And Again I Say AMEN!

So, I wanted to get back to blogging with a bang and tell you all everything that has happened over the week that I was silent, but then I realized that you might not really care too much about what I was up to then, and it would take a long time to tell it all.

So....I will put it in a nutshell.

Monday-Friday was VBS (Vacation Bible School, for those of you not familiar with the term) and I took 3 teens, 6 students, 1 baby (Gabriel) and Yolanda with me every morning.  For those of you counting, yes, that meant that I had to make 2 trip in my 8 passenger van to get them all there...and back home. 

But it was a blast and worth every gallon of gas.

Wednesday was Jo's birthday, and she was sick.  She didn't want to be sick and promised me that she would not barf anymore, but hey, there's just some things you can't control.

So...her party, which was going to be Wednesday and then Thursday but couldn't be Thursday because Elizabeth had to do her cleaning job got pushed to Saturday. 

But in the middle of the night Friday, Gabriel started throwing up and Elizabeth developed a sharp pain in her upper right abdomen. 

So....Saturday morning at 9AM, we took them both to the dr and Gabriel does not have strep but rather a virus and they didn't know what Elizabeth had.

So....we dropped Gabriel off at the house and went back to the ER so that Liz could get an x-ray and ultrasound on her chest and abdomen because they were worried about gall stones (really?  In Elizabeth?) and/or appendicitis.

After waiting for 5 hours and the doctor and nurse completely mixing things up and getting orders turned around and trying to send us (accidentally) for a CT Scan, I went to the nurses station and told her we were leaving. 

Elizabeth did not like it when I helped her rip the tape off her arm that was holding the catheter, but we got the tape off and the tubes out and we walked out.

And Jo didn't get her party.

Then Elizabeth's pain went away and Jo spiked a fever.

Then Jo's fever went away and Elizabeth started barfing.

So...Jo has not had a party, but she will, eventually, even if it is in August.

But here is the story to entertain you:

Every evening before we eat dinner, we hold hands around the table and pray.  The prayer always ends with the words
'...and bless all of our friends and family around the world, and bless the planet...' (I figure this pretty much covers any and everybody who is sitting, has ever sat and will ever sit around the table with us) and Gabriel announces in no uncertain terms

AAAAAAMEN!

And then he knows that he is allowed to dig in.

So, along those lines, there were 2 interesting things that happened recently.

One was that I was not at the dinner table because I was no feeling well and had went to lie down.  Then I missed being at the table, so I came downstairs and heard the end of the prayer....

But those left around the table couldn't remember the magic words to get Gabriel to say 'Amen.'

Bless everyone and the planet....no, no...that's not right.  He didn't say it.

Bless the universe and everyone in it.  Nope, that's not right, either....what is it?

It went on for a minute then someone says...bless all our family and friends around the world and bless the planet! 

And then it came!

 AAAAAAMEN!

 He said it, Daddy!  We can eat now!  Baby said Amen!

Whew!  That was a close one!  Otherwise no one would have gotten dinner!



Gabriel is also working on his potty skills.  Since he is still pretty small, when we put him on the potty, we have to hold his little hands so that he doesn't grab yucky stuff or fall in. 

The first time we did this, he got really excited!

I held his little hands and he sat there a minute then looked at me with a huge smile and said....


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN!