Update Wednesday afternoon 11/23

I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!  In the rush of preparing turkeys, dressing, pies, and the rest---and the resulting fog of overstuffed gluttony!---let's be sure to give abundant thanks to our wonderful, loving Heavenly Father for all He has given us.  Each of us, I believe, has at least one thing to give God thanks for and most of us have much for which to be thankful.  I fully believe in enjoying Thanksgiving dinner (and leftovers) and watching football and upcoming Christmas movies, but I personally want to be sure I thank the Giver of all life and blessings before I take even one bite of turkey or green bean casserole.  Thank You, my Father, for simply being You.  Without You, I am nothing.

On a side note, the young man who broke his arm during our basketball game (which we WON!) underwent surgery yesterday to repair the nerves and such in his arm.  I have not heard an update on him since I received this information, and, since Thanksgiving break began today for our school, I probably will not have an opportunity to find out how he is doing until Monday.  I'll let you know how he fares.

Dale was supposed to have PT yesterday morning, but just before we were to walk out the door for school, he had an episode/seizure.  I had noticed his leg shaking more than usual while helping him get dressed.  I made sure we slowed down a bit and took our time.  He had some trouble on the stairs---nothing new---and we walked into the kitchen to get breakfast.  Some unnamed individual (this means no one would 'fess up) had eaten the last pop-tart, so I handed Dale a lunch-sized bag of chips to eat.  I know, I know.  This was highly unhealthy and showed an alarming lack of parental concern for his nutrition, but we were in a hurry.  (That's really no excuse; we're always in a hurry, it seems, on school mornings!)  When Dale went to eat the chip, his hand jerked wildly, causing him to smash the chip against his mouth.  I decided he should sit down to eat his chips.  He headed for the couch, but I redirected him to the table.  Somewhere between the couch and the table, he began falling.  I don't think he stubbed his toe or anything; it seemed like he couldn't make the transition from "go to the couch" to "go to the table" easily, and, in trying too hard, his brain glitched.  I was standing behind the chair, ready to help him be seated, so I was close enough to catch him as he went down.  Praise the Lord!  I couldn't hold him up, but I could make sure he didn't hit his head on anything as he fell.  By the time I eased him down to the floor, he was already in the seizure.  He may have begun seizing on the way to the table, which would have caused him to fall.  Dale wound up lying on the floor between the table and a bookshelf (our house is filled with books, it seems), where he remained while enduring the full episode.  I was able to comfort him, letting him know he was safe and it would be all right.  When the spell finally ended and he began breathing deeply, I made sure he wasn't going to choke on the bit of moist chip still in his mouth and made him comfortable.  My oldest, Amanda, was already going to stay home because she was ill; I called her downstairs and told her to keep an eye on him while I ran the other girls up to school.  We were by now horribly late, but we had a good (bad?) excuse.  I dropped the girls off, told the office why they were so late, and hurried home.  To my surprise, when I walked in the front door, Amanda and Dale were sitting side by side on the couch, watching TV!  What a lovely surprise!  He had apparently awakened; Amanda had helped him up; and Dale was busy changing channels when I showed up.  I called and canceled PT since our appointment time would have had us leaving the house about ten minutes after I got home---too soon for Dale to have fully recuperated.  However, Dale and I were able to go up to the school at noon for the Thanksgiving Lunch they provided.  He ate turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and two pieces of pumpkin pie.  He was fiiiiiine!

Thank God for my son's zany sense of humor!  Monday at SP:  the therapist asked Dale to "name just one thing you did this weekend."  Dale's answer was, "Breathe."  She and I laughed so hard; Dale just sat there with a goofy grin on his face.  After giving another answer that was more personal (!), Dale went on to work hard for an entire hour!!!  He has never been able to work steadily for that long.  Of course, she mixed things up some for him, going from activity to activity, but she stayed with one activity at a time long enough for him to have to work to concentrate and answer her questions.  Dale shows definite improvement in his speech.

Something we learned today:  Dale has not forgotten how to navigate a computer or what his library card number is.  Yesterday, Dale asked repeatedly to go to the library.  We told him we would go the next day.  This morning when he woke up, he asked me if we could go to the library.  So we made sure we went to the library before going to the store for last-minute Thanksgiving items.  Our library has two computers in the children's section, one for the kiddies to play games and one to access the library system.  Dale sat down, clicked on the correct heading, and began typing in his library card number to access his account.  Ashley and I were smiling and hugging each other behind him!  Just one more thing we've discovered that he can still do.  Dale can also close the van door from the inside.  I didn't think he could until he did it yesterday without any urging on my part.  So I made sure I told the girls and Chad about that so we don't do things for him that he can do himself.  Dale has also not forgotten how to play video games.  He is downstairs right now, having lots of fun directing a car all over the place.  He seems to enjoy way too much ramming the car into buildings and running other drivers off the road.  (Remind me to be thankful he is nowhere near old enough to get his license!)  This morning, Dale got up by himself, walked into the bathroom, shut the door, and used the toilet by himself.  This is a huge thing!  He cleaned up, pulled up his pants and underwear, and closed the lid---all without my prompting.  Unfortunately, he couldn't get the bathroom doorknob to turn, so he had to knock on the inside of the door and wait for me to let him out!!!  Just another tidbit from the Ostrander nuthouse!  If we are not all certifiable, we soon will be.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!  May you enjoy this day of celebration and festivities with a thankful heart, as we will.

Daniel 6:25 - 27  "Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.  I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:  for He is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end.  He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, Who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions."