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!