They're Still Smiling

Tonight I have very mixed feelings. I am relieved that the day is over. I am relieved that our car will not cost a fortune to fix. I am relieved that the day is over (did I mention that?). Ivan had his last day of school at Simonton today and Claire's last day is tomorrow. We have been blessed to be able to fix the van but the children are still going to change schools. This is a very emotional thing for me. I have done very well at not letting the kids know I am scared for them to change schools. Claire's teacher was very emotional today when I told her that tomorrow would be claire's last day. It made me tear up. I am so grateful for the wonderful teachers that my kids have had this year and I pray that their new teachers will be just as wonderful. I am so proud of my children and the way they have adjusted to the changes this last year brought to their lives. They have been through my horrible pregnancy, the birth of a new sibling, the temporary addition of 5 foster children, their dad having a motorcycle accident, dad having 2 major neurosurgeries, moving to a new house, neighborhood and church and now changing schools. They have been troopers through it all. They have handled this last year better than Matt and I have and for that I am grateful. They amaze me everyday. Despite the very difficult time we have had (to say the least) they are still smiling and that makes my heart happy.

Week in Review

This last week was Spring Break for the kids. It should have been exciting and fun but it was just an "off" kind of week. Claire got sick the day after school got out. Poor girl had managed to avoid the flu all season long and literally the day after they got out of school she came down with a fever, sore throat, stomach ache and double ear infection. Two days later Naomi came down with the same thing minus the ear infection but replaced with teething. It was Nae's birthday on Tuesday and the poor thing was sick. We spent the week resting as much as possible. We were not able to go to the movies or the swimming pool or the park as planned but we did make a trip to the library. So armed with lots of books and an endless selection of movies on Netflix, we spent the week together just the five of us. We were able to have cake and ice cream as a family on Naomi's birthday and it was so fun to watch her eat her cake "hands free" lol. On Thursday I had the pleasure of losing the serpentine pulley on my van. Fortunately I was in my driveway when this happened. Unfortunately there is no money to fix it and so I am without a car for now. Normally this would not be an issue but my children attend school in our old neighborhood which is about 5 miles from here. I tried so hard not to be stressed about the situation. I must say I did an excellent job for about three hours and then the worry set in. I was able to

Today Will Go Down in Garff History

Today we experienced a miracle. Today will forever be the day that our dreams were handed back to us. On September 3, 2010 Matt and I were told that the dream we had of raising our family together would never be. We were told that Matt would most likely not know us a mere year to two years from now. We were told that the damage to his brain could not be repaired. Our world came crashing down around us. Today we finally feel like we can rebuild. Today we were told after an extensive MRI that the ventricals in Matts brain are shrinking and that where the tissue had been damaged there is now space. This means that the tissue has begun to expand and repair itself. We were told that this could not happen. We were told that he could not get better. They were wrong. Today will always be the day that our world began turning again.

Answered Prayers

Another week has passed and another weekend has flown by too quickly. I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun. We were able to go to a birthday BBQ yesterday for Grandma Kathie and Gran B. It was so nice to spend time with our Arizona family. We have been so blessed to be taken in by them. Matt has been a little down because he is having trouble remembering things and feeling like his time with the kids is borrowed. All in all he's just exhausted. We did have a few miracles this week though! After 4 months of literally begging the surgeon's office to see him or at least call us back they did! It was a complete suprize to hear from them. They have sceduled him for several MRI's on March 11th and an appointment on March 15th. This is something we have been praying for. That same day we received a letter of approval for state insurance. Four months ago we lost state insurance which was paying all of our co-pays and saving us so much needed money. Apparently the state has been dropping a lot of people and we were one of the unfortunate families. I applied over and over and it paid off. After being denied three different times for silly reasons that ranged from not enough proof of income to lack of finger printing we were accepted. Just days before the phone interview with our case worker I was grocery shopping. I spent almost the entire time pleading with the Lord to help us get our insurace and food stamps re-instated. The day of the interview I was so sick to my stomach. I prayed again and asked the Lord to help me be as thorough as possible so that we could get our benefits back. Receiving that letter was a testimony to me that the Lord hears and answers prayers. We are still waiting to hear about our food benefits but I have faith that the Lord's will be done. And so even though we are exhausted, this week had a few pick-me-up's that made life seem somewhat easier.