My sister, Olivia, my mom, and me
It’s been a very full two weeks. And almost every day I had planned to write this post… and then life happened.
So, instead of a peek into the past week, you get a peek into the past week and a half or so. Because we’re just rolling with life like that right now. 😉
After I came home from Dallas, I literally spent two days 100% at home, catching up on sleep, hanging out with my family, and getting a few projects. But mostly just sleeping and hanging out. Because I’ve learned that sometimes that’s just exactly what my body and soul needs… and in my new fully embracing life mode, this is something I’m really allowing myself to do. And it’s been a beautiful thing.
Last Wednesday, we made the trip back to Kansas to spend the Fourth of July with our extended family and friends there. It was weird, because for the first time ever, Kansas felt so very flat and treeless. I guess that’s an indication we’re acclimating to TN?
We didn’t have an agenda or schedule set up ahead of time, but we just lived life “by the seat of our pants”. Which always makes for an adventure! 🙂
Wednesday evening, all of my family (minus my sister and her family who live in SC), converged on my parent’s home for dinner, firecrackers, and hanging out. Our kids were so excited to get to hang out with their cousins — and Silas loved having a little boy to play baseball with.
Speaking of Silas, sadly he really, really struggled with asthma when we were back in Kansas. In fact, while he’s had almost zero asthma symptoms since we’ve moved to TN, it came back in full force while we were in Wichita. We spent a lot of time caring for him and trying to keep his asthma under control. Gratefully, we have a fantastic Pediatric Allergy Clinic that we work with and they were able to get us an extra nebulizer and medicine during the holiday weekend and keep tabs on how he was doing.
He’s slowly getting better since we’ve gotten back home and we’re going to be a lot more proactive before we head back to Kansas next time to hopefully prevent another flare-up like that. We’re also trying to pinpoint if it was actually the weather/climate/allergens in Kansas or if was something else entirely.
While it’s so hard to see Silas have a flare-up like he did this weekend, this episode makes us so very, very grateful that he’s been doing so much better in recent months. He used to have flare-ups like this multiple times per month, so we’re thrilled that this has become out of the ordinary. It also hurts our hearts anew for all of you parents who are dealing with children who have special needs and/or serious ongoing issues.
Kaitlynn spent Thursday with Grandma as a belated birthday outing. They went to the zoo and then came back and spent time together. I love for the kids to get one-on-one time with Grandma whenever possible.
Jesse got to spend the afternoon and evening doing a “ride-along” with one of his police friends. He’s wanted to do this for a long time and I was so happy that it finally worked out. In typically Jesse fashion, he had a lot of stories to share when he got back!
Gratefully, nothing too scary happened that night. I don’t think I could deal with having him be a part of the police force… just doing the ride-along was plenty enough for me to be worried about. My hat is off to all of you who are in the police force or have a spouse who is. We so appreciate the sacrifices you make and the danger you face on all our behalf.
While Jesse was gone, we went to my family’s house and then my family watched the kids while I went out to coffee at Mead’s Corner with my good friend, Ginger. Sadly, neither one of us remembered to get a picture of the two of us together, but we had SUCH a good time.
As I shared not too long ago, Ginger is a childhood friend of mine and we re-connected through Instagram last year. Her friendship has been such a gift to me and Thursday evening was just exactly that for me… a precious time of sharing our hearts, our struggles, and encouraging one another.
We didn’t get good sleep on Friday evening because of Silas being up with his asthma, so we slept in on Friday morning and then headed over Jesse’s family’s house to hang out. They recently got two go-carts and the girls pretty much didn’t want to get off of them.
It was kind of surreal to ride on a go-cart with my daughter while she was driving. It made me realize that it won’t be too much longer and she’ll be driving a car. Not sure that I’m ready to go there yet! 🙂
On Saturday, Jesse and Silas went to his family’s house again, while Kathrynne and Kaitlynn went with me to a family friend’s wedding. Some of the girls’ really close friends from Kansas were going to be there, so they were excited to get to spend time with them. And I was happy to get to spend some more time with my family, as well see other friends of ours.
After the wedding, we headed to the reception. My good friend, Susanna, was running the very busy coffee bar, so I asked her if I pull my hair in a ponytail and jump in and help.
