He's Back!

December 13, Caleb came home from college for a long, 4 week, Christmas break.

He is REALLY missed by all of us.

Being a sweet, big brother, he played ping-pong in the basement, and then I found him teaching his 3 little brothers some tried and true wrestling moves.

MQ is changing so quickly and increasing her vocabulary weekly.

She shocked her "Bubba" with all kinds of full sentences and songs she sings.

And of course he misses this nutty sister who texts him photos like this one!

He'll have her close next year.💗

Welcome home, Caleb!

Caution! Hot Liquid

Leah was melting some clear wax in the microwave that she re-purposed from a cell model she had made in Biology class.

She was microwaving it too long and when she grabbed the handle of my measuring cup, she burned her hand.  She kept complaining about how bad it hurt, so we put lavender on it and she went to bed.  In the morning, it was slightly red.

When I picked her up that afternoon from school, it looked like this!!!

YIKES!!😝

The next day it had filled up even more and was HUGE.  She couldn't write at school and kept it bandaged up.  It was the hugest blister I had ever seen.  Her Biology teacher emphasized how important it was NOT to pop it for at least 4 days because of the rawness of her skin underneath.

Leah made it about 3 days, then couldn't stand it anymore and took a video of her popping it.  Gross!

Then, ignoring my advice, she cut the skin.

To date, the skin has healed back but is still red and doesn't have much feeling.

It pains me still to look at these photos! Bless!!

A Ruff Day

Last week we noticed our neighbors dog had bolted through their electric fence and was hanging around our pond.  This was not his first time to be on our property.  My Man called and mentioned seeing him hanging out (out of concern for the safety of our ducks).

Fifteen minutes later our dogs were at the door, ready to be let inside.

I noticed quite a bit of blood at the doorstep and our little mixed terrier was shaking and whimpering.

We are not positive, but it appeared that he was in a fight with the neighbors dog.  I found 4 bite marks bleeding on his back and side.  They were not extremely deep but he was very upset.

We are assuming that Titus got a little grumpy with the neighbor's dog, seeing that he was on our property, and that the other dog responded with aggression.

I cleaned the wounds and kept an eye on him.  The next day I took him to the vet, as he was not walking around, and when we picked him up, he cried out.

The vet said that the wounds would heal fine on their own, but the skin on his belly had been shook and detached from the muscle, causing a sag.  This area would fill up with blood and fluid, and if it didn't drain, could likely become infected and be a big problem.  

We opted to be on the safe side, so Titus had a small surgical procedure where they inserted a tube in one of his wounds on the top of his back and ran it down to the loose skin near his belly.  He was required to wear the "cone of shame" for 6 days to allow the "stuff" to drain out.

Titus is a sweet, tender dog and, to put it bluntly, has an extremely low tolerance for pain.  The vet even asked me when he hollered like he was dying while the vet tried to shave a spot around his wound, "Does he always act that dramatic?"  The answer is YES!

There was lots of whimpering and crying from his little bed (he couldn't get on the couch because he was dripping icky stuff) for a couple of days.  It nearly ripped Ruth apart.

And bless him, we kept hearing his cone hit the steps, his bowl, and the floor as he was trying to adjust to his new necklace.  Pitiful, I know.

But he's totally fine and all better now.  Six days later the cone came off, and the tube came out, and you would have thought he had just been released from jail.

Our sweet neighbors felt horrible and are adding a fence to their invisible fence to help keep their pup at home.

Ironically, about 9 years ago, Titus became a Fish Stick because he was a stray, hanging around our house, when another neighbors dog attacked him.  We called a vet and after treating Titus, the vet turned to us and said, "Now he's YOUR dog," and handed us the bill.😏

A Special Bond of Friends

Once a year I have lunch with my DRC Mama group.

I bonded with these women in 2012 when we were all waiting on our adopted children from Congo.

Only one of the 7 of us (one mama had to leave our lunch because of a sick child) brought her child home before Congo temporarily shut down adoptions, causing all of us to have a long, painful, hard wait.

This year I asked Aunt Mandy up the road to babysit MQ for me.

MQ loves spending time with her cousins and aunt!

Since the last time we met last year for lunch, one of them had a child diagnosed with leukemia (who just had his latest scan showing NO CANCER!👊), one of them went through a difficult divorce, and one of them was extremely sick and found out later her apartment was infested with mold.

We had a lot to catch up on - our lives, our faith, our adopted children - sharing parenting advice, recommending counselors, and trying to enjoy laughs and funny stories in between.

These girls are precious to me!

Fort Night

Some may remember that one of my standard kid friend gifts is Fort In a Bag. I had promised my boys to make them their own for a LONG LONG time.  I finally delivered on a rainy, cold Saturday.

The girls made their fort (Lydia had one from last birthday) in the keeping room and slept there that night.

I spy a Blue Tick who knows she is not allowed on that cream-colored chair!!

While the boys enjoyed theirs up in their room.

Visit with Papa

We had not visited Papa in a while so after church on Sunday, we dropped by for a visit. 

This was the first time that we visited him in the Memory Care unit of his assisted living.  Unfortunately he had to move there last month as his memory is failing more, and he has gotten disoriented several times.  Once he took a walk outside and fell and couldn't get up or remember what direction he came from.  Thankfully a nice lady, taking a walk, helped him find his way back.

He's not a solid candidate for Memory Care as that wing has mostly Alzheimer's residents.  Papa says, "They are all nuts around here!"😀 But the assisted living doesn't really provide the care that he needs right now.

