Henry is home!

First, thank you again to all who have been sending well-wishes for Henry's health. He has improved enough for us to have brought him home yesterday. It is certainly an adjustment having him back in the house with his newly advanced state of Alzheimer's. Christena is much happier having him here and that brings relief to all of the rest of us. She is his primary care provider and it worried her considerably to have him in hospital.

Tonight is the first night of many to come for in-home care relief. Christena is entitled to 2 hours a day of caregiver relief and our worker is Lucy. (I tell you that in case I refer to Lucy in future and you wonder who on earth I am talking about.) She is lovely. She arrived just before 7 and the poor woman barely got in the door before Jennifer and I were talking her ear off, letting her know all that has transpired in the recent past. Her head must be reeling!

Henry continues to need assistance with virtually every task; getting off the sofa, cutting his food, dressing, bathing and more. Christena is willing to help him with all of these tasks however we feel it is important for her to have an emotional and physical break every day and are grateful that the hospital felt the same way. Lucy will be able to step in and temporarily fill Christena's roll while she is off at bible study, choir practice, or just out getting some groceries.

Jennifer has been here since Tuesday and will stay until Monday morning. As you can imagine, the reality of seeing Henry in such a vastly different state than he was in a Christmas has been hard. She is so strong though. She has been immensely helpful to Christena and has been the voice of reason for all of us this week. No surprise, the reality of having Henry come home meant a lot of preparations for how to manage his care which she has picked up and run with. I am grateful she has been able to be here.

I have not written about the rest of my family in quite some time. There isn't much new to tell you about. I just hung up the telephone after speaking to my children. Doug and the boys went to my parents for the afternoon/evening and when we spoke they were just coming in from their second time outside playing on the toboggan run that my dad built for them. Apparently Nani and Papa (my parents) have "WAY more snow than we do MOM!" They love going there and I love that they love it.

Fergus is still loving his snowboarding lessons even if it hasn't been as easy to learn as he had hoped. This past week we tried some rentals and they seemed to fit him better, allowing for him to better manipulate the board on the hill. Now, if only his physical fatigue from learning this new sport would not prevent him from spending as much time on the hill as he would like.

While Fergus is snowboarding, Quinn and I are supposed to be snowtubing. The problem is that with the late arrival of snow this winter, the snow tube park has not yet opened. Quinn has captured the hearts of all of the other homeschooling parents in the ski lodge though. While Fergus snowboards, he and I play cards, dominoes, and other games in the lodge and he provides the entertainment for many of the parents. Many are amazed that a 5 year-old is as adept at games as he is. It is really funny to watch.

Fergus has also begun taking some vocal classes with the expectation that he will be singing in a boys choir very soon. He is adjusting to the songs and style of the instructor but he is taking these lessons with his best friend, Adam, and that makes it easier to be willing to try something new. I am excited that he is enjoying the vocal lessons so much as it reminds me of my own passion for singing.

Both boys are also taking basketball (Fergus) and soccer (Quinn) during the week so I am never bored. There is always something to keep me busy.

Douglas remains extremely busy with work but that is what makes him happy so I am glad. He has been on location a lot lately too and so gets to take pictures of new and upcoming vehicle releases. Two weeks from now he will be at the Toronto Auto Show and will be taking all kinds of pictures. Did I say how much he is enjoying his work??

When I have been shuttling children around to various activities lately I have been letting my sister edit my university application. I finally applied to Ryerson University for admission to their midwifery program. The idea is to go part-time so as to keep things at home as much the same as possible for as long as possible. We shall see if I even get an interview. I would really love to be able to work in an industry that I really love. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I will go now. Thanks again for all of your support!