I’ve known Susanna for years — actually pretty much all her life! In fact, our parents have known each other since fourth grade! Susanna and her family are dear, dear friends of ours and she’s been such a blessing to our family over the years — babysitting for us, working as our mother’s helper, and being a dear friend of mine. She and I have so many memories of different events and projects we’ve worked on together, so it was fun to get the opportunity to be serving alongside one another again.
Helping at the coffee bar ended up being quite an adventure. It seemed like just about everything that could go wrong did go wrong, including massive spills, coffee brewers overflowing, running out of napkins, and never being even close to keeping up with the long line of people wanting coffee, but we just rolled with the punches and had a blast — especially since all the “customers” were so patient with the wait! 🙂
Saturday evening, we stayed as long as possible with Jesse’s family… engaging in our usual teasing, bantering, and just general craziness. Jesse’s dad services medical equipment so he had brought home a pulse oximeter so we could keep tabs on Silas’s oxygen levels.
Well, in typical Paine style, we all had to try it out and compare and compete to see who could get the best reading. It was hilarious and then we started laughing when we realized what nerds we were for finding things like this so entertaining. 🙂 {See Jesse’s sister above in her “Am I okay? Are these readings good or bad??” pose.}
We left for home early Sunday morning and boy were we ever glad to make it back to our own beds! We didn’t do much to speak of on Monday, other than make Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Apple Dip and make it to Meaty Monday.
Oh and I also wrote that post on Being Done With Being a People Pleaser that’s been percolating in my brain for a long time. Your comments on that post just blew me away. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kind encouragement! Know that I read and appreciated and was touched by every single one of your kind comments and emails.
On Tuesday, my road manager, Liz, flew into town for meetings with me and my management team. I offered to pick her up at the airport… which I should probably have known better than to do since I kind of stink at navigation — especially when it comes to new areas. But I’m all about challenging myself to try new things, so I drove to pick her up… and promptly got hopelessly lost. Apple Maps told me I had arrived at the airport, when I had instead arrived at a warehouse that was nowhere near the airport.
After multiple tries, I ended up calling Jesse and he was able to track the location of my phone to figure out where I was — which was miles from the airport. Poor Liz had to wait for an extra 45 minutes or so while Jesse helped me navigate to the right place, since the maps on the phone weren’t being helpful at all.
I was never so happy to have arrived at a destination… and I’m pretty sure I will leave airport picking up duties to other people from here on out. 😉
We had a blast having a team lunch and then a meeting brainstorming some really cool possibilities for events the future. I’m so excited about all of the fun things we are planning and considering and can’t wait until I can tell you more!
Tuesday evening, we all went to Brian & Traci’s house to hang out — and we had so much fun and such great conversations that we ended up not leaving until around 11:30 p.m. Whoops!
Since we stayed out late on Tuesday evening, we got a late start on Wednesday morning. This little guy greeted me first thing in the morning and invited me to come join him for a tea party! He melts my heart and moments like these make up for all those hard mothering days.
Beth says
I’ve never heard of a coffee bar at wedding! Sounds delicious!
Chelsea says
What a busy week! As far as Silas’s asthma goes- from somebody who has had asthma and flare ups for as long as I can remember, I can tell you that almost anytime I travel somewhere other than my home (another state, and the southeastern portion of the state I live in)- I have a flare up. Since I know this, I can get myself medicine before it comes severe, but if I’m not prepared, it can quickly. It’s nothing against the place I’m visiting, I guess my body just isn’t used to everything in the air.
I also have other triggers that can occur in places that I’m used to- the biggest triggers for me are pet dander, cigarette smoke, and cold weather. It’s definitely a learning process, he’s lucky to have such proactive, concerned parents to help him figure it all out!
Chelsea says
meant to say *quickly progress. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Thank you so much for these helpful thoughts! We’re going to be more proactive with Silas when we’re planning to travel in the future as we know he’s had at least one other major flare-up as a result of traveling but I’d never connected the two (traveling and asthma) in the past.
Dawn says
Loved this!!
I’m now on the other end of the visiting. I spent my first 40 yrs of life spending weekends/weeks at my Grandmama’s with my kids. Now, she is gone. And with my two oldest married, and one with a 2 yr old, my house is the place they come.
I love when my two “big boys” come home with their wives and the little one. We get together here for birthday parties, holidays, etc. My parents and hubby’s parents all live within 3 miles of us, so they come over too. Let’s see, last Tuesday we had 19 here for a birthday party! Just another day in the life of a very large family!! You know all about that!!
