Mercy- 1 day Post Op.

Yesterday was a long, long day. All went well, but it was long.

Mercy went into surgery at 12:30. The "two hour" surgery lasted until 4. Dr. Elluru was able to get everything from near the cheek and ear, and cover all but less than 1/2 inch of the scarring. Once the swelling goes down, I think that area will look great.

At the temple/ eye, he was able to get the part that hung over the eyelid pull up so now the eyebrows are symmetrical. Most of the scarring remains, unfortunately, but he thinks that future procedures ("Derm Abrasion") will help make them less noticeable.

She was quite nauseous last night, but seems to have recovered today and is eating more. As long as she can keep down solids we will be released this morning. The swelling is also worse today. Once all that goes down I will update.

Thanks for praying! Keep them up. We still have a long way to go.

Slip N Slide Fun

Fun with friends on the farm.

Not to be confused with the Funny Farm.

Although sometimes that is appropriate.

But we won't talk about that.

All photos are compliments of Eric.

The moms were inside talking.

We both homeschool and don't get much socialization.

I never worry about my kid's socialization... but I am deathly afraid I don't get enough.

It's always so nice to spend time with "old" friends.

Attention all Prayer Warriors!

Today is the day... the day we head to Cincinnati and the wonderful Dr. Elluru will remove the majority of Mercy's hemangioma. Please be in prayer. I'll keep the blog updated if I can.

Sam- 8 months

Easy Weeding

Last year we put in our square foot gardening fixed beds. These gardens are the most wonderful gardens ever. OK- that might be an exaggeration, but they are wonderful. The soil is so soft and rich.

Last winter we put our chickens in the garden and let them peck the grubs out and till up the soil. Worked great.

I had the wonderful idea (ahem) to put hay into the garden, and let the chickens peck out the seeds. Didn't work so great. See all the clover mixed in with my poor tomatoes?

That's a lot of weeding, y'all.

Until Josiah came up with an wonderful idea. He took a piece of old metal screening, and scooped the dirt and weeds onto it. Since the dirt is so good, this was easy.

He sifted the dirt back onto the garden box, and the weeds remained on the screen.

I happen to think it was pure genius. A few of my marigolds have some dirt dusting them, but my tomatoes are breathing a sigh of relief. Just ignore the KNEE Josiah has pressing into my beautiful, wonderful, non-compacted (except for under the knee) garden beds.