Category Archives: family

Life Update

The Walking/Running Thing

I intended to walk on Tuesday, but my knees disagreed.  So I took a day off, and Wednesday I took a short mile walk with our dog Simon.  I am eagerly yearning for the days a week or two from now when this gives me energy and doesn’t make me sore and tired and weak feeling.

Mark’s Work

Mark has been home more working on his writing projects, and that has been nice.  He is working on leads for other writing projects, and he continues to work at a couple part-time jobs.  Our hope and prayer is that I will continue with my one part-time at-home job, and he will be able to bring in the rest of the income we need to manage our family.  As always, we covet the prayers of anyone who is willing to offer them for us.

The Kids’ Stuff

The kids are all doing pretty well.  We only have one playing a sport right now.  Calvin is playing with the local Catholic parish’s baseball team.  Their pre-season tournament games have been rained/snowed out, so they haven’t played yet.  If we have a dry couple of days, they are slated to play the first of the pre-season tournament make-up game this Friday evening.  No matter how Calvin really does at baseball, it is good for him to be out there with the other boys.

Evangeline just finished a year with the Kirkwood Children’s Chorale. Participating has really improved her singing voice, and they performed two major concerts, one smaller concert, and at a couple of off-site venues.  She had her “re-audition” to see if she will move up to the next choir on Tuesday evening.  We are waiting to hear how it went.

All of the 3 older children participated in a drama workshop last weekend.  At least one of them, and possibly all three are planning to audition for a summer production of a local Christian theater group, and this workshop was to help them prepare for the audition experience.

Nevin played indoor soccer through early March.  He is still my biggest reader, and he will spend as much time as we let him reserving new books to check out from the library.  He hopes to play baseball on the Y’s spring instructional team starting in May.

Charis is about to finish K.  It is hard to believe, but she will be 6 on May 8!  She is reading, and playing, and happy.  Here’s a picture that her K teacher took near the daffodils outside their school last month.

The children’s school is considering its options for next year.  It may have to close if its leaders can’t find a new meeting place.  Updates from the leadership sound hopeful, but no details have been given.  With the school’s uncertainty about next year and the question of affordability,   I continue researching all the homeschooling possibilities available to me because it seems likely that is the direction we will head with school next year.

Overall

I am satisfied with life and God’s grace that is evident in it.  I have many blessings, and I see God’s hand in everything and every circumstance around me.   Yet, I feel a little restless and I am not really able to verbalize exactly what I am feeling and thinking about.  I am praying for peace and a more content spirit and the courage and faith to keep moving forward.

We’ll See

My friend from our Seattle days, Lindy, is a runner.  She does marathons, etc.  A few years back, my then seminary-wife friend, young  Jessie, ran a half-marathon here in St Louis.  Now I see that my friend from Atlanta, Jennifer, is running in 5ks and 10ks.  I am always impressed when I learn about their achievements, and I always encourage them.   I have lots of other friends who run for exercise, too.  But at my size and with all the failed exercise attempts of my life, it seems running is not for me.

Well, I have been thinking about it alot, and I finally asked Lindy what she would recommend for someone like me who is way overweight who would like to start running.  She recommended this book:

 I ordered the book used from an amazon seller, and last night when I was killing time at Borders, I read the first chapter.  It was inspiring. The author, John Bingham, was 43, a smoker, overweight, etc., when he started to run.  He advocates walking and interspersing short runs until you run out of breath throughout your walk to get started.  He writes a column in Runner’s World magazine, and I looked at that last night, too.  The starting program in it advocates just walking 30 minutes 3 days a week, and on the opposite days going out to walk and interspersing it with running.

I’ve read a lot of inspirational diet and exercise books before.  I have participated in a lot of diets and exercise programs before.  I have even lost lots of weight before.  But here I am years later with nothing to show for it.  It might be that I will start this and not keep with it.  It might be that I will start it, and I’ll be able to run, but I’ll lose no real weight.  However, if I don’t give it a go, I’ll never know.

So, here’s my goal–to be able to go on a hike with my 4 kids at a local state park by my birthday toward the end of July without being winded.   I don’t think it is too lofty, and it gives me a motivator.  We’ll see.

Good News & Other Stuff

Since I have been known to bemoan life on my blog, it seems I should also report some good news . . .

Remember this:

When Charis broke her arm on the playground at her school.  I rushed her to her pediatrician first, too see if a trip to the ER was necessary.  The pediatrician told me to take her to the ER–cost for that visit after insurance discount – $49.  So off to the ER we went.  After 8 hours, we were finished, she had a pink cast, and I was wondering how in the world we would pay for this day of fun!  Then the bills started to come–cost for the ER and after care after insurance discount–$2500.00! I started calling the several billing agencies involved in the care for this minor injury, and I told them I would pay $25 a month until it was paid.

