God, are you sure he got the right mom?!

My Michael LOVES crafts! His Mommy does NOT!! Some days I think he should have been my sister's child. (Of course, I don't REALLY think that, but......)

Friday I had gone to Birmingham and back for a doctor's appointment, taken them to base for homeschool bowling, ran an errand on base and finally arrived back home exhausted.

The first thing Michael said to me was, "Hey! Let's do a craft like play-dough or something!" I detest play-dough. It is messy and frustrating and I feel like we should keep the colors separate because that is what my Type A brain tells me. So, inwardly, I'm groaning when he says this. But then Jonathan says, "Let's paint our tractors!" YES! I don't detest painting any less, BUT their grandpa had given them wooden tractors to paint and the kit came with everything they needed--paint, brushes, the tractor. All I had to do was put out our craft tablecloth and some water--that is MY kind of craft! So, they painted and I cleaned brushes between colors.

Jonathan did a very nice job on his two small tractors. And then he was done. He was happy with how they looked and was excited to have done them, but then he was done.

However, and here is where I began to think Michael needs a different mom, Michael began to get very frustrated because it didn't look exactly like it looked in his head. And I didn't know what to tell him! Nor did I know how to help him fix it! I thought about my sister and how often she has done painting projects only to tell me she didn't like how it turned out, yet it is perfect in my eyes. And I thought, "Julie would know what to say!"

I know he belongs to me and that God didn't somehow mix up who should be his mom (I also know I wouldn't trade him for the world!), but I am thinking of enlisting her in a craft project for him the next time we are visiting. (Did you hear that, Julie?!) :)

On a side note, the very next day we dyed Easter eggs. This momma is crafted out! (Not Michael, though, he was back to his tractor as soon as his eggs were decorated.)

A God-blessed moment

In the spirit of being real, you must first remember that what follows does not happen every day. Many days we stumble through our school time and it's a success if I don't yell, Michael doesn't have a school-related meltdown and Jonathan doesn't play Wii all morning (because I just want him busy).

But then, once in awhile, we have a God-blessed moment. Although, as you'll soon see, it didn't seem like it would be when it started......

I promised the boys that I would make pancakes on this particular morning. So, I announced that I was making pancakes and went about that task. Michael was playing happily with his new Lego set and I assumed that's where he wanted to stay. The next thing I know, he is in meltdown mode because he wanted to make pancakes with me.....and I was to know this, how?! Once the meltdown ended, he told me making pancakes with me is one of his favorite things to do with me (never mind the fact that all we do is add water and stir), so could we please play a game or something together since he didn't get to do pancakes?

And here's the moment.....a new board game was scheduled for math as part of school THAT morning. I'm pretty sure I earned double points for that--fun math AND he got his request. I love when God pieces things together like that! It truly was a God-blessed moment.

Medical details

I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who genuinely care about me and what is going on. So much so, that I do not have the time or energy to email each of you individually. I wish I could, but I can't, so here we are.

I spent the day in Birmingham with my sister-in-law yesterday. Too bad it wasn't for the sake of shopping and a relaxing lunch. But I couldn't have been more thankful to have her with me. The day started in Nuclear Medicine where they injected me with radioactive material in order to watch my kidneys function. I found it fascinating and the tech, realizing this, turned the computer screen so I could watch the test. Nice! (I did find it highly ironic that there are people in Japan fleeing radioactive material and I was being injected with it; albeit, at a much different level!)

We then headed over to the doctor's where he told me my symptoms are "atypical" and that he didn't have the test results. He sent us to lunch and told us to come back in an hour. (We did enjoy a nice lunch.) When we came back, he said all my results are within the "normal" range and that my symptoms are not typical for what they thought the problem was. So, now what?

Chris and I will go back up Thursday morning (or, more likely, we'll head up tonight to be there for tomorrow morning!) for more testing which requires me to be sedated. The doctor will "scope it out" so to speak. You can figure out what that means.....I'm not going to spell out the details of this particular set of tests. :) Suffice it to say, he is looking to see if there is a blockage elsewhere along the same tube that could be causing all the pain.

Trisha, Chris's sister, was a trooper. She was really the reason I didn't just completely fall apart during the 10-hour day between hospital/doctor offices. Then she came back with me and took our boys with her last night so we didn't have to worry about what to do with them while I'm going under. She is such a blessing!!!

Here are the praises:
The doctor is AWESOME! And he is going out of his way--using his administrative day--to do this test on me tomorrow.
The boys will have more fun with cousins than at home and I don't have to worry about them.
The nuclear medicine test resulted only in a small amount of pain that didn't last long instead of the pain I was expecting.

Here are things you can join me in praying:
That the doctor would have wisdom as he runs this next test and that he would either be able to fix the problem or know the next step after tomorrow's tests.
That the Lord would multiply Chris' time as he has to miss class and several hours of studying to go with me. (He is willing, but the reality is that it will put him behind.)
That bouncing back from the test and sedation would be a piece of cake. :)

Thanks, friends!