Wheelbarrows and Whatnot

When you are 90 years old... the rule of thumb should be... don't wrestle with a wheelbarrow because the wheelbarrow is probably going to win!

Rob and I have been so blessed over the years to have both his mom and my dad living near us.

Dad lives next door and Mom lives about 5 miles away. We see Dad just about every day and Mom about 2-3 times a week. 

Every Wednesday night I cook dinner, we load it into the car and then drive over to Mom's house to share it with her. Our three youngest love going because Gran has a bunch of cool riding toys in the garage and they love racing around on them. She also has a massive yard and satellite TV on a gigantic screen. For our satellite/cable deprived kids... going to Gran's definitely has its perks. 

Last week we headed over with a pot of soup and loaf of homemade banana bread. 

Much to our shock and dismay, an ambulance was parked in her driveway when we arrived.

The wheelbarrow won.

When you are 90, PLEASE... wait for your son to come and help you haul away the sticks you picked up in the yard. Better yet... wait and let your grandchildren pick up the sticks.

Because wheelbarrows are heavy and when you normally use a walker to walk... hauling away a load of sticks with an unwieldy wheelbarrow is not a good idea.

It's just not.

Poor Mom tried so hard to wrestle that wheelbarrow into obedience. Instead it tipped over, pulling her down with it. She came away with a broken arm. It could have been worse. 

She's in rehab for now, longing for home and kicking herself for trying to win against a two wheeled beast.

On Thursday Rob and I are heading for the Great Homeschool Convention in South Carolina. We aren't going alone. Nope. That would have been utter bliss but we can't leave little girl. Instead we will have a noisy van filled with three littles who love traveling and consider going to conventions the highlight of their days. Thankfully one of our amazing caretakers will be traveling with us as extra hands for Mary! 

We already have all of Mary's food weighed and measured (thanks to a sweet friend) which is a huge load off our shoulders. We just have to pull out the meals and serve! How awesome is that!

We are hoping and praying that little girl's seizures are manageable (the roller coaster ride continues) and that the change in schedule doesn't send her into a tailspin. 

Her favorite part of the convention will be discovering that our hotel has a pool. She is going to be in heaven!

The little boys are convention pros. They love helping us set up our booth and enjoy handing out flyers to people. John gets the best responses... people see him with his canes and will cross the aisle to take the flyer from his hands. He's always quite proud of how many flyers he gives out. It's a huge boost for him because he tends to be shy around people.

Aaron has a natural way with people. He makes friends all over the vending hall. He walks around talking to other vendors, flashing his dimples and warming hearts wherever he  goes. I will often have vendors stop by our booth to tell us how much meeting Aaron meant to them. 

Poor Rob's going to be stretched outside of his comfort zone.  I am speaking four times over the three days which means he's going to be minding our booth alone every time I am gone. For a man who is a natural on stage acting and singing, talking to people about our curriculum just about does him in! 

It's going to be a wild, fast, work-focused trip! 

If you homeschool and are going to be in South Carolina this weekend - come stop by our booth - BiblioPlan. It's going to look something like this....




If you homeschool and are NOT going to be in South Carolina... then check our out website!!