I love cooking for them all, and the stories the older ones tell the younger ones about when they were little. It gets VERY loud and kind of crazy, but it’s OUR crazy. The youngers adore their older brothers, and they are all very affectionate with each other.
My oldest daughter, 19, left for Slovakia on Tuesday night after the party, so there was a good bit of crying as well. Yes, we are THAT family that bawls when one leaves, even for 12 days. LOL!! But it is the closeness that makes us cry, so I am good with that.
Now we are enjoying a few days of calm… well, as calm as it gets with 7 kids at home… until Jennifer comes back on the 20th. Then we will party again to welcome her home!!
Crystal Paine says
I had to smile at the loud and crazy comment… big families are usually pretty good at that. 😉
I hope your daughter has a wonderful trip!
Amie says
I’m sorry that Silas wasn’t feeling well. My son has asthma and we struggled for a while to get it under control before asking our doctor if she could refer us to a specialist. Seeing a specialist made a huge difference. He had allergy testing done and had several allergies. Within 2 years, the food allergies resolved. His asthma is managed with medications. The specialist took a pretty thorough history and his treatment plan includes standard asthma meds and treating a runny nose. My son’s runny nose irritates his throat which leads to coughing and then the asthma attacks. We began giving him children’s cold meds when he was pretty young – younger than the ages on the box, but with the specialist’s guidance for dosage. We also began preventative treatment. For instance, if he is going to be outside playing a lot, he does a steroid breathing treatment in the morning and the same with any time he has a cold. Certain months, seasonal allergies flare things up so we may do breathing treatments for a few weeks. It has made a HUGE difference. He rarely has full blown asthma attacks anymore. If you are struggling with it and have not seen a specialist, you may want to look into it.
Crystal Paine says
Yes, isn’t it SO helpful to work with a specialist?! When we were finally able to get the referral, we were so grateful and it’s made a night and day difference for him and the preventative treatment has been life-changing!
We’re going to have him re-tested for all allergies soon as they think he may have developed some new allergies since his last testing and that may be what’s causing some of his flare-ups this past year.
I’m so grateful to hear how well your son is doing!
Whit says
Don’t use Apple Maps, Crystal dear! I have learned that the hard way as well. They are known for getting people lost. I was heading to a zoo once and ended up in a field on the other side of town! As others said, download Google Maps and only use that! 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Yikes! Sorry you had a bad experience with Apple Maps, too! 🙁
Jen says
I laughed at your Apple GPS issue because I used it once to find a movie theater and it had me turning into an abandoned parking lot! The theater, however, was just across the street. I believe an Apple exec actually got fired because of the terrible maps program.
Google maps app won’t steer you wrong. It will help simplify your life 🙂
Crystal Paine says
I’m glad that at least Apple didn’t steer you in a completely wrong direction… but yes, it’s Google Maps from here on out for me!
Courtney says
So glad to hear that Silas is feeling better! Having an asthmatic child can be so scary.
My son struggled with asthma from the age of 7 until he was about 12 or so, and then it suddenly got much better. Now he’s 14 and seems to have outgrown it completely (fingers crossed!) My husband had asthma as a kid and he also outgrew it in his teens.
Crystal Paine says
So glad to hear that your son is doing better now — that’s such a relief as a mom!
Tina says
I will definitely be praying for Silas and your family. My son is 14 and endured years of asthma-related issues. They gradually got less frequent as he got older and now he’s completely outgrown them! I so remember the days of nebulizers, watching for diaphragm retractions and feeling helpless as he struggled to breathe.
We eventually invested in a pulse oximeter (bought it from Amazon, I think) and it made a world of difference! We could monitor his oxygen from home and it ended the “do we go to the Dr/ER or not?” agonizing question. The monetary investment was totally worth the parental peace of mind.
Not sure if you have found a pediatrician or even have needed one yet in Franklin, but I can’t recommend Mercy Children’s Clinic highly enough. Excellent staff, ministry minded and extremely caring. I’m not sure if this is still the case, but they used to let you pay on a sliding scale. http://mercycommunityhealthcare.org
Thanks for your blog, especially for the new direction that you’re taking with it. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Thank you so very much for the recommendation of the clinic!
