Lookin' fab-lee-ous!

Last night Missy Lou decided she wanted to play beauty shop with me as the client. Since we had a little time before bedtime I was happy to oblige. It was so much fun. She got her little tiara and put it on top of my head and then she twisted and combed (with her fingers) and patted and smoothed my hair and kept up a steady stream of conversation all the while. When she was all done, so looked at me and said, "Mommy, you look fab-lee-ous!"

Going from pink to black!

This has been an interesting week. In my previous post, I indicated that I had pink-eye. Well, the plot has thickened, to say the least. Wednesday afternoon I finally got hold of the doctor's office to ask what the culture said about my eye - was it viral or bacterial pink-eye because the antibiotics the doctor had given me were of no use whatsoever. So, I talked to the nurse and she wasn't terribly concerned, said the doctor said that the oral antibiotic I was prescribed should really kick it. But then, I mentioned that the dilation wasn't going away and my eyes were still terribly sensitive to the light and I couldn't drive. Boy, then her ears perked up. I talked to the doctor personally and she said I needed to get to the opthamologist right away. So, they called the specialists and my dad drove me there, while my mom took the munchkins home with her.
Aside from the fact that I was in a lot of pain and they were really hurting me trying to figure out what was wrong, I had a really good experience at the opthamologist. I saw two doctors and they determined that I did not have pink-eye, that my eye was terribly inflamed, but they couldn't figure out why. They did all these tests and put a lot of drops in my eye and this, that, and the other until they'd done all they could do and still didn't know what was wrong with me. So, I left with prescriptions for 3 different drops and a prescription for a blood panel and chest x-ray. Oh, and the worst part - she gave me a shot in my eye-ball. When she said she was going to give me an injection I started rolling up my sleeve. Then she said, "I'm just going to numb the eye a little" and started pressing down with a swab. So, yes, it was in the eyeball, and now I have a beauty of a black eye.
I must say the meds are working. She has my eye dilated, for reasons unknown to me. So, I'm still very sensitive to light and I cannot drive. But, the redness is almost gone and the pain is gone, too. I go back on Wednesday for a follow-up, so hopefully she'll know something by then.

Pink is definitely not my favorite color!

Squirt. Scrub... scrub... 1,2,3,4.... scrub, scrub....10,11,12,13... scrub... 14,15. Rinse. Repeat 15 minutes later (or less). This has been the story of my life the past couple days. I have pink-eye. It really stinks. I've never had pink-eye before, but last week my allergies had a hey-day and then it seemed to morph into a cold and I lost my voice and by Friday my eye was turning red. I assumed it was just allergies, but by Sunday afternoon, it was very painful and I had a definite sensitivity to light and I decided I had pink-eye. Now, what I've heard of pink-eye is that it's this horrible disease that is highly contagious and is kind of... well, on par with lice and ringworm. So, I've been kind of embarrassed to say I have it. I went to the doctor yesterday morning first thing. I was the first one to sign in. I didn't have an appointment, but I figured if I was there, they'd have to see me. Besides, Hubby had to take me in, since I can't drive with this light sensitivity. I only had to wait for 15 minutes, which was nice. So, she took a culture and gave me some antibiotics. However, we don't know if I have viral or bacterial pink-eye. I suspect it's viral, since I've been on the antibiotics for more than 24 hours and I've seen no improvement.
Anyhow, I went on-line this morning and did a little more research on pink-eye and found out some interesting things. The first is, the virus that causes pink-eye is the same virus that causes all other upper-respiratory illnesses. So, you can get pink-eye from someone who doesn't necessarily have pink-eye. They can have a cold and instead of the virus settling in my nose or throat, it settles in my eye. That made me feel better. Another thing I found out is that, while it is highly contagious, it is no more contagious than any other cold virus. Fortunately, my eyes don't itch, they just hurt like the dickens, so I've had absolutely no desire to touch or rub them. That's how it gets spread. I have been washing my hands an awful lot these last several days and washing my towels, pillowcase, etc. So, as of now, no one in my family has gotten it. I'm so glad. It really is no fun. I still can't drive, my eye really hurts and it's ugly. But, I do feel a little better after having got some facts about it and hopefully in a week it'll be gone!

This is the time of the year when...

* my allergies kick into high gear
* our electric bill is lowest
* I start making soup
* I start wearing sweaters
* I really admire our neighbor's Chinese Pistache trees
* our cat starts to really look pretty
* I am tempted to listen to Christmas songs, and occasionally give in

From one day to the next...

Sometimes I wonder why we have bad days and why we have good days. Some days, like yesterday, are just living a nightmare. Yesterday we had little boys refusing to do their school work and sitting stubbornly at the table until 3:00 in the afternoon. Yesterday we had tantrummy little girls, and tattling middle children and a tired mommy who put children down for a nap without reading to them because she was really tired of them and needed a rest herself. Yesterday we had disinterest and disrespect. We had screaming and crying and all manner of conflict.

But then.... there's today. Today we learned about the Inuit and Nootka Indian tribes with interest. Today we finished our seatwork by snack time. Today we are happily playing with Lincoln Logs. Today is another day.

We have been asked not to return...

Well, not exactly, but... pretty much. The boys have been in our homeschool choir this semester. I thought it would be a good experience for them, get a little bit of that socialization that homeschoolers seem to be so lacking in, and also get some musical experience. They meet once a week for an hour and their director is a nice girl, she's a recent college graduate and seems very serious and competent.
Today, the kids had a two hour long rehearsal. The first hour was with all three of the choirs (they are split by age) and then the second hour was with their own little choir. About half way through the second rehearsal Duh-duh gets carried (yes, carried by the director) out of the sanctuary. He didn't talk much to me about it, but one of the parents who saw the whole thing gave me the skinny. He and his brother were just getting into it. Typical. Now, I don't want to defend my son. We expect that the boys behave appropriately in all situations and are respectful to their elders. However, I think that for a five year old boy, on his second hour of singing Latin Christmas carols, it's a little much to ask.
So, after the rehearsal was over, he apologized for being disrespectful and I talked with his director a little and got the dreaded, "I've been meaning to talk to you about this for some time....". Apparently it's quite obvious that the boys don't want to be there. So, when I suggested that they not be in choir second semester there was no protest from her. I feel badly. I would like them to be exposed to good music and learn to do new and different things, but I also don't want them to be pestering others and making her life difficult. So, I guess we won't be doing choir next semester.

Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month. It's kind of funny that there's a month or a day or a week for just about everything