A DIY Greenhouse

Bethany's older sister, Emily, gave her a DIY greenhouse kit for Christmas. She started working on it a week or so ago and it is really coming along. This little greenhouse is so cute. She has to make tiny flowers, watering cans, a tiny little pencil, a birdhouse, and all kinds of little things. I'm really impressed at how nice it looks. She has worked really hard on it and says she should be finished tomorrow or Monday. She spent about three hours on it today and seems to really like doing it. Bethany is always ready for a project so this was a good choice for a Christmas gift and it is going to look really nice in her room when she is done - and it has given her hours of entertainment. 

Moments To Remember

So many times during the day Bethany disappears to the library to play the piano. She started teaching herself this past fall or maybe late summer. I thought she would work on her first book for a little while and then give it up - especially since she does not have a teacher. But, she continues - teaching herself and asking me questions when she has a problem. She has actually done very well and I love to hear her play. It has been a long time since I have had piano player in the house. 

Early this evening I walked by the library and there she was practicing again. For some reason it always gives me a thrill. I grabbed my camera and got this picture. I don't ever want to forget this time. 

 

The Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas Day - 10

Our special thing for today was to bake cookies, fudge and gingerbread and take it to our neighbors. We also took some to my mom and she said the gingerbread was delicious as it was still nice and warm. 

We continued reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and we are almost done. I'm sure we will finish it tomorrow and then pick a new Christmas book to read. It is hard to get through all the books we want to by Christmas. 

A New Machine

Over the weekend Bethany's vest machine died - though we had just gotten it over the summer. Not having this machine means we had to go back to hand PT and that is very time consuming. Neither Bethany nor I really enjoy that so we were both thrilled with how quickly her machine was replaced. It was here on Tuesday and works great. Once you use this machine you are definitely spoiled. I can't imagine going back to all hand PT again - though we did it for years. 

Baskets

Today Bethany and Tess worked on making small baskets. It took several hours, but they both finished and their baskets are really cute. I got a picture of Bethany's finished but had to run out before Tess finished hers and didn't get a picture of hers completed. But, they both looked really nice and they had fun working on them. They said they might try making another one from some instructions we have in one of our pioneer books we have been reading. It does thrill me to see the things they come up with. 

Bethany has started learning to play the piano - well, teaching herself mostly with a little help from me. We will get her a teacher at some point, but right now she is doing great just learning notes and practicing easy songs from a beginner book we bought. She is just starting to practice some Christmas songs and I love hearing Christmas music. Today Zola was practicing Christmas music on the harp and then Bethany on the piano and it just made my day. 

Summer Evening

Summer evenings outside on the porch watching the girls have fun is one of my favorite things to do. And they love me to watch them and time how long they can jump rope or do the jingle jump or just watch them as they play games together. It does not matter how old they get I still have them saying - "Mom, watch this."

I will remember these beautiful evenings together and hopefully they will, too.

1,776 Hours

Well, another vest machine has died here. I'm not even sure how long we have had this one, but I know that she has done 1,776 hours on it. That's a lot of hours. It died over the weekend and we got her new one today. We have been doing hand PT while we wait which is really a pain to do at her age. When she was a baby it wasn't bad. We were so excited that the new machine arrived today as it makes our lives so much easier! 

Bethany wanted a typewriter for her birthday - a manual one. She got one and has loved using it. She has been writing letters and stories and all kinds of stuff. Problem - this typewriter is horrible. It gets jammed and the roller will hardly turn and the space bar won't work. I'm really sad at how poorly it works - especially since she was having so much fun with it. I guess we will be shipping it back tomorrow, but I don't know whether to get another of the same or look for something different. There really didn't seem to be that many choices our there for manual typewriters. 

Bella's new nightgown arrived the other day so after her bath she put it on and ask me to take a picture to send to Katie. She always wants to send a picture of any new clothes to her big sister, Katie. 

New Skills

With lots of time on our hands we have been doing a few things we have wanted to do or planned to do one day and just never got around to it. For example, I have wanted a raised vegetable bed for several years, but just been too lazy or maybe just didn't care quite enough to actually do it. Well, for some reason since we have been home all this time I have been motivated to do some of the things that have been on my list for years and our raised vegetable garden was one of those things. I am really happy with our gardens and so glad we finally have not one but two raised gardens, and now I am actually thinking of where I can put more. My older daughter commented to me the other day that she loved seeing all the things that people were doing while staying home. It is rather interesting. 

Bethany has also been trying out a few new things and one of them really took me by surprise. Several months ago I asked Bethany and Tess if they would like to learn how to knit as I saw a place that was giving lessons this summer and it sounded kind of fun. I also think I wanted them to learn as I kind of wish I had when I was young, but never did. Well, Tess said yes and Bethany had no interest at all. So, when the other day Bethany got off her vest and said she had learned how to knit I was kind of surprised and asked how that happened. Nobody in this house has any idea how to knit or crochet. She said she found a video and watched it and since she did not have knitting needles she just took the smore sticks we had and broke them and used those. Well, she had made something and I have no idea if it is correct as I know absolutely nothing about knitting, but she is having fun doing it and it looks like she might be doing it right. Maybe I will get her some real needles one day soon. 

We also got two of our new jump ropes the other day - still waiting for the other two to arrive. Bella has been practicing and practicing. 

