Ice Cream for All

After several devastating baseball losses, Daelyn's team WON tonight. He told us that his hit brought in three runners and his best friend, Kolbe's, hit brought him home. He was very excited. We actually missed the first part of the game because of functions at the same time, but got there about halfway through the game.

In celebration of his first baseball win, we went to McDonald's for an ice cream cone. Then we sat in a parking lot decorating our cones with our tongues, putting curled swirls on them, poking holes in them . . . Dane fashioned a buzzard with a long nose, Deanna came up with a great buck-toothed skeleton, and Daelyn had an awesome iceberg. We all had a great time just sharing ice cream cones.

Then it was home and to bed for the children. Right now we need moments of normalcy like that. Yes, I said 'normalcy'. Having fun together over the littlest things is natural for our family. We all laughed, wasted time together, and enjoyed each other. And at the end of the day, we'll all sleep a little more peacefully tonight.

Dane had a scare tonight which just serves to remind me how raw we all still are over my mother-in-law's death. My mother was in the hospital over night last night with chest pains. It looked like she would be coming home this evening. I called all the children together in one room to discuss our busy night and make sure each of the children understood timing and what was going to happen. As we waited for Deanna to join us, Dane looked at me and quietly asked,

"Did Grandma die?"

"NO, son, she's at home in the bathtub!" After the last month, calling the family all together means some catastrophe to him, and with Grandma being hospitalized, he assumed it was her.

At least he's sharing his fears and we can talk through them. And Grandma's test didn't indicate a heart problem, which was VERY good news.

We just have to keep plugging through this season as we attempt to recover. It certainly doesn't seem to be happening quickly.