The Big Dig

It has started to snow in earnest here and it looks like it is going to be a wonderful dumping. The girls and I were out a couple of times shovelling in hopes of staying ahead of being snowed in. It is a big task but with all four kids pitching in it gets done. I kidded them that they were going to get snow shovels for Christmas presents. The silly kids they are, cheered at the prospect!

Sweetpea is still really enamoured by snow but fails to take into account it's freezing capacity. She will submerge herself in the snow and then complain bitterly that she is cold, really cold. She still can't handle the cold very well. I wonder how long it will take her body to adjust from the tropics to this more chilly northern climate. I know for me it took almost a year to make the transition.

Looks like it's gonna be a white Christmas after all. May you all have a wonderful Christmas celebration.

My Guy in Brown

For just over 3 weeks now I have been married to a guy in brown. Now for those of you who know us well don't get too excited, this is not a career change, just a seasonal job. My Beloved is moonlighting at the Brown center and "building better bodies by brown".

It is a tight schedule he keeps. He works his regular day job and gets home around 6:30 or 7 pm and then has dinner together with us all. It is the only time we get to see him together and it has become the golden time of the day. Then before I can even get the kids into bed he is down for a nap. It does get tricky trying to keep four rascals from making any noise so that he can get some shut eye during a time when his body is still wakeful. Then he is up at 9 pm and into work for the night shift. He works loading and unloading until 3 am. Thankfully he is enjoying it as he says it is a lot like playing tetris all night and keeps him mentally awake.

The hardest part of the "day" for him is the drive home when the body starts shutting down in those pre-dawn hours and the chill gets to him. We have taken to keeping him awake by talking on the phone (hands free for him, thank you). It is the only time of the day I get to talk to him. Unfortunately I am at a distinct disadvantage for acute conversation at that hour of the morning. He sees it as finally being on a level playing field verbally. Sometimes I literally don't know if something he said was real or in a dream, I have to check back with him at dinner.

Once he gets home he has to shower off from the diesel and fall into bed for 4 hours before starting a new day all over again. The kids, who are used to him being up before them and having breakfast with them have a hard time letting him sleep or remembering to keep quiet while they start their day.

We are struggling to gain a footing in this new normal. I am glad it is only until the new year. Yet, we need to be radical about the situation we are in and do whatever it takes to meet our financial obligations. Between the adoption expenses and the extensive medical treatment that Sweetpea needs that have snowballed, compounded by the effects of lack of employment earlier this year and now underemployment we need to go above and beyond normal.

Pray for us through this, please.

Boy Bacon

After a couple of days of difficult situations for Sweetpea she is worn thin. She still struggles socially putting it all together and responding appropriately, especially where others are not. Recently she found herself on the wrong end of the stick and in need of help and rather than resort to her own wisdom or physical retaliation, several times she came to me for help. This is a big milestone for her and I am so pleased that she did come to ME, and not only asked for help but took my words and tried her hardest to put them into practice.

This morning out of the blue as we had a quiet moment before church I took her aside and told her how proud I was that she had done this. Yet, words are cheap to my little sweetheart and they hold little water. Knowing this I saved the best for last and presented her with a reward for her new found skill of "coming to Mama to get help". It was a small l*ego kit of a race car. It was her first such kit and her eyes were round with expectation. I told her she could put it in her backpack and keep it through church and after church while we have lunch with some other families and the adults chat she could do it all by herself.

She was hearing my message that she had done well loud and clear.

It must have burned in her mind all through church because she could barely contain her excitement to break open the box and start once lunch had begun. Practicing patience she waited until after everyone was done and the kids had run off to play and the adults were deep in conversation, she carefully opened the box and read the instructions. She soon realized she needed room to layout the materials and understand the plans so she moved herself to an unprotected coffee table away from me.

What was to come next neither she nor I were expecting...... the boys came as if they could smell bacon a mile away. Some grabbed, some pressed, some leaned, some offered, some stood and their fingers visibly itched to take hold of the project. I had to come to her rescue as I saw the sharks circling. They just couldn't fathom why a girl would have such a juicy morsel all to her self.

She got more than a little practice politely declining help and finally the boys retreated back to the football game and the tackle session that had been taking place. She struggled to understand the diagrams at first but when it was complete she proudly showed it to all and sundry.

Since then that mechanical gifting that I was counting on has conquered this kit and she can do it without diagram and probably blindfolded, mercy me if we ever lose a piece!

It has become a symbol between us of my pride in her and a visual way of reminding her that I am the helper in her life, she who comes to me is well rewarded.