Sunday Morning

Today Bethany sang a solo in church. I only have a small clip because as I was recording it my daughter called and cut the video off. I quickly declined the call and turned the camera back on, but it obviously messed up my recording. My daughter said it was actually her three year old that did it and not her. So, I only have a short clip of her singing, but wanted to post it anyway. 

Bethany

Today at church Bethany went forward and accepted Christ and will be baptized in a few weeks. We were all so very happy. This is our third child this year to accept Christ. 

Summer

All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer -- one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going -- one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.   L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams  

Oh, how Bethany loves to go to her brother's house and swing on the swing he made -- such joy. 

1,262 Hours

Last weekend Bethany's vest machine died on us. It was our third machine. She had clocked 1,262 hours on it since she had gotten it 15 months earlier. She seems to really go through machines. So, we made an emergency call on Saturday and luckily got them before 12:00 so a new machine could be sent out that day and she got it on Monday. I will say they are fast to deliver. When I think of how many hours she has sat on that vest it is hard to believe. She actually didn't have as many hours on this one as she usually does as it died pretty fast. She has sat doing her vest therapy for thousands and thousands of hours over the years and she usually does it good naturedly, and I try to provide special things for her to do as she sits -- games, art supplies, paper dolls, etc. It can be tedious for her, but it is so important for her lung health. 

Our daughter, Megan, is visiting from Louisiana with her two year old and her 10 week old twins. This picture is of Bethany holding the girl - Penny. Funny, their outfits almost exactly matched and we did not plan this -- they both arrived at church wearing these. 

Joey found an abandoned baby fawn in his yard yesterday and it is adorable. They are now working hard on getting him taken care of. 

The Dolls

Since Bethany had such a long visit at the hospital on Monday, I had told her if we had time I would take her to the doll store on the way home. When it was time to leave I was trying to decide if it was too late to stop by the doll store, but then I realized they were closed on Mondays anyway. So, I promised Bethany that we would go another day. 

Friday happened to be an easy day for us and we had no doctor appointments so I decided it was the day we could go look at dolls. Instead of the store we had planned to go to, I told Bethany there was a doll shop closer to us and it was full of dolls and stuffed animals. The dolls in this store are mostly collector dolls and not something we would buy -- though there are a few in our budget. Bethany was thrilled and agreed to try the new store. I let her know that this was a look only trip -- we would not be buying dolls. 

She loved the store. It was full of beautiful dolls and all kinds of stuffed animals. Some of the dolls were absolutely amazing and so beautiful. Bethany and I both love dolls so it was a nice time together. The owner of the store talked to Bethany and even let Bethany look in her office at all the dolls there. Bethany was loving this. Then all of a sudden the owner told Bethany she was going to give her a doll and for Bethany to wait in her office. She left and came back with not one doll, but two! They were adorable and both even had a story book to go with them. Bethany was so excited and I could not believe she was given two dolls. I have no idea why the owner was so kind, but it sure made Bethany's day and mine, too. When you spend three hours a day doing PT treatments and get 6 nebulizer treatments along with other forms of therapy and an inhaler, and take approximately 35 pills a day it can be hard. So many times the kids are outside playing and Bethany is sitting on her vest. I try to give her interesting things to do and games to play and art supplies, but sometimes she just wants to go out with everybody else. So when she was given two dolls on Friday it made me so happy that she was given such wonderful gift for absolutely no reason except kindness.  It was such a blessing and she was so happy. She could not wait to get home and open up both dolls. They really are cute and we read the books and now they are on her bed with all her other dolls. Sometimes when someone does something nice it means more than they can even know. 

Just wanted to add one picture that has nothing to do with this. Yesterday, my grandson turned 3 and he had his party at our house. He was so excited and cute. I haven't really even gone through the pictures, but did pull one out of him with his balloons - he absolutely loves balloons. So, happy birthday, Asher, and hope your day was great. 

Clinical Trial

Today was Bethany's clinical trial day. We left home at 7:10 to go to the hospital and spent most of our day there. We are at the end of the trial now and she will no longer be on the trial drug. We think it has been helpful for her as she has been in good health this past year. Her pulmonologist wants to start her on a new medication that he thinks is even better and with less side affects. We filled out all the forms today and now we just wait to see what our insurance company says. I am so glad that Bethany was able to be included in this trial and thankful her doctor got her into it. Today she looks good and feels good and doesn't even have a cough. We are blessed. 

This evening she was outside catching lightning bugs and then letting them go again. Love this warm weather and the feel of summer almost here.

Her Outdoor Kitchen

The outdoor kitchen is Bethany's love. The others play in it and they help clean and fix it up, but it is definitely Bethany's creation and love. I guess it was Sunday she decided it was time to start fixing it up again for spring and summer. One of the girls from next door suggested it was time to get started on it and they went to work. I usually go out and get pictures when she first starts working on it in the spring as I like to see how it changes from messy and covered in leaves and sticks and dirt to her kitchen. This time I was busy getting things done and missed the whole process. 

So, today when the little girl from next door came over again to play I remembered to get my camera and go out and see what they had done. They had raked and cleaned and Emma's mom had donated some dish towels and forks. They washed dishes and cleaned and folded their new dish towels. They had so much fun and I got pictures today. I think I love this kitchen as much as they do.

And at the end of the day they washed all the dishes, cleaned up and hung the dish towels up to dry for the next day.