poison oak & other fun things

When it rains, it pours.  This weekend, our trampoline bit the dust.  Luckily, my husband found one at a steal on eBay and ordered it promptly.  It's here today and they are putting it together as I write this.

Graham is cutting the front yard one last time this year, and after that, aside from the leaves being raked, our yard work will be done for 2013.

I mentioned that the younger boys and Todd chopped up a tree for firewood Saturday and that they seem to have gotten into something~well, it turns out that Todd, Noah and Travis (our neighbor) all have poison oak.  The wood will all need to be thrown away~if you burn wood that has that on it, the oils will release into the air and you can catch it that way.  Yikes.  And no thank you.

Todd and Noah have been miserable.  I cannot stress to you how awful this stuff is~and as much as I am dying to show you a picture of what my youngest child's face looks like, I promised him that I wouldn't.  I can, however, show you how horrible his arms look.

You should see his face.  He looks a little like a zombie, and I cannot stop staring at him.  Poor little thing...he's been a trooper, though, and hasn't complained a bit.

In other news, as I was cooking dinner last night (not really cooking, but warming up), our oven went out.  It's been warning me for about a week and a half that it was about to go on the fritz, but I could always make the error code that would flash on the control panel go away.  Not anymore.  The stove top works fine, but both ovens are out.  Praise God we have a home warranty insurance~they're coming out in the morning to see if they can fix it.  If not, they will replace it.

Do you know how hard it is to cook without your oven?  It is.  I see lots of electric griddle cooking in the next couple days.  (We even use our oven as a toaster!  It has that really cool feature on it, and we do not own a regular toaster...and for someone whose kids eat toast of some kind for breakfast every single day...well, you can imagine my dilemma.)

I had to place another call in to my doctor's office.  :(  I really thought I had been healed of my illness, but it doesn't look like that's the case.  I'm trying to not be discouraged, but it's been a rough couple of days.  Add to that the fact that God's design for marriage does NOT include a husband and wife staying home together all day, everyday, and well...you see how things have been fun in our house!  We do love one another, but we also love our time spent apart.

I am grateful he was home today~for the first time this homeschool year, Graham had major problems with algebra.  Turns out my teacher's manual isn't as current as his student book, so we thought he had all the answers wrong.  The sweet lady at the company that we ordered our math through was ever so helpful, and sent me a link to all the answers he'll need for these two chapters that have been added to.  I love nice people.

Please note that if these are the worst things that happen to me, I am blessed.  God is so good to us, and praise God that He works all things out for the good of those who love Him.  He's providing our needs~and above and beyond that even.  Even if things are much worse than what I'm writing about~He is still infinitely more good to us that I could ever imagine!  I should be careful writing posts like this~I don't want to come off as a complainer.  I am just sharing what all has been happening in our lives since Sunday, because to me, it's almost comical.  I need to maintain somewhat of a sense of humor~it helps me handle life's trials that are thrown at me.

Sometimes, life seems overwhelming...and my problems are minor.  I cannot imagine how someone must feel who really has something substantial going on in their lives right now~sickness, divorce, the death of a loved one.  In times when I'm overwhelmed, I remember the words of John in chapter 16, verse 33:

"I have told you all this, so that you may have peace in Me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

I pray that if you're facing something serious (more so than the piddly little things I've written about), that you will find comfort in those words.  I know I do~and will continue to, no matter what I may face with my health.  

I hope your week has been great.  Love to all.