Unexpected Blessings: A Little of This & That

The last 3 weeks I have been to the doctor with Grace. Three weeks ago it was for an ear infection. Two weeks ago it was for strep. Last week it was for a tetanus shot after she stepped on a rusty nail in the yard. I am really hoping we don't have to take her to the doctor again this week. So far so good with Grace, but now it would appear we will be taking Brutus to the vet as it appears he has a tick on his back.

Our woods seem to be full of Ticks. Joy and I have both found them in our hair after walking in the woods. Last night Hope found one on her leg and got it off before it burrowed in, and now Brutus has one. I am not sure what to do except ban the kids from the woods, or do daily tick checks. Any ideas on avoiding ticks?

And back to the rusty nails... reminds me of the home improvement projects going on around our house. Faith's room is FINALLY almost ready for her to move in! It has been painted, and the access panels are in for all the plumbing in the ceiling and the carpet guy is coming on Thursday. She should be moved in this weekend. Then we will need to paint the room Faith & Grace have been sharing for the last 9 months, so that the boys can move in there, and Grace can move back into her room, where the boys have been for the last 9 months.

We are also in the process of building a bigger chicken coup. We have been able to use re-purposed wood for all of the coup. Much of the wood was from a friend who works at a plant. The plant is adding on, and as equipment comes in, it comes on huge pallets. We have been able to bring the pallets home to make a chicken coup. The other wood comes from our neighbor who used to have a chicken coup in his barn. Chad has taken it apart and brought it to our yard. All of these boards are waiting to be re-assembled into a new coup. (This is where Grace stepped on a nail)

The chickens are great. They lay 3-4 eggs every day. They are really simple to take care of, we are so thankful to have them.

AFLAC the Duck is getting so big! He is so fast when he runs around the yard. I will have to shoot a video to show you. It is so funny! I can still not believe how big it has gotten!

This last weekend I went up to be with my sister Sarah. You may recall on adoption day Sarah fell down my parent's stairs and broke her elbow, on April 22nd Sarah went back to the hospital with an infection and on the 23rd she had to have a second surgery to remove the infection. On the 24th Her husband Gabe (a tow truck driver) was helping a car on the side of the road and a person ran into the wrecker beside the road pushing it into the car that had a flat tire. Gabe was between the wrecker & the SUV. He heard the crash coming and he jumped into the open tailgate of the SUV. His foot did not make it into the vehicle, and was completely crushed. On the 30th Gabe had to have his foot amputated. Sarah was released from the hospital that same day. Gabe was moved to a rehab place on May 1st. Sarah still had her arm in a cast like brace, and needed help for most everything. My mom stayed there for most of the last week. I was able to go up for Saturday and Sunday. It was good to be with her. They seem to be doing really well. They are asking prayers for the adjustments that will have to come.

Gabe is planning to come home tomorrow. Just 2 weeks after the date of the accident. Their house is not really wheelchair compatible. Workman's Compensation will pay for adjustments to be made. Sarah's arm is out of it's wrap, but she will still need to continue with her antibiotic IV's for the next 5 weeks as well as therapy to regain range of motion. Gabe will be able to have a temporary prosthesis sometime in the next 4 months (I think) and his permanent one in the next 6 months.

They have 2 little boys Clayton & Colton. They too are doing well. Thank you for your continued prayers for all of them.

I have been really enjoying my Nikon, and feel like I am getting the hang of taking pictures on manual. I know I still have much to learn, but I am having fun getting out and taking pictures. Today I was flipping through a random site with pictures and looking at them with a critical eye, thinking over exposed, under exposed... It was kinda funny that I could tell which ones should have had different settings. I will leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from the past week.