Family Time

Some family fun we wanted to sahre with you after a long break from the blog. You can see how everyone is growing. Thanks for checking in on us.

http://youtu.be/tKf1hZGCh0M

I have a S.E.C.R.E.T. hehehheheheeeee

This little girl is heading off to her first ball with her dear dad in a few weeks. She has been looking forward to this since last year when she watched her older sister prepare to go. She knew that this year would be her turn around the dance floor. Since the beginning of March the wheels in her head have been spinning and she has plotted and planned what she will wear, how she will ask for her hair to be done and what color her nail polish will be. This busy little bee has so many things to plan. The dress she has chosen is one that is white and ruffly but has seen it's best years many years ago. We have tried to gently persuade her to look at other options but she thinks that Cinderella should wear white to the ball and cannot be dissuaded.What a sweet heart.

Now to the secret.....her sister who attended the ball last year and is helping give tips and pointers to Sweetpea was out shopping with me when we came upon some beautiful dresses. Now the thing you must understand about second button is that she has no regard for clothes, they are merely functional for her - a necessary evil. She has NEVER asked to buy anything so what happened next shocked me and was a precious God moment.

I did not give the racks and racks of beautiful dresses one glance as we had no need for them. My sweet darling girl veered off and went to look at them. I was perplexed and stopped to give her a moment to satisfy her curiosity but then she drew me in from the aisle and had me look at some of them. They were on sale was her first point and they were very pretty and they were of Sweetpea's size range. All good points but we did not need them and we had nothing in the budget for one.

She went and found 3 dresses that she thought would be suitable for Sweetpea for the ball and then made an impassioned plea. Could we not buy her a brand new "ballgown" for her "once in a lifetime" event? Her choice of words flooded my heart with warmth as I reflected on her outpouring of concern and love for her little sister especially when those two "middles" have had the hardest go at making peace with one another since Sweetpea became a part of our family. This was treasure for my heart.

So I listened and prayed and considered. Still there was the money issue. My second button follows strongly on my heels of bargaining and said that if we used this $10 coupon and she put in some of her money from her Aunt and Uncle then it would be only $11 and I could surely find that money somewhere in my tight budget for her "dear, sweet sister". I was easily won over at that point, if she was willing to part with some of her prized money, which is virtually unheard of. I left the choosing of which dress to pick out up to her as she had definite ideas of which one would suit Sweetpea the best.

We brought it home, hiding in the back of the car. We told no one else except for dear dad who retrieved it after all little heads were sound asleep and it is now hiding in plain sight. We 3 cannot wait to show it to her the day before the ball. We hope it will bless her socks off. 

ooooo we have a secret and we are so excited!!!!!!

14 years....today we celebrate

Today we celebrate the anniversary of getting the referral of adoption for our very first and precious button. Our eldest button was a tiny little thing in a 1 inch picture that spoke to all the hopes and dreams we had of parenting and having a family. Little did we know she would be our spunkmeister and full of zest for life, a future fashionista who can write a lean mean story but have a heart attack over math. She has grown from a baby bean into a wonderful young woman and today we celebrate her with all the ridiculous smiles we can beam her way. We treasure our eldest and original button.

Another One Finds a Home!

 We rejoice that little Xi has a forever family! Thank you for joining with us in prayer for him. He is so dear to our hearts. He joins a big family where he will be greatly loved by many.

Spring Festival '12

Christmas Cuties

Looking for a Family

We have been praying for this little boy in Yunnan, China who is desperate for a family. He just turned 2 and has a serious heart condition. He needs surgery. If you know of any family who has the capacity to love this sweet boy and see past the fact that he is going to need some intense medical intervention at first, let them know. Please help find this little boy the family that he so desperately wants and needs.

(I know some of you might be thinking that he will end up in our home but that is not the case this time. We will not qualify for his adoption. We have already looked into that option...or else we would not be asking others, we would be having another button! Alas this kiddo is not for our family but for another special family, let's help find them!)

For all my Sweet Sisters who share this Day with Me

The Dad takes his girl to a Dance

Once upon a time in a land not so far away there lived a girl who was going to the ball. Problem was that she loved her bluejeans over velvet and cared far more for her worm farm than for sparkling tiaras.

Primping and preening was just not her style, but sat there so patiently just to see her father's smile.

Attended by maidens, waited on hand and foot, she sat there for hours while she'd rather eat soot.

