 1 and Moose 2. 

Well, hello there! 

Allie had to work. Dinner, games and chats from Hawaii rounded out our evening. 

Annie is FOUR!

 It's seems like YESTERDAY  2-year-old Annie was INSISTING she was "almost 3."  Today, she turns FOUR!  Those who could make it met at BreZaak's to celebrate her special day. Annie wanted all things Ballerina and Princess. 

📸via BreAnne

Bre had put out kisses with ballerinas on the bottom, a cookie cake, and cupcakes! The temptation was almost more than Little Buddy could handle! 

Bre thinks of everything and had a table with crafts and little tattoos ready for the kids to enjoy. 

"Happy Birthday to you!"🎶

Bella, Benny, Annie, Josiah, Danny

Annie had lots of help opening gifts. 

Our dynamic two-year-olds! 

Josiah (BreZaak's) Danny & Little Buddy (CoRielle's)

All the cousins - Annie is in the back by Danny

Benny was darling when he came in. He ran to Annie and said, "Annie, I was four. I'm five now, but first I was four."

Benny, Bella and Annie 📸via BreAnne

📸via BreAnne

Cuddle time with Trudy 📸via BreAnne

📸via BreAnne

All the Aunties at the party📸via BreAnne

Liv, Bella, Annie - the girls minus Trudy 📸via BreAnne

It was a fun party for a sweet girl! 

Friday the 13th

We had a brilliant Friday the 13th. 

Livie got up and finished school. She and I brainstormed about what kind of cookie she would like to bake. We made peanut butter cookies with chopped up Resees on top. 

Guess who has a golden birthday coming up? 

Allie is still on break and was able to play with Liv while Stacia finished school. They all busied themselves with games and conversations. 

Allie opted for what we call "introvert time" in the afternoon. She guessed (correctly) this would be her last opportunity to get laundry done, do a deep clean of her part of the room, declutter - in short prepare to start the next semester of college on Monday.  Bre and the children had invited me over to play. I showed up with cookies, a cousin and an Auntie.  The kids were fully occupied while Bre and I had a chance to JUST BE TOGETHER. 

Liv and Josiah

Gideon, Josiah, Annie and Auntie Stacia

Bre and Trudy

Since I have no photos of Saturday, I am going to simply blog it here. 

We dropped Millie at the groomer and Stacia, Liv and I went on to celebrate the upcoming arrival of Baby J. After the baby shower, we picked up Millie from the groomer and headed to Jamin's for a bit of movie, hot tub and pizza.  It was a full day. 

Olivia is with Us

We have Livie for the next bit as Josiah and Carrie visit Hawaii for a belated honeymoon. 

She brought school with her and before the day was over Stacia, Allie, and Michael had all pitched in to help. Michael was called in for math assistance. 

Stacia and Liv finished school around the same time.  Both seemed happy to have a partner for snow play. I'm not sure why Liv looks like a prisoner in this photo, she was excited to get outside. It seems our snow is far too dry to build a snowman...I suggested mixing it with water, but they didn't take me up on the plan. 

Allie joined Liv for hot chocolate and snacks when they came inside. They spent a fun afternoon hanging out.

Meanwhile, Stacia tried to nap. I assembled a big salad and stuffed some bell peppers with meat and cheese. Michael got home from his appointment, and we headed over to Life Group. It felt like we haven't seen each other for quite a while - I guess it was just the holiday break - in any event it was fun to catch up. 

Liv had a hard time falling asleep and came back up for cuddles. We made plans for the upcoming days, talked about our favorite Bible verses, and then called Michael in to find out his favorite verse. This led to Livie asking Michael, "Why can we trust the Bibe?"  She picked the perfect person to ask. 

We filled many minutes as Michael answered that question from history, from lit, from archaeology. LOL About this time I realized, CyRi should be landing in Hawaii. We had all thought Liv would be asleep by the time they landed. Since we were awake, we texted. Carrie face timed back on Liv's i pad.  That's all Olivia needed to drift off to sleep. 

Chickens and a Neurology Update

A friend suggested feeding the girls (chickens - not daughters 😏) freezer burned Salmon. We happen to have lots of salmon, it's been COLD, their egg production is slowing down a bit, and Kotori has picked this cold snap to molt. A bit of extra protein seems like a good plan. The girls loved it. 

Michael and I drove to Anchorage for lunch...and while we were there, he visited his neurologist. ::wink:: He's been having a lot of sleep trouble. They had new suggestions for training his brain to sleep, pushed exercise to slow the progression of Parkinsons and planned to raise his Sinemet to deal with increasing tremors.  The next month is going to be rough for Michael but we're hoping for good results.

As we talked, she looked over to check his tremors and asked, "Are you about due for your next Sinemet?" 

Michael replied, "No, I took it an hour ago. This is as good as it gets." 

We talked more and she commented high protein diets delay the absorption of Sinemet! WHAT? Seven years on this med and this is the first time anyone mentioned protein consumption in connection with Sinemet. The literature says to take it with food. He takes it with meals...and all his meals have protein. I mention this here in case you have a loved one on this med and have not heard about the protein connection.  She said it is hard to adjust the med as folks will say it works some days and not others...depends on what you are having for breakfast.  Michael asked if we could put off raising meds for a month so he can make these adjustments and see if THAT takes care of the problem. She agreed this was the best plan.  

We drove back into town with just enough time for me to grab my things and head to Ladies Bible Study. The girls (daughters not chickens😅) drove to youth as I'd miscommunicated about the time I needed to leave for church.  We were all happy to be back with our tribes. 

Our Baby is Growing Up

 Our very last baby got her driver's license! I have now taught or had an instrumental role in teaching 10 children to drive.  She had quite a few challenges. When she and Allie went to make test appointments, there was only one appointment open for November. Allie has a job and needs the license more than Stacia.  Stacia had to book out to January 5th.

No sooner than the test was booked, and winter seemed to begin. LOTS of snow...piled so high it became a driving impediment, then ice...and we had forgotten how dark it would be at 0900 in January. 

Nevertheless, she ACED the driving test! And tonight, she was able to take dinner over to Bre's house, while I stayed home and worked on our dinner! 

It's good to have another driver in the house! Her next goal is to learn how to drive her car - a manual. I have doubts about learning to drive a stick on wintry hills, but I have no doubt she'll figure it out. The first step will be to dig the car out of the snowbank it has become and to get winter tires on it. LOL 

Quick Update

I have deliberately stayed away from the computer in the past week, but it's time to give an update. I do still have aches and pains if I miss a dose of Ibuprofen. I have decreased the dosage from 800 mg every 8 hours to 600 mg every 8 hours.  I took the advice to "rest my brain" very seriously this week. I DID have some things I needed to do...but I rested... a lot. I did everything I was told to do to recover as quickly as possible from my concussion. 

I spent a lot of time gazing at candles. I slept more this week than I did in all of 2022. I watched BreZaak's kids 2 days this week. I made meals to deliver to those who needed them. 

Today, I went to church, and, though I had quite a headache after worship, I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

We had a family over for lunch and games, and it was just fine - with the proper Ibuprofen planning. 

I'm doing well. I get a bit confused from time to time. I seem to get tired quickly, and I don't like spending much time on either the screen of my phone or computer. I still get headaches and feel a bit woozy.  BUT I did organize photos just now and managed to type this before throwing in the towel. I will be working at blogging this week. 

I have a busy week coming up, and I will continue to listen to my body's cues. I will rest as much as possible while also trying to get back to the things I "need" to do. Michael keeps reminding me to think in terms of getting "better in 2 days" rather than "back to normal in 2 days." 

So, "Yes, I am better."