Popsicles in Bed?

Last evening the four youngest decided they needed popsicles before bed. Since I'm such a nice mom I said OK.

There shortly was a ruckus  with Shekinah yelling "no" and the others fussing about something.

Mom! Shekinah put a popsicle in her bed!

Yeah! she said "I go put popsicle to bed"

I went to investigate, sure enough there was a popsicle, still in the wrapper laying on  the floor beside her bed.

Wonder if that is why she woke every hour last night...was she looking for that popsicle?

Thankful for a mom that offered to ride along to Philly today to get the new foot installed. Made the ride go much faster.

When Your Foot Breaks

No, not mine. And no, not one made of bone.  It is made of carbon fiber and it didn't hurt when it broke, just made cracking sounds with each step.

Last evening Joseph told me that his left foot seems loose....now he's told me this differnt times over the 2-1/2 years I know him. Sometimes his foot actually falls off and other times he just needs to tie his shoe better.  So this time I ask for his leg without the shoe and did some wiggling.

Definitely something was a bit loose.

Sent some e-mails and left a phone message all the while thinking...if he needs a new foot

how long will it take

they don't keep these things in stock

he can't use crutches  ( when you can't hop on one foot and you only have  a left hand to hold the crutch...I think they would be a liability not a help)

Well maybe it's not so bad after all

Sent him to school in the AM with a note "no running until further notice"

This AM got a phone call "when can you come in?"  "now?" (as in 2-3 hours from now)

Changed my plans

Got gas, picked up the boy and the leg and off we went to Philadelphia.
Before I left I messaged my prayer partner and asked her to help me pray for this trip.
Dad had left his phone home in the charger, so I couldn't even tell him.

Enroute to school, I checked the Phila. traffic report
Oh yuck!  worse than usual

Then when I got on at the turnpike interchange  my EZ Pass  light said "Low Bal"  I really didn't know what that meant, but  I went on through....
Then I remembered that a couple months ago we had to get new credit cards cause some bozo tried to use them in MN...and we never gave the turnpike the new numbers!

So I stopped at one of the rest stops and called in so ...well I didn't know what happens when your account doesn't have enough money in it. I don't need any fines.  Got that straightened out

Finally arrived at Shriners only 45 min later than my estimate.  Our wonderful prosthesist got her team right on it...
they checked the foot and yeah, it was as bad as I thought...worse maybe...no he cannot wear the foot until they get in a new one.  We could overnight one and you would get it Sat or Mon, but then hubby needs to figure out how to put the new foot on and make sure it is right...this ain't no $5 piece of metal.
Then one of the team came out with a smile. We found a used foot in the back...same socket, only one size larger... will it fit in his shoe? 

It did, it worked  and the shoe fits!  It is a wonderful answer to prayer.

He has a good foot to use till the new foot comes in.

We made it home in time for him to get his last hour of school.


Hard question of the day:  Do you think my birth mother cried when she had to leave?

Golden Rule?

With older child adoption we sometimes forget that the simple things,  the things you teach early...
need repeating...
because they have not heard it all that often...
even if they think they have.

The Golden Rule for example

What does it say exactly?

Umm, something about respecting others so they respect you?

Ahh, try again..

Something about respect to others.

That's a start, but

It says

Matthew 7:12 - Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Luke 6:31 - And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Galatians 5:14 - For all the law is fulfilled in one word, [even] in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

James 2:8 - If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

1 Peter 3:9 - Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Mark 12:31 - And the second [is] like, [namely] this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 

It means that we shall do good to others, even if, they will probably NEVER do good  (nice things) to you.

Yup, not a very easy pill to swallow, even mamas and daddies need to have refreshers on this every now and again.

That would be why I struggled with the decision to bring in a certain person's coat from the yard...

Do I do my parental duty and teach natural consequences?

Or do I work on the Golden Rule that we just talked about?

It was a struggle

But in the end I brought in the coat.

Natural consequences ?

That term brought a blank look.

Happy Birthday!

 Eleven years ago, another mother gave you life.

Yes Hope, I believe she remembers this day.

Her loss is our gain.

We are thankful and can only pray that we will meet in heaven some day.

 She and I went to Shady Maple for breakfast this morning and daddy stayed home to get the others ready for school. We were back in time to braid Faith's hair and give good bye kisses. Shekinah slept through the whole thing, but she noticed that I had a "good" dress on and wondered why.
I didn't get good pictures of her gifts, but they were all teaching related...one of those hand pointers, a magnetic white board, magnets, pens, sticky notes and...flip flops.

Six Months Already!

Six months ago we were finishing up our last few days in China. The little girl I met back then spoke mostly Chinese and was only starting to really trust me.


