We Know the Drill

Grace woke up this morning with tell-tale signs of peritonitis....which means we're back in Children's Hospital for a few days.
The doctors are running antibiotics, Grace is running Disney Channel and I'm hacked into the phone line for internet.
We'll survive, but by tomorrow around noon - I'll be beyond bored. So comment.
Please!!!

Live in Concert

Our grand kids spent the weekend with us so their mommy and daddy could celebrate Kara's 30th birthday.
Scarlett performed for us and we were a thrilled audience.
Happy Birthday Kara!

B - 27

Our visit to the nursing home yesterday was better than we had hoped. It was BINGO day and as the residents informed us many many times..."This is the popular activity."
The tables were full and there was a lot of excitement. Okay, I was excited. The residents are a bit sedate and one lady asked me, "What are you doing?" and I had to explain that I move around a lot. I think she thought that was annoying.
One wonderful resident was the caller. She really liked being the caller and how perfected a decibel level appropriate for the hard of hearing set. Some of the residents had super sized cards for vision help. As the caller yelled out, we had to watch for those who wanted to play but needed assistance finding the spot and placing the chip on it.
It took us a while to catch on to the deal. They play for the first Bingo but don't clear their card. Then they play for second Bingo but don't touch those cards yet. They finish up with the ever popular "cover the card."
The lady that I was helping won the card cover and I was thrilled. I clapped and got all excited. They were amused by that. I'm going to work on not alarming the residents.
The prizes were a bit of a let down, although there was much buzz about who got what. They had crackers and small bags of cookies and a couple packs of tissues.
We all agreed while traveling home afterward, that it was the greatest time ever.

Wearing of the Green

Happy St. Patrick's Day from my lucky and charming kids. (that's what the shirts say anyway)

Better Than Football

Not every kid likes team sports. Some of them actually hate it and are perfectly happy to never set foot on a field of any sort.
Our 11 year old is one of them. He prefers movie watching over most things, so we decided to help him find an activity that he could do away from the cheering crowds.
Fencing was just right. He could do alot of great stuff like stabbing and lunging, all at his own pace.
There is a certain risk of death (he wishes) and the outfit is way cool.
And here's the BIG bonus....no spending every Saturday sitting on a field watching him play.
On Guard!!

Just Do It

We have really enjoyed our Bible Curriculum this year. We used a study by Deeper Roots Publication called, Discovering Our Amazing God, a look at the many facets of God's character. This week we finished the book, looking at God's mercy. There was a suggestion that we find a way to show mercy to someone else. We weren't sure how we would show mercy and we weren't sure what we were going to do the rest of the year for Bible curriculum.
Eventually we decided to go to a local nursing home and see if we could volunteer for an hour or so.

When we showed up at the facility nearest our house, the activity director ushered us into her office and told us how thrilled she was that we were there. She told us how she had been praying that morning as she traveled to work, for people to come and help out. She wanted to know if we could give our time each week, spending time with the residents, talking and playing games and giving one on one attention. We said, YES, we would love to come each week - and we know what we'll be doing for the rest of the year for Bible.


The workbooks are great, but we're not going to order more for the rest of the year.


We're going to put some feet to our studies!

Tubes

Yesterday our 9 year old had tubes put in his ears at our local hospital. The entire surgery takes all of 2 minutes, but we waited a couple of hours before and afterwards, which gave me one on one time with him. Boys tend to run in packs and when you get a chance to pull one aside, it's always novel and nice.

He told everyone that it was the best day of his life because he didn't have to go to school while everyone else did and was pretty happy waltzing around the hospital room waiting for the surgery to start. He practiced saying, "Where am I?" the moment he came out of anesthesia and made me promise that I would laugh when he said it.

After surgery he was still for about 20 minutes and then was back to normal. My mom is a volunteer at the hospital and escorted him down to the car with a bag of candy which he loved (both the candy and having his grandmother there).
The discharge papers said - "food and activity as tolerated".
He tolerated the bag of candy on the ride home and the ridding of his bike all afternoon wearing the surgery hat and calling himself the doctor.
It was a good day.

One is Silver and the Other Gold

Last night James and I had dinner with a couple who have been our best friends and neighbors for 28 years.
We met when they walked down the hill to our house with their 2 toddler boys, much to the delight of our 2 toddler girls. We have been inseparable ever since.

We have braved public school, homeschool, adoption, college, weddings, surgeries, heartbreaks and grand parenting together. We have seen prodigal kids become God followers and sent some of our kids into the mission field. We have known each other long enough to remember what color our hair really was and how much the guys used to have. There's never a reason to defend yourself with them, as they assume you're doing it right.
It's easy having friends like that. I count them as a treasure.