Ever wanted to hear "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" the way the author intended? How about just hearing it from the source?
Big hat tip to Rebecca for this one. How cool is it to hear Mr. Frost read his own poem???
Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!
A European mount for Jmk's trophy for this past deer season. And here are the stats:
Killed January 5, 11-pt, 13.5" inside spread. According to the taxidermist, it was about 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old. But, it only weighed 140lbs, which is weird for that area at that age. Should have been 180 lbs at least.
(For all my friends who are raising eyebrows and saying "what?" lol..... I had to have Jmk tell me all that stuff. I'm learning, but am not *quite* there yet.)
Good job honey!
Wanted to share a couple of pictures from a birthday party that both kids attended last Thursday. It was a party for Olivia and Abigail from church, and from what I understand, all the kids had a blast! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go - I had tech rehearsal for Junior Miss. But Jmk took the bunchkins.
It was at Pump It Up, which is basically a huge place full of fabulous blow up jumpy things everywhere. Add that to some cake and you have a young person's ideal of fun!
This first picture (both shot with Jmk's camera phone), has Poodle at the top of one of the big slide-y things.
Then, we have a picture of Tooter on the same slide as he is hitting the bottom. Apparently, he just climbed right up to the top all by himself and slid down without even checking up. I guess he checked all fear at the door.
He's such a dude.
Junior Miss is D-U-N done for the year. We have a simply lovely new representative, and I'm definitely sure that I don't want to ever again be the only person doing production. It couldn't be helped this year, but it shall never happen again! :-) Blugh. But it's done, the show only had some minor hiccups, and did I mention that it's DONE????
THANK YOU to SueSue and to MooMoo and GaGa for keeping the kids on Friday and Saturday nights for us. Y'all are lifesavers again!
And, Jmk, thank you again for basically being the production co-chair this year. There is NO way this would have happened if you hadn't done everything that you did. The list is too long to type. You are the best husband in the world. I love you so much!
And now! Back to real life and to getting ready for my grandmother's 100th birthday coming up on Leap Day this month. That's right, ladies and gents - 100. Doesn't surprise me, but it's still a really cool thing. Technically, my mom is pretty much handling the whole shootin' match for the big party, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to be of some assistance now that my big job is over for the month.
And, here is another book suggestion for the parents of wee ones. I know there are tons of great compilations of fairy tales out there, but MooMoo and GaGa got one for the kids at Christmas that has proven to be a bang up collection. Treasury of Bedtime Stories, Library Classics. Published by Publications International, Ltd. I'm not going to individually list the 16 different fairy tales, but it even has the more obscure ones like The Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
It's a great compilation, and it is bound quite beautifully. Can't go wrong with this one, if you're needing a full collection!
In this time of ubiquitous political verbage, I keep hoping to hear someone offer up some plans for Universal Marriage Assistance. Seriously.
Doesn't it sound like a good idea? There are SO many people in this country, young and old alike, who are *not* married. I know, I know.... it defies belief. But, it's true. And I'm SURE that every single one of them wants to be married. Right? I mean, really - instead of waiting until I was ::gasp:: in my 30's to meet the perfect guy, I could have had some assistance in my early 20's to find just *a* guy. I could have been married TEN YEARS earlier, if there had just been some kind of government program set up to help me.
And, really, why are we leaving the fate of all the little children in the world to mere good luck? What if they never find anyone? I think that if they were protected by the government, and had an appropriate pool of, gosh, at LEAST 4 or 5 people to pick from, then they wouldn't have to worry about what they would do with the rest of their life.
Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking.... wait. What if someone doesn't WANT to be involved with UMA? You're thinking that this program is going to force a lot of people to drop out of the marriage industry. That some really decent people who would make very good spouses will disappear because they don't want to be told who to see and how to manage their marriage skills.
Now look - that is NOT something we should worry about. Those people probably don't *really* care about marriage. Because if they did, they'd stay and practice marriage, even if it isn't of the best quality. Right?
And, for any of you who are worried that just because the government is involved in providing marriage for everyone that the same government will have too much control in those marriages... well - is that really such a bad thing? And, besides, as long as they pay for the wedding, and subsidize the honeymoon, who are we to complain when they get involved in our personal marriage choices? Really - what makes us think that we are all that good at picking spouses anyway? Heck, isn't the divorce rate somewhere around 50% in this country? Sounds like the government NEEDS to step in. Mistakes are being made all the time! We have no business trying to fix the problems ourselves. The Government should fix it. They are so competent and trustworthy that they OUGHT to be involved in such a personal and important part of our lives. I think any politician who is supportive of Universal Marriage Assistance ought to get a LOT of attention from us. A LOT.
And just think - if we could get Universal Health Care..... drat - I mean Marriage Assistance activated, then it would be a new government program. In other words, it would never go away, no matter what. Doesn't that sound fantastic?
Universal Marriage Assistance. Let's get behind it people!