And YES, it’s amazing the peace of mind a pulse ox gives! Jesse suggested we get one last year and I’ve been grateful for it many a time!
Tabitha says
Looks like a good week Crystal! I hope your little guy is doing better now that you are home! Thanks for sharing your week with us all! I love these posts too.
Crystal Paine says
He’s slowly been getting better and we’re so grateful!
Joy says
Asthma and allergies are super bad this year. My 15 y.o. son supposedly was “outgrowing” his cough-variant asthma. He has not had symptoms in 2 years. That is, until this year. He missed 20 days of school because of coughing related to his asthma. We are going back to asthma Dr this week. He has not had to go in over a year because he was doing so well. 🙁
Joy says
By the way, what a sweetie Silas is with his tea party. I got teary eyed when I read that. And, your daughter is such a lil’ fashionista with her adorable scarf. 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Yikes! I’m so sorry your son had such a hard year with his coughing and asthma. 🙁
Sarah says
Hi Crystal! Someone just mentioned in one of your posts a couple of days ago about using magnesium for anxiety. It’s also useful for asthma. 🙂 Here is a link to a clinical study (no product mentioned in it) involving children:
http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/1134/
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for sharing!
Charissa says
A Peek into Our Week=My favorite post (each week)!
Crystal Paine says
Thank you for your kind encouragement!
Jessica says
My son is 7 and has struggled with asthma, a never-ending croup-like cough, and non allergic rhinitis since he was 6 months old. After years of more medications than I’d like to admit he was on, I almost insisted he get tubes back in his ears for infections, and also have them removed his adenoids at the same time. Immediately he was a new kid! He is off ALL his meds, and hasn’t had one bit of trouble! Definitely worth looking into!!
Crystal Paine says
I am so very grateful to hear about how well your son is doing!! That’s fantastic!
lori says
Thanks for the shout out of support to the law enforcement families. My husband and I have been married 16 years, and it can be difficult at times.
Crystal Paine says
{Hugs!} And thank you for your family’s service!
Elaine Cabe says
So sorry to hear Silas had a rough time but it’s great you are proactive in his health and keeping tabs on it. My youngest son has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (there is no cure) but we pray and be as proactive in his disease as we can. Hopefully you will get answers that will help with his asthma. Sounds like you had busy week!!!
Crystal Paine says
{Hugs!} I just pray for you and your son.
Kim says
My daughter Katelyn has struggled with asthma. She was using a nebulizer a lot until our doctor suggested a different type of an inhaler. Now she has 2 inhalers, one albuterol for flare ups and one she’s to use every day (except I forget sometimes). That has helped tremendously. She hasn’t needed her nebulizer in well over a year. I can’t think of the name of the more often inhaler but I can get it if you’d like.
Crystal Paine says
The inhalers have made a huge difference for Silas! Since he got asthma when he was so young (18 months), we struggled to get a doctor to diagnose it, but once we started working with the pediatric allergist, they were able to run a battery of tests and get him on a regimen that has made a major difference for him and allowed us to use the nebulizer a whole lot less. We’re so very grateful
Libby says
I think it must be this time of year that has made these last two weeks for many women to be Crazy Busy! Like your family we have had allergies, weddings and necessary sleeping in days to follow! Our family (my husband, myself and our 16 month daughter) were all in the wedding (expensive!!) thank goodness God provided extra hours at work the two weeks prior to us being away for everything! Also had an epiphany moment throughout the wedding experience, no matter how hard you try, weddings are always going to have some kind of stress…this meant two days of only one morning nap, no afternoon nap and not in bed until after 11pm for our daughter…yes really bad….
Thankfully we went to my parents after the wedding and were able to leave our daughter in my parents care so that Jake and I could go away for a couple days to a quaint Mennonite/Amish town! Which was also a clearance deal for weekend getaways!!! We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with family but there is nothing like the feel of your own bed and home routine after a busy time away!! Hope you have a great week and am praying that you are able to get back on routine without too many hiccups!
Crystal Paine says
Weddings definitely can do a number on your routine, can’t they?! Especially when it’s someone close and most of your family (or all of your family) is involved in it!
So glad you and your husband got to have a fun giveaway — what a special experience!
L.L. says
So sorry to hear about Silas! I have asthma too. Deff get’s worse during pollen season and winter! What is a nebulizer?
