Saturday, December 29, 2007

Diamonds in the Rough...

Where to start...

As I said in my last blog, we've been fighting head colds, etc.
Believe it or not, I was actually happy when it hit me before Christmas - thinking it would be gone before the big day... silly me.

It looks like 2007 still held some surprises in store for our family.
Let's take a look at what they could be...

After hacking until I could no longer breath, I decided to go to the doctor on Thursday. Good news! I'm not just sick in the head... It's moved to my chest. I now have bronchitis... again.
(Bronchitis is the gift that keeps on giving as it will keep you hacking for four to six weeks. This is a nontransferable illness and void where prohibited.)

But wait! There's more!
By late Thursday afternoon Ben tells me his ear is bothering him. Nothing bad, and he's a teen so from his description I attribute it to a blemish in the ear canal. Since it's an hour before the doctor closes, we decided we would go the next day also knowing that they were booked, because we were just there for me.

Fast Forward to 10:30ish PM. Ben is now in tears and I feel like the worst mother in the world for trying to put this off until the next day.
Early Friday Benjamin heads into the doc to find out he not only has an ear infection but he has ruptured his eardrum as well.

But wait! There's still more!
Friday morning Brandon is still struggling with what seems to be an allergic reaction under his eye. This is an easy one for a mom, right? Wrong.
My thought is to take Benadryl and place some ice on it. When he gets home from work, it's even bigger. Now once again, we are within one hour of the doctor's office closing. You would think that I have learned my lesson and would call anyway, right? Absolutely... not. Since he works at a place with lots of animals, I think it's something to do with that so I give him more Benadryl and ice and tell him to rest.
I should also note that besides this golf ball size swelling under his eye, he's acting just fine. Any mom will tell you that when your children can still pick on each other, they're on the mend. I'm here to tell you ladies that this is not always true.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful friend who lives down the street and who happens to be a nurse stop by to help us figure out what this mystery mass/bump/lump/looks-like-you-should-see-what-I-did-to-the-other-guy thing is.

It turns out it's nothing less than cellulitis. Lovely. I'm o for two in the mom department this week. So as I type Matthew has taken him to get some emergency care.

I would love to tell you this is the end of the story, but it looks like it may be continued. Alex woke up with a cough that matches mine and a sore throat to boot.

What really stinks is this was a vacation week for Matthew. So instead of enjoying his time off, he's been busy with the Days of our Lives and running Haney Hospital.

Alright, so God wants me to praise Him in all things...
In some ways this ones a thinker. I mean, I could hit the usual, "thanks for my family, thanks for our home, thanks for yadda, yadda, yadda..."

But as I was contemplating this, it was actually a really cool God and me moment.
Even though I failed miserably at being a mom these past few days, He gave me some real gems to hang on to.

The night before I went to the doctor, I remember two things. Coughing and hacking until I couldn't breath and receiving a gift from Brandon.
He went to the store and bought some fun trinkets, a cooshie pillow and a card. The card was funny and wished me well, but it was the thought that struck me. He actually took the time to go read cards and find one he liked for me. Inside he wrote that he loves me and hopes that I feel better soon. Now, that may seem fairly normal to some of you, but I think this is the first real card Brandon has ever bought for me on his own, and not only signed (without me having to hound him to do so) - he did it in his own name no less (not a video game character).

Another precious memory that I will have forever is when I fell asleep watching tv with Ben yesterday. When I woke up, he was turned towards me (also asleep) cuddled in as he did when he was just a little guy. Boy do I miss those days, but thanks to this crazy time, I am able to thank God because He gave me one more of those special moments.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

A Partridge in a Pear Tree...

I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged.
Yes, it's Christmas and we're all busy, but this is usually my sanity outlet.

Because my head is so full of a nasty cold and I feel as though I'm traveling through a never ending tunnel of snot - I thought it best to make use of my musical talents. What musical talents you may ask? Well... I have none. My gift to you is that you will be reading it as opposed to listening to me sing it.


The Haneys 12 Days of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
A head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Six(teen) loads of laundry,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Seven days of shopping,
Six(teen) loads of laundry,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Eight hours of cleaning,
Seven days of shopping,
Six(teen) loads of laundry,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Nine TV specials,
Eight hours of cleaning,
Seven days of shopping,
Six(teen) loads of laundry,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Ten cups of coffee,
Nine TV specials,
Eight hours of cleaning,
Seven days of shopping,
Six(teen) loads of laundry,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Eleven days of planning,
Ten cups of coffee,
Nine TV specials,
Eight hours of cleaning,
Seven days of shopping,
Six(teen) loads of laundry,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Twelve days of varying temperatures,
Eleven days of planning,
Ten cups of coffee,
No wonder I'm so sick,
Eight hours of cleaning,
Seven days of shopping,
I know you're so singing,
Fiiiive Chriiistmas Parties!
Four dozen cookies,
Three teenagers arguing,
Two Tylenol,
And a head cold and sleep by the tv...



Merry Christmas :)

Saturday, December 08, 2007

A Purply Sort of Day...

Well... we did it.
My son now has bright purple hair.
This is more of a follow up to Somewhere Over the Rainbow

It was actually a lot of fun, though I still only imagined coloring hair with my daughter one day, this will have to do.

To begin, he bleached it first, which was actually more startling than the purple. I'm not kidding - you needed sunglasses to look at him!

Then the color went on today.
Unfortunately, the internet is down on my computer so I can't get a real picture for you. So with the aid of Google, I searched high and low to come up with something that would be close.

Here he is (minus the girly dress and green nose).




Honestly, I can't wait to see if he glows in the blacklight tomorrow at church. :D

Sunday, December 02, 2007

20 Years & Counting...

Matthew and I celebrated our 20th anniversary a few months ago.
I can't even begin to tell you what a special time it was.

He took me on a surprise trip to Fredricksburg to a B&B.
One night we spent the evening playing games and listening to a CD he made of all the top songs from the year we were married.
He found a bunch of fun facts about the year we were married and we laughed through those the next night.
I did, however, find it interesting that on the CD of songs he made, he didn't add the one we considered to be "our song". I found out why, the next day... he put it on a DVD which has to be one of the best gifts I've ever received in my entire life. A DVD of our twenty years together (linked on youtube below).

There are a few pictures that just mark the ministry and transitions we've gone through. One that we are both in (but you would never know it) is the one where the kids are in a Chapel/Clubhouse/Church/whatever-you-wanna-call-it/show sort of picture.
He and one of the other ladies in the ministry are leading the class and I was doing the puppet (so I'm behind the stage).

Anywho, you must also look past the never changing hairdos.

ADDED NOTE:
The "wedding pictures" you see of us (with our children in them) are actually pictures from our tenth anniversary, we were able to do a vow renewal.
It was a really awesome time and came together in weeks.

We were originally married by a Justice of the Peace. I always used to say that for our ten year anniversary we could renew our vows, but honestly, I never believed it would really happen.
Weeks before our tenth anniversary Matthew said he wanted to just check and see if the church was available and it came together practically overnight. Once people heard what we were looking to do, they wanted to help and that's really how we were able to have a "real" wedding. Another gift from God.

Back to the video:
I cry every time I watch this. I realize how blessed I am to have such a wonderful family and that God has enabled me to be here with them every step of the way.
The journey has truly been a gift...