1.
Well, this is our official last day of school, at least for 85% of the students. Ms. 17 yo has to still finish Biology, but that's not too bad. Yippee Yahooee! Try as I might, I have a hard time even thinking about schooling year round. This year it didn't even enter my mind!
2.
Emily update - From her mother:
Tuesday we planned on returning to Illinois for her "Wednesday Chemo treatment". Emily struggled with breathing all day and collapsed around 3pm. She was running a 101* fever. We ended up taking her to the Emergency room. She was very dehydrated and they gave her IV fluids. This is all apart of the end stage of chemo and radiation treatment. Despite all the setbacks (which are normal) she is still doing incredibly well. She has only 8 treatments to go. (we were off by 3 treatments.)
So with all of the walls crumbling, God still has a way of letting us know everything will be alright. He did so while we were at the Emergency room. The Dr. wanted Emily to come and get treated in Illinois. Our plan was to drive directly to Illinois and go to the hospital to get treatment. We were just driving down our road when Emily turned to me and said "I can't make it that far. Take me to our emergency room." When we got there the receptionist asked what was wrong. I stated she had cancer and we needed to see a doctor right away. She asked what kind and we told her tongue. She looked surprised and told us that was very unusual. The receptionist proceeds to tell us her husband's ex-wife is a tongue cancer survivor. She got her cancer from a canker sore when she was 25. (Just like Emily) She had Chemo and radiation treatments and is completely cured and doing great. **That is why we ended up at my Emergency room instead of the one in IL. Emily smiled and said to me that was God. I just smiled back thinking to myself "yes that is my best friend comforting His tired daughter". That is why I have such hope. God is taking care of everything. We only need to trust and love.
3.
Like everyone else, I just love freebies. Especially when they look like this:
We were fortunate enough to find out about a local church who needed to get rid of this baby grand piano to make room for their expanding food pantry. Free for the hauling it was, but let me tell you that the hauling was a lot of work. Especially when my husband and some friends and relatives were doing it in the rain. It only needs a few more screws and a tuning and it will be ready for action. God is so generous, and we are so unworthy.4.
Speaking of freebies, a good number of years ago, our homeschool group had started something we called a Free 4 All where everyone could bring clothing they didn't need and take anything they did need. It went on for a number of years and then fell by the wayside. Well, a couple of years ago, some friends resurrected it and made it even bigger. They now open it up to the community and have had some great success serving those who need it. So, later today we'll take our haul
over to the Free 4 All and hopefully be able to find a few things that we need, too!5.
I'm generally not too attached to clothing, but while I was going through the above bags to give away, I came across this dress
This dress was given to my eldest daughter when she was about 4 years old and all of my daughters since then have worn it. While I can't justify hanging on to it, I'm having a hard time just putting it in the pile. I think I might just have to hand pick a little girl for this one.6.
Now this dress, on the other hand
is one we can't wait to see leave the house. I hope whoever picks this up loves it as much as Ms 5 yo did. She wore this dress non-stop. We are all so sick of seeing it that we contemplated burning it but decided instead to see if we could find an owner for it who might like it just as much. You see, Ms 5 yo has a cousin of the same age who had this exact same dress. Apparently my daughter was under the misguided impression that her cousin wore it every day, too! Good Riddance!7.
Keeping on the topic of clothing, I was reading a newsletter I get that was giving tips on how to end your laundry chaos. I found this one to be particularly interesting:
Change into pajamas at least an hour before bedtime so that you have enough energy to do more than throw your dirty clothes on the floor.Let's see, on average I go to bed about 9:30. That would mean that I would have to get in my pjs at 8:30, which would mean that I would be in my pajamas before most of my kids are. I can't see that happening. So instead, I look at hanging up my close at the end of the day as a small act of reparation for the sins that I have committed during the day. On some days, I even need to go and pick up everyone else's clothes, too :)
Have a great weekend!