All dressed and bejeweled, she was the vision of beauty. She danced out the door with her Dad in tow.
The night was a delight, a memory to hold dear, and one to share with a friend true and near. Pictures were taken, dances were danced, sweets were eaten and much laughter was shared. When the weary princess collapsed into bed, she whispered to her mother that she was glad that she went and perhaps she would go another time, years from now when she had recovered from this overwhelming day.

Sweet Smiles

The reason we are all smiling today is that we are celebrating the anniversary date of our first adoption referral for our eldest daughter 13 years ago! It just cannot be that long, it has gone in a flash. We recall that day in our lives when it turned upside down and we saw her picture for the first time. It is one of the special days in our year that we celebrate for each of the girls.

Devising New Torture

I like JJHeller, my kids don't prefer her. They prefer Francesca Battistelli who garners my sympathy for having to endure her continually dented jeans and ripped fenders. My kids give me the "look". We have a friendly feud going over who controls the music in the car.

Today I grabbed my youngest and hugged her tightly on the couch while secretly turning on the stereo with the remote. I was slightly belly laughing and she did not know if I was laughing or crying so she was a bit confused until she heard the lyrics of the song start and then she began to moan. I held her tightly and kissed her all over her face until the song was over. She loved/hated it. Then I called out and asked who was to be the next victim to be tortured.

Bodies came at me pel mel. I picked my next subject and my next song and began against with much protestations, which I accused her of being false and inflated. On it went until all were thoroughly tortured, some even twice.

I will wear them down, I will prevail. They will sing my songs and leave ripped fenders and bent jeans behind......one day.

Squirrels Brandishing Guns

This is a sad tale. A tale of suburban slide, and a man who faced great peril as he overcame momentarily his fear of heights....

One overcast day just last week as we were buttoning down to our school work we received what appeared to be an aerial assault. It was coming from directly above us and we feared the worst...that those pesky varmints known as squirrels had gotten into our attic and were making nests up there. An urgent call was put through to the commander general, whereupon he was not delighted with the news, but promptly gained access to the command module for squirrel eradication information.

Next day happening to be Saturday the commander general took several trips to his favorite supply depots to acquire all of his necessary requirements. He assembled his weaponry and then upon review had to go back to visit the depots again, as items had apparently gone missing in action.

I was enlisted upon his return to help him suit up with gas mask, eye protection, and to duct tape on his hazmat gloves around his arms and his pant legs around his ankles should the varmints make a lifesaving dash for refuge. I failed to take a photo opportunity at that moment, I wish I had. He ascended the ladder into the dark recesses of the attic and closed the hatchway with an ominous thud. Wrasling and thrashing was heard for the good part of an hour while the children and I entangled ourselves in comfort and prayer.

A loud banging gave notice that the commander general was trapped and needed the troops to rescue and cover him during his retreat and surrender. He relayed to us the grim details that not only had the squirrels made a mess of the attic they had brought in tree limbs and a BBQ for their MAN CAVE soon to be full of little squirrelings in the spring. The tragic news was that in order to do this they had chewed holes right through our lovely roof! He could see the sky and that meant that we had moisture problems we did not yet know about!

UGH!

So back to the supply depot went our fearless and brave commander general. He got flashing, he got nails, he got sticky stuff, and he got other stuff. From the neighbors he borrowed a realllllllly tall ladder. Now it is dusk (because each trip to the depot uses up more than an hour, that is just a fact of nature) and it is getting cold and he has to ascend the tallest ladder known to man. Up he goes, one rung at a time until the ladder is shaking like a leaf and I shout into his ear that he's doing a great job and he's being very brave, he's got 39 more rungs to go!

Of course when he gets up there the flashing needs to be cut and it is in a long roll and then the tin snips are not left handed tin snips to be used for horizontal cuts at high altitudes. The wind has picked up a bit making his fingers go numb and the ladder very cold. The nails won't grab onto anything and the sticky stuff won't come out of the tube to play, probably afraid of frost bite. He gets the holes patched well enough that if we got weather overnight it would hold and the squirrels would be kept out for the moment.

That night my dear commander general had a fitful night’s sleep in which he dreamt that he was on the top of a roof surrounded by squirrels brandishing guns. When he shared it with all of us in the morning he got an outpouring of love and support for his bravery, heroism and courage.

