Weekend wrap up...

and it is only Saturday afternoon. I can do the weekend wrap-up now though because we have crammed enough stuff in the last few days that I know what I am doing tomorrow...football and a nap. And, yes, I am experiencing some bittersweetness at the beginning of football season since it does sound like Manning (Peyton, for the Colts, not his brother) is going to be out for the season. Sigh... Could be a long season or it could be a pleasantly surprising one. One never knows, but I am glad that football season is back and I am going to take a nap tomorrow. Since I've digressed....I will now get back on track and give you the wrap up.

Then boys had their football game this morning that I sadly missed (due to what I mention below). Nathan scored the first touchdown of his life! And he also scored his first football shiner. Yep, it is a pretty good mark on the side of his head where he collided with another kid. Dad was very proud of him though when he "toughed" it out (no tears) and went back in to finish the game. (Maybe it is a good thing I wasn't there). I also hear that John "tore it up" on the field (spoken like a true dad).

The girls and I were released from a torture chamber early this afternoon. AKA...hunter safety class. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, or maybe it really was because it was pretty bad. We had a 3 1/2 hour class both Thursday and Friday nights. Then today we had class from 8am until 2pm. The information was good (especially since we are a hunting family) and the teachers weren't bad. It was just A LOT of information that was poured out while we were sitting on some very hard metal folding chairs. And, because a couple of teachers tended to get a little sidetracked with some stories, we had to catch up today. "Catch up" meant we got 3 breaks that were 5 minutes or less. Yep, that means no lunch break. The last three hours all I could think was "the brain can only contain what the butt can sustain" and my rear-end and back had officially given out. When I took the test I was almost to the point that I didn't even care if I passed. The reason I say almost is because I really, really, really did not want to have to go through the class again. I am proud to say that we ALL THREE PASSED the class with flying colors. One of us scored a perfect 50 out of 50 and it wasn't me. The other two of us missed one and three. We have our lifetime (yes, they are good for a lifetime...it was one of the questions on the test) green cards to prove it. Joe treated us all to Dairy Queen afterwards and kept telling me over and over again how much I must love him for sitting through the class. And I do love him. And I do love the sport of hunting. On my list of things to do "when our kids get older" is to do a lot more hunting with him and the kids. Goodness knows that our freezer could use the meat....

The end of August

We are in the full swing of what I'll call "school fall" here. I won't call it true fall because, frankly, it feels nothing like fall. If it wasn't for the browning corn and beans, who would know it was fall. And if it was simply up to the browning of the corn and beans then it would have been fall since July. What is up with the heat the next few days?! Okay, off that tangent...

We are in the swing of things. Here are some of the things that have been going on...

• Ashley got baptized last Sunday. It was such a blessing of a day as a mom. I have pictures. You will see them..I just need to get them downloaded.


• The girls and I went to a Secret Keeper Girls event on Sunday night. Loved it! If you have a "tween" girl (age 8-12) you gotta check them out! And if you have a chance to go to one of their events, I really encourage you to go. Great bonding time...


• The boys got to practice football in the rain last night. They LOVED it. And I love. love. love. Oxiclean!


• We had open house for the girls classes on Monday night. They are both having a really good year and I think their teachers are a really good fit.


• Sara is going to start band in a week or so. It has been awhile since I have seen her so excited about something. They are trying out instruments this week. Her first choice would be flute and her second choice is clarinet (she will have a proud aunt if she gets either of those).


• The boys have open house tomorrow night. Nathan is pretty excited about it I think partly because he feels he "owes" his sisters the agony of going to an open house that isn't theirs. He was so bored Monday night... John just wants to hit the book fair.


• I don't normally mention my daycare kids in my blog posts, but I am going to make an exception to that. One of the moms and I have been working on potty training the last few weeks and we have had some MAJOR accomplishments the last few days. For the sake of privacy that is all I will say, but WOW do I feel like an accomplished woman today (a sign that your a mother...even if it isn't your kids you can get excited about a kid going in a potty!)


• I have had some moments of brillance as we started this school year in regards to packing school lunches and after school snacks. I am very organized about it and it has made so much difference. My husband may say I'm a little too organized and considering he probably feels like he has to ask before he eats anything...that is probably a sign that it is a little overboard. Or maybe I just need to educate him on the system...


• And I'm off to deal with the tomatoes from the garden and play with my daycare kids.

