The Packwoods Can't Get a Break!!!!!

Well, I guess they CAN get a break....a broken arm for Mason!!!! Yep, Gracie called yesterday in route to the hospital with Mason. He had been roller blading and he fell and his arm was broken. She didn't say "I think that Mason broke his arm" She said "Mason has broken his arm". There was a neighbor out there with him when it happened and she HEARD it snap! The neighbors were with Libby and Camden and Gracie needed me to go over to stay with the kids. She thought she would be gone for just a few hours. After getting to the hospital and taking away the blanket that Mason had his arm propped on, they found out that there was blood and in fact it was a COMPOUND fracture!!! This meant that he had to have surgery. So, another night for the Packwoods in the hospital. Both Eric and Gracie agreed that they would take one night anytime over the NINE weeks that they spent in Houston after Libby's heart surgery! They were so calm. I would have been freaking out! Mason called Whitney today and I heard her saying "I have been thinking about you all day, I just wanted to cry yesterday when I heard you broke you arm...well, you take good care of that arm and I want to sign that cast tomorrow!" They are like a little old couple in how they communicate! It is funny. Libby was at the hospital today and she almost sounded hyper when she was talking to me telling me that MASON was in the bed at the "hostital". She was probably breathing a sigh of relief that it was someone else this time! I dropped off gifts a while ago and Gracie called when they got home. There was drama going on in the background, so she is probably in for a LONG night. She kept apologizing for having to ask us to help out...she's the one who will check my kids' ears at the drop of a hat for an ear infection, she's made runs to the store when I have sick kids here, she has brought us dinner MORE than once....she seems to forget the things that she does for us!!!!
Well, pray for them. To top if off Gracie feels sick tonight, like stomach bug sick...so pray for good health at their home....she doesn't need that right now!

I killed Nemo!!!!

We have had a Beta fish for over two years. He has lived through non-frequent water changes, over feeding, forgetting to feed...he was a hearty fish...well, so I thought.
Today, I was cleaning the bathroom where he LIVED and I was using a lot of chemicals, so I thought that it would be nice for me to move him out of the fumy(is that a word?) room. So, I put him outside to enjoy some fresh air....fresh COLD air...he seemed to like being outside as he briskly swam around in his bowl. I went back to clean the bathroom, and then on to pick-up Blayne at pre-school...when I returned and went to get Nemo and bring him back in the house, I found him stiffly laying at the bottom of the bowl! I froze NEMO!!!! Oh no! I dipped him out into a smaller container, because I knew that my kids would want to see the dead fish. I told the kids on the way to piano lessons that I had accidentally KILLED their fish....they sat silently and then replied, "mom, can we have a hamster now?"....WHAT???????

Another Funeral Pondering....

I have had some people ask me about some of the funeral details from Coach Miller's service. The music was very worshipful and I found myself in a bit of awe as to who was leading it! My old youth director's daughter, Laney, led the music. She sang a couple of songs. Her back up was a childhood friend and neighbor of hers. Now the nostalgia set in at this point. She was a little girl that I babysat and she hung out with me on a lot of our youth trips. Whitney reminds me a lot of Laney as far as PERSONALTY!!! The childhood friend who backed her up was also a little boy that I babysat. He is all grown up now. He spent a semester at Hillsong in Australia! His name is Logan. Another significant piece of information is that Logan was our ring bearer in our wedding and Laney was one of our candle lighters. We have literally watched these "kids" grow up before our eyes. It was like a proud mommy moment seeing them on stage serving the Lord in this way! They were in a band together before Logan moved in Australia, so I am sure that they enjoyed singing together. Both of these kids grew up on the street where Coach Miller lived. They spent many a day running from one house to another. It was a very unique place to raise children and something that a young mom could only dream of! When I would babysit, it would be a packaged deal. Usually, the entire street of children would end up with me at whatever house I was babysitting for! Fun times....great memories...I considered these people family.
I have gotten a video off of youtube of Laney singing with her band. This is one song that she sang at the funeral, obviously it was much more toned down than it is in the video of her concert!!! Logan is the one that is playing the piano and comes in and sings with her on the chorus. I think that the camera pans over to him at the end!!! They're pretty good...I must say!

