Thankful For the Big Little Things

Libby with her drawing about wiggling her loose front tooth

Thursday was a trying day to be sure. It started out early at 2 AM with Sara fussing for her bottle and then again at 4 AM with Annie waking me up delivering kittens (by 7 AM she ended up with five super cute little babies who look very healthy). My friend Karrie had to fill in extra hours at work on short notice for someone who was sick and dropped Kenna off at our house at 7:30. Libby and I did schoolwork while Caleb, Kenna, and Sara played together in the basement. I was running around between lessons, cleaning the house, watching the little kids, and cleaning up after pets. Meanwhile, I had this crazy idea that it would be really nice to get caught up on laundry for once. I lost track of how many loads I washed. I really don't mind the actual washing and folding, but for some reason, I HATE putting it away. We usually have a few baskets of folded laundry sitting around, and it drives me crazy. This time, I was determined to get it all done in the same day.

Poor Caleb's nose :(

By the afternoon, the kids were getting cranky and a little stir crazy. Kenna left around 3 and Libby and Caleb wanted to go outside to enjoy a rare sunny day by playing in the driveway on their bikes. I decided to get a grapefruit out for lunch. They were doing just fine outside, but Sara was cranky. I left my partially prepared grapefruit on the counter while I took Sara's temperature. Of course our temporal scan thermometer wasn't working and needed to be cleaned. I carried Sara up with me to get the alcohol out of the upstairs bathroom and cleaned the thermometer. The next scan worked correctly, and sure enough, Sara had a low fever. Just then, there was a thud followed by a scream from outside. Caleb apparently cut a corner too sharp on his bike and wiped out, breaking his fall with his face and the backs of his wrists. He left a good part of his poor little nose, lip and forehead on the driveway. He came screaming to the door with Libby who was also screaming (she doesn't do blood AT ALL). I left Sara in the bathroom and raced downstairs to Caleb. He was inconsolable and Libby was even worse. His nose was scraped on the outside, but was bleeding from the inside as well. Sara of course wouldn't come downstairs and I had to leave Caleb crying with a cold, wet cloth on his bleeding nose while I went to see what Sara was getting into this time. Of course, she had just opened the door into the momma cats' room and was trying to pick up a kitten. Ahhhh!

Still smiling, though!

I dragged Sara downstairs and Caleb's nose had stopped bleeding, but then I noticed he had a golf ball sized lump swelling up on his forehead, too. Sara kept getting into things a hundred miles an hour while I was doctoring Caleb, and Libby was too shaken up to be any help watching Sara. I sent her and Sara to their room for Libby to watch Sara in a safe environment. Caleb was finally calming down, but I could hear Libby wailing LOUDLY upstairs (and her bedroom windows were open for the world to hear), "I don't want to be in my room! I want my brother to be OK. Why did Caleb have to get hurt? I wish my windows were not open! I CAAAAAAN'T watch Saraaaaaaaaa!!!" Oh my! The drama from that child is pretty incredible sometimes. I brought the girls back downstairs, gave Caleb and Sara both some Ibuprofen, put Sara down for a nap, and got Caleb set up in my lap with a bag of frozen corn on his poor swelling forehead. Sara didn't take a nap and took her diaper off again instead. She wet her bed and her clothes, and then cried until Libby went up to get her for me. Then Sara went back to her tricks and wouldn't listen to her mommy who was stuck on the couch with her injured big brother.

And still really goofy!

And extra silly, too!

I finally had to call Nathan and ask him to come home a little early. He saved the day! He showed up with McDonalds and took over the Sara-patrol. We gave Caleb his Happy Meal, and put a cool Spongebob bandaid across his nose. He was kind of proud of his injury, but didn't want to look at himself in the mirror. Thank goodness he didn't show any sign of a concussion and we were able to skip the visit to the ER. We were so thankful that he was OK. He fell fast asleep on the couch and we carried him and Sara up to bed (finally!). Then Nathan and Libby and I went to work cleaning the house, doing dishes, and folding and putting away yet more laundry - all the stuff that I had planned to do earlier that afternoon. Libby cornered me and begged for me to take her out to eat at a "fancy" restaurant - AppleBee's! She wanted to spend some time with just the two of us, and I thought it was a great idea. Nathan and I talked about it while I ate my dehydrated grapefruit from earlier and decided that I would take Libby out to lunch after work on Saturday. We finally got the house clean and ALL THE LAUNDRY DONE and went to bed around midnight.

Sara LOVES Izzy and he thinks she is quite tasty, too

Friday was a long day at work for both Nathan and I. Friday night, I brought home Karrie's Pug dog named Boo and a little Maltese named Izzy. They are spending the weekend with us while Karrie is out of town. As Karrie had warned us, neither dog would be quiet in a crate. After listening to barking and yipping for about 30 minutes, we gave in and let them sleep with us. Yes, in our bed. Nathan had a few choice comments about them, which made me giggle and then they got all excited and ran all over us in the bed. There's nothing like watching someone else's pets to make you thankful for your own well-behaved ones. Pepsi would NEVER! :)

Cute little Izzy

Boo with Sara climbing up behind her

This morning I got up, got ready for work, cleaned dog pee out of the carpet from one of our furry guests, took care of the cats and kittens, said goodbye to my family and drove to work. As soon as work was over, I rushed home to pick up Libby and take her out to our "fancy" lunch at AppleBee's. We were both really looking forward to our little date together.  

