Tuesday Morning Ramblings

Well, this is going to be quite a week for us over here. We have guests driving in from Poland tomorrow (Wednesday),for an overnight visit and then the packers come to move us on Thursday and Friday to a house on the base of RAF Lakenheath. I am sad through all of this since I like where I live, I can walk anywhere in this city, I have made great friends here, we found a sweet little church that works well for our family, I will miss my huge back yard and I love living away from the American base and living amongst the Brits and most of all- I will miss my milkman!!!
Lord, am I being petty??

So right now, my house is a mess, my oldest is coughing in her sleep, and I should take my allergy medicine before I use the WHOLE box of tissues up.
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Breakfast today? Oatmeal with brown sugar and a side order of sausages. Ran out of orange juice 2 days ago. Met with lots of protests by unhappy children!
Lunch? We will eat at the bowling alley since we have a back to school get together to attend.
Dinner tonight? Pakistani Kima-from the "More With Less" cookbook. It's just an easy one pot beef curry that the whole family enjoys.
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So what are your plans for today?

Many Blessings,
Misty

Umm, she should have napped earlier!

Okay, we are gluttons for punishment. These are the last few days before school starts and since we were gone for most of the summer, we are trying to squeeze in a few more day trips here and there, even with the impending move staring us down this week, so we went to the Maize Maze which is a really big maze in a cornfield between here and Cambridge. We took our friend from church, Keziah (pronounced Kae-zha), who was born and raised in Zimbabwe and live here now. She is such a happy, excited and action filled young lady I though I'd appreciate some of her energy chasing the youngsters(and soak some up, too!).


So, we packed up the van, children, and Keziah (she is just an older teen to us!)and went to the maze. We all did the big maze, including Chloe who walked, no ran through at least 1/4th of it. When she slowed down, I put her in the stroller and we bumped throughout the rest of it. It was lots of fun and we only got lost a couple, no a few, nope-several times, and we were using a map! The good thing was that we could hear each others voices through the corn and were able to regroup when we were separated. (And yes, walking through the corn was a no-no, but I didn't do it- "SHE" did!!! So after wandering for a loooong time through what should have been popped and buttered, we made our way out and into the lovely play area where there was a racetrack and adult sized pedal cars! Oohh, lovely! Everyone was excited and in my mind, I saw hurt leg muscles. So everyone pedaled for 5 minutes while Chloe and I waited for a 2 seated one to use. We get in ours (did I hear NO SEATBELT for the passenger!), and I told Chloe to hold on, which she did, and we start a pedalin'. We are moving it on the first turn, slowly getting to the second turn, and just when we get around it, WHOOSH, we are passed by the my group- Keziah laughing all the way! Well, my momentum began to fail me on my 2nd turn around the racetrack and more folks passed me. All this time, Chloe didn't say a word-not one!! No "wheeeee" or anything, just silence. So I get to the last turn on this racetrack and I couldn't make it any farther-it took all my strength to get to the pullover. Wyndon comes and grabs my drivers seat, saying "I'll take Chloe and ride!" He gets started pedaling and only 4 feet later, Chloe is screaming,"AHHHHH, MOMMMY!!!!!" Okay- I guess that proves that she really does notice me, so I grab her and off we go to the bouncy castle and her sandals fly onto the ground as she is placed onto it. Two step later, she is flat on her face. She gets up walks 3 steps and kisses the castle floor again- laughing all the way. Elise makes a 30 second guest appearance to tell me she is headed to the enclosed color inflatable right next to us, April is standing with me laughing at Chloe and her slippery footedness, and where Wyndon was-I don't know! Keziah was probably racing around the track for the umpteenth time with her boundless energy,(I want some!!) All of a sudden, April gives me a look of HUNGER! So she goes to the car to search for a snack while everyone else is corralled, sent to the toilets and marched to the van.


We ended up taking a scenic route to Mildenhall where we had lunch at the bowling alley-yes, they have pretty good burgers there. We take Keziah to the BXTRA shop a little for piddly things, hit the Minicom for 2 potatoes, ground beef and some green beans for dinner. Yes, that combo of ingredients makes BEEF CURRY!!!!!
Then we head home, dropping off Keziah on the way. We get home and try to get some work done before Mr.H arrives. I scramble to get dinner done and we sit down to eat, finally. Chloe eats a bit of food here and there, but when her eyes began to close and she starts to fall over and melt, I realized that we did so much running, walking and playing that SHE DIDN'T GET A NAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!




So today, Sunday August 23rd 2009, get some rest and don't do too much. Enjoy this Lord's Day, glean something from the sermon you hear, savor your Sunday dinner, love your family and show it, but most of all don't forget to take a nap.