Our Expensive Doctor's Visit Today

Well, as I have mentioned before, we don't have good medical insurance. Well, it is what one would consider catastrophic insurance; meaning that IF we were in an accident and ALL six of us were injured, it would cover our expenses AFTER our huge deductible, so the sick visits to the doctor run me around $100 for just walking in the door! Last night, Blayne started running a high fever. He woke up yesterday with a gooey eye so after the fever, I thought that I had better take him in today to the doctor. Our pediatrician is out of town on vacation, so I chose to take him to a private emergency room that is nearby. They did a strep test which was negative, and the doctor diagnosed him with pharyngitis. I guess that is what you have when your throat is sore and red but you don't have Strep! So, off to the pharmacy we went with our prescription for the $4 antibiotic (I was proud that I got one on the Wal-Mart $4 list!) Well, the saving that I had made were negated when I opened my door and the wind gusted and banged it into the car parked next to me! The door hit the car just right (or I might say WRONG) and it cracked the rear tail light! ARGHH!!! So, I called my sweet husband and told him of my latest deed....he was nice and told me to put HIS work number on the note that I was writing for the car owner. I left the note on the windshield and Blayne and I hurried in out of the cold! When we returned with our $4 medicine, the lady was getting her groceries into her car. I walked over to personally apologize. She told me that the car was a rental and that the company had called her to let her know what had happened. I was a bit puzzled, and then realized that my savvy husband had used the license plate number that I had given him to track down the car (WHICH WAS A RENTAL!!!!) and find out where is was rented from. He had already talked to the manager and had things in place to get the car fixed! What a guy!!!! So, my quick trip to the doctor with Blayne is costing me HUNDREDS of dollars....oh, well, it is JUST money, right????

Great Wolf Lodge

We spent the last two nights at the Grapevine Great Wolf Lodge. We had a wonderful little get-a-way and it was a really neat place to stay. They kids really liked the log cabin suite that we were in that had their own little room with flat screen tv. Whitney and Blayne took turns sleeping the top bunk and Savannah went for the individual day bed in the cabin. The kids had a blast at the indoor waterpark and Savannah and I will head back up there after her basketball game this afternoon to enjoy the rest of the day at the waterpark. I am exhausted, but she really wants to go back, and so , here we go! The people next to us were up past midnight playing BINGO!!! Then, at 3 am, someone was yelling for a baby to be quiet that had been up screaming. Fortunately, my kids (and John I think) sleep through all of that, but it woke me up. Needless to say, I will enjoy the comforts of my OWN bed tonight. I have some pictures on this post of the hotel and I will post our pictures soon. We took a lot of them in the water, so hopefully some of them will turn out. We got the girls to be a little more adventurous and ride some waterslides that stretched them a bit...it was great. Reagan's favorite thing was probably the hot tub and Blayne really liked the pretend jet skis that sprayed water at people....he liked to shoot other kids with it!

Tommy Miller's Funeral Service

The funeral service for Coach Miller was amazing. It was a real honor to him as a person and really glorified the Lord. The choir loft was full end to end of football players and the track team. They had a wonderful slide show for us to watch was we waited for the service to begin. We got there an hour and fifteen minutes before the service started. The place was packed...more than 1300 people. A couple of coaches spoke. One was young and really admired and respected Coach Miller. His talk was sweet. The other, has known Tommy for years and has worked with him and been his neighbor. He told lots of fun stories and talked about who Tommy really was. It was sweet. But, to me, the best part was a video about 10 minutes long. It was of Coach Miller telling the athletes about having cancer and that he was going to be going to MD Anderson. He wanted to share with them about the hope that he has in Christ. He was so good to hear him share the gospel and encourage all of those boys. He told them that he trusted God and that whatever the outcome he was okay with it. He told the boys not to get angry with God, and that the Lord is the only thing that they should live for. It was very powerful and a bit overwhelming to see live video of the deceased sharing of his love of the Lord and his family and all of those boys. What a testimony! The music was good. Two "kids" that I used to babysit that lived down the street from the Millers did the music and a lady who has an amazing TENOR voice sang a song that rattles your soul! It was a special service and one that I will never forget. We went to the graveside service and sang a couple of hymns and after the short service we said our good byes. I saw people that I have not seen in years...some I didn't even recognize because they are all grown up now! Debbie, his wife, whispered in my ear when I hugged her "oh, Jen I am gonna miss him!" I know that she is. They were married 30 years and have spent lots of time together and were truly the loves of each other's lives...a sweet marriage. Cory and Courtney looked good, but I know that this is hard on all of them. As they come to mind, please pray for them and for their comfort at this time.

Savannah's Basketball Game

There has been so much going on around here that I have not mentioned Savannah's game on Saturday. John was concerned about how they would do. They have only practiced twice. When I got to the game, the other team had some tall girls and an aggressive coach. I heard him reviewing "plays" with them before the game started. Well, the game started and I was so impressed. The team (Savannah's) plays really well together. They have a great ball handler, and it seemed that they all can shoot! They picked up on the "plays" and started cutting them off on their screens. I didn't expect girls at this age to play as well as they did especially this early in the season. John is a quiet coach, so I have to be careful because I want to coach from the stands...I used to coach a little girls team years ago. Anyway, John is doing a good job and the girls seemed to have a good time and, well, this year they keep score and they won!!! I took pictures, but of course I don't have them yet. I will post when I do.