My boys of fall

We embarked on a new adventure this fall...we entered into sports with the boys. John really wanted to play football and we decided that we should get him started this year with flag. Next year is tackle. We thought John might appreciate learning the basics while no one was actually hitting him. Since flag is for ages 5-7 we went ahead and signed Nathan as well. It would be really tough for him to sit on the sidelines knowing that he could be part of the action. Today was their first game and they are definitely hooked...well, at least John is for sure. Nathan enjoyed himself, but not to the level that John did.

Before the game


Nathan in the role of quarterback...taking the snap. They rotate the kids around to different positions during the game. The point at this stage is to learn football...not necessarily win the game. Although winning makes learning a little more fun.
John lined up to block (actually I think technically it is a tackle position, but it is flag football)....he is on the left end. This was his stance most of the game no matter what position he played. He has his hands on his knees and looks really intense. Typical John...John doesn't do anything and not look intense.

This is when they were introducing the players at the beginning of the game (I got the pictures out of order.)

These may be the only pictures you see throughout the football season. My parents were able to come to this game and took some good shots. I get too distracted by the game and forget to take pictures. I am definitely hooked and love it that my boys love playing. I've always been a sports fan so this gives me an outlet. I just need to remember that my voice is loud and carries...a long. way.

School 2011-2012

It was a very big week at the Horn household. All four kids are now officially in school. And everyone is riding the bus this year...another first. It was a great first week for my kindergartner, 2nd grader, 4th grader and 5th grader. We are gradually settling into a routine. Homework hasn't started yet, so I'm sure this week that will also get thrown into the mix. Nathan LOVED kindergarten...until Friday evening when he declared to me in tears that "I missed you so much Mommy." We shared some tears together and then were able to have an honest discussion about kindergarten and what really happened during the week. It can be scary, there are mean kids at school sometimes, and yes, I did pick up and take your brothers and sisters to school, but you get to ride the bus. And we serve an Almighty God who is there with you through all of it.

And my house is quiet. This week I was blessed to have my parents come for a visit. So this next week is when the deafening silence will hit. Right now I'm with one daycare child and I will add another one in a few weeks. I also have a few that are part-time. So I am very thankful for the distractions. It is a new stage of life. We successfully raised our kids through infancy, toddlerhood and preschool. Now come the BIG years and the really hard stuff. But now also comes the GOOD stuff...the fun conversations, the fun activities, the enjoyment of elementaryhood and tweenhood and eventually teenhood and college. I thank the Lord for His grace in parenting and pray that my trust in Him with my children will only continue to grow.

It felt a little like fall today...

and that was wonderful! It is beginning to act a little bit more like fall around here to due to football which both the boys started this week, but more on that in a couple of bullet points. First, I'm feeling much better. I really appreciate all your prayers for me!! I am so tremendously blessed with family and God's family in my life. So here has been what has been going on besides interesting discussions concerning what is wrong with me...

• School is around the corner and all four kids got officially registered. We know who their teachers are and are looking forward to next Tuesday. Sara and Ashley both have 1st year teachers so we don't know them, but I'm sure they will be filled with energy and creativity. The boys are pretty pumped about it as well. It is such a blessing to have kids who like school.


• My house has been very, very neglected this summer. It is typical for me to neglect it in the summer because I prefer to be outside doing fun stuff with the kids. But with my health issues it is in an extraordinary condition. So the last couple of days it has been boot camp at our house trying to get stuff organized before next week. I purged...a lot. If you stop by our local Helping Hands I'm sure you will see some of it on hand. I feel like I can actually go into our basement now. Before I always held my breath and closed my eyes as I blindly searched for what I needed. It is pretty much the kids' domain down there, but it was very overcrowded. We should be better equipped to keeping it organized now.


• I'm officially off caffeinated coffee now. It's sad and we will just leave it at that. (At least the headaches are now gone. I'm sure my family is glad about that!)


• Couple of quotes from Nathan lately: He had to pick up sticks the other day and Joe bribed him (bribary seems to work around here sometimes). For every stick he picked up, he got a chocolate chip. His statement to me the morning after: "Mom, remember all those chocolate chips I ate because I picked up sticks? I don't think I'm going to do that again. It didn't make me feel so good." And according to Nathan "It wasn't real football practice because we didn't even see a football."


• Yes, the boys are playing flag football this year. I'm pretty excited about which I realize may be a rare mom reaction to her sons playing football. I'll just need to learn to whisper my cheers from the sidelines. It is flag football and they do a good job of teaching the basics, letting them try all the different positions, etc. Just in case you are concerned, the coaches assured the boys that they will get to see a football on Monday. Additional benefits to football....two boys who enjoy going to bed at night (this is especially a plus for my energizer bunny Nathan). The downside...I need to buy more food.


