It’s late and I just spent the past twenty minutes digging splinters out of my hands. I’m not sure if I got them all because they were so small. I only knew they were there because my hand would sting every time I touched something! I guess it’s an occupational hazard when you spend your day sanding.

My dad’s first day home was a success, from what I understand. The kids and I joined Tim at the shop today, but I made sure to call in and check on dad throughout the day. He starts PT in a few days, but he was already up and taking some steps today. I’m very proud of his progress!

I know he’s incredibly happy to be home and we are excited he is here!

We got a phone call this afternoon that dad was being discharged from the hospital. We figured they would be doing it sometime this week, but no one had discussed it with us. The caseworker called and said that he would be leaving today and that we needed to finalize where he would be going. Weeks ago we had requested a facility near our home, but today they told us there were no empty beds there. The caseworker gave us the name of an alternate place and when I researched it the reviews were atrocious. I almost cried reading the reactions of former patients and families. There was no way we could let him go there. We asked for more options and as she read them off, I googled them. One after another were horrible and far away. Stories of neglect, abuse, malnutrition, etc abounded with each facility. I was heartbroken. There were so many red flags. My father can’t walk right now and needs rehab, but there’s no way we could send him to any of those places. We were met with a rather unsympathetic response from the caseworker and then I asked what it would take to bring him home. She explained that an ambulance could bring him here and then PT and OT would come to the house for appointments. So this evening, they brought dad home.

To be honest, I am both thrilled and nervous to have him here. For his safety and comfort we had hoped to have him stronger before coming home. We do think he will recover faster in a familiar and comfortable place, with family right here. I am looking forward to spending more time with him and I am grateful to not be driving an hour each way to see him.

I am so happy to see that God has continued to answer our prayers. The past month has been difficult, but we have seen God yet again (!) answering our prayers in a tangible way, and today was no different. Tonight we are all under the same roof, as it should be. I am so very thankful!

One of the things that I love about walking around the shop as of late are the surprises our kids leave us. It isn’t unusual to see Captain America hanging out on a dolly, or Barbie chilling in the forklift. My favorite is probably the infestation of dinosaurs that are slowly taking over the warehouse. 😂

My life is random. One day I’m editing videos. The next I’m homeschooling my kids. Then I’m hanging at the hospital with my dad or spending my day sanding.

Today I got to spend the entire day with my best guy on a job site in the city. Plus I got to wear a hard hat and a bright yellow vest. Definitely outside my comfort zone, but I still had fun!

I’ve been to visit my father every single day he has been in the hospital save one. When you see someone every single day, it’s hard to measure their progress unless you take a step back and remember where they came from. Today as I sat eating lunch with my dad, I reflected over the past several weeks. If you had asked me two weeks ago about him, I probably would have mumbled through tears that I didn’t think he’d be coming home. But that was then and this is now. He has made tremendous progress and I think he only has to hit a couple more milestones before they will discharge him… I can’t tell you how excited that makes me, as once again we are seeing tangible answers to prayer!

I promised Tim I would go on a job site tomorrow morning with him. I’m not really sure what I’ve signed myself up for, except that we will be leaving the house at 5:30 am, and that sounds horrible, so good night!

Baby E has a favorite person outside of our immediate family, and that is his cousin Bekah. She was born three months after him, and since we lived three doors down from them for a few years, they grew up together. He always tells me that Miss Bekah is his girl.

He got very excited to learn that his cousins were coming to visit and he would get a whole day of Bekah time. My favorite moment was when I walked into the classroom and found them quietly sitting on the chair, sharing a book. ❤️❤️

It’s almost one in the morning and I just got home. I spent half the day at the hospital and the other half at the shop sanding a ton of panels. I’m already sore, so I can only imagine how I’ll feel in the morning!

Sorry, not much of a post tonight. Way too tired!

I know I already posted tonight, but I forgot this…

The past few weeks have been difficult. With much of my time being spent at the hospital, I haven’t had much time with my kids. I decided to take the day off today so I could spend it with them. By this evening, I could tell we all had a lot of pent up energy.

As we sat around the counter, I told them to be prepared for me to scream. I then opened my mouth and shouted at the top of my lungs, “I love you guys!!!” The kids started laughing and they each took turns shouting the same phrase. Then we shouted it together. We screamed so much and for so long that our throats hurt. After weeks of sadness and quiet, the screaming was the release we needed.

We spent the next hour running around and playing. We pretended we were invisible and we attacked each other. We laughed, we shouted, we wore each other out. It was perfect and I know the kids enjoyed it!

Sometimes you just need to scream.

For the first time in nearly three weeks I did not go to the hospital. My mom and sister were going, so I decided today was a good day to start back with school. It took me a few minutes to decipher where we had left off, but we pulled it together and got the work done! We even squeezed in a few extra learning moments in there too, which was great!

The kids’ favorite part of the day was when we measured each other’s height using Unifix cubes. In case you were wondering, Baby E comes in at 53 cubes. Big E is 65 cubes tall and C is 69. I came in at a whopping 83 cubes.

Thank you again for your prayers for our family. Like I’ve said before, Dad’s progress is slow, but it is progress so I am grateful for that. ❤️❤️