Then in February, the principal from the school contacted me, and told me I could fill out some forms to see if the injury would be covered they their accident insurance.  I called all the billing offices again, asking for itemized bills, filled out the lengthy form, and prayed that it wasn’t a waste of my time.  Last week, I got a response.  Over $1500.00 has already been paid, and after I send in more itemized bills, it looks like it will all be covered by the school’s accident insurance!!!!! Praise God!!!!  I am so thankful for this blessing.

Other Stuff

We are really blessed by the school that our children attend.  Last week, we found out that the church that started the school and has housed the school for over 25 years has decided they can no longer afford the building they are in.  They are selling the building where the school meets, and they will not be looking for a building to accomodate the school.  This is significant because they have offered the building to the school at no cost for all these years, and it has kept the tuition very reasonable.  Our tuition for 4 children there is less than the cost for 2 at many other local Christian schools.  The school board does not want to close the school, so they are looking for a new location.  They asked that all the school families give them 60 days to investigate possibilities before we start considering other options for our children for next year.

I don’t know that we would be able to send the kids back next year even if they do find a new location.  However, this school has been a great place for our children, and we appreciate its ministry very much.  So if you think of it, please pray for this little Christian school in South St Louis County to find an affordable place to relocate and to have enough families to keep going next year.  Also, pray for the church that has supported the school for so many years.  They are entering a time of rebuilding and praying for growth.  They have given selflessly to the community through the ministry of the school, and I am praying that God will bless them for their faithful service.

It’s All Relative

I’ve not been one to get into the whole “family tree” thing.  But last week, my oldest was getting really curious about ancestors on both sides of the family, so we spent an hour or so searching for family information on the internet.  In the process, I came across a photo of my mom’s mom, my Grandma Buterbaugh.  I never met her because she died 4 months before I was born.  But it was really fun to see this photo pop up on line.  I also came across a lot of stuff about my paternal grandmother’s family.  It was fun to read about the history of my family and to see my son get excited about it.

For now, I’ll just share the photo of my grandma.  In this picture, she is standing by one of my cousins and my Aunt Sis.

Holiday Debriefing

So, every January needs a blog post about how the holidays went, dontcha think?

We went to our church for Christmas Eve service, and we were blessed by the service and being among God’s people.  Then, we spent Christmas Day at home in St Louis.  It was a nice relaxing day at home.  If you didn’t see my last post with photos of our offspring on Christmas Day, you should go take a peek.

On December 26, we were planning to drive a rental van to Dallas for the week, but thanks to Budget rent-a-car, the van we reserved 6 weeks prior to the rental date was unavailable.  Plan B: we drove our two cars to Dallas, convoy style. We didn’t have CBs, but we did have cell phones. We got off to a late start because of the rental issue, and then we learned that Mark’s dad had the stomach flu, so we took the long way to Dallas and stopped at a hotel in Joplin for the night and stayed until check-out time.  We arrived in Dallas at about 8:00 on 12/27.

Cousins  — Dressing up

 Evangeline with Granddaddy & Sasha, the cousins’ new dog

All the cousins

Mark & Nevin, aka the sick one

 At church on 12/28, our almost 10-year-old niece threw-up, thus putting off the joint family Christmas celebration.  We settled on Tuesday, 12/30, for our yuletide family meal and present exchange.  But, the St Louis Hornes would not be outdone, and Nevin started hurling in the middle of the night before the slated celebration.  After much discussion and debate, we decided to proceed with our plans.  Nevin was able to keep down bland food and ginger ale, so while he didn’t have much fun, he came along with us to the cousins’ house.  Once there, we enjoyed lovely Dallas weather with grilled steak on the deck of Mark’s brother’s home.  The kids played outside most of the evening, and we exchanged our family gifts.  Let just say it was a very Wii Christmas!

The Dallas visit was rounded out with my regular trek to IKEA, where I genuflected to my favorite furniture and kitchen cabinets.  I also bought a few baubles.  I also had the opportunity to use a gift card from Macy’s for some nice slacks, a winter blouse, and, as Charis calls it, a coach’s outfit.  The kids ate out with the grandparents, we had one more lower-key family meal at the cousins that included Mark’s cousin, his wife, and their two sons, and Evangeline got to have a sleepover with her girl cousin.  There was a lot of laying around, reading books, playing Scrabble, and, of course, we had to give the Wii its inaugural workout. Oh, and I started having a severe toothache.

The older girl cousins

When we left Dallas early Saturday morning (on our way to the gas station at 6:45, when our goal to leave was 6:30–not too bad), Mark’s Dad was suffering from a pretty bad cold.  Our return to St Louis was uneventful–thankfully.  We had remnants of Nevin’s stomach flu and the beginning of Calvin’s to deal with, so we stopped at more bathrooms than we would prefer.  However, this was a remarkable trip as no one threw-up in either vehicle on our way there or home.  When we arrived home on Saturday, our happy dog greeted us after being visited daily during our absence by a couple friends in town.   By Sunday,  Nevin had a relapse of stomach flu, and Calvin’s symptoms had developed into a full-fledged case.  My toothache had also became something that could no longer be ignored, so Mark was the only one who attended church on Sunday.  On Monday, I found a dentist who pulled 2 teeth from my mouth.  Now I am sitting at my dining room table writing this blog post with the left side of my face swollen.