• Look for first day of school pics next week....they will be a little different this year as they will include a yellow bus. Yes, the kids are riding the bus this year. Three are very excited and one is pretty much mad at me...well, mad may be an understandment, but I think he/she will adjust.


• Okay time to sign off it is bedtime here...we've shifted to our school schedule. I think it is harder on me than on them. I really enjoyed not seeing any of them until 7:30 at the earliest in the mornings (not that I don't love my children, but quiet, peaceful mornings are kind of sweet)....hmmm, that still may happen in the morning.

I got to see my heart and....

other amazing things of medical technology! Wow, over the last days I have been amazed at the advances of medical technology and what they can do. I got my event monitor on Friday. The one I have (due to insurance requirements) transmits over a landline phone. So whenever I have a strong palpitation, I record it, call the number, transmit it and viola...the technician on the other end can tell me if it is an emergency or not. He/She also passes the info onto the doctors. They have monitors that actually send everything wirelessly to everyone. That is even cooler, but I am very thankful and amazed with the one I have. I also got the opportunity today to see my heart...on a screen...in color! I had an echocardiogram with my stress test today. It was all a very amazing process. The nurse kept apologizing when she took the electrodes off of me (there were probably 15). I told her that I was just thankful that they could run tests that could check my heart out in the detail that they did.

The doctors have been able to determine what is not wrong with me, but still have no concrete answers as to the problem. We think it is palpitations that have become symptomatic. They consistently see them on all the tests they run on me and I should know more once all the doctors review the tests.

There are so many intricate details to the heart and it has caused me to worship my Creator. Our human bodies are truly amazing. I am in awe of the One who created us. And I am so very thankful that not only did He create me, but He loves me with a love that is deeper than I could ever imagine. So grateful and humbled...

My health...what in the world is going on???

Since the word has been traveling (it got a little help by an announcement by my sweet hubby on facebook) about my health, I thought I should just go ahead and blog about it. I had been thinking about blogging about it anyway, because it has been a fairly significant part of our summer and I like to keep records of such things, but I didn't want to worry anyone. However, in the process of not worrying anyone, I also don't have anyone who knows who can pray for me.

I have been in the ER three times in the past month. The latter two of those were for the same issue...or at least the same symptoms. The first one I was having some stomach issues and some pain that was not going away. We did a CT and an ultrasound for my gall bladder all which came back fine. The stomach pain left, I was feeling great and two days later I was back in the ER again. This time I got to go in an ambulance. Anytime you have tingling in all your extremities and left shoulder pain and feel as though you are going to pass out when you are lying down it is time to all 911. I got to the ER and they found (drumroll please)....absolutely nothing wrong with me. All the tests came back perfectly fine and I was back on my way home in just a few hours. We chalked it up to possible low blood sugar or low blood pressure. The following days I would occassionally have a few fainting spells (a friend & I joked that maybe I need to loosen my corset and start carrying smelling salts) but nothing like what happened the first time. Then this past Monday "it" happened again. I headed to the doctor's office this time where they determined it was either stress/anxiety attacks or heart palpitations or arrhythmia (I am learning how to spell a new word :) ). Since I have no additional new stresses in my life and we like to eliminate the most harmful first they decided to put me on a 30-day heart monitor. I didn't speak to my regular doctor; the guys I saw wanted to speak to my regular doctor who was on vacation before we began the monitor. Soooo, no monitor as of yet have I seen. Aanndd, yesterday I was back in the ER. Same symptoms...chest pain, fainting, nausea...if you look up heart attack, I pretty much had all the symptoms except maybe sweating. I don't think I was sweating. Then again, it was at least 90 degrees outside so maybe it is weird that I wasn't sweating. Anyway, this time they found (drumroll please)...nothing. Well, not absolutely nothing. They did detect a Premature Atrial Complexes (PAC) that was pretty consistent. This could mean nothing or it could be a sign of something more serious.

Today (hopefully today) I go in for a stress test. I have learned much about the heart and detection tests. While I haven't had a heart attack, that doesn't mean there still might not be a blockage. It just means that if there is a blockage there has been no heart damage. The stress test will show if there is a blockage. We are not anticipating a blockage because I have absolutely no risk factors except for family histroy. If there isn't a blockage then we proceed with the monitor to find out what the heck is going on in there.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We have tried to keep it relaxed around here, but as you can imagine, when you are dealing with possible heart issues, it causes some pause.

July in pictures...

We will start at the end of the July and work toward the beginning since I didn't plan out appropriately when I posted the pictures. Last week we took a family trip to Chicago for a few days. It was fun and we made memories...maybe not all the kind of memories you would like (such as vomit and the like). But despite the stomach virus that refused to leave us alone, we had a great time.

We took the kids for their first trip on the train. We rode a couple of different lines so that they could experience an elevated train and a subway. They much preferred the elevated variety. John said the elevated train was like riding on a zip line...not that he has ever experienced a zip line.

This is John's first Chicago dog. He was the only one we could convince to try it and he LOVED it! Ashley tried her first Italian beef sandwich and felt the same way John felt about his hot dog. The other two children...well, they were experiencing the wretched stomach bug so they took it easy in the food department. We were going to try some Chicago pizza, but that will have to be another trip because, again, the bug.

The day we went eating, we also went shopping. We hit the two favorites for our kids...the Lego store and the American Girl store. We also hit up the Disney Store and the Hershey store before it got too hot to walk around downtown anymore. On the way out of town Joe and I hit up our favorites...Bass Pro and IKEA. (Soon we are going to have a Bass Pro only 20 minutes away...guess who wishes it was going to be open in time for his birthday!)

The second day in Chicago (we are working backwards, remember? Shopping and eating were on the third day) we went to the Field Museum. What an incredible museum. We would have loved to spent a little bit more time there, but alas this was the worst day of the aforementioned bug. I will say that they have very nice bathrooms...and I could tell you where they are at on every floor. This was Joe's favorite museum of all time and we are hoping to go back sometime this fall just the two of us. The kids enjoyed it, but not nearly enough to stop and read every sign. This was Nathan's favorite museum. To quote him "The Field Museum was great and my favorite mom! You know, except for the times I wasn't feeling very good."
The first day in Chicago we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. The above picture is in the ship section which was really cool. The kids' favorites at this one were the tour of the Pioneer Zephyr train, the submarine and the fairy castle. The castle was unbelievable, but it was all pretty cool.

In front of the Zephyr waiting on our tour to start. We all felt pretty good on this day, so you would be on your own as far as bathrooms are concerned. Couldn't tell you where they were and kind of like that....

We spent some family time in July. John and Sara spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa Horn's. When we were dropping them off we all got to play with Grandpa's bird dog puppies.

The kids and I spent some time with my mom and dad. We did bike rides and swam at their neighbor's pool. The girls also treated us to a fashion show.

We started out July with a celebration of our country. We had a picnic with friends and headed downtown in our small town to see the fireworks. They were really good this year. Here are the kids enjoying them.

One Year Later...

June 2010
July 2011

So. Frustrated.

I was so. frustrated. this. morning. I had just sat down at our picnic table outside with my Bible (no coffee this morning...sigh) and journal. I love the summer when God and I can start out the day with the bird singing and the sounds of a small town waking up. Only this morning, as soon as I took my seat it began to sprinkle. In my moment of frustration, I looked to the sky and said, "Seriously, Lord? Really?". See, life just hasn't been going my way the last few weeks and this was just another reminder of that. And with our family, when life typically throws us curves, for some reason it involves hospitals and waiting rooms. This summer's curves have been no different. My dad had a heart attack a couple of week's ago. He's Fine! (thanks for asking), but that was a curve and a change to our summer schedule that was unexpected. Then while the kids and I went to visit my family and Joe's last week I develop some mysterious stomach issues. I went for a ct scan yesterday and a I go for an ultrasound today (which is why I'm without coffee this morning :( ). I am actually feeling a lot better than I was over the weekend, so it may just be one of those mysterious things that God uses to bring me back to the truth. The truth that He is in control and I am not. After my minor little fit this morning, the Holy Spirit reminded me...even over the rain "I AM" is the only one in control. As much as I may think that I've got my plans made and life planned, it is all theory. As James reminds us in James 4:15 "Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." (emphasis mine) Several years ago I would have grumbled (and did grumble) to God at that. Even in knowing that He was in control somehow I was convinced my way would have been better. But now, after many reminders, I say PRAISE GOD for that! Praise God that He numbers our days and we don't number our own. Praise God that He is in control over the rain and the sun. And Praise God for His grace and His gentle reminders that perfect peace is found in resting in His control.