July 2016 Update #90

In a normal quarter, problems beset us and we do our best to keep our noses above the rising tides. This quarter we actually completed projects and reached several goals.

Julie’s joys

The cardiologist came back with a positive report. Come back in a year. Otherwise, we just need to watch for obvious signs of problems: dizzy, sweating, fainting, etc. He expects her to grow out of this problem as it effects a number of young children. We haven’t seen any ill effects – even after several times swimming.

Julie lost her second tooth. I dealt with it as any father would, I let my wife take care of it.

Julie and Sarah finished the home-based pre-K curriculum before the end of June. Not too bad considering that they started in February. Julie finished the language, math and cultural studies, but didn’t quite make it through all the science experiments. They can always make that up in the coming school year.

Her eating has steadily improved along with her weight. She finally crossed the 40 lb. mark a few days ago. This allows her to abandon the big bulky car-seat for a booster instead. She remains two lbs. light of the median weight for her age. She has outgrown some clothes, but our friends donated other very pretty outfits which finally fit Julie.

Adam’s accomplishments

We only had one round of cold/flu this year. Compared to previous years, our symptoms were very mild. Adam ran several high fevers for about a month (103+). They came down with Tylenol fairly quick except for one that took a couple hours and a cool bath.

His speech only slightly improved for most of the quarter until I left for a week to care for my mother in North Carolina. When I came home, he talked constantly. His diction still needs a lot of improvement, but he works with us when we sound out words. He says some phrases quite distinctly, but mumbles out entire sentences. Still, better than point and grunt.

We took the kids swimming, playing in the park, and splashing in the fountains several times this summer. Both kids are getting more comfortable in the water. Julie learned that she could walk in the shallow end of the pool. I have given them their first swimming lessons, but they will need a lot more experience before we will all feel comfortable enough to forego the life-vests.

As a reward for finishing pre-school, both kids now use ABCmouse.com on two iPads we inherited from my mother and sister. Sarah also picked out some other apps to help both kids with their speech, math, and reading skills. They really enjoy the learning games – songs, puzzles, prizes, etc. Adam knows his numbers and most letters. Julie has begun to read simple words and operates the remote control on the DVR and Netflix. Adam alternately breaks or fixes the settings on the iPads depending on his mood.

Sarah’s successes

Since both kids can now play with each other without a helicopter mom, Sarah has taken on several additional projects. Her brother asked her to compose a song for his choir to sing this coming school year. She has the five-part acapella harmony completed. Just needs to finalize the sheet music.

We endured the plagues of Egypt again this year: little flies, big flies, crickets, and moths. They come out all at once – dozens in a single night. We cleaned and sprayed and swatted for hours. Sarah set a world’s record for number of flies killed in one evening. The Olympics committee has begged her to come to Rio to tackle their mosquito problem and dance around with a fly swatter dragging a long colorful ribbon of fly paper. She may yet save the 2016 games.

Sarah also took a few days to edit my new book. She always finds a lot of mistakes to help me lift the manuscript to the next level.

Andy’s attainments

I finally finished the retaining wall project after eight weeks of hard work. I installed over 1100 blocks and 280 bags of gravel – about 17 tons of material. I removed over a dozen stumps, laid hundreds of bricks, and moved dozens of yards of dirt. Some of the stumps were bigger than the kids.

After one-third through the project, my hands began to hurt. It got so serious that I came inside early one afternoon because I couldn’t close my fingers anymore. Sarah got worried and called out for some help. Some friends came by during and after the project to help me dig, lay down the blocks, and clean up the debris. It took about a month before my hands felt normal.

Another friend installed a new sink in the downstairs bathroom. You could say that I’m pretty handy around the house. I mostly stood around and handed him tools when he asked.

My cat had some problems late last year – lost her appetite and began aggressively grooming her fur. I changed her diet and helped her with issues in her fur and skin. She had begun to put back her weight, but then suddenly she began howling at all hours of the day and night. She would stop for a while if I held her. The vet gave her a clean bill of health, but couldn’t resolve the howling. Eventually, I had to say goodbye and leave her at the vet. She had a good run at 16 years. I don’t miss the fur balls, litter box, and competition at dinner time for my plate, but I miss my friend and companion.

My mother has also had a lot of physical problems over the past three months. I flew out to take care of her for six days when she went to the hospital for the third time in June. I’m not sure how much I accomplished, but it gave my sister some much needed relief from the stress of caregiving. She focused on work, relaxed in the pool, and got out of town for a short conference. The hospital discharged my mother to a rehab hospital, but they sent her back to the ER after 3 weeks. The doctors have run out of curative treatment options, so they are focusing on quality of life, pain management, etc.

That leaves my final announcement. I published my next book – The Fourth Kingdom: Our place in God’s timeline. It’s the first of a seven-book series on biblical prophecy available from Amazon.com in paperback and kindle formats at my author’s website: www.amazon.com/author/andrewjhorn. This 250-page book covers the present age and lays out the foundation for the rest of the series by building timelines from several passages in the Bible. I analyze the features of these days and discuss how they impact Christians today. I include chapters about the importance of end-times prophecy to everyday living and how to avoid the typical division usually associated with this topic.