(removing my tongue from my cheek now)
Gooby post title notwithstanding, we have seen some progress with Toot and his eczema. For... gosh... what seems like forever, he has taken a 12 hour antihistamine every night to help control the breakouts/hot spots on his skin. And, during the worst of his breakouts, the medicine supposedly also helped him to sleep through at least some of the itching.
The trade-off, though, was that the medicine contributed to the drying out of his skin. You'd think that it would be counterproductive to give someone with eczema a medicine that almost exacerbated his problems. But, from time to time, we would forget to give him his medicine at night, and could always tell by the next evening that he didn't have it the night before. i.e. his skin would be worse. So, we continued the antihistamine.
Well! We had another forgetful moment a couple of weeks ago. BUT, this time, his skin didn't seem to be worse the next day. So, Hmmmm, says I - let's not give him the medicine again. Again, no major new breakouts the next day. Oooh! And again, we kept the medicine bottle in the cabinet when it was time to go to bed. And on and on.... and now he is 2-3 weeks free of antihistamine!
No, he hasn't suddenly cleared up or anything. But, the eczema isn't any worse. AND, his skin is not as dry - which is a HUGE deal. SO, to be able to be weaned off of the medicine is definite progress!
I realize that when we hit pollen season and summer, that things may change. But, for him to have shown this progress makes us have reasonable hope that he may be in a process of growing out of the worse parts of the problem. Praise the Lord for this good news!
I went back to the OB office this afternoon for a checkup sonogram, and everything is working as it needs to. I still have some physical healing to do, BUT, there will be no need for surgical or hormonal intervention.
In fact, the doctor asked me to take a home pregnancy test in a couple of weeks. As long as it turns out negative (i.e. my hormone levels are back to a pre-pregnancy state), then I'm also clear of any more doctor visits. This is wonderful news!
Thank you again for your prayers for all of us. God has heard them and answered them abundantly.
All those who have prayed for us - God has answered them abundantly. We have experienced a calm and peace that can only have come from Him. THANK YOU.
All those who have written, called, emailed - your notes of encouragement and love have given us something concrete to hold and see, and that has helped so much. THANK YOU.
All those who have shared your own stories with me - knowing that this affects so many has given us a sense of almost-community which has, in an odd way, helped to share the load of emotion. THANK YOU.
All those who have brought/offered to bring food - your generosity is so touching. THANK YOU.
All those at Jmk's office who have fielded calls and rerouted work these last few days - his being home with me has helped us all have healing time and much needed family time. THANK YOU.
I have two more prayer requests - first, for me physically. That this process is working completely, and will have done what is supposed to have done by the time I go in for a follow-up sonogram tomorrow afternoon.
Second, for Poodle. That she is able to process what has happened without being able to understand it the way an adult can. That we say and do the right things with and for her.
We are truly doing well, and are going to be fine. We expect to have some emotional challenges in the next few weeks, and expect to always miss our AB. (Angel Baby). But thanks to your prayers, and God's mercy, we are doing well. Thank you for your support, and for caring so much - SO much - about all of us.
We love you!
There's a really large club out there that has no membership roles nor meetings. It has no club motto, nor does it have by-laws. Its only dues are paid in tears and heartache. It's a club with lots of members, and not a one of them asked to be in the club.
It's the club of parents who have dealt with the pain of miscarriage. And, inside the club, there is a unique sorority of women who carried those babies.
Jmk and I regret so much to have to say that we are now members of that life-altering club.
For reasons that we don't need to know, our baby left us very early in its life. I began serious spotting Tuesday night, and as it was still ongoing Wednesday morning, we went to the OB's office. They tried to find a heartbeat, but there was none. The baby was measuring about 8Weeks and 3days, which means that he left around Thursday of last week, at best guess. The doctor says it isn't as common after having had such a strong heartbeat already, but that it's likely due to a chromosomal issue that simply caused a cessation of organ development.
I was scheduled for a D&C surgery this Friday morning - but it appears that I have begun the process of a natural miscarriage already. So, after discussing it all with the OB's office, as of right now, the surgery is off. It will likely make for a long weekend, but being able to avoid the surgery is actually a good thing. We would still really appreciate your prayers for Jmk and myself - for healing and comfort.
As we have heard from the pulpit, God does not give us trials to test us, because He does not need to do that. He already knows what we are capable of. However, the trials in our life can serve to show US the lessons we need to learn, whatever they may be. We don't need to know the reasons for any of this. And it may be years before we can look back and see a purpose behind the trial. But we know that God is in control, and His will is perfect. We need not question when we are following Jesus Christ.
So many who I have talked with have shared their own similar experiences - some I knew about, some I didn't. It is seemingly so common for this to happen. While that doesn't change the hurt involved, it does bring a sense of life-goes-on to the whole situation. And, being home with little children is also a great boost and distraction - they keep my focus on the miracles that we have already been given.
Thank you all for your prayers. I am sure those prayers are what are keeping us together right now.
Thought I might give a little update on Toot's flowering language skills.