Pepsi the mechanic says, "Yup. It's leaking."

As I backed out of the driveway, the brakes felt funny and the pedal went all the way to the floor. Hmmmm. Probably not a good thing. So, Libby and I went v.e.r.y. s.l.o.w.l.y. around the block and carefully pulled back into our driveway. Sure enough, there was a large puddle and then a nice trail of brake fluid in the driveway. The tow truck just came to take the car to the mechanic and Nathan and the big kids have gone to take care of paperwork at the mechanic as well. After talking to my Dad, we decided that the brake line must have cracked or been damaged a few weeks ago when Nathan accidentally hit a man-eating pothole on the highway and blew out a front tire while driving to work. I love winter in Ohio - NOT!

The trail of fluid in the driveway

Anyway, we started thinking about how things could have turned out this week. Caleb could have suffered a concussion or worse and turned out like his Aunty Libby. Ha ha! Seriously, I am SO thankful that he is OK. He has some very ugly scabs, but he's going be just fine. And I am SO thankful that the brakes went out while I was in the driveway and not on the highway on my way home from work. And I'm even more thankful it didn't happen with Libby in the car on the way to our fancy lunch (rescheduled for dinner tonight). I think our guardian  angels have probably requested a vacation after all the work they've had to do at our house this week!

Caleb and Sara playing and Boo, Izzy and Pepsi looking on

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long time no post

Life is finally settling down here after months of destruction/construction on our downstairs bathroom and the kitchen. There are too many pictures to post, so click here for the link. Things are almost back to normal. I feel like I can actually cook real meals in my own kitchen again! We still need to choose and install a floor in the kitchen and refinish the wood floors in the dining room and living room, but that can wait till the bills are paid. Of course there are lots of little fix-it projects to be completed as well, but nothing major.

We just completed week four of a wonderful six week Bible study at our pastor's house on Sunday nights. We are studying through Chip Ingram's R12 materials and really enjoying it. It's been great getting to know the other couples in the group and learning together. It's like a cool drink of water on a really hot day. Nathan and I were just discussing how much we are going to miss this class once it's over. We are excited about getting more involved in service at our church as the need arises.


Work is ticking along as usual for both of us. Nathan is thankful to still have a job at Allstate despite threats of layoffs coming soon. He has been taking on many additional responsibilities and is hoping for a promotion if everything works out. My job has been keeping me super busy while I am there and some while I am home also. We are still praying about how much longer I will work there before I can leave to stay home with my kiddoes.


Speaking of kiddoes, Libby is nearly finished with her first grade school work for the year. We are getting there! Only 8 more weeks (or until she finishes all her books) to go! She's excelling in her reading and most days really enjoys her math. She's learned about telling time, counting coins, basic fractions, adding and subtracting two columns and carrying numbers. Libby loves trips to the library, helping in the kitchen, bossing her siblings, sewing for her dolls, and TALKING. She also has a very loose top front tooth that will be coming out soon, I hope. :)

























Caleb-man is not quite as intersted in school most days, but that's ok since he's only four. He has focused on playing educational games on the iPod and honing his Wii skills instead. He has also learned how to ride his bike without training wheels a few weeks ago. We are so proud of him! We will be starting kindergarten materials in the fall. Hopefully we can get through the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons this spring/summer, so he's more prepared by September. Caleb also likes trips to the library, splashing in the bathtub, chasing Sara, bugging Libby, caring for the dog, and playing pretend with his toys.


Sara-bear is a wild woman these days. Only 4 months away from being two is a great excuse for getting into trouble 100+ miles per hour. She takes full advantage of the times that mommy is distracted and then gets into as many things as quickly as possible. The worst yet was the "poo" incident where she took off her diaper and then pooped on the hall carpet and down the stairs. She frequently removes her diaper during nap time and then wakes up in a wet bed, which means more laundry for mommy. We tried duct-taping the diapers closed. It worked for a few days until she learned how to pull the diaper down like underwear. *sigh* I keep telling myself it's just a stage and we'll get through it eventually. Sara loves cuddling and will sit in just about any available lap and demand you read her a book. She is starting to talk now and says all kinds of gibberish and then expects you to understand and respond appropriately. If you don't, she'll give give you the stink eye or shriek "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" at top volume. We're working on that, too. . . :)


The cats are graciously more than paying for their own keep for once. Businka delivered four gorgeous little kittens Feb 27th and Millie delivered five more little fuzzies on March 4th. They are all reserved except one so far. Annie is due this week/end and hopefully Milolika will also have babies mid May. We still have a long waiting list to work through and keep getting inquiries all the time. God has really blessed with this crazy cat business idea!


Adoption is still on the back burner but remains something close to both of our hearts. We are still waiting on the timing. The main obstacle right now is my job, so we are researching all of our options while we wait and pray. It's exciting to think about the possibilities, but super frustrating to be forced to wait when there are so many children needing families.

You are the helper of the fatherless. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear, To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

Psalms 10:14,17-18