Growing UP!!!

I'm ready!!!!!

My mommy did really well with this big day -- she didn't let me see her tears!

Papa got to go to first day -- where was he the next day???

Could you guess -- our lesson was Queen Esther???   Syd's found she can almost make it up to Papa before Mommy catches her

Waiting for Dr. Geeta for our regular check-ups. Momma didn't tell us we were getting shots!

Look at me all grown up!!!! 

Papa and Nana's cure for teething!!!

Hold on Dad -- I know where those screws go ---

Mommy and Big Sis dressed me ---

SYDNEY IS EVERYWHERE RIGHT NOW AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT AND TONIGHT FIGURED OUT HOW TO MOVE EVEN FASTER!!!!

I loved this picture when I saw it on Pinterest this week and thought -- that's me . . .



Now to HIM who is able to keep you from falling -- Jude 24 is a verse I used to claim for my mother as her ability to walk and move was being diminished.

 I thought of that this morning as I was talking things over with God -- ME telling HIM --

  I was bummed that my school year now has a different beginning  never mind that I started this job 13 years ago with the OTHER ankle broken and in a cast.  .  .

Or that we were accumulating a closet of those big ankle boots  -- luckily Terry is now out of his -- and moving around better than he has in months.  

At our kids' suggestion -- we've decided our Christmas picture needs to be T & me in our ankle boots.

This has got me to thinking --

WHAT REALLY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT?

ALL THAT RUSHING ABOUT -- FOR DEADLINES I'VE CREATED -- WHAT IS REALLY THE MOST NEEDFUL?  

When I fell it was b/c I had spent the day rushing around to finish a lot of outside chores so we could get off for CO earlier than planned -- I was taking T out to see my finished pool painting.  Hmmm,  Jan do you see the correlation -- a lot of your falls come after you've been rushing about all day???

I don't want this time on my back with my foot higher than my heart -- on an ice bag (following Dr. Marshall Bell's orders as well as the ankle surgeon) --I don't want this time to be lost. .  .what can this time of slowing down to for my list of "MUST DO's"?

It drives me nuts that I can't clean or even sweep the kitchen floor -- Loading the dishwasher takes 3 times as long! (I insist Terry LET me do that)
You should have seen T & me in Wal-Mart yesterday with me trying to keep from running over people with the motorized handi-cap cart --and T getting hit by someone else in a handi-cap cart letting their child drive it.  
Terry took a video of me driving and said I shot across an aisle without even looking -- he seemed to try to stay as far away from me as he could 

the fact that the pic is blurred I think has something to do with the whole problem of controlling it's speed

  (I sort of got an inkling of how it feels to be the person  in a wheelchair having people treat you differently -- i.e. the irritable cashier in the quick lane when I hadn't kept my items moving so she could scan them  -- thanks to the guy behind me in another handicap cart who pushed them forward) -

Right now I feel pretty vulnerable -- facing -- 120 students for the first time on a scooter -- I always think it's important to at least LOOK like you're in charge when you start the year.

I've lost a week of pre-start preparations --  (which Bethany helped me reclaim on Friday)

First bulletin board up -- launching Single Survival Course

I alternate between  brain fog from pain meds and weepiness from frustration. I basically had to tell God I'm pretty helpless at this point.

 My biggest decisions right now are pretty basic -- which boot would I be able to stay in an entire day -- the short or high-top? Where  can I set up a place under my desk to keep my foot propped up and iced while I lecture? AND Where in the world is that  basket we used with Mom's walker?
 
I have been blessed with a doting husband who continuously wants to know what he can do -- 
Bethany who runs all my errands and brings the girls by to a pick me up (Campbell is the best nurturer -- she continually covers my foot up -- gives it a kiss and checks to see what I need) 

We're forever grateful for Marshall and Katie buying last-minute air tickets to come see US when we couldn't go to THEM . . and then working to help us get set up for the week.
Special thanks to my co-workers who are helping it all come together for show time on Thursday morning-- and my sweet hairdresser, Joelle!

I 'm learning that the best way is to say "Yes" when someone offers to do something and to ASK for what is out of reach not try to get it myself. AND  to lock the brakes on my scooter before I get off it --

Right after this happened and the pain set in -- I thought -- this is one broken spot -- what must it be like for those people in car wrecks with multiple breaks???  or People who have such horrible diseases or people who go through these things all alone??

And yes, though this is taking a lot of my energy and effort now -- 
and is a delay in MY plans --in 6 months or even weeks it will be only a memory and a dull ache every time the weather changes -- just a tiny blipp -- on my time line.  


  I have given so many people the words from Col. 1:17 -- "In HIM all things come together"  I'd say those are gonna have to be my "marching orders" (or scooting ones) for the next few weeks. 


AND NO -- LIFE IS NOT BETTER in FLIP FLOPS -- that's how I broke both ankles

Sand Castle Summer Project -- Pool to Sand Palace

OK, my family knows,  I get pretty driven when I'm on one of my creative projects -- remember last year's neon colored dining room chairs???  This years also involved spray paint --hmm--- Well, Terry is tolerant of my endeavors when I'm on an artsy mission and always celebrates the outcome with me.

Let's go back to first of June -- 

 Target Goal:  Empty the Pool --so we could  lower the Mosquito population in our corner of South Tulsa -- I'm sure we were breeding 80% of 'em despite the fact that we used those expensive mosquito pellets and lots of chemicals.

We hadn't used our pool in the past two summers -- too much to keep up 

 

I advertised on Facebook and got a few interested gals from my school

HOWEVER,  the take down and relocating plus updating a 19 yr. old pool weren't worth the $$$ and nobody wanted the chore.


Nevermind that we'd enjoyed awesome times in our pool -- SEVERAL years ago ---

It was just more $  and hassle than we wanted---


Bids on taking it down weren't in our budget yet --

The liner was cracked -- so we emptied it -- disposed of the vinyl -- removed the leaves which had lined the bottom. 

AND discovered the deep layer of sand underneath -- knowing how much preschoolers love sand --we "googled" ways to sanitize the sand -- 

THEN we were given a kids' Little Tykes jungle gym from Campbell's little friends Roman, Paislee and Tysen -- that made the project start to really take shape.

Campbell was thrilled with the results and kept saying, "You did this for ME?"  and spent lots of her Camp Nana Papa mornings in "The Pit"-- We called it her Sand Castle.  The walls were starting to oxidize and rust after almost 20 years and seemed rather plain -- so I began to visualize a kids' castle motif.  Besides that -- this was totally enclosed -- no nasty critters could invade this sandbox!

I reminded Terry of the play house and a fort he'd made for our kids years ago.

This is my favorite -- a girly girl one

I created large areas for children to paint -- Kids' Canvasses for outdoor art.

Banners with their initials & towns named after them -- "Campbelltown" and "  Sydneyvillel" 

Each grandchild will have their own castle space --

I know, I know -- it's time for me to get back to work -- to a REAL job -- if I have time to paint walls of abandoned above-ground pools -- I prefer to think of it as painting murals on kids' play space


 Our newest updates to our Sand Castle:

A tower and a play house

With strands of mini lights -- it's become a great night playground!