First, when I went to pick the kids up from MooMoo and GaGa's house on Saturday pm, I really think I heard him say "MaMa!" and then come to me. But, I wasn't sure, because there was a lot of talking and noise. But, I'm SURE that I heard him say that when I came home from Junior Miss practice, Sunday evening. What a lovely sound!
He's starting to use DaDa more regularly, and MaMa is beginning to be used from time to time. He's actually showing an interest in trying to say things now. Of course, you can't really understand what he's saying, unless you see it in context, but just the fact that he's trying is new progress. He even tried to say "juice" for the first time yesterday!
We still haven't heard back from the Early Intervention program folks, even though I did call the pediatrician and ask again about the referral. So, would he have made even better progress had the speech therapy been started? I don't know. Could have been just the same. As Jmk has been saying all along, he started talking when he was ready. We're certainly not having conversations or anything, but I suspect we'll have a lot easier time communicating with him by the time wee one arrives at the end of the summer.
This has been a good, and much needed, lesson for me. I knew I had a bad habit of comparing my kids to others - and relying too heavily on the "standard" or the average milestones to judge their progress. But until this experience, I didn't realize JUST how much I did. I'm definitely going to be adjusting my outlook from this point on.
And I'm very grateful to hear "mama"...... Even though I'm sure that within a few months or so, "Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy" is probably going to drive me bonkers. ha!
And Lord willing, brother's gonna be a PhD!
Just heard from David, and he passed his exams!
He wanted to me to send a heartfelt thank you to all those who offered prayers on his behalf - and that comes from me as well. Thank you for thinking of him. He says he knows that those prayers are what got him through the difficult week last week.
He is beyond elated, and is SO glad to be able to focus on what he really enjoys. He'll spend the next 2 to 3 years with research and programming and presentations and publishing - and then he'll write and defend a dissertation. Then, presto! He'll be done. I think a lot of wonderful things will happen for him between now and then..... thank you again for your prayers on his behalf.
announcement from the Head Zookeepers....
Jmk was quite surprised at his Christmas eve present which was this picture of the family that was taken before he and I left for his office Christmas party. I took it, used the Paint program (which explains the, um, high-tech drawing) to draw the little swaddled bundle in his arms. Jmk's poor eyes got bigger than I thought they could get, he said "are you really", and then I think his face turned white. Needless to say, after less than a week of processing it all, he was ready to go. (I had already had my week of processing time when I first started feeling pregnant about a week and a half before I could even test).His last round of tests are this morning - in addition to the previous requests, please pray for an extra measure of perseverance and focus to finish strongly.
It will be awhile before the final scores are back in, but I'll try to remember to keep everyone posted. Thank you so much for your prayers and good thoughts for him!
His next round of exams begins tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 9:00AM. Please pray again for his success!
My youngest brother is currently in a PhD program in Computer Science and is taking his "Level One" exams this week. This morning is the first of three days of exams. These mandatory exams will determine for him whether or not he continues in the program - please pray for him to have a clear mind, a calm spirit, and God-given confidence.
He'll be in the one this morning until noon, and then will take the 2nd round on Wednesday morning. Friday morning is the third and last round.
Thank you for your prayers!
The kids just took their last dose of the antibiotics for the ear infections. 10 days of antibiotics - blugh. I can see now why parents whose children are very susceptible to these things get tubes put in as soon as they can. This 10 days of medicine thing is a pain in the tookus. Especially for the kids - Toot has had his share of tummy problems with the medicine, and Poodle has slept terribly while on it.
On the upside, Toot's skin has seen some improvement. The problem with eczema is that it creates tiny fissures in the skin that can become infected because they are so hard to protect and close up. These antibiotics have taken quite a bit of red out of his skin, which is nice! I have a topical antibiotic cream to use on him, but as it is with all medicines, overuse of that can cause other problems down the road.
Anyway, for a short time, his normally red'ish skin has a more normal appearance. It's nice.
And the kids are done!!!
As you know, our second little bundle of monkiness isn't a big talker yet. This is the most recent post about all that. The word explosion that you hear about hasn't happened yet, nor do I really expect it any more.
But, he IS slowly starting to add words to his world. Most of them I probably wouldn't understand if I didn't know the situation at hand. But, at least he's starting to use them!
Here are a few of what I can remember at the moment:
Eh-mo (Elmo) This actually takes some prompting. His first attempt at Elmo isn't as clear.
Coohkie (cookie) Pretty clear!
Sooes (shoes)
Up (asking to be picked up) Finally! We've been working on this one for forEVer.
There are more - I know there are. It's just what I remember immediately. But, it's more than he had, and he isn't completely verbally stagnant. And, as with most new tricks he picks up, he's only mildly impressed with himself. I'm telling you - this kid is a dude. But, as it has been for awhile, he can follow multiple commands in a sentence. So the talking, as Jmk has always said, will come when it comes. If I could just find that blasted worry switch in my head, I would turn it right off. It has never been useful, and it's turning into quite the albatross!
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