Tancy Talks

It was not even three weeks ago that I was stating that we had made it through thirteen years of parenthood without a broken bone. I thought I knocked on wood when I said it, but obviously, that didn’t help.

I still am trying to figure out how one misses an entire trampoline. Really? How big is a trampoline? and HOW can you miss the WHOLE THING?

Well, I have always thought this kid was talented 🙂

When we saw the shape of his arm, we knew that something was up. JP took off with him to the ER since I needed to stay with the other kids. Noah had a friend staying over too. Poor friend. His wonderful parents came and picked him up.

When I got to the ER (after my parents came and rescued us) I was shocked to find them waiting in the WAITING room still. The ER was full and there were no rooms for him. They took his x-rays and made him return to the waiting room! They finally took us back and there we had to wait more… and more…

We did hear some interesting things while we waited… The lady on one side of Noah, came in because she fell at the bus-stop. Well, “While I am here, can you look at my throat… It hurts” and While you are looking at my throat, “my tooth hurts….”  Really?  I can understand coming in for the fall, but the tooth?  The throat?

Then we got to listen to the lady on the other side of Noah, and we got to hear all about how she came in to the ER FOR PINK EYE. It wasn’t even pink eye either. She had a cold and she was coughing so hard that she ruptured blood vessels in her eye. And, the famous line, “While I am here, can I get a chest x-ray and a urine test?”

SERIOUSLY?

JP really wanted to the doctor for a few extra services while we were in there, but thankfully we ran out of time and he had to leave for church.

When our turn finally came to see the doctor, I was relieved when it was Dr. Nicolosi.  However, I don’t think it is a good thing when the ER doctor remembers you.  He was the doctor we got to see when I dislocated #3’s wrist trying to teach her how to swing a baseball bat, and that wasn’t the only time we have met him :/

We could see him in the back room looking at Noah’s X-rays, and from a distance I thought it was all good.  When we saw him change screens and start researching different kinds of splints, we knew something was a kilter.

They decided to use a “Sugar-tong Splint.” Read of it here if you are into weird medical stuff.  IT was quite a interesting process to watch.

He really was a trooper.  He was in a lot of pain, and he held his head up, and acted like a big kid.  I was really surprised at how grown up he acted.

He really didn’t want his picture taken though!  He was hungry.  VERY hungry.  All he cared about was some food.  He missed lunch because he was busy missing the trampoline.

Now, we wait.  We have to wait until Tuesday to call the Orthopedic surgeon.  Then wait to see him, and then see what he says.  I guess we will get a real cast then.  Until then, we just wait, and hope he doesn’t whine too much.

Recently, I had another reason to nominate myself for the “Mother of the Year” award.  It seems that these moments come all too often.

Earlier this summer, I decided I was going to get ALL the kids eye exams early so we would beat the back to school rush.  When I was scheduling, I found out that I, candidate for “Mother of the Year,”  have somehow failed to get #3’s eyes check.  EVER.

Somehow, she got to 8 1/2 years old without ever having an eye exam.

Somehow, she finished second grade having never had the STATE MANDATED kindergarten exam.

AND… she needs glasses.  She had been complaining, but I, her devoted mother, didn’t take her to the eye doctor.

Yep. Mother of the Year.

Today we picked up her new accessories.  She was SO excited… at first.

 

Now, she says her eyes hurt.

 

But she is pretty cute in them!

 

 

I have been on a quest to feel better.  This year this has been one of my goals.  I have floundered often, but I keep getting back on the proverbial horse.

I may be 36 years old, but that does not mean I have to feel like crap.  HOwever, I have been so stinking busy doing everything for everyone, I have ceased really taking care of myself.  I know that you make time for what you want, but honestly, when it came down to precious sleep or exercise…  well… You know what won out.

Lets not even talk about healthy eating.  I tried… sometimes.

This summer has been about recovery for me.  I have needed to regroup, and I can honestly say that in the last month or so, I have started to feel like ME again.  Now, that I am recovering I have been trying to implement some changes.

I realize that I can’t change everything at once.  I know that you are shocked that I am finally realizing this truth, but I am now 36, I should grow up sometime.

Sooo, instead of going on a diet, launching a new exercise plan, give up Diet Coke, eating right for my blood type, becoming a vegan, and eating organically, and taking up Tai Chi all at once, I am trying to make LITTLE steps.

What a concept!  Gradual change for lasting change… right?

So two weeks ago, I got myself up and moving again.  I laced up my running shoes and dusted off my bike.  To date I have put over FORTY miles on this body.

I told my husband (and he thought I was nuts) that my heart just felt happier with me.  It doesn’t act like it wants to revolt every time I bend over or run up the stairs.