You shud try ‘waze’ if you have an iphone. Even better than google maps!;))
What is a pulse oximeter? I assume it takes ur pulse? That would be good for me! Do u know were/if I can buy one?
Crystal Paine says
Thanks for the waze recommendation.
Here’s a good definition/explanation of a nebulizer from WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/asthma/guide/home-nebulizer-therapy
We use the Pulse Ox to measure the oxygen levels in Silas’ blood — to make sure he’s staying at a healthy level. (If he goes below certain numbers, we have to call the doctor and/or take him into the ER.) You can get a fairly decent Pulse Oximeter for around $22 at Walgreens.
Amy says
I’m a huge Apple fan–but Apple maps is awful!! Install Google maps on your iPhone and you’ll be much happier!!
Crystal Paine says
Done… and lesson learned for the future, hopefully!
Jennifer Brown says
Whewh! I’m exhausted after reading your re-cap! I smile because my husband is law enforcement and my youngest child is special needs and our pulse ox being out or on someone’s finger is as commonplace as a shoe on a foot.
We’ve been super busy as our eldest of our 5 children starts college next month. Her tuition is nearly 19K a year but I am happy to say that between scholarships, her part-time job, my part-time job (I homeschool during the week) we’re able to pay cash for her school this coming year. So no Sallie Mae. Literally every spare penny and second has had this family of 7 pitching in for the sake of getting her off to a good start.
I hope we all have a wonderful, restful week ahead. Be blessed!
Jennifer B. says
I often think of comments when I’m reading these comments, but usually don’t post. My name is Jennifer Browning, though, so after I read your comment and felt like I wanted to write something back, I decided that was a sign! c:
Just a note of encouragement for you about your eldest’s schooling. My daughter is starting her second year of college and I have found something I was told to be true — there are more scholarships (through the school) available to returning students. We found lots of new entering freshman scholarships for her to apply for last year, but she’s had more opportunities for this year year (and success, too, in receiving them). I realize this will be different at different schools, but I had heard this in general and it worked out for my daughter in an out-of-state school (out of the area we live — where I heard that).
All the best to all of you!
Jennifer Brown says
Thanks Jennifer 🙂 I have heard the same and will be seriously investigating this in the upcoming months. We have our second that will be starting after this year so I am investigating scholarships like a second job! Best wishes to you and yours. Thank you for taking the time to encourage me!
Crystal Paine says
That is SO wonderful about you all pooling together to pay CASH for your daughter’s tuition! What an amazing accomplishment!!!
Kelli says
If you haven’t found an allergist in the Nashville area yet and need one, I highly recommend Dr. Donald Brothers at Heritage Medical. He is absolutely fantastic. What area of Nashville did you move to? We are in Murfeesboro.
Crystal Paine says
Thank you so very much for the recommendation! I really appreciate it!
Misty Nicole Overstreet-Roberts (The Lady Prefers To Save) says
As someone who is asthmatic, I agree with the previous comments on oils; I use them daily. As for my week, it has been overall emotionally trying, but eventfully simply. Two weeks ago, I had to make a painful call to my Aunt to take over caring for my live-in Grandmother, as she is progressing in her Dementia, and recently has come to forget the last three decades of her life, which unfortunately includes me, as I am only 31. As my Grandmother raised me, and I in turn have helped care for her for several years now, moving her to another part of the country, and having to relinquish all control in matters of health, finance, etc. was very difficult for me. Coming home to see her empty room and sunroom was equally hard. So beyond work, family life, and the everyday happens of my life I have spent a lot of time in prayer and have started several home projects, including a completely upcycled dining room. I’m hoping each week gets easier, and I pray for an Autumn of happiness. Have an awesome weekend Crystal, and thank you for sharing your life; its so refreshing taking time away from out own issues, and spending time seeing how others are! 🙂
Crystal Paine says
I’m so sorry you had an emotionally trying week. {Hugs!}
Sara@ Save Money, Live Joyfully says
So sorry Silas hasn’t been feeling well. I pray this summer will be flare-up free!
As for our week, I started diffusing Peace and Calming last week, and my 2 year has been sleeping through the night for the first time in his life! So I’ve had a good week if for no other reason than sleep. It’s the little things!
Crystal Paine says
Sleep makes SUCH a difference! I’m so, so happy for you!
