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.

Surgery Day

We are at the hospital waiting and they have a computer for parents to use...score! I thought I would update the peeps as to what is going on here.

This morning we woke Sweetpea at o-dark-hundred and fed her the required orange jello and gatorade to hydrate and fill her before she went NPO (no food or drink allowed before surgery). She thought we were o-certifiably-crazy parents, she was not wrong off that mark.

We loaded up the last of the luggage and headed out for the trip to the hospital. She was fretful the entire way there but with a lot of TLC when we got there she was able to calm down by the time we were actually called in to the pre-op room.

They gave her some sedative and that did the trick to take her into drowsy and we got to sign off and talk to all the doctors who would be on her case this morning.

Kissing her goodbye and watching them wheel her away was a hard moment for this mama's heart. I had to remind myself to trust God with her precious life.

We are waiting in a large waiting room with other parents and we went down to get an early lunch so that we could be ready to jump as soon as they call us into the post-op recovery. They have a lady who updates us every little while as to how things are going.

If I didn't have so much energy pulsing through me I would be able to doze off for a good nap...not going to happen. I can't even focus to read because I am too tired.

I'll let you know later as things progress. Thanks for praying.

Getting Ready.... one week until the big surgery

A lot of our energy in the last couple of months have been going towards getting Sweetpea ready for surgery that is scheduled for next week. This sweet little girl has been struggling for most of the years of her life with chronic ear infections and the piercing pain that accompanies those due to loss of her eardrum.

Not only does she struggle with the ear infections, she has acute chronic sinusitis and hearing loss in that ear.

After seeing the top ENT in the region without any real movement towards correction or mercy on his part towards her pain we were encouraged to travel a distance to another regional center to seek another specialist. This doctor ordered some tests and they revealed that there is a tumor growing in her inner ear. Distressing as that was to hear we were told that as it continues to spread it will effect more of her hearing and create greater permanent hearing loss if we delay any longer.

We have been going through the rounds of doctor's visits to get her pre-qualified for the surgery. Besides this we have had to keep her healthy and without an ear infection. An ear infection or a recurrence of her asthma will scrub the surgery date of the 15th.

The surgeon has said that there are three game plans: A, B and C.

A. is to open her up with a small incision behind the ear and be able to excise the tumor and put in a new eardrum. Easy peasy and we are out of the OR in 5 hours.

B. is to open up a larger theater incising the entire ear flap and laying it forward, this meaning that the tumor is more difficult to get a hold of when they are actually in there. Time frame of this is unknown, but longer.

C. Is to do B but also drill a hole in the skull behind her ear to gain a more rear access to the tumor and the time frame is blown out the window. Whew, everything in me prays it doesn't have to be C, just so much harder, ya know?

So, they have scheduled us for a cozy 4 day stay at the hospital afterward. We will see if plan B or C happen, it may change.

The travel and the stress of having the other kids far away, as well as my Beloved commuting back and forth will all be hard. We would so appreciate your prayers.

Sweetpea is ready to have the pain go away and she realizes that she will have to have some greater pain first but we are helping her not to dwell there too long. I have a small bag of tricks packed for the hospital to keep her distracted.

Her biggest concern is that the horrors of her last hospital stay with her other family will not be repeated. Those fears I cannot seem to dislodge. For 10 days she was left at the hospital with brief visits by a parent to check in with the staff on medical concerns. No one was there to support her in her pain and fear, and she is concerned that it will happen again. Even though we have done the hospital thing before this time it is planned so she has had weeks to think about it and to ponder whether or not I will go home without her or leave her alone there. (I hope there will be enough space in her trust for me to take potty breaks!)

Sitting for Portraits

There is no task that I have grown a strong disliking to as much as I do to portrait sittings. I could 'rish, but I won't, she just started me on this hamster wheel earlier than I would have chosen. Seriously, I would rather take them to get shots then to have to dress them to get their pictures taken, and I know I am not alone in this.

My Beloved suggested today, Sunday, that since all the kidlets were dressed so nicely for church and that their hair looked lovely that we stop by the local photo studio and get portraits done. Yes, I did have a great coupon he knew about but beyond that he also had this really sweet thought that with things changing next week with Sweetpea's surgery it would be nice to have a good "before" picture.

His great big dad's heart was concerned that if they have to shave hair, or if there is bruising or swelling for a time that she will need a good reminder that it will all grow back and return to her normal beautiful self. How could I resist such a great, loving thought?

So off to the studio we went and after the initial rumblings they did a great job posing and smiling. Afterward I was so glad that we had done it. Besides they grow up so quickly, you need celluloid to remind you, so in the end it's worth any momentary pain.

