Snapshots From A Weekday Afternoon

Hanging out together.I wonder what she is thinking about.

Look at the li-li! (lizard)

Dan the acrobat.

Rash Wednesday

Just when I thought this house was finally rid of the various sicknesses that we've endured during the entire month of February, Joe has broken out into an ominous-looking rash. It started on his face a couple of days ago, but I thought it was just dry skin. We had ventured out to the rodeo last Friday night, where there was a chilly wind and dust blowing around, and I thought that probably caused the redness on his face. But today the ECI lady noticed Joe had little bumps all over his belly. She cancelled the visit and suggested we take him to the doctor. I can't get him in until tomorrow, and in the meantime I hope it doesn't spread to the others.

Fun at the Rodeo

Adoption Update

This isn't much of an update, but I realize it's been a while since I've shared any news about the progress of Kiki's adoption. We were told three weeks ago that we would be receiving a call from the adoption worker "any day" now, but we are still waiting. We were without a case worker from our agency for about six weeks because the previous one had left. When the new one visited us this week she said she understood that we were participating in the mass adoption ceremony this Friday. I'm not sure where she got that information, but clearly it was wrong. She said she would contact Kiki's case worker to find out what is going on. So, the waiting continues.

Listening To Her Conscience

Several weeks ago while we were visiting my parents, my mom observed Kiki reaching up to grab an object from the window sill and then quickly turning to see if the rest of us were watching. My mother remarked, "That little girl's got a conscience, but she's not listening to it!" It was a funny moment, and there have been many times since where Kiki deliberately does something she knows she's not supposed to do, looks at me, and then laughs deviously.

But recently Kiki has been showing signs that she's starting to listen to the voice in her head. The other day she became angry because Daniel had a toy she wanted. Kiki bit down hard on a pillow and raised her hand to hit Joe (the hapless victim who happened to be closer to her than Daniel). But instead of hitting him, Kiki hesitated, looked at me, and said, "No!". She then gave Joe a hug instead of a smack. Imagine that!

Valentine's Day Fun

This time of year gets a bit tiresome. Billy has to teach Writing Camp at school every Saturday morning during February, and the rest of us are still battling various forms of sicknesses, so the days and weeks seem very long. Because one of the kids is always sick, we aren't getting out of the house very much, either. Plus the weather is just weird: bleak, yet too warm for February, and no rain. (For those of you who aren't from these parts, our area is enduring the worst drought in the country right now. And this drought began right around the time we put gutters on our house. I'm not kidding.)

Valentine's Day, however, was a bright spot in the midst of these doldrums. While at Writing Camp in the morning, Billy found an Olive Garden gift card he had overlooked in the flurry of candy and cards from his students on Friday. So we had a very nice dinner minus the crowds and the kids were in exceptionally good spirits despite being sick. I almost didn't want to put them to bed they were so mellow and happy. (Almost!)

A New Game

Since playing "Mystery Baby" was so outrageously fun, let's play "Mystery Substances on Daniel's Face"!

Ready? Let's begin.

Our first substance is a blue, somewhat trasparent material:

If you guessed "markers", give yourself one point. If you guessed "Crayola Beginnings Markers, Baby Blue" give yourself an extra bonus point.

Ok, on to substance #2: Pinkish chunks of color layered on top of the blue marker. Hint: The material is waxy.

The correct answer is: "crayon".

On to Substance #3: No hints on this one.

Yes, it's Play-Doh. Yes, it also ended up in Dan's mouth.

How'd you do? The point is to illustrate the hazards in doing arts and crafts with the kids. Dan and Kiki eat EVERYTHING. Joe loves to do "projects", and the other kids are old enough to want to join in, yet too little to handle the materials properly.

Finally, Dan asked that I include one more question in the game. It's not a mystery substance, but a mystery character. Who is he impersonating in this picture taken last year?

The correct answer is: Harry Potter. Thanks for playing!

Super Sick Sunday

Little Kiki developed a runny nose, cough, and fever this past Friday. We attempted to call her doctor Friday afternoon, but the phone number we had no longer worked and Information had no listing under the doctor's name or the clinic name. Weird. The acetaminophen we had been giving her finally started to work, but her temperature was over 103 again this morning. So at 8:30 Billy took her to the ER where she was evaluated and given medicine for her cough and congestion and an antibiotic.

For these past three days Kiki has wanted nothing but to rest and be held, until finally this evening she perked up and started to play. She even danced to the music during the Kitty Half Time Show of the Puppy Bowl (I am not a Bruce Springsteen Fan so I switched to Animal Planet during half time of the Super Bowl.)

It hasn't helped that I've been sick as well, mostly with a hacking cough that forces me to sleep sitting up at night. Not too fun. Fortunately God blessed me with a wonderful husband who not only took Kiki to the ER, but got up with her several times Friday and Saturday night, brought his sick grandmother soup and medicine on Saturday, made sure I had the medicine I needed, and took care of those other two little kids running around this house. I'm on my own tomorrow, but at least I've been able to get some rest this weekend.