The little girl that I know today still has the intense personality, I think her paperwork called her "irrascible".

Adjective (of a person) Easily made angry. Characterized by or arising from anger.

Synonyms irritable - quick-tempered - short-tempered - testy

I had to look up that definition to make sure I had the full meaning, back then I smiled and thought possibly something got changed in the translation. I think today I can tell you this child's paperwork has been the most accurate of any of my children (well some didn't come with paperwork, but you know what I mean).

This child is intense! and yes she can be easily angered. Since I refuse to walk on eggshells anymore I get to see her personality quite often. She is my first that can pitch a full tantrum complete with heels banging on the floor, spit and snot flying and anger so big it makes her shake. We have had crying fits in this house before and each child eventually has grown out of them. Most of them have saved their displays for the safety of our home, so I am not in despair here, but when you are old enough to be a grandma in November (see who notices this announcement) you think it would be nice if this snotty, kicking, screaming wouldn't last too many years.
I am working on ways to shorten these displays. No, I'm not allowed to "give her so amething to cry about"  I have to play by the rules.
I have started walking away and if possible closing a door if it is available....wait till the screaming changes pitch a bit, then go in with my very sympathetic voice and pick her up. Sometimes it works as if I'd flipped a switch, it's a bit disconcerting.  She can suddenly be a sweet, loving, hugging little girl.

This stuff doesn't hapen every day, so I don't get a lot of practice, but hopfully if I have a plan in place it doesn't reduce me to tears as well.

As to how she is doing otherwise?  She is funny, she can get a joke...loves doing the one knock-knock joke that her sister taught her.
She likes to carefully hand out her good night kisses, sometimes she makes her sisters beg. Daddy needs his kiss, but he also makes sure he gives me one before he goes off to bed.

She loves babies and will insist we check out each infant seat that we see while out shopping.
She loves meat...all of it is chicken to her.
She will say hi to most people, but if they try to pick her up, she will let them know that is not allowed.
She doesn't seem to notice that her fingers and toes are different from other people's, or if she does, she is matter of fact about it.
She loves her sisters and is very happy when they get home from school.
She didn't like Zoe (puppy) on Friday night, but by Sunday afternoon, she was picking up shredded tissues as the dog was producing them.
She can sing most of the songs that the girls practice around here...well, the tunes anyway, the words are usually borrowed from somewhere else.
She is sound asleep with her head on my lap right now. She gets one or three books, some 'nui nai" (Chinese word for milk) and then lays her head on my lap to fall asleep.  That suits me for now, we will transition back to falling asleep in bed eventually. I didn't get to rock this one to sleep when she was little, so I'll take this.

Tomorrow, I have an 11 year old girl!  Ai-yi-yi! I'll have to post pictures....

Organizing

I am not the world's most organized person...that is probably the understatement of the year. But every now and again I get in the mood.

The children have been on the look out for newly cleaned spaces.

I did not take a picture of "before" under the bathroom sink.

This is the only storage in our bathroom (besides the back of the commode).

So everything needs to fit in here of lay on the floor. Guess where most of the stuff goes?

So I decided to do something "drastic", according to my towel folders.

I started rolling the towels, they actually seem to stack better and my help seems to be able to

keep them in the cupboard. There were times that the ....well let's just say the door didn't close.

Then I got shoe boxes and separated the shavers from the first aid supplies.

Gathered the travel stuff and relegated that to the upstairs bathroom.

Now to see how long we can keep it looking this way.

Then there is this cupboard. I am not fancy enough to have all stackable Tup*erware.

And I don't think I'm rich enough, but I decided I AM rich enough to ditch the  containers

that were lidless.

Then I made another reckless decision and actually threw away all the containers that originally held sandwich meat and were all slightly different sizes and had red, yellow or clear lids.

I broke out a NEW pack of throw away containers...you know Take N Toss

or whatever they are called. Cost me $1.99!

Now my leftovers reside in containers with blue lids.



Then I left sweetie pie wipe down the cupboard shelves....

Corralled all the water bottles, stacked all the metal dishes, nested the large kettles

and large Rub*ermaid containers (there is one prized Tup*erware in there)

and now we will need to revisit that cupboard in about ______months.

On Saturday I tackled this shelf

 I generously gave myself one hour...funny lady!

Between running in  to check why there was so much screaming coming from my inside cleaning crew and chasing dust raccoons (bigger than bunnies) it took me two hours.

At one point I told one of the tattle tales that I will give them one more job

Together

and if I hear ANY screaming or tattling they will work ALL afternoon

Even IF it means sweeping the carpets 60 times.

