Hospitality

Since having so many littles, I have found it more and more difficult to be hospitable, in part because I tend to be a perfectionist. If my house cannot be perfectly clean and if I do not feel on top of my "chores", I do not feel like having company. I have come to realize that, as a mother of many young ones, I am never going to feel like my house is clean enough or that I am on top of all of the projects I would like to complete. Granted, after the year we had last year, things around our home could be better, but this is really no excuse. God calls me to be hospitable.

This can mean different things at different stages of life. It may mean having someone over for snacks and a movie. If things are really bad, it may mean meeting them at the park for a picnic lunch. In our case, our house is particularly small. We don't even have room at our dining table for all of *our* family members--let alone adding extras, so when we have company, we have to be creative. Between the coffee table and the dining table, we can usually squeeze in. We've even been known to have people sitting on chairs with a TV tray next to them or using our little kids outdoor picnic table for small ones :-) The point is, I don't have to offer a Martha Stewart perfect experience. It doesn't even have to be an entire dinner. It *does* need to be filled with love and a desire to make our guests feel welcome.

Recently, we've been working again on being more hospitable. We've enjoyed having a few people over and have kept things simple to avoid the chaos. It will definitely be easier when the weather gets nicer and we can extend our hospitality into the backyard :-) But, for today we are offering what we *do* have and being blessed in the process.

I've Lost It!

My digital camera, I mean. . .lol. Last week, I took some adorable pictures of my children out in the snow. We didn't leave the house till Sunday, and on Sunday we realized it was missing. So, chances are good that it is around my house somewhere. They really should make digital cameras with beepers you can page like cordless phones and some remotes have :-)

We've done some detailed looked in the front part of the house, but haven't found it. . . so today I guess we are going to have dump everything and go through every nook and cranny we can find. Oh yeah! I've kept hoping that we would just come across it this week without having to tear through everything. On the upside, I guess it will give me an opportunity to explore corners of my home that have been too long neglected :-) I've prayed for several days that God would allow me to find it soon, because it is stealing my peace. I think he's decided that I need the joy of looking for something and an additional opportunity to learn patience instead :-)

Wow, we missed a month!

After at least one trip to the hospital each and every month from December 2007 to December 2008, the pattern has finally been broken. We've missed a month! Hooray! No one in our family had to go to the hospital in January 2009, PTL. Praying for a healthier year with, hopefully, fewer (or maybe even no) hospital visits.

I've been very neglectful of my blog recently and have had several people inquiring about Jason's health. PTL, Jason has been working steadily since the middle of November. He has good days and bad days and is very blessed that since his return to work, they have had him training three new mechanics that have been hired to work in his area. IMHO, this has been a win-win situation for both sides. Jason is such a knowledgeable mechanic, that he is definitely missed when he is not working. The department has been overloaded for some time, so this will help keep the workload more manageable for everyone. While he is training the new crew, he has times when he can stand back and simply oversee their work, which is definitely easier on him from a physical standpoint. Of course, he is still doing mechanic work himself, but at least his new responsibilities have allowed him to make a slower transition back into the heavy manual labor. He is still in pain, but is learning to grit his teeth, so to speak, and bear it.

Jason did return to the hospital on Dec 29th for a few hours, because his pain was very bad. After doing another CT scan, we were informed that he was still inflamed and that there was really nothing they could do for him. Jason is allergic to anti-inflammatory medication, so other than rest/time, we knew that nothing would really help. At this point, he decided to just go back to work and deal with it, knowing that the only alternative is for him to get on disability. It is very likely that Jason could get on disability, but at this point it is his desire to continue working and we are both praying that God will allow him to do this for quite a while.

We've not had any luck whatsoever with getting Jason in to a pain management specialist. No one is willing to take him, probably because they know that, other than narcotics, nothing they can do will help. Unfortunate, but we have come to accept things for what they are until the Lord tells us differently.

I have found myself perplexed right now as to exactly what I should be doing each day. After our trying year, things have become chaotic, housewise, schoolwise, child training wise, etc. I feel compelled to get things back in order, but am overwhelmed with the task of where to begin. Also, we have made so many trips to the hospital that I feel that I have to be prepared at moment's notice to have our lives thrown into a new round of hospitalization (read: chaos).