Epilogue:
We have the attic laced with fox urine, a natural predator to the squirrel, and a strobe light (for their disco dance floor) to turn on when we hear them attempting a re-entry maneuver. Outside the roof line is fortified with tin flashing glued and nailed down, along with more of the fox urine. We drew the line at the razor barbed wire; we didn't think the neighbors would quite understand where we are coming from. Overall, these are stopgap measures to see us through the winter and get us to spring and better weather to get the roof redone completely - oh joy!

Welcome Home Kiyoshi!

After nearly a years tour of duty in Iraq our dear nephew has returned stateside safe and sound. He is still being held on base and his beautiful and patient bride will not be able to see him for a little while longer (which would absolutely drive me crazy so I pray extra hard for her right now) but the relief is palpable that he is no longer in combat. He flies helicopters and is a great guy and we love him so terribly much and have prayed that the Lord would protect and provide for he and his bride during this long year........and we praise God that it is over. Thank you Jesus for your sweet mercy towards our family.

Had a Good Laugh

Mama: laughing hysterically, hooting, tears in eyes, trying not to wet my pants.
Prince Charming: kissing Mama, dancing around, grabbing up the princesses and hugging them and laughing.
kid 1: what's so funny?
kid 2: why are they acting like this?
kid 3: can you explain this to us?
kid 4: can we go to Chuck e. Che**se?
Kid 1 again: stop it, you're freaking us out! Really, WHAT is so funny about this?
kid 3: are you going to watch it again?
kid 2: I like the Princess dress.

Farewell to Summer

I have not been inspired to blog for a long while but as we bid summer farewell this evening with a picnic on our back porch and we were all reminiscing I thought I would give the highlights of Summer '10 just for memories sake:

May: The top two buttons could no longer stand their long locks and so they took drastic measures and got it all lopped off. They could not have been happier. My mom also came out to visit for 10 days and she gave lots of baking lessons to the girls. We took her on sightseeing trips and she fed us lots of seafood. We got to see Uncle Jack and Aunt Mary in a fly by along with Karen who is only growing in fame if not fortune. The kids got to sit in Karen's convertible and were thrilled with that lifetime first.

We also got to go to the airport to welcome home from Ethiopia a sweet little girl and her mama as they just flew in from their adoption trip. What joy it brings to be a welcoming committee and wait in eager anticipation for the fulfilment of so many prayers to come walking through those ramparts and into the waiting arms and hearts of their extended family.

June: Our church building had it's grand opening which was a big transition. I had several weeks of teaching swim lessons with great sunny weather, and I love doing this every summer. Then we were off on a family vacation, a real blessing for us all as we made sweet memories and unplugged from the stress of life.

July: We came back to a calm 4th of July only to have our oldest come down with Coxsackie virus which landed her in bed for a week of isolation. Then when we thought she could come back into the fold she came down with hand, foot, mouth and was once more miserable. As she recovered from that our littlest button was rushed to the hospital with meningitis! We were in hospital for a couple days as it was the viral type and not bacterial, thank you Lord! Then as we were recovering at home Sweetpea broke her collarbone! Yes, July was eventful, painful and expensive!

In between all this I got a new hair cut, I lost a foot of hair. It's different for sure. The girls started the cutting process by taking the length off before I went to the stylist. They loved playing beautician. Since I knew it was going a whole lot shorter than they were cutting I didn't care what they did. They had a blast and it made it easier for the littlest ones to accept that I could have short hair and I could be okay with that. For them their memories of being in an institution and having crew cuts leave them with tender hearts when it comes to haircuts, it does for many of our kids. It took them 4 months of talking before they would let me do it, and then the topper was that they got to do the first cut.

August: Days before littlest button turned 7 and we were preparing top button and Dad to go off to Youth Camp and leave us for the duration I drastically twist and popped my knee out, rendering myself helpless for the time they would be away. We survived on the sandwich making abilities of second button for meals as I iced my knee and ruled the surviving tribe from the confines of the couch. Everyone returned, knee is healing nicely but now husband is complaining of knee pain. Doctor is thinking perhaps he has torn something. I think he is lovingly sympathetic to have taken on my pain.

Silly hair day at camp and face painting practice.

That rounds out the summer. A new school year has started. Top button is in 7th grade. Second button is in 5th grade, Sweetpea is in 1st/2nd depending, littlest is in kindergarten.

