Denim is not good workout wear.

Totally random title, I know. But that's the most recent thing I've learned - I realized it about a third of the way in to my 2 1/2 mile bike ride toting 50 pounds of kiddos in the trailer, while wearing jeans, and biking the uphill portion. And incidentally, I do now know where the term "uphill both ways" comes from.
It's been so long since I've written, I have no idea where to start. So I'll just start writing, and see where we end up.
Yesterday I had three fillings done at the dentist. Three. The last filling I had was in 2003. I hate the feeling of half your face being asleep for the rest of the day. And the rough feeling of your teeth from the spackle they put on them to fill them. And the feeling that I've got something stuck in my tooth. And I realized that that sound/sensation of the drill gives me goosebumps from my scalp to my ankles. (As does just thinking about it.)
My grandpa Carl had a stroke a week and a half ago. He went in for knee replacement surgery Monday morning, the 3rd, and Tuesday evening he had the stroke (caused by a blood clot from surgery). He went from not knowing who anyone was, but talking perfectly Tuesday night, to recognizing people but not being able to talk Wednesday. They just moved him yesterday to a rehabilitation center in Gardner. He understands everything, and knows where he is and what happened, and is getting his power of speech back, although he still has trouble getting out more than one word at a time. Incidentally, his knee is doing great - he can already bend it to 90 degrees, and even prop his ankle (on the "bad" knee) up on his other leg.
We're trying to refinance the house again. Last spring we tried to refinance, and interest rates rose 3/4 percent in a week, which made it so we wouldn't save enough money to make it worth it. But we found a local bank (in Paola) that will keep our loan local, and not sell it. Interest rates aren't quite as great as I'd hoped but we decided that it's worth it to get away from Bank of America!
Jacob has not been sleeping well at night for the last week. At all. He's waking up an average of 4 times, and then nurses for a half hour, which is leaving me SO TIRED. I can't figure out exactly what it is. He had majorly snotty eyes for a few days, so I thought he was getting sick. But he also is working on some new teeth. The drool! And when he wakes, his cry sounds so pathetic, like he's in pain. When I do give him Tylenol or ibuprofin, he sleeps for 4 hours, so I know something must be causing him pain. I think he may also be going through a growth spurt..... Or more accurately, is needing to eat more to grow than he gets during the day. He started crawling, sitting up, and trying to pull up all in the last two weeks, and this has opened the world up for him! He can't take time away from exploring in order to do something so trivial as eating. So he's trying to make up for it at night. Either way, I'm exhausted.
So naps have become my friend. Unfortunately, naps (no matter that your sum total of sleep for 24 hours, including the nap, only comes to 6 hours) keep me awake at night, hence the midnight entry.
We went on vacation to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri two weekends ago. It was their 50th anniversary celebration. Paul's parents and sister also went with us. It was a really great time. However, I told Paul we don't ever have to go on a "special event" weekend again. I don't like crowds, especially not with children to keep track of.
We stayed at a condo (owned by Hunter's Friend Resort) right on Table Rock Lake. It was awesome - three bedrooms with king size beds. We took over the "master suite" (which also had a jacuzzi), and Nathan had his own "room" - a walk-in closet, that obviously we didn't need. It was so nice to have a "home-like" place to crash, complete with a kitchen to cook our own meals. We will definitely be using them again - they have any range of places to stay, from simple motel rooms to fully stocked condos. And they're only 3 miles down the road from Silver Dollar City.
Nathan got really sick with a sinus infection and 102-degree fever the day before we left. Since it was too late to cancel our reservation, we decided to go anyways, even if it meant I'd stay at the condo with the kids - anything away from the house is still a vacation! He did great in the mornings until the first dose of ibuprofin wore off, which is when we headed back to the condo for naps. He still got to ride several childrens rides - his favorites being the Happy Frogs and the Wave Carousel (a giant version of the "county fair" type swings). By Saturday, the antibiotics had kicked in and he did much better, and Sunday we practically had to drag him out.
Sunday night was a special night of praise and worship at Echo Hollow (the amphitheater in SDC). It was such a special time for me. I really looked forward to it, because as a worship leader, I don't really get to participate in worship - which sounds weird. But when I "lead" on Sundays, I have to think about playing the piano, keeping the singers together, and how I sound. Rarely can I sing my heart out. When the music began, I had the overwhelming urge to stand to sing. Mostly I think because I can't stand to sing at church, because I have to sit at the piano. So after 3 songs, and no one was standing (most were sitting back to enjoy the 300-voice choir), I told Paul I was going to go over to the side so I could stand and sing my heart out without annoying those sitting around us. I spent most of the 90-minute praise time standing with my hands raised (another thing I can't do since I play the piano). It was a very awesome, very special time. God's presence was definitely there.
Well, I'm tired now, and my back is killing me from sitting in this chair. I think I've covered most of the high and low points of the last couple weeks. I've got other fodder I'm mulling over. We'll get there soon.