In many ways, I would just like to take some down time and relax and enjoy some things with the children, but at the same time I don't feel that I have that luxury when Jason is still not doing very well. I am trying to find balance in all of this, but it is difficult because the Martha in me wants to get everything organized as quickly as possible. I am praying the Lord will help me prioritize my time and allow me to focus on the things He would have me to do with my time and energy.

Updated pictures in New Christmas Clothes :-)

Baby "Moe" is wearing a green and white top/bottom set with stars. She is 3 1/2 months old and is "talking" quite a bit (must be a girl thing ). Her favorite thing to do is nurse, but she also enjoys her playmat with toys that dangle down. She will spend quite a bit of time talking and swatting at her toys on this mat. "Moe" can now roll over both ways, so we have to be very careful about where we leave her. Now that I have a Moby wrap, she loves it when I "wear" her around the house.



"Miney" is wearing a bright pink butterfly sweater. Since turning four in August, I have noticed that she is losing a lot of her baby look and has definitely become a little girl. She is a bundle of energy and is always busy with something. Whether it is making up her own little songs, or begging to read stories, she is a joy to have around. After brother started homeschool last summer, she decided to join in, and she has already learned her letters and sounds and is trying to sound out words (all on her own!).



"Meanie" is wearing a monster hoops shirt. He turned six in August and is quickly learning to read. He loves building with legos and is really into Transformers and robots. I'm sure he is going to be an inventor when he grows up, since he is always building unique creations and brainstorming about inventions that would make the world a better place ;-)



"Eenie" is wearing a beautiful shimmery gold top with butterflies. She will be 11 years old in May (I can't believe it!). The butterflies are appropriate for her because she tends to flit through life like a lovely butterfly, stopping here and there to add beauty along the way, but never staying too long in one place ;-) It is such a blessing to have her for a daughter, and she has been such a help during this last difficult year. She loves making arts and crafts, decorating and riding her bike. She especially loves taking care of baby "Moe".

Matching Pajama Pants

These matching pajama pants were a gift from Grammy's (Kerri's mom) friend, Mrs. Miller. She made them just for the Jones kids. Notice in the first photo of baby "Moe" that her shirt says "Silent Night, Yeah Right". Actually, in her case, this is not true. She has slept through the night for several weeks now. We are very blessed.

I am hoping to be posting more pictures on here in the next few weeks, along with some updates. We have had a very busy holiday season, so I have not had time to get on here and figure out the whole digital camera thing. lol

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

Update on baby

I took baby back for a recheck today. Her thumb is already so much better. I'm so grateful that babies heal quickly and that she doesn't seem traumatized by it. I've done some reading on this "hair-thread tourniquet syndrome", and it could have been so much worse. This can happen with baby boys and their private parts and some babies have even lost fingers, toes or other appendages over this :-(

So on to our next adventure. She is already cutting a molar :-0 I noticed this a few weeks ago, but thought that I must be wrong. However, the doctor confirmed that this is indeed the case. My other children waited until over six months to cut any teeth, and they cut their front teeth first. Well, I'm sure this is going to make breastfeeding a fun new adventure :-p

I just got back from the ER with the baby. . .

and she had hair (thread actually) tourniquet syndrome. She is 7 weeks old. A thread had wrapped around her left thumb and was strangling it and cutting deeply. Because the swelling was so bad, we couldn't even see what was causing it--let alone pull it out. They had to dig around for the thread (which was very bloody and traumatic for both of us). They think they got it all, but the cut is so deep it is hard to tell for sure. We are giving her antibiotics and keeping an eye on it.

We were moments away from having her go into surgery when a nurse finally got the thread broken and was able to pull it out. We are hoping they got it all. They said if I had not seen this or it had gone on much longer, she could have lost her thumb over it. If the swelling doesn't go down and the thumb doesn't go back to normal color, we may end up at the children's hospital over the weekend.

Praising God for his goodness to us during this situation!