While we were on vacation, I started to reduce my caffeine intake.  When we got home, I quit it all together.  I am currently 13 days off of my beloved Diet Coke.  The funny thing is that don’t even miss it now!  I have had a few Caffeine free Diet Coke, and that has been fine. However, I don’t have any soda in the house, and I just don’t need it.

I am not AS jittery as normal either!

AND, I saved us like $100 a month… or MORE.

The weight… well… it is down, but another thing I am going to try to do is STAY OFF THE SCALE!  I hate that thing. I hate that it runs my life. I hate that it has the power to change my mood with its little digital numbers!  I am going to ask my husband to take it away and not return it to me until October 1st.  (I  guess I will know when he reads my blog, and it will disappear!)

So, what does this all mean besides just flat out feeling better?

DRUMROLL…

MY blood pressure has dropped 20 points (top number) and 10 (bottom number) in just TWO WEEKS!!!

GO ME!

 

 

I don’t know quite how and why we went wrong, but something isn’t right.  We have four kids that are TERRIBLE at picking up after themselves.

I realize that I have exactly been the model house keeper, especially during the busier times.  However, I really thought they were grasping what I expect from them.

I expect them to NOT leave wrappers from whatever the just unwrapped anywhere they wish.

I expect them to pick up the clothes that come off their body, and not leave them in a heap wherever they fall.

I expect them to pick up toys after they play with them.

I expect them to put things back where they got them.

Sure, I expect them to whine here and there about chores, because I realize they are kids.  However, I expect them to do said chore with a good attitude.

I don’t think that these seem like ridiculous expectations either.

This summer, I have been trying to crack down on this stuff, but if it is working, it isn’t working fast enough.

I am frustrated.  I need to find the answer.  Grrrr…

Yesterday, I got asked an interesting question.

I was sitting with a very young wife of a church planter, and she was filled with many questions about this amazing journey.   She asked me many questions, but one sticks out even now.  She asked, “What is the most amazing thing you have seen God do through this journey?

At first, my answer was a mess.  I really wasn’t sure what I could point out as the most amazing thing that I had seen.  Then I remembered the thing that hit me a few months ago.  The most amazing thing I have seen is God’s transformation of my husband.

We have been married fourteen years and we have had our ups and downs.  Anyone who tells you otherwise is either lying or naïve. Marriage is tough work, and maybe we have had to work harder that some others because we married at a pretty immature and stubborn state in our lives.  God has been good to us, and helped us carry through the tough times.  If it weren’t for Him, I am pretty sure that there were some times that we wouldn’t have made it.

Not that I am perfect in ANY WAY! That is not what I am trying to portray, but my dear husband had some…. Let’s say, rough edges.

I have watched this man transform before my eyes in the last few years.

His focus has changed.

His demeanor has changed.

His attitude has changed.

His heart has changed.

We all still chuckle when we think of a frantic phone call from him on an Uncle Nick’s run when #4 was in NICU shortly after we arrived in Rockford.  He had taken a wrong turn and he was lost down in the bad area of town after dark. He was quite unhappy and pretty concerned for his safety.  Now, I watch that same man spend time in the same area eagerly.  He ministers to the same people that he used to avoid.  His heart is broken for these people he used to be frightened by.

I watch this man give everything he has to minister to people. In the past, that same man was “so over” ministry and the stinking people that went with it.  Yet, now, God has given him this overwhelming desire to spread the gospel to whoever crosses His path.

I watch a man who swore he would never be in full time ministry want that very thing with his entire being.

I watch this man who had a quick temper and a biting wit beg God to control it, and He does!  I know he isn’t perfect, and his mouth gets him in trouble from time to time, but I also see that same man return broken for the way he spoke.  Every time it happens, I still feel like I have to pick my jaw up from the floor.

I watch a man who is filled with kindness and compassion for those even I do not want to help at times.  I find him willing to give and share and help even when he does not have any left to give.

I watch a man who has always had a love for doctrine, turn and take that head knowledge and have it sink deep into his heart and soul.  It has made him a different man.

For years, I prayed that God would “fix” him.  I begged God for all the things that I thought I needed him to be.  Several years ago, I got the book The Power of a Praying Wife.  I grabbed the book with an excitement that this was going to be truly the answer in the “Fixing” department. I figured, I would just pray him into God’s will.

Well, was I shocked!  The first chapter took all my preconceived notions about how to fix him and tossed them right out the window.  I learned to truly pray for my husband in a different way, and pray that I would be the wife HE wants me to be for him.  Even though my attitude had changed, at times I would think about how he was going to get good and fixed right up.

A few months ago, it hit me.  God was working it out in His time.  He revolutionized my husband right before my eyes, and I was too busy to notice it!

What an amazing gift he has given me.  I get to married to this incredible guy who is in love with His Lord and me!  Can it really get an better than that?