Lisa says
Tip….As much as I love Apple, Google Maps is better. I use it on my iPhone stead of the Apple Map app. BTW, you are such a blessing! May you continue to make your Father in Heaven proud!!
Crystal Paine says
Thank you so much for your kind encouragement! And lesson learned: It’s Google Maps from now on for me!
Jacki says
We spent the 4th with family and friends. It was a late call and a throw together lunch. All of us had fun.
Both girls continue to do math all summer long and they received their new books July 1st. They love them even if the lessons are longer.
We have been watching the world cup, going fishing, playing at the park, swimming and shopping.
My health went downhill this week and I ended up on meds for an MS flair. I am now taking it easy and recovering. The meds really are hard on the body but necessary. It will get better:)
Enjoy those kids, they are growing so fast.
Crystal Paine says
I love your attitude in the midst of the ups and downs of life! You’re an inspiration!
I hope your health improves with the meds. {Hugs!}
Jessica says
We’ve had a summer of plagues. All 3 of my kids had strep. Two of them had it twice. Then my 7yo daughter and 18mo daughter and I got the pukes. Then my son who is 4 years old and also has asthma with occasional severe flare-ups, got a mystery virus that landed us in the Children’s Hospital ER. Then a few days later, my toddler got hand, foot and mouth disease. Then I woke up with pinkeye. A few days later, my husband had pinkeye. Then two days later, all 3 kids woke up with pinkeye. Then mine spread into my eyelids and glands in the lower eyelids, causing a serious infection that required steroids and antibiotics and several visits to the ophthalmologist. So we have had 15 visits to the pediatrician’s office, 3 visits to the same day clinic for grownups, 1 visit to the ER, 2 visits to the ophthalmologist, 1 visit to the urgent care, and 10 prescriptions. YUCK!
Amie says
Oh, I hope this is the end of all this illness for you. My heart goes out to you. We’ve had our share of illnesses, but not like that.
Crystal Paine says
Yikes! I am so, so sorry you’ve dealt with all of that. So. not. fun!
michelle says
Thank you for sharing your weeks with us 🙂 I will say Google Maps App is TONS better and less mistakes than Apple Maps. We have be house hunting about a 1 1/2 hr away from our current home and my husband has commented many times how awful Apple maps are compared to Google. You might have better success with it the next time you need venture into the unknowns 🙂 PS last year my husband did the same thing for me when I got lost with navigation……there was construction not listed and he was so sweet to figure out where I was and talk me through it 🙂 He’s a keeper 🙂
Crystal Paine says
Sounds like both of our husbands are keepers. And lesson learned: no more Apple Maps for me!
kelli says
Your family story reminds me of when my grandpa was alive and we’d all be at their house for Christmas or vacation and he’d make us all take our blood pressure as though it was some sort of competition! Or he’d randomly yell out, “Everyone take your pulse!” ha. He could turn everything into a competition – mostly it was all in good fun…. *mostly.* 🙂
Crystal Paine says
😉
Jennifer says
Hi Crystal! Sounds like you had a busy 1 1/2 weeks! My husband has served as a Police Officer the 4 years we have been married/dating. Every night he works I just put him in the Lord’s hands and pray he will have wisdom, discernment, and be able to be a light for Him. Police Officers sometimes see the worst of the worst, and that’s not easy. They serve on a big mission field!
Libby says
Congrats on the 4 years with your man! we are 1.5 years and married for 2; you are right you just put them in the Lord’s hands even while times that may be difficult. It’s nice to know there are other women out there sharing in the LEO wife life!
Crystal Paine says
{Hugs!} to both of you. You are an inspiration!
Jen says
We had a pretty good week. I took my two kids (one and six) up to my parents house for the 4th of July holiday. They live in NW Indiana near Lake Michigan.
My one-year-old got to experience the beach for the first time (last summer he was on a cardiac monitor so we avoided the sand at all costs). My younger sister’s three kids (eight, six and three) crowded into my parents house with both of our husbands. My six-year-old was in HEAVEN!! She doesn’t get to play with other kids often as we live in the country and have no neighbors. She was SO sad when it was time to come home on Sunday afternoon. It broke my heart that we couldn’t stay longer or live closer, but…
Oh, and there’s a HUGE outlet mall in my hometown, so yeah, I went shopping.
Crystal Paine says
What a fun week!
Ann says
I too love these peeks into your life! My last week and a half has been crazy. My husband’s family met at our house for a reunion over the 4th of July. We had an extra 7 people sleeping in our house. His parents stayed in a hotel and spent the days with us. So instead of cooking for 5, I was cooking for 14! It wasn’t that bad – I purposely kept things simple and the real miracle was that there wasn’t any fighting. This week has been a complete shift – all three of our kids are away at camp. It is beyond quiet! My husband has been spoiling me by taking me out to dinner every night. It costs much less for just the 2 of us! And it is amazing how clean the house stayed! I missed them a lot though and can’t wait to have them home again on Saturday.
Crystal Paine says
Wow! Talk about quite the contrasts — from 14 people to 2 people! Enjoy the rest of your quiet week. 🙂
Dottie Fisher says
Wow what a fun time with family. Sorry for Silas and his asthma. What a pretty picture of your mom, sister and you. I can understand those crazy but fun weeks.My family came into town for my son’s wedding and its was crazy as well.Time needed to sleep and regain my footing but I wouldnt change a thing..Love your stories..keep them coming..
Crystal Paine says
So glad you got to spend time with your family… but yes, sleep after all of that is a good thing!
Carolynn @mylittlebitoflife says
So sorry to hear about Silas, Wichita is the worst for allergies. If you feel comfortable, try the allergy trio oils! (Lavender, Lemon & Peppermint) Diffuse them or my aunt is off of all her allergy meds by taking two drops of each oil in a spoonful of honey every morning (I would only do 1 drop of Lavender and Lemon with him and then stick a toothpick in Peppermint and use the toothpick to mix all the oils into the honey. )
Glad to hear you are taking time to just be, good for you! Take care!
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so very much for the suggestions!
Rhonda says
Love your personal family stories and the peek into your weekly adventures . Love following along and makes us feel like we already know you and your family!
Thanks again…
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for your kind encouragement!
Sarah says
Sounds like a busy and fun week! Your story about Silas sounded really familiar to me as my son had extreme asthma problems. Our pediatrician had us carry Coke (only name-brand) with us and my son would sip it while we got his nebulizer set up- something in it helps open up the bronchioles. We also had our son tested for food allergies- turns out he is allergic to peanuts. He would eat 2-3 pbj’s in a day as we had no idea. As soon as we switched to an alternative, he stopped having ANY problems with his asthma… it’s been almost 2 years since he had an astma attack. Hopefully, Silas will feel better soon!
Crystal Paine says
Thanks so much for the suggestions… and I’m SO grateful to hear that your son is doing better! What a relief!
wendy says
So sorry to hear about your son’s asthma – I have it too and one tip I got years ago from my GP has been so, so helpful and it’s this – I take an over the counter allergy/antihistamine pill every day as a preventative to my lungs overreacting to allergens/pollens in the air. I take this year round, and it has truly made a huge difference for me. The other tip a friend gave me that has also helped is that on the days when I am most likely to develop symptoms (mainly due to outdoor allergies here in CA or if I’m getting a cold) is to take a very long, hot and steamy as I can stand it, shower – I do this once in the am and once in the pm before bed – it helps so much! I agree about the soda helping – it’s because it has caffeine in it – but I don’t care for soda so I don’t do that tip, instead I put a wet washcloth with either cold or hot water placed over the math and nose and breathe through that while I am setting up my nebulizer. Hope these tips can be of use to your family.
Courtney says
It’s the caffeine in Coke that helps open up the airways. Our doctor told us the same thing {although he didn’t specify Coke, just that it should be something highly caffeinated}.
Heather says
I love these posts in review…makes me smile to see them return! BTW, I am one of those lucky wives who has a husband on the “force” 🙂 I just pray hard and love easy…it’s been 11 years so it’s our way of life.
Crystal Paine says
{Hugs!}
And thank you for your kind encouragement!
Libby says
congratulations on 11 years! we are at 1.5 years lol! While it is difficult at times and you definitely have to make your own family rhythm I wouldn’t change it for the world!
Heather says
Libby,
It is a different life, but I wouldn’t change it either! Keep on going…the early years are the hardest to figure out with the schedule/chaos/learning. My mantra is Pray Hard, Love Easy, ie: no drama…they get enough of that at work! 🙂 I joke my love song is the sound of that Velcro rip at the end of a shift of the vest coming off…home safe! I will pray for your LEO and you too!