My future Oh-lym-pic hopefuls

These kids crack us up! They have been taking in the winter games and every time there is a fly over of the city they do a big shout out to their Aunt Sherry and Uncle Murray. While they enjoy the obvious thrillers like the half pipe and the super G and aerials the one part of the games they beg to stay up late for is: curling! One night their father let it leak out that a big match was being shown at 3 am and they all begged to be able to get up and watch it.

No way, says the mother who has to school them the next day and does not like to referee grouchy teammates. The father, in a moment of insanity, pondered that perhaps they could watch if they were to wake themselves up without aid of alarm clocks or other devices and the big caveat would be that no parent should be awoken in the process. But after surveying the horrified look on his wife's face he dashed their hopes by summarily pronouncing judgement that all curling shall be watched in waking hours only! Whew, that was a close one.

They are scheming out plots for being an all sister curling team when they "grow-up". I think they have no realization that they do not live in the frozen tundra and therefore their chances of obtaining any fair amount of training in these parts is pretty minuscule.....but why dash such tender dreams? Let them dream of hurling 50 pound rocks down frozen lanes...it sounds no more sane than bowling and we are genetically linked to that craze, right Sugarpops?

Loving and Letting Go

Last week we said goodbye to three of our senior friends. It was a tough week to lose so many in a short time. The girls were spent with grief over the loss of their dear sweetiepie, a friend of more than 5 years. He was in his nineties and wasted away with cancer but always an encouragement to them and eager with a smile and a hug.

Another elder friend Jo we hadn't seen for a while due to being hospitalized with cancer. It was sad to not be able to see her one last time for a sweet memory. Lastly there was our dear recluse of a lady who always welcomed the girls in but never went out much herself. The last memory we have of her is right before Christmas she tried to dance with the little girls as she steadied herself with the cane, that day she looked mighty spry. We went to the funerals and paid our last respects and comforted one another in our grief of having known and loved these great characters.

The older girls are pondering whether it is worth it to keep visiting the elderly when they die seemingly so quickly (in their perspective). They question if it is worth the investment of their hearts to love someone they will lose so painfully and have to wobble under the burden of grief. They have yet to make a conclusion, but we continue to make our visits and spread our sunshine and love where there is opportunity.

There has been more than a shower of tears this week and lots to pray about and people to pray for. I wonder if it is not for the expansion of our hearts, a garden for God's compassion to grow for the least, the lost and the forgotten. That is where my faith holds me. I hope that my dear daughters will also see that loving is a worthy investment that yields great rewards. I hope they see that walked out in my life.

The Green Team

Isn't this a team you can rally behind? What's with the green?

Well, their Irish Grandmother sent them the sweaters as a Christmas gift,

so they are celebrating being

Chinese-Irish-Italian-Americans.

Can we add some more hyphens?

Sweetpeas Strange and Various Recipes - Totally Original

Ketchup with Ice Cream

Peanut Butter with Tuna and ketchup and crackers

Tunafish with chocolate bars

Ketchup Soup - borrowed from a much older friend

2 packets ketchup, hot water, stir and drink....delicious?!

Honey Mustard with Pickle on lemon slices

Makeover gone wild

These wild and crazy girls cannot stop themselves from being silly. They delighted themselves in getting a makeover and I wanted to share the results. Can you tell who is who? I was stunned at the results, thankfully it isn't permanent.

The Adoption is COMPLETE!

We are ebullient and full of thanksgiving as we announce that today we went to court and finished the adoption proceedings making our family complete in the eyes of the judicial system.
I am so overwhelmed with gratitude and relief.

Here are some photos of the day, to share our joy with you.

Happy New Ears

Sweetpea has waited a very long time in Sweetpea days to have the longed for ears pierced. On New Years day we went and did the deed.

She was excited to be doing it as she would then "match" her sisters. Yet, the anticipation of the pain was getting to her so I threw on some numbing cream for the placebo effect.

She sat right there and let them double pierce her ears without a squirm or tear. Afterward she was not pleased that this form of torture had been visited upon her, and even the purchase of a desired pair of kitty kat earrings did not change the souring of the heart.

Only days later is she getting the desired reward for her pain and efforts. People are noticing the beautiful flowers in her ears and commenting. She loves the attention. She's good about getting them cleaned and so far so good.

She is emotionally complex about her ears I think. Having lived most of her life at having her one ear in near constant pain and then the consciousness of not being able to hear well I think she likes having something positive to gild her ears.

Let's see what the ENT says when we see him next to talk about the surgery. He might not be very pleased we have done the piercing at this time. Ah, well a girl can only wait so long for modern medicine.