There will obviously be much more to post later (along with pictures), but I figured that it was worth noting that we have made it to San Diego county and are having a great time. Grant hasn't lost any teeth yet, and the flights went well with the three kids- they behaved so well!

Eric finished his class in Vegas a day early, so he has been with us all day and will be able to start his portion of vacation time.

While he worked in Las Vegas, there was the opportunity to visit with Rick and Jess. I drove to the LA area (Marina del Rey) Monday and saw Heather and chatted until there was absolutely no time left for me to hit the road before rush hour (we could talk forever!). I did not want to get caught in LA rush hour traffic, and was quite pleased to travel with Lael in the carpool lane, making rather decent time. I've seen Erika twice now and her cutie pie Ethan. Met my brother's girlfriend, Tristan- sweet girl. Saw Matt. Saw Aaron and Becky's house and visited with my niece and nephew. Enjoyed some knitting time in the mild evening air last night on the patio here at Paul and Donna's house (I'm about half finished on the second front piece of Samantha with only the sleeves remaining!) And today we finally got to see my dad now that he is back in town from visiting friends back East. We ate at Islands with Colin and Tristan and headed to Westfield Shoppingtown (I'll always call it North County Fair) for Eric to buy a Chargers cap. Back to Fallbrook for dinner with Paul and Donna and now we are waiting for the kids to go to bed so that we can sneak out for a night out with Becky and Aaron.

The coming week holds a trip to the Midway, Disneyland, a visit with Eric's half-brother, a night out in a hotel without the kids on the water in San Diego, and the opportunity to see some more friends. Should be a blast.

Prayer request

We are nearly packed and ready for bed to get up for our extremely early flight, but I'm having a bit of trouble settling down after getting all worried about Grant.

If you didn't read the previous post about his trampoline accident, scroll down. He was such a trooper through the whole thing and much of the wound has healed amazingly well. The lip gashes are nice scabs and all of the swelling is gone. His gums look mostly good and are healing quickly. But, tonight I discovered that one of the teeth in front is loose and the gum line has a bit missing. Doing research on the internet, it seems that (at worst) the gum could be repaired with a simple gum graft or soft tissue graft. I don't want him to go through this. His tooth is sensitive because part of the root that would normally be covered by that gumline is exposed. Could this possibly grow back on its own? Its only been a week since the accident. As for the tooth, it is just his baby tooth and even if it falls out would be replaced eventually by the adult tooth. But I don't want that for him either, and I pray that the adult tooth has not been damaged in any way.

We were supposed to set up a dental consult after the major gashes healed, but the departure date for California crept up on us and we are left with no time to see anyone before we leave.

I know God is a God who heals and restores. Eric and I have already prayed for Grant. I offer my son up to the Lord who created him and knows how to fix him- I put him in His hands. I'd appreciate your prayers, as well.

I am not a Terrorist

I was just checking the TSA website for prohibitted items. I was concerned about my knitting needles because I've read in some knitting blogs that they might be a problem in my carry on baggage. They're allowed, but some screeners might not think so without consulting "the list". You've got to know your knitting rights! :-) To be legal, I've replaced my small scissors in my knitting bag with Grant's blunt-tipped saftey scissors and I plan on printing out the TSA list and throwing it in my bag too (just for proof). Obsessive? Maybe-but I'd like to knit during the flight if I have the chance, and I really don't want my project confiscated at the checkpoint. That would be awful!

So, what struck me as funny was all the other stuff on the list. Here I am, checking for knitting needles and maybe there is another passenger checking the list for... Spear Guns?! Could you imagine, "Drat! I'll have to put the ol' Spear Gun in my checked baggage." Same for Nunchakus, Brass Knuckles, Axes and Hatchets, Throwing Stars, and Swords...in case you were wondering.

Sitting in front of the computer has not been a priority these past few days, but I figured it would be nice to give a "highlights" entry.

-Grant's mouth is nearly normal. It is no longer swollen and much of the scabbing on the lower lip is falling away. The gums appear to be healing well, also. Not only is God the Perfect Creator, He is also the Perfect Healer.

-Yesterday we renewed our Nashville Zoo membership and enjoyed a picnic lunch and some strolling along the new Elephant enclosure with the Jones girls + Allen.

-Grant played in another soccer game this weekend and scored his first goal!

-Lael has found her feet and her "squeeky voice".

-Today I finished the right front of Samantha while knitting with Terri and Jenny. Very little knitting was accomplished with seven(!) youngsters in the house, but the kids had fun and the "big girls" enjoyed each other's company.

-Saturday night we had our very own, very cool "Movie on the Lawn" experience. The back of our house has one large, two story, uninterrupted wall that worked rather well as a projector screen for our Epson projector. So we spread out blankets and chairs, lit tiki torches, popped popcorn and bundled up to watch The Incredibles on "the big screen". It was lovely and we hope to repeat the experience a few times during pleasant weather season.