We sat near the dining room by the big Christmas tree and chatted with him.

While we were visited 2 ladies hung around us, hovering over our shoulders and mumbling while Papa seemed totally irritated with them.

After one of them walked away, Papa told us that that particular woman had run through the dining room while they were all at dinner.  She was wearing NOTHING except for a jacket and panties.....Fancy Panties, he added.  We all got so tickled just to imagine (but not really wanting to imagine) the scene he was describing.  As Papa watched us all cracking up, he seemed less irritated by that nonsense and began to laugh with us, enjoying the craziness of that story.  

I'm not sure what "fancy panties" looks like in the Memory Care unit of a nursing home, but I'm not that curious to find out.😂

 Papa is a sweetheart and loves his big family dearly!

We are thankful for his longevity.💚

Colors of Christmas

My elementary kids participated in the Christmas musical, Colors of Christmas.

Tall boys in the back row are my Fish Sticks.

Lydia is front row, far left on this photo.

Josiah is somewhere in the middle. 

Afterward, the school had their Book Fair set up, and MQ shocked us with her obsession with Clifford.  She kept hugging and loving on him and posing with him!  Like what 2 year old does that????  

This guy is growing up too fast for me.

My friend sent me this photo. 

Josiah's last elementary Christmas concert to participate in.....let's just say this non-performing boy is not shedding any tears...he may even be doing cartwheels.😀

Great job, Fish Sticks!

Playing Up

My twins signed up for our local rec basketball team again this year - 3rd season for them.

The last 2 seasons have been seasons of total domination from my boys.  They were a 2 man show and maxed out on times they could score. 

They clearly needed to play up and since the league is age 7/8 and then age 9/10, we told them to play us up with the kids 2-3 years older than they are.  While they are definitely the height of these boys and the playing ability of these boys, they are no longer the rock stars on the court.  They are great ball players and we are very proud of them but this season they have competition which is always a good thing!

I love this photo of Jedidiah on the bench.  He looks like a sweet, little man.

They have gotten lots of playing time and made several shots (no goals yet) and really hang well with the older kids.  It's good to see them challenged a little.  I think we've got some pretty solid athletes on our hands!

Potty Talk

This is one of my least favorite things to do but here goes nothing.....9th and final time.

To date, Island Princess is a rock star about staying dry, and loves to sit on the potty and have me read countless books, but insists on my putting a diaper on her to go.  I even tried setting the diaper inside the potty, loosely wrapped around her to try to transition her out of that.

My child genius said, "Mom, zip diaper up!" 😜

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Last year was our first year to have a "pretty" Christmas tree and a "family" Christmas tree.

We didn't really have any ornaments for our pretty tree except for burlap garland and silver and gold balls.  I planned ahead though and scoured Pinterest and purchased supplies for us to make farmhouse Christmas ornaments for our pretty tree.  It was lots of fun for the girls and me to craft these ornaments together.

 We sewed ticking to makes stars, hearts and stockings, covered foam balls with twine, ticking and burlap, painted "FEED" on little buckets tied with ribbons, built frames from Popsicle sticks and used chalkboard contact paper to write Christmas sayings, and made mini-pallets from Popsicle sticks to stain and draw on.  It was an all-week-long project but we were happy with the results.

 I found this idea on Pinterest also to put my old world Santa that Aunt Martha painted for me for our first Christmas together on the porch with our rusty, old wagon, an old wooden crate, pillows and wood.

 I love my adoption tree with ornaments from our adoption processes or from the native countries of my children.

And this year I displayed my Congo nativity with trees that I covered in fabric, twine and music paper.

We are getting ready to celebrate His birth!

Sunrise Sunset Repeat

One morning I woke at 6 to see this spectacular sunrise out of my bedroom window!

And that very afternoon, God painted the sky again for us with this amazing sunset.

He never ceases to amaze me with his color!☝

Gearing Up for Break

The weather warmed up a little bit so that we could get Kitty Elliott used to being an outdoor cat.  Thankfully one of other cats was getting accustom to Elliott being added to the family.

Luckily, MQ started torturing (with love) Elliott less since he was outside.

This is LESS!  😁

Thanksgiving break was just around the corner and so sweet Lydia made this poster in anticipation of Caleb coming home from college. 💜

And the girls found this tutu in the basement that had been AB's in her first ballet recital.

Of course they had to dress-up MQ and teach her to twirl!

Give Thanks Feast

We hosted G and G at our house for the Thanksgiving feast in addition to my niece home from college and her new boyfriend.  We were so happy to meet Mason and get to know him (and report back to my sis-in-law in Turkey! 😀  He passed my interrogation with flying colors!)

AB made these nice signs with her beautiful handwriting.

AB took this photo and Caleb was not present because...well it's a long story, but I'll try to shorten it.

He went hunting Thanksgiving morning with Sam.

About an hour before dinner time, he texted that he had shot an 8 point buck that was chasing after a doe.  He followed the blood trail and then lost it.  He spent over an hour looking for him.  My Man told him to head home for our family meal, and then the 2 of them would head back to look more.

Unfortunately they never found "my freezer meat," and were able to catch up on the Dallas Cowboys game quickly.

For Black Friday, these teens headed out to our local Walmart to play hide-n-seek and act like nuts in the chaos of shoppers.  I think they had fun, and I hope they behaved themselves.😉