Signs of Spring!

Basketball Season Is Over

After skipping basketball last year to recover from surgery, Hadassah was back on the court in full swing this year.  It was fun to watch her throwing all her effort into the game, running back and forth with the ball and scoring for her team.  How do you like my artwork of the game?  Love what you can do with photo software.

Dr. Shif

When you have a real working stethoscope, it's nice to listen to a real heartbeat.

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Shifrah has a keen interest in all things medical whether animals or the human body and she loves to examine them (and us) with her otoscope.  One time after much prodding of Gunther, she declared him to have a "very interesting mouth!"  Wanna see?  Here's Gunther yawning:

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I also caught Shifrah taking his blood pressure. Problem is, hamsters are small and you have to stuff the entire hamster into the cuff . . . and this was a real blood pressure cuff. . .

Atlantis Aquadventure

One last post on the cruise.  While docked in Nassau, Bahamas, we chose to explore the Atlantis Aquadventure waterpark.  I think this might have been our best day.  Clear blues skies and perfect weather.

Shifrah and I spent most of our day on the mile-long rapids river (not to be confused with the lazy river that was elsewhere in the park and heaps milder).  It was perfect for a mom and her fun-loving four-year-old.

Shifrah braces herself as she enters the rapids...

...and splash!  There she goes.  The kid has no fear.  She laughed the whole ride.

You can barely see it but in the picture below, Josiah and Hadassah are having a race.  They actually had a clock on the bottom for each slide so there were no arguments.  Hadassah won.

More From The Cruise

Rough seas our first day at sea.  15 foot waves.

Beautiful Fog Lifting Off the Warm Sea Water into the Cool Air

Our cabin was right off a cozy courtyard with its own pool, hot tub, exercise equipment and . . . best of all, peace and quiet.

That pool was very small but since the courtyard had a retractable roof, we didn't have to wait for warmer weather to swim.  Our kids met three other kids - which made everything extra fun.



Sunrise Over The Atlantic

Cruise to the Bahamas

Last week, our family boarded the Norwegian Jewel in New York City and headed south on a cruise to the Bahamas.  The pictures in this post were taken on Norwegian's private Bahamian island called Great Stirrup Cay. 

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More photos to come of this gorgeous ship which had much more to do on it than
you can pack into a day at sea.  Here she is anchored just offshore Great Stirrup Cay.

Still Building Forts

As the boy gets older, the fort-building becomes a bit more elaborate and starts to require things like mattresses and ropes.



Another Daybook

Monday morning.

Outside my window -  Sunny.  Cool.  No snow.

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I am thinking about eating better - for the whole family.  My kids are quite worried since we already ban so many things!  (Their view.)

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I am wearing comfy lounge pants and a tank top.  Let me know when winter arrives and I'll consider sleeves.

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I am listening to Bach.  After a brief reminder yesterday of Charlotte Mason's music method, Shiffy and I started Bach today for the next six weeks.  But, read on...

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I am going to the Bahamas in February. Cruise is booked. Can't wait!

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I am currently reading The Art of Divine Contentment by Thomas Watson (an  audio book, actually, whose reader has a very soothing voice), Redeeming Sociology by Vern Poythress and Lectures on Calvinism by Abraham Kuyper.  And the Bible - currently 1 Timothy.

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I am hoping that Hadassah's glucose levels will continue to decline and that one day (soon?) she'll be non-diabetic.  She is off the steroid now so this is actually possible.

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On my mind - the good and bad of multi-tasking and other things I ran across in yesterday's sermons, books and magazines.  Could we have Sunday every other day please?

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Noticing that my attempts to get Bach infilitrated into Shifrah's mind is being overridden by her own singing.  She's busy belting out the songs she learned for Christmas.  She's off-key and messes up some words but the joy with which she sings makes that irrelevant.  Hadassah (home sick today) told her to stop singing but she said, "No way, Dassah, I'm singing to the Lord!"

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From the kitchen - don't know what's for dinner yet but I do have my next five meals planned so it's just a matter of picking one.  It's early yet.  And no, I'm not that organized.  This five-meal-plan-ahead thing is new.  Let's see how long I last!

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Around the house - I got new carpet in my family room last Friday.  And (thanks to my cousin Sylvia) I started a 52-week program to get my house organized.  Again, let's see how long I last!  The new year is always a good time to start something, isn't it?

Candlemaking

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A Year Has Passed

It was a year ago yesterday that Hadassah received her heart transplant.  It's hard to believe it's already been a year!

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The details of much of Hadassah's initial health struggles are sketchy to me but the day of her surgery, I remember well...waking up in the wee hours of the morning to take our child for surgery - to physically remove her heart and replace it with another...walking down the long deserted hallways of a very old part of the hospital, some openings bearly able to fit her bed, every move clanging in the silence of the dimly lit halls.

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I remember donning the white sanitized overalls, a mask and a hair net before we entered.  We laughed as we joked about how they made us feel like astronauts.  I remember how the Lord somehow gave Hadassah such peace as she waited to be brought into the operating room.  I remember that room...the high-tech equipment defying the old walls that would never have dreamed they would house such an event...the heart and lung machine that would keep our child alive while they operated...the huge tub of scissors that rattled as they were dumped onto a sterile table.  Hadassah remembers that too - the one moment when dread struck her ever so briefly that night.  And I remember the peace Hadassah had as she fell asleep.

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But, what I remember most is that when we left our child in the operating room - that God stayed.  I don't know how anyone could leave their child in an operating room with a bunch of strangers, hoping they would somehow save her life, without also leaving her with the One who loved her most....with the One who created the very body they were working on.

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Ultimately, using the means of this great era of technology in which we live, it was God Himself who chose to save her.  We are ever thankful for His great kindness and mercy toward us - not only in saving Hadassah's life but also in the salvation He provides through the death of His own Son who, for our sakes, He chose not to save so that we might live.  Is there a greater love than this?

Lord, you have been our help in ages past.  Our hope for years to come.

Psalm 90 - Psalter 247

Full of His Glory

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Give Thanks To The Lord

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Soccer !

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More of Gunther's Travels

Shifrah has decided that Gunther is now one of her Calico Critters who lives in her Townhouse.  He had great fun snooping around the house and knocking all the Calico Critters down - sort of took over the place.

And a note to all you animal lovers.  Maybe you should know that Gunther is not really tortured by Shifrah and that we actually do teach the kid a thing or two now and again.  She does know how to treat him gently though I would agree she certainly has a look of trouble in the photo above!  :)

A righteous man is kind to his animals!  Proverbs 12:10