Our Texas winter wonderland

Another update: As of an hour ago our water is gone. The kind home owners brought us a case if waters today and when I noticed the water was so low this morning I filled the tea kettle, coffee pot, and other bottles and containers that I would find so we would at least have something if it went out. I have no idea how long they expect it to be off. I do love that my Faith is always being stretched and I am constantly learning to trust God to provide through different situations.

Update: Please pray for Brent today as he travels back to TN to do some clean up of the two trees or parts of trees that fell in our yard during the ice storm. He will head back to Texas Monday or Tuesday and bring the other kids with him. We are excited to be together in a few days. Also please pray that we keep our water. We are down to very low pressure today and many are losing water due to so many busted pipes. And pray for all the people who are still without power, dealing with water damage in their homes, and losing so much. Pray as these stores deal with trying to restock and get necessary items to their customers. Brent tried to go to the store to get some things for Alex and me before he leaves and the picture below is what he found. He got creative with what was there so we do have food. Wal Mart is still closed because they have yet to get their shipments.

As we continue this journey we find ourselves buried in loads of Texas snow! This girl might be the cutest little snow baby around! Sorry for the length of this one. There is just too much wonderfulness to share!

We have been so very blessed to have not lost power until yesterday and even then it was off and on all day. The counties all around us were out of power for three and four days. We are thankful to have had the luxury of going to play in the snow and then come inside and warm up. So many in the area have not had that. The internet was gone until this morning and cell service has been hit or miss so we haven’t talked to the other kids as much as we would have liked but that was the worst of our outages. Last Friday afternoon, on our way home from Dallas, we heard about snow storms coming and decided to go ahead and get a little extra from the store just in case. Thankful we did because as of yesterday the stores in this town are sold out of food and closed. When Wal mart closes its doors for several days its a bit strange. They are hoping to be able to begin stocking shelves tomorrow but have not announced yet when they will re open. This is one of those situations where we may not have the things we would prefer to eat right now but we have food and are thankful for it. Easy to take for granted the ability to just run to the store when we are missing an ingredient or wanting a certain something.

When the weather turned cold we got her a cold weather mummy sack sleeping bag so we could take her on walks. This was before we knew about the snow but it turned out to be a really great purchase. This bag has kept her warm and dry and allowed us to give her lots of snow fun we likely would not have been able to provide otherwise. She is heavy and awkward in the cast and add the sleeping bag and it’s really difficult to carry her. After the first time we carried her out to the little sliding hill we got more creative. The first day we were putting her in the kayak and sliding her down the hill that way. She and the little boy who lives here had fun with that.

Alex and I made snow angels. We decided hers is a snow worm angel because of the sleeping bag! It was pretty funny discussing with her what it was most like! She is so silly.

Later that day we discovered a much better way to get her places and this opened up a world of adventure! I am going to try again to post videos but they sometimes work and sometimes do not. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong but hopefully you will be able to see her sliding and enjoying the snow. She loved that she could reach out and grab some snow to eat as she was pulled along. It is gorgeous out here and we are enjoying the outdoors as much as we can stand in the cold. We didn’t exactly pack for a blizzard!

The sleeping bag has also been a wonderful sled for her. This hill is the perfect size for her. She loves it every time and always asked for just one more time. We discovered if we stuffed a foam camping mat inside a trash bag it makes a great sled for me so she and I have had many races down the hill. Pictures aren’t as much fun as the video but you get the idea. We made snow cream, enjoyed many cups of tea and hot cocoa, and of course played with legos, read little house in the big woods, and watched plenty of movies.

The other day we found the lake was beginning to freeze and spent most of our outside time skipping chunks of ice across it. It was like many little birdies singing to us from the lake. We had great fun and would have loved to stay much longer but it was so very cold. That night we got another big snow which covered the ice. Alex and I were a little sad it didn’t sing anymore. There were many wonderful adventures this week. The cold weather is not the easiest with the cast but it has been worth it.

Today the sweet homeowners got out their ATV and took it for a run around the property. When they got back they offered it to us to take Alex for a ride. We had another wonderful adventure and saw things we wouldn’t have been able to see with her. There were loads of deer and they would just stand there watching us drive by.

Brent and I took turns having walks in the snow today. We both needed a little break. As I have said Alex is handling everything so well but she does need constant attention and that can be a bit difficult so it was good for us each to have that little time. While Brent was walking Alex and I did crafts together. First we played with modeling clay and then I worked on my crochet project. Alex created this man she calls her sheriff, secret agent, rock star, King! She even made up a whole story for him. I thought he looked like Mr. Peanut! She is pretty creative.

Back home in Tennessee the other children are having a wonderful time in the ice and snow. We are thankful for so many family and friends who are loving on our children so well while we are away. It is such a joy to get photos and videos of all of their fun and hearing their laughter and seeing so many smiles. We can’t wait to get them out here so we can all be together again but glad they have had so much fun at home.

I have had lots of people ask if the pictures are telling the real story!! 😄😄 My answer has been that yes it does because all of the pictures are of daytime! The days are wonderful. She is past the worst of the itching, which we are all thankful for. She is active and joyful and rarely needs anything for pain. When she is not active she still wants someone to rub or squeeze the little foot but says it’s not because she hurts just that it makes her feel better. Not completely sure we are communicating well on that one so we continue to have the discussion just in case we are missing something. Nighttime is still another story. We have a bedtime routine and she goes to sleep quickly and easily but it does not last longer than an hour or so. When she wakes she is super fussy and just wants someone touching her most of the rest of the night and even then is fussy so none of us are getting much sleep. This has been typical sleep cycle for her following each fracture and surgery but hasn’t ever lasted this long and we have never really figured out the best thing to help her get through it. Eventually she does every time. We were able to speak with the doctors at Scottish Rite about all of this the other day and they were very encouraging that the steps we are taking are good and made several additional suggestions which we are trying. When we ask her what’s wrong she often tells us she just feels fussy. We pray with her, sing to her, listen to her sleep music and get her back to sleep for the next little stretch. I do feel like she is more emotional during the day about certain things that aggravate her and feel like the distractions of daytime help her manage better and at night she doesn’t have that. The medication she is on for the nerve pain and healing may be contributing to some of this but it is hard to know for sure. Please continue to pray for her little heart as she continues down this road toward healing. The doctors did say that even though she has done so well and is handling things with such a great attitude there are likely to be emotional struggles along the way. We want to be careful to help her navigate all of this without putting thoughts into her head that aren’t there but to also make sure we aren’t missing anything we need to notice. Of course this is constantly on our hearts and minds for all of the kids and Brent and myself. In all of our thankfulness there are still so many things on our hearts. Thank you for being such faithful prayer warriors.

For Alex’s recovery wish list see this link. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3I926UO5WYC20?ref_=wl_share

For the GoFundMe see this link. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3I926UO5WYC20?ref_=wl_share