I could refer to this Christmas as the rental car fraud–stomach flu–change of plans–toothache–bad cold holiday.  But despite all the drama, it was a really relaxing and pleasant break.  It is a blessing to have biological family members who trust in Christ for their salvation and for every good thing they enjoy.  It was a blessing to put aside some of the trials of the past several months and just enjoy some relaxation.  So, I think I’ll refer to this Christmas break as: “The God is Faithful and Knows When I Need a Break Christmas.”

Merry Christmas!

We didn’t send any Christmas cards or Christmas letters this year, so consider this our virtual substitute.

We have been very blessed this Christmas.  Despite having a difficult year in many ways, we see God’s faithfulness every day.  Our Christmas Eve service at church last night was a great reminder to us of the greatest gift we have received in Jesus.  So many of God’s people have come alongside us through many years of trials, and this past year even more so.  We are grateful for God’s faithfulness and His love to us, and we know that the coming year will be full of even more evidence of God’s faithfulness and grace.

We have also received generous gifts from many this year that made our Christmas very enjoyable–especially for our children.  Here are a few photos of our morning and our Christmas meal.

This photo of all the kids with Mark reminds me of how truly rich I am.

 

This one of Charis just makes me laugh!

 

Calvin’s face is priceless here!

 

Happy boys!

 Sweet girls!

 

Merry Christmas from the Hornes!

Anything’s Possible

 

Evangeline is at that wonderful age where anything is possible.

One thing she loves to do is draw.  Will she be any good at it as an adult?  Who knows?  But for now, she practices at it all the time.  The horse above is one of her latest creations.  I like it,  but I’m her mom.  I love the colors and that she was really wanting to try drawing a horse as if she were facing it.

 

 

The Quest for Affordable Health Insurance

People with health insurance provided via their employer need to realize what a blessing they have.

We have paid for our own health insurance in one way or another for most of our married life.  For the last 4 years, we have had basically what amounts to a “safety net” policy.  For $350 a month, we get an entrance card to the doctor’s office (also known as an insurance card), a negotiated physician’s discount, and, well, that’s about it.  We have a $5000 per person yearly deductible and a maximum family out of pocket expense of $10,000.00.  Practically, this amounts to us paying for our own medical expenses and not going to the doctor unless we are desperate. 

To be honest, $350 a month is more than we can afford.  So, yes, we tried applying for Medicaid—at least for the kids.  We were denied because we make too much.  Also, to qualify we are supposed to let the kids go without coverage for 6 months first.

I was just putting up with the expense of insurance for what seems like nothing in return until Charis broke her arm.  It wasn’t a severe injury, but we now have over $2500 in medical expenses because of it.  This motivated me to investigate our insurance options again.I have a new option because of my new job.  I can get group coverage through my employer.  However, it is way beyond what we can afford.  For just me, it would be $639 per month.  To add Mark and the kids, it would be over $1300 per month.  So I called Anthem BC/BS to see if we could get coverage for just the kids, and Mark and I could keep the crummy coverage we have.  Well, because one of them has a pre-existing condition, they could only cover 3 of them.  To cover three of the children, the best policy is $311 per month.  The worst coverage is $188 per month.  Then we would still have to continue covering one of the kids under our crummy policy.  At this point, we must keep what we have and pray that God continues to keep us from any tragic illness or accident.

I am not in favor of government health care, but I certainly understand why many are.  I think, with the economy failing, many more people will have to pay for their own health coverage.   More people are getting laid off.  So there will be more people losing health insurance altogether.  If they do find new jobs, they will quickly see that companies who are scaling back on expenses don’t offer the same quality benefits that they used to.  As this happens, more people will find themselves faced with the situation we have dealt with for years.

Something has to change in the insurance industry and with medical providers if people are going to be able to manage just living from day to day. 

Of Luffas and Dandruff Shampoo

Readers of my blog have been scant for some time, but I guess the “Tears” post was a little too much for anyone to comment on.  Oh well.

The big news is: Charis has her cast off.  Eight weeks in a cast, and I didn’t post one picture of her.  That is because the only ones I took were on my stupid phone which will not allow me to upload photos to my computer.  Since we are too cheap (or broke) to pay for the upgrade in service to be able to send the photos from my phone, I really shouldn’t take pictures with it!

After the cast was removed, her skin underneath was GROSS!!!!  It was so dry and flaky, I didn’t want her on me.  Even after using a luffa on her arm, it was flaky.  Then at her glorious bath last night (glorious because she could actually be in the tub long enough to get really clean), I had a revelation.  I thought, “If dandruff shampoo works on dead dry skin on the skalp, perhaps it will help remove the dead dry skin from her arm.”  So I used dandruff shampoo and the luffa on her arm, and it made a huge difference.  The flakes all came off.  Now her skin is rough, but we are putting lotion on it whenever we can.  It will be back to normal soon.  Long sleeves were in order for today so the dry skin won’t distract her to much at school.