-We are shortly leaving for California for a two week business/pleasure trip. Looking forward to introducing Lael to a few people, seeing my family, and getting a bit of a vacation. This will be our first plane trip with three kids, so your prayers are appreciated. :-) Really, it should be good but we have a lot of prep to do in the next few days.

-I bought a new pair of glasses last night. I normally wear contacts, but would like to have the option of wearing glasses occasionally. I bit the bullet and bought "fun" instead of "boring". In fact, I was having trouble deciding, so I called Eric on my cell and said just that, "Fun or boring?". I now own an overpriced pair of black plastic frames that have a somewhat fifties flare. What I love about them is that they hide my thick lenses much better than the delicate metal rims I chose the last time I purchased glasses. But they're bold, and kinda trendy. Ooooh- Tisra's a risk taker now!

-While waiting for my glasses last night, I walked around the mall and picked up a new skirt and two tops. I really was trying to wait until I'd lost all this baby weight, but re-washing the same three outfits is getting silly. Slowly I'll get there and this will help "tide me over". About 15 more pounds to go. Gosh, that sounds like a lot.

Life has no do-overs

Now that I have the ability to post photographs, I was tempted to show you how incredibly awful Grant's face looks. I came to my wits and realized that there is nothing fun in that.

He busted up his mouth pretty bad last night. He and a friend were jumping on the trampoline (I know, they are complete no-no's and it's already disassembled and in the garbage). Grant was bounced to the outside and whacked his face against the bars/coils. Blood. Screaming. It was awful.

We called the doctor's office to see what should be done. The real concern was how to care for it and if he required stitches. He had pretty deep gashes in his lower lip from his teeth and we later discovered that he tore up his upper gums somehow. We live very close to a "branch" hospital and Vanderbilt Children's is just downtown. But did we want to wait in the E.R.? The pediatrician could look at it and do sutures, but their office was closing very shortly and we live about 20 minutes away (Note to self: consider finding a new peds office close to home even though you love this one so much). We ended up driving to Goodlettsville Pediatrics and asking them to wait for us. We were pulled back immediately- good decision.

No stitches, mostly because there was nothing to stitch. Dr. Patterson said it looked "like hamburger". The lip wasn't such a concern, but the gumline was. Could he have damaged the root area of his teeth? A quick call into an oral surgeon at Vandy determined that he should follow up in a little bit with his dentist, but that it could wait until the wounds heal more. Washing it out wasn't even necessary because his body kicked into serious saliva production mode for a little "self-clean".

It all could have been so much worse and I thank God that He protected Grant from a lot of trauma. I was fearful that he'd have to get stitches, or be held down to irrigate the wound. And he was such a trooper; I know I would have been a bigger baby about it all.

I still have a knot in my stomach and I feel so much guilt over letting him jump on that thing. Regret and guilt. It is certainly one of those decisions you wish you could turn back the clock for and do-over. But life has no do-overs.

Progress on Samantha. Back finished, right front begun.

Jellies! My daughter is wearing jellies on her cute little spring-weather feet. My mom would shake her head in disapproval, were she alive. I can remember pleading like crazy to wear jellies back when they were so cool. Now that I'm a mommy, I understand. They are terrible for your feet... no support, no padding. They invite blisters. But, hey, Lael can't walk, so those reasons fly out the window. And, yes, my mom finally allowed me to wear them and she proved her point- I was uncomfortable and I got blisters. I'm sure I'll have fun child-rearing battles of my own regarding fashion in the years to come. Someday I will be the mother of a teen girl. Let the praying begin!

I absolutely cannot live like I did last year, with the ants having their way with my kitchen! We didn't spray this previous spring and summer because I was pregnant, but even now, I am not thrilled with the idea of chemicals. It seems somewhat hypocritical of me to purchase organic groceries only to slather my home and garden in pesticides.

Well, the first good warm weather rain came this week and I've noticed a few roaming ants. Time to do some research into alternative remedies. Look what I found.

Wooo Hooo! I have the back piece of Samantha done and I am just about to cast on for one of the front sides. After the complicated lace and cable stitches of S.W.S.C.P.T. ("shoulder-warmer, shrug, capelet, poncho thing-y"), I find that this pattern is a breeze!

Proof that without God, people search for the "spiritual" experience that will fill the void for them. Our tolerant society might say, "whatever works for you", but I find this sad. There is a man who was "suspended" so that we wouldn't have to: He was pierced through His hands and His feet and hung with all His body weight pulling on those wounds. From a cross. And He died. And He lives again. His name is Jesus and He went through all of that for us to be close to God without being hindered by sin. He did all of that so that we wouldn't have to pay $100 to hang by hooks to feel good or feel spiritual.

Grant's working on some lessons while I clean around the house. The windows are open and it's a beautiful day. But I still think it might take 5 days for the glue to dry on this. Maybe our next lesson should be on applying glue.

Welcome Krista Weber!