It was a good, if out-of-the-ordinary week at Granny's House. We've loved having the Slaughters with us, even though Dave was gone most of the week and Kristen spent much of the week getting their house ready to vacate. (Hey, does that mean it's a "vacation"?) Now things should settle down a little for the rest of the summer...

Even though we don't remember giving our permission, some stray cat had four kittens under our deck a few weeks ago, and we've had to figure out what to do with them. We've cleaned them up, fed them, medicated them, and are hoping to have them ready for adoption soon through the Human Society. Of course my kids are begging to keep one, or two, or three, or...

Is it November yet? No, not for the cool weather, not for Thanksgiving....for the ELECTION. PLEASE, look ahead now, and if you're not going to be in your regular voting location on November 2, make a note to request an absentee ballot or to take part in your state's early voting days. Some of the damage done in the past year and a half may be irreversible (Read: Elena Kagan), but some of it can be undone now if we act quickly. Remember November!

Aubrey is home from the hospital after her surgery. Thank you to those of you who are praying for her and ministering to her in other ways. She is still in some pain and having trouble sleeping, but so far no complications. I'm hoping she recovers quickly so I can see her...she can't come down stairs and I can't go up!

Five-year-old Sam doesn't want to drink after his mom, because he doesn't want to "catch your surgery".

We had a great wedding planning meeting this week, and thanks to our friend Cori we think we might actually be able to pull this off. She has that rare ability to hear a few sentences of what you want and be able to visualize the whole scene and be off and running. CJ is very relieved to have someone telling us what to do :-)

Last night we celebrated the birthdays of Molly (12) and Carrie (6). Since our youngest daughter just turned 18, it's fun to have some younger girls to share parties with. But I think we all agree that the best part of the party was Kristen's renditions of Pioneer Woman's Strawberry Shortcake Cake. Oh man, you have got to try this. And make sure it doesn't all get eaten the first day, because it really is better the second day. It might be better yet on the third day, but alas, we'll never know.

Trusting that soon I'm going to be able to travel without being in a wheelchair or stretcher, I've made some plans and some plane reservations. I'm going to Virginia at the end of this month to meet little Savannah Welty for the first time. She will, of course, be waiting with baited breath to see me so I'm doing my best. Then in August I'm going to fly to southern California for a week of relaxing with Lyric, and then up to northern California where I'll meet John (not for the first time, of course). We're going to speak to a group of homeschooling couples outside Modesto and then have a couple of days to just enjoy friends and enjoy being away together!

With the help of two excellent books that I've had for a long time, I made myself a list (on a Google Spreadsheet, of course!) of all the classics that I want to read before I die. No, I'm not in some morbid phase...quite the opposite. But I am taking seriously the Psalmist's plea, "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." (Ps. 90:12) Proverbs tells us that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10), and so I've made a renewed commitment to be in the Word to a greater extent. But I also believe that God has buried treasures of wisdom for us in many places and would rather have me reading great literature than playing a game on Facebook (which I haven't done, by the way, but in a vacuum I'm liable to succumb to things that are complete wastes of time). And I know myself well enough to know that without a plan, a lot of what I want to read will go unopened. So...armed with my literary "bucket list", here I go!

Al Mohler has a valuable blog post this week on why today's men and women are finding so little happiness in being parents. Here's a taste, but you should definitely read the whole thing:

Christians must see children as gifts from God, not as projects. We should see marriage and parenthood as a stewardship and privilege, not as a mere lifestyle choice. We must resist the cultural seductions and raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and understand family life as a crucible for holiness, not an experiment in happiness. [Emphasis mine]

I continue to make good progress in my tenth week of physical therapy and look forward to the day when I don't need it any more. I can still say this has been my quickest recovery ever from a major leg or hip surgery and for that I am grateful. I'm enjoying cooking, light housework, and even driving myself to the grocery store, and now looking forward to travel!

Bethany has now been in Virginia with Annie for ten days and I am SO missing her! John Caleb will get his turn tomorrow as he will fly out with The Papa, who is going out for business as well as to see the kids.

And that's all, folks...may God give you a wonderful week!

Labels: Family, Food, Grandkids, Health, Political Action, Sundays, The Papa, Weddings