My week from Hades!

Pardon the long post, but this has been a long week. I'll start by saying that you don't want to look at a few of the pictures if you have a weak stomach. It's been a ROUGH week for us and that is saying the least.

Tuesday - I walked Justin and Kennie to school. It was Justin's first day and he was so very excited. Came home and decided to go work out. I went to a place that has a children play land next to the work out machines. There is no one watching the kids, but you can watch while you work out. Well, I will spare all the details, but Maggie got her finger stuck on the bottom of the treadmill. After a few seconds, I figured something was wrong. By the time I got to her, she was bleeding pretty bad. She punctured her fingers (birdie and ring finger on her right hand). She also had quite a bit of skin shaved off. I took her to the ER and they did an x-ray that showed no broken bones or foreign bodies, so the wrapped it and sent us home. She had a GREAT nap and is healing. I think she severed her tendon in her birdie finger because she won't move or bend it at all. We will have an appointment with the hand surgeon in the next week or two and she will need occupational therapy in the near future.
While Maggie was taking her nap, the delivery company came to deliver my brand new couches. One of the movers carries my love seat in by him self. Hello?? Then, that same mover, while they were bringing in the sofa SLEEPER tripped over a curb and fell backwards and dropped my couch on his ankle. He busted his ankle and busted my couch. OH!

Wednesday - Nate woke up screaming at 2 in the morning. Aaron went in his room and he wasn't in his bed. He had walked into the closet and closed the door behind him. He was trapped. Then about 10 minutes later he was screaming again, so I went to check on him and he had fallen down the stairs. He was 5 stairs down sprawled out head first with his feet touching the top landing. Later in the day, Kennie and Justin had Dr. appointments for perscriptions so they could go to school. I had to take all 4 kids because Aaron was busy doing his work stuff.

Thursday - At 2 am, Nate woke up screaming and when I ran into his room, he was throwing up all over. So, I got it cleaned up and it happened again about an hour later. Maggie had a doctors appointment with the wound care doctor at 10, so off we went to that. (He said that Maggie's fingers are looking better than he expected and she should be okay.) Well, I ran to target real quick to get my mom and mother-in-laws birthday presents. On the way home, Nate started throwing up all over again. TONS!! It was gross and it was everywhere. I pulled over on the side of the road (on the military base) and took him out of the car, stripped him down and threw everything away. I wasn't even going to mess with it.

Friday - Nate woke up again at 2:30 am throwing up more. (I am not going to go back and edit, but Nate was also pooping out of every diaper. We seriously went through 7 outfits each day.) I had the walk through with the new property manager of the old house. I refused to cook. I was beat. After we put the kids to bed, I painted the first coat of paint on the 3 walls in our bedroom.

Saturday - made it through the night without Nate throwing up!! Still pooping everywhere (more of that in a moment). I finished the 3 walls in our bedroom and after our VERY expensive Costco run, we taped and I painted the first coat on the 4th wall. Let that dry during dinner then went up to paint the 2nd coat. The time was 7:30ish and I had just finished the 2nd coat. I was admiring my AWESOME paint job when Kennie knocked over the NAVY BLUE paint (at least 1/2 full gallon container) on the BRAND NEW carpet. Oh, my heart stopped. So I wouldn't beat him, I sent him to bed. (Pretty easy punishment if you ask me!) Aaron didn't even want to try to clean it up. He just said we would pay for new carpet when we moved out. I wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet, so I worked for the next 2 hours with our Bissel (LOVE LOVE LOVE this) green carpet spot cleaner. Aaron worked for another hour while I swept, mopped and cleaned the kitchen from dinner. We let it dry with the intention of doing another round on Sunday night.

Sunday - (Just when you thought we have had it all!!) We are at church. I had just finished Sunday School in the nursery (Maggie doesn't function very well if not in nursery and she is not quite old enough, so we take her in and play with her in there). It was Aaron's turn. He was sitting in there and I was chatting with the neighbors when I hear Aaron screaming at me. I look up and see him and Justin (Aaron was holding Justin's head) and blood. I couldn't believe it. I am VERY grateful for adrenaline because if I didn't have any, I would have had a nervous breakdown right then and there. Instead, we rushed Justin to the ER for stitches. He was walking back to primary from his class when another boy cut in front of him and made him trip. He fell into a metel fire hose box and smashed above his eye. He only recieved 1 stitch because it isn't very wide, but it is pretty deep. He was a trooper and didn't even cry. His word of the day is numb. We talked all about it in the ER. Thanks to The Stone's for taking care of Nate and Kennie while we were in the ER.
Typing this, I am in awe of all that has happened. I hope you don't mind me recording this here. If I had even a little bit of time to myself, I would write a book. But, seriously, when am I going to do that?

I will say this - I am done. I am ready for a small break. I just want to get my boxes unpacked, sleep in my bed for a full night and be able to sit with my kids and read a book or even maybe spend a few hours in my scrap-room. (Still in boxes!) At this moment, Aaron is playing with his new toy (a power drill) to keep Maggie out from under the sink so she will stop eating the dishwasher cubes. I know, call me crazy.

Through this all, I am grateful for so many things. I am very grateful for the support of the friends (few as they are) that I have in Alaska! I couldn't have made it through this last week without the knowledge that I could call. I haven't called much, but I knew I could if I needed too. I am thankful that we are in our home and that we are finally getting settled. I still miss Ohio and my "old life" like crazy, but I am starting to feel a peace in Alaska. I know the Lord has us here for a reason, and I will try to fulfill my mission here with my head up high. I am grateful for the friends and family who are living close enough to the spirit to know that I needed a call or an e-mail. You know who you are. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Mostly, I am thankful for my dear sweet husband. I don't know how I would have made it through this difficult time without him. He hasn't been home a lot, but the time he is here, he is always trying to make it better. He doesn't complain too much and is always trying to make me smile. If you can imagine, this week has been hard, but he always manages to do it. I am so grateful that he chased me and that I listed to the spirit. He is perfect for me. I love you dude!!

Now, I am not ready for a full reveal, because we are not done, but I thought you would like a teaser. So, here is a picture of our room and the living room! The first is our living room. It's a dark sage green with our Chocolate new couches. You can see the quilt that my mother-in-law helped me make. (Some would say that will earn her eternity just for putting up with me,) but I really loved doing this. Stay tuned for my table runner that I did all by myself!! When Aaron say me making the quilt, has asked if this was my attempt at being homly. Funny hunny!!
Next is our bedroom. 3 of the walls are "Bamboo" and the other wall is Navy Blue. If I can find it, our duvet cover will be cranberry along with the curtains. It's an Americana theme!