Fleet Feet

These crazy runners are at it again now that the heat of the summer has cooled off. They have set their sights on running an 8K this time and IF we can keep us all off the injury list and out of the hospital and get some serious training under our belts we might see this goal come to fruition. Either way though I love their fanaticism over running and their encouragement to one another to keep running and training. They love to compare their bulked up legs as their muscles grow, but what surprises me is that their arms get really big muscles too... who'da thunk? Their grandma visited this summer and saw the tattered condition of their running shoes and after hearing that they were training for this new race she just sent them new racy racers, they were ecstatic! Here's the proof. They have not been road tested yet as I don't want to nurse a bunch of blisters to start but they loved breaking them in around the house and sporting about.

Littlest Button Turns 7!

Why do they have to grow up so fast? I am having a struggle with how fast time is slipping through my fingers as my oldest is off to youth camp tomorrow and today my littlest turns 7, a cold hard - no longer can deny she's a big kid - number. She, of coarse, is glowing with delight at being a full 7 and once again being a "twin" to Sweetpea. For the next 2 months I will have 7 year old twins. Here are some pics from the festivities.....

Back to the Hospital - Post Op Visit

A picture from last week showing the very latest fashion in ear helmets!

Today we went for the post op visit with the surgeon at the hospital. It has been a tough week and we have all been looking forward to this day to get some answers. Sweetpea has been in a considerable amount of pain since going home and instead of decreasing the pain medicine as we expected we actually needed to increase it until about Monday when things seemed to stabilize a little for her. She is still on some heavy pain meds but they are keeping her more comfortable. Also she is complaining mightily about being chilled, like super frosty chilled and no amount of heat is able to bring her any level of comfort or warmth.

So the doctor takes the packing from the outside of her ear today and examines the sutures behind her ear. He is generally pleased with her progress. He thinks that the packing was inflating and causing her the increasing pain and therefor the pain should resolve in a day or two. I really hope for her sake that it does.

She is still on a lot of restrictions and precautions for illness, which means keeping clear of crowds and away from people who are sick. This week that has meant keeping her away from her littlest sister, which was soooo hard to do but we managed. Thank God for P*ure*ll! I love the stuff, don't hate me for it.

We so appreciate all the prayers for her and for us. This has been a difficult time but one where we have been comforted through faith. Please keep praying for her as she heals and for her difficulty in going out in public and getting unwanted attention because of her ear helmet. Her tender heart just wants to hide any differences and not have to explain it to the world.

Really rough night, and a surprise ending

Last night was really wild. The pain and the disregulation of the heartbeat....finally by 4 am it all settled down and she slept soundly until 6:20.

The ENT arrived promptly at 7 am, we had been warned, and did his rounds. He was delighted with his work on her ear and stated that she could be discharged if pediatrics felt she was stable.

After eating breakfast and keeping it down, I gently increased her activity looking for signs of either increased pain or again the wild ride from last night beginning to repeat.

Right before lunch we went to the play room and an elderly gentleman enticed her into learning to play pool. It was truly endearing to see her start to grasp the game, partly because of her Opa's legacy of pool and their shared "engineering" talents. The gentleman was delighted and called her "precocious". Funny how that label keeps getting applied to my kids.... or is it a generational thing?

After lunch she was checked out and cleared to go home. This is such a big blessing for me as I ache all over and want the comforts of my own home and bed. Sweetpea said the funniest thing this morning, "this hospital is not like a hotel, not at all. At a hotel they don't stick you with needles and wake you up all night. But at a hotel they don't think you're as special. Next time lets go to the a hotel." Funny, even to my groggy brain.

So we are heading home, waiting for the discharge flotsam to be taken care of and for the final adios. She is a little shy about going out in public with her ear helmet, and there is no yelling, blowing her nose, jumping or running during the recovery. There is though lots of special attention and loving up, can never have too much of that!

She's Through!

She made it through fine. The doctor was happy with how things went. The tumor was not as attached as he had feared, it was more of a mass. It has not attached to the mastoid bone yet so he did not have to touch that! He thinks he may not have to do the second surgery, we will have to wait and see. He fully repaired the eardrum. They had the most trouble with her anesthesia and regulating her heart rate. It would go very low and then spike into racing and then plunge again. It took more time in recovery and a longer watch then they anticipated.

She was glad to finally see us and immediately wanted to know when she could eat. Having been promised a slushy weeks ago by one of the doctors she wanted the promised made good immediately.

She looped in and out of reality for a while. When she came around she would ask if she still had to go get her surgery. When I told her it was done she seemed to not believe me. Time/space warp I think.