There was miraculous silence and the kitchen floor got "redd up"

The sad thing is....at this rate I'm going to have to start over by the time I'm get to the last grungy corner of the house...ah well, nothing else to do anyway.

Randomness

 One night I heard some rustling in the hallway. What I saw made me grab my camera. Daddy got hungry for a few chips and Miss Observant caught him.

 She insisted on peeling her own egg the other day...she does a very careful and thorough job.

 My little black belt....with red socks

 The first (well the first ones that are big enough to hold) flowers of spring. That little fist amazes me.

Now shoe shopping is proving to be a challenge. Her foot is thick/high in the arch and shoes that fit her in length are too small when I want to strap or Velcro to close them....We have a few that someone gave me, but I need to keep my eyes open.

Flip Flop Weather!

The other day I was doing Hope's birthday shopping on Am*zon, while I was there I checked out the flip flops. Last summer I bought my first pair in years.

 I wasn't sure they would work since I need extra arch support in my shoes.

 I was pleasantly surprised they were very comfortable and I barely wore shoes the entire summer.

Well I haven't been able to find the same style/size/brand again.

 S*ms doesn't seem to be carrying Spe*do brand flip flops this year.

But I found a pair on Am*zon.

I opened the box when only Joe was in the house.

 He looked at them and said, " I thought you said that wasn't Hope's birthday gift."

I said, "It's not, they're mine."

He had this stunned look on his face...the kind of look he gave me when I said I'd like to buy stilletto heels ( I was kidding that time), and sort of did a "humph".

Later on I was wearing them while pitching a few balls for Hope. Joe was supposed to be fielding...after awhile he says...I don't know why you would buy those flip flops, they are smaller than the ones you had last year. They just look small, your foot sticks out the back."

I think I will just call him "an old man"! 

The girls however rose to the occasion...every few minutes, "mom I like your new flip flops!"

It's also time to play in the sand before we set up the pool.

 I don't believe Shekinah played in sand before. She doesn't seem to know what to do with it.

 She also got a really funny look on her face when she walked barefoot in the grass last night, but today she acts like a pro, so I don't believe that was a first.

I know sand is hard on matchbox cars....but they sit in a box otherwise.

Finally finished this one...I don't think it should be hung on a bedroom wall...too much energy.

You wouldn't sleep!

Here are some pictures of softball practice that is going on around here.

Thanks to Ben for teaching Joe how to connect with some force and teaching Hope to have some confidence and get some decent hits.

Some Old Recipes

Back in October we splurged on a quarter beef and we were eating roasts and steaks. We are winding down to the ground beef . We try to eat "healthier" chicken in between, but, well, it makes sense to eat what you already paid for.
So the other morning I was mentally reviewing recipes for supper. I really would have preferred something that I can throw in the oven or crockpot....something complete...you know, starch, meat, and veggies all in the same pot.  Then I remembered a recipe that I hadn't made in a long time. My husband loved it, but the boys (the oldest 3) really only tolerated it.  Anyway, I thought that the palates have matured and I really didn't care...so I made Seven Layer Dinner

It's the kind of recipe that doesn't really have measurements, you can make your own ratio. I know that I need a FULL 9x13 pan these days so I sliced and diced until the pan was heaping. After it cooked, things shrank a bit.  Here goes...



Seven Layer Dinner (Supper)

1 thick layer of sliced raw potatoes
1/2 cup of rice (uncooked)   OK, you should measure that one
1 thick layer of carrots, sliced
1 thick layer of onions, sliced , I omitted that one and used dried ones- I still have some sortof picky eaters
2 pounds of ground beef
1 quart of tomato juice
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Layer everything in the pan in the order given. Bake uncovered, for 2-1/2 hours at 350. If you see it is browning too much cover it with foil for the last 1/2 hour.

Shoe-fly Cake
This one is from a very old cookbook (1978)  Indiantown Mennonite Church's My Favorite Recipes
It was typed on a typewriter! So you know it is very old!

4 cups flour ( I used half whole wheat this time and it looks fine)
2 cups sugar
1 cup butter

combine these ingredients. Work into fine crumbs. Put 1-1/2 cups aside to put on top of the cake.

2 cups boiling water
1 cup molasses (corn syrup)
2 tsp soda

Mix boiling water, molasses and soda into the flour, sugar, butter mixture. Mix well.
Pour into pan and sprinkle crumbs on top.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Meanest Mom?

Tonight during supper Joe popped the question...

"Mom, change subject,  are you mean?"

What on earth do I do with that question?

It is apparently a consensus among 5th grade girls and 6th grade boys that I am a very mean lady.

Guess it begs the question, just what tales are my children telling about me?