A face plant and flying noodles!

Okay, the title tells it all, but I HAVE to tell you what really happened. Yesterday (dreamy music playing in the background), at our extremely late lunch around 2:30 pm, we were enjoying the remnants of beef stroganoff we had the night before. Chloe was in her highchair and stood up. I grabbed her bowl and loosened her tray but it was still in front of her. Wyndon came in the room and stood behind her while talking away. (this is his new bad habit- talking through anything going on, ignoring whatever surrounds him, including danger!) As I was breaking into his conversation to ask him to grab Chloe, she leaned forward, pressing onto the loose tray, dislodging it and taking a dive. She was only inches from cracking her head on the corner of the table when miracoulsly her head redirected itself and headed for the corner of the table leg.

(Now let me tell you about this table we have- it's a manly table chosen by my husband because it was made from solid wood so nothing on it is less than 2 inches thick. It is SOLID and anyone's head meeting it will have a slight concussion from the impact!)

Okay now back to the story: So her head is headed (that's a pun, get it?) for the edge of the table leg when it redirects itself toward the side of the leg and down she goes, scuffing her eyebrow off before she hits the floor on her face with legs bent up behind her upon impact. Me,in the process of trying to catch her and watch her at the same time, with extreme delayed reaction, grabs in the air, tossing the bowl and noodles on top of the already hurt and traumatized child. Well, she started crying and Wyndon started laughing, so I held myself together, checked her out for any serious injury and have been laughing ever since!
(As I wrote this, I was laughing so hard that the children kept asking me if I was alright!)

Thank the Lord for Angels and quick growing eyebrows!

Picking up the pieces

Well it's been a bit over a week since mama passed away and I find myself singing the last song they sang at her funeral, "I'm Trading my Sorrows". It's a nice song and quite catchy. Of course it wasn't as fancied up as it is here on YouTube, but they sang their hearts out for us and I do appreciate all that the Higher Praise Family Church did for our family. If you happen to go to the Fort Worth area, look them up and have a visit-they are a wonderful group of Godly people.

Here is the YouTube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8lO8c7fypM

I am waiting for the full impact of her being gone to hit me. It's creeping up slowly and I felt it's sting this afternoon when the children and I were in the car and I had to remember an uncles middle name and I couldn't. So I thought that I had better call mom and ask her when I got home. Then came the silence. She isn't here anymore and I can't ask her anything. She can't squeeze my hand, hug the children or forget ingredients to a recipe that she gave me(that's a whole 'nother story). Man, reality hurts and it's hard, but God has given my heart some peace in the form of humor. My mom was funny and I have that gene. My children have a bit of this gene too and when I was feeling low after wanting to call mom, my son says, "Hey what would happen if we could call Grandma in heaven?" "I can see it now, someone answers and I say, "Could I speak to Joyce England?" A voice says, "Hold on, please." (In the background, there is loud music and singing.)She answers and I say, "Grandma, it's me Wyndon." She replies, "Who?" ME, WYNDON, YOUR GRANDSON!" "Oh, Hi there Wyndon, I can't talk now, I'm in a conga line headed to a toga party. After that, there is a dinner buffet."Wyndon says,"How many times a day do they have this buffet?" Mom replies,"Oh, every hour! Well I gotta go! Bye!" Click.
We had a good laugh at that and could only imagine the wonders of heaven she is enjoying while we are down here picking up the pieces.
And knowing my momma, she is up there singing her heart out and waiting for the next pork buffet to roll around!

Remember my Mother

Dear Friends and Family,

My dear mother, Joyce England, passed away after suffering a series of strokes following surgery. She was a good woman and we are all so hurt by the loss of my mom.

Keep us in your prayers as we struggle with this.

Blessing the world in my mothers memory,
Misty, Darryl and the Children

When surgery goes awry

I am writing this from my sisters home in Fort Worth Texas where my whole family and I have rushed to get to my mothers side. She underwent a surgical procedure (July 27th), on her thyroid and was supposed to come home 3 days later. The day after the surgery she was sitting up and talking almost in a normal fashion. Later that afternoon, she seemed to be extremely sleepy but still trying to talk. The next morning, she was not awake when my sister and aunt came to visit. That evening, she was still asleep. The next day she could not be awakened.
My sister called me early Monday morning to tell me that I might want to consider coming home. Mom was in a semi-coma. She was transferred to the intensive care med/surgical ward. They were to do a cat scan that day and had called in a neurologist. I called and spoke with the nurse on duty and they were waiting for the scan to be over-I said that I would call in 6hrs. Six hours later I was informed by the nurse that my mother had had a series of mini strokes and was suffering the effects.
Now was the time to get home.
Thank God for the Red Cross.