JULY????!!!!

Where has the month of June gone? O.k., depending on when you read this, it is still June, but come on....I am still wondering where in the world January and February went. We have been enjoying the beautiful weather by sitting on our deck a lot! Didn't do much, as Scott is still swollen and sore from surgery. We did get that one weekend out, but decided to just take it easy and let him heal. Tonight he is horribly sore, probably due to the cold front and rain that is making it's way to our area. The birds have been chirping up a storm and have been eating a TON of food! Guess they don't want to be out in the rain. I split a coconut open this weekend and hung the 2 halves in our tree! Great to watch the birds nibble on it. I also made a fairy garden on our deck, complete with a little fire ring! Then I made a small one and put it on Mom's porch for her to find! I just love those little gardens. So many ways to fix them up.
We are planning on going to my Aunt and Uncle's for the Fourth of July for a cook out. Not sure what I am supposed to make to take along yet, but I'm gonna volunteer to make a cheesecake, as that sounds really good right now! I have a couple new recipes that I might have to try. I am off Thurs. thru next Monday!!! Glad to have an extra long weekend with Scott and the kids. We are also enjoying our new kitten, Chowder! He is so funny to watch. Right now he's chasing his tail in a box! We think he's got to be getting dizzy.
Erica is packed and ready to head to the Mennonite conference with her youth group in Columbus tomorrow! What fun for all of them. I am so thankful for the sponsors and their willingness to take the kids and have this experience with them.
Enjoy a safe and fun Fourth! ;)

AWAY FOR THE DAY!!!

We have been trapped at home for over 2 months! Since Scott's pain has been so bad, other than the trips to the Dr. and to Mom and Dad's now and then, we just haven't left Holmes County. I am happy to report that on Saturday we went to a movie and out to eat!!! :) The kids and I even ran into a couple stores for a few new summer items! Felt so good to go away as a family. We saw the movie, "Imagine That". Good movie and then we ate at Red Lobster! Delicious as always.
We were back to the Dr. on Friday and got a good report. Scott will be starting 6 weeks of PT this next week. The Dr. said there is a lot of inflammation around the knee cap area. He felt it was from Scott's weakened muscle in the upper thigh, so PT will be concentrating on that area. He said if that is strengthened up, it should better support the knee cap and keep it from causing inflammation. Overall the pain has been reduced. Still using crutches for support, but the pain is probably 1/2 of what it was. Seems to be mostly in the area of the incisions, so we think even more of that will leave!!! :)

A BEATUIFUL DAY!

Scott's surgery revealed that he does not need knee replacement and shouldn't anytime soon! That was a plus, but the Dr. said he never would have believed it before he looked inside the knee. He found one area that was needing some "cleaning up" and did that. Now we wait and see how it goes. Overall, Scott's pain seemed a bit better until last evening. Some storms moved thru to the north of us and caused the pain to really escalate. So, we are really praying that the surgery did it's job and in the next couple of weeks we can see improvement.
On another note, our Sunday School class arrived early Saturday morning and proceeded to mulch all our flower beds, trimmed the trees, dug up an old tree and tore down an old swing set!!! So much done, in such a short amount of time. To thank them, I made desserts to the 8 families represented and delivered a lot of those last night. I could never have gotten so much done in one day as they did in just a couple hours!
Erica has now gotten her driver's license and is enjoying this new freedom. Bible school starts this week, so that will be a big help that she and Chris can come and go as needed instead of waiting on a ride! They are helping the in 4 and 5 year old classes!

SURGERY

After a bunch of frustrating weeks of running to different Dr.'s, we will finally have surgery for Scott on Wed. the 10th. The Dr. told us he is not sure if this will solve all of the pain issues, but he is willing to try. I put in a call to Scott's old ortho Dr. and he called today to let me know that he feels this is the best thing to try at this point. I had talked to so many different Dr.'s and had so many conflicting suggestions that I needed to hear from a Dr. that I have known and trusted over the past 9 years. He was very nice and said this Dr. is very good and that he will be in contact with him after the surgery to see what he discovered! Not sure of the time for surgery yet, but it will be on Wed. in Garfield Heights (CCF has space at Marymount hospital).

On another note, we have a new little kitten named, Chowder that has joined our flock of cats!!!! He appeared at Erica's boyfriends house on Friday and he delivered it to us! :) Cute as a button and lots of fun. Then on Sunday, I had to take one of our other cats, Kiki, to the vet! His ear was HUGE with ???? blood and he had a bad ear infection! He had minor surgery today and I pick him up tomorrow after I take Scott to the Dr. to check his BP and to my Dr. to get allergy shots!