The Johnson's: Jan 12 - 18: Down for the count

This post is about a week late in getting completed. But this time, I have a legitimate excuse! We started the week with my back going "out" after giving baths to the kids on Sunday, the 12th. We have a deep, sunken tub in our master bathroom and we put Elin's baby tub inside that for her baths. I sit on the edge of the tub and spend the entire bath leaning over. I usually give Elin her bath while Kent entertains or bathes Erik. However, this Sunday, Erik wanted to join Elin in her bath. So I filled the big tub for Erik while Elin remained in her baby tub. To get Erik into the tub, I picked him up, twisted to get him on the far side of Elin's tub and then leaned over to set him down. I remember thinking that the move wasn't the smartest thing I could have done, but didn't feel any pain or pulling, so thought I had escaped! So, I was surprised when I couldn't straighten up after the bath to carry Elin to her room. Then the pain set in! I've not had any serious back issues in quite a while - I forget how painful it is.

I was hopeful that my recovery would be quick but was pretty much out of commission all week. Kent was wonderful and took Erik to school and picked him up at noon a few times for me. I spent as much time as I could lying down - with 2 small kids, that means I got maybe 30 minutes a day! Looking back, I should have reached out and asked for help but I kept hoping that my back would be better in the morning and didn't want to inconvenience anyone. Oh well.

Since I was injured this week and therefore, don't have much to talk about, I'm going to just post a bunch of pictures for you to look at! But first, in keeping with my resolutions, here are my 2014 goals:
1. Bible - I am keeping up with the "read through the Bible in 1 year" plan. This week, the OT passages are about Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I don't know why, but I'm always slightly disturbed when I read those stories. These were strong men of faith that spoke directly with God, but the stories focus more on the family quarrels, deception and vengeance. Both Abraham and Isaac lied about their wives ("she's my sister") to save themselves - these stories bothered me the most. I guess I wish there were more stories about their faith and trust in God, but maybe I should look at the stories as proof that God loves the sinner and these are perfect examples of how He is faithful towards us even when we don't deserve it.
2. Health - this week, I just want to be able to stand straight and walk without pain! By Friday, I was feeling much better. I then went to get a massage from my amazing massage therapist. She spent a lot of time getting the kinks out, but the massage did put me back 1-2 days!
3. Fun - Erik loves to shop (not sure where he got that from since both Kent and I don't like it), so we took him to the grocery store and Costco a few times!
4. Projects - with my back out, I couldn't do much this week, but I did get all our holiday letters mailed out!