Good and Bad

Just a quick post, so that I feel officially alive again! I haven't loaded new pictures for a month, so here are a couple of the most recent that I haven't posted yet: (Life is full of good and bad, and boy have I had some real exercising practice lately trying to do as I tell my children constantly, to focus on the good and COUNT BLESSINGS!!)

 This first picture is, of course, sweet Lucy, whose name, in my very sleep deprived state, I am sure can be rearranged to spell SOLACE, b/c that is what she is to me!! Though still waking most nights, she does take long 4-5 hour naps at least once a day, is so happy the whole time she's awake now, and just makes me feel peaceful and happy to look at her.  It's such a contradiction that this rather stretching stage of having 6 children has come about by someone so calm!

 AND...a bit of what my life has felt like most recently--this just being a tasty sample--Anne's foot burning red and swollen with cracked, bleeding toes as her eczema became (TWICE!) infected--her ears and sinuses decided to join in, so our runny-nosed itchy darling has seemed to be one big infection, and since January, has gone through 4 rounds of antibiotics--the last being the 3-shot program.  Her runny nose has actually cleared up since she's started some Usana vitamins from G&G Duncan, and after upping her steroid cream once more, her skin is looking almost normal.  Just ONE example of many that leaves me frustrated and discouraged at not knowing how best to help/comfort my children.  The computer being broken for the last MONTH has also lingered in the background, keeping me generally at odds with just about anything.  I felt like a genius yesterday, as I DID get things back up and running after installing my own PCI Express Ethernet card.  I spent, no exaggeration, over 15 hours on the phone w/ our ISP company and help tech people (our computer IS only 6 months old!), and when they both determined that they couldn't tell what was wrong (thus, the warranty could not be honored--how could they fix something when they don't know how it is broken??), so, after getting next to NO connection online all this time, and trying to manage at least my email from the library twice a week, we decided to just override the ethernet card they say can't be broken, and install this new one.  After this long, I was fine waiting for Brian to get to it, but then it became summer w/ Laurel Camp, Priest Camp, and lots more bishopric responsibilities that have further limited his time (and energy levels) at home, so I decided I could find a minute after all.
Besides, since our computer died, we also lost two microwaves (our first one broke, so we replaced, and installed a new one, which, believe it or not, overheated the first day, and stopped working!!!, so dear Brian re-replaced it again, and it is now working--all over 4 days!), the radiator in Brian's car (of course he had to use the van the LAST week of school carpooling!), Maddie's bike tire got crunched under the van, and our toilet wax seal needs to be replaced.  Those are just the out of ordinaries too--there's still the garden Brian's been finishing up, the grass and yard to work with, and let's not forget the basics like eating and clothes-washing that already more than overwhelm my days! So, to say my life has been full lately, is just getting started.

Still, I have to say the good overwhelms the negative, and problems and all, I'll take my hugely abundant life.  A "FULL" life means different things on different days, but I'm amazed and happy far more days than I'm frustrated.  We really are blessed, and just the chance to practice remembering that, has been good.  After a long, crazy day, I'll be holding Lucy before bed, thinking, "I could have a hundred of you for this sweet moment!" even if I'm often wondering how to get to the next moment! That's usually how it is--even with hard and frustrating times, the good moments really DO get richer and better and make it all so worth it.
A little more time to get things organized here, and we'll have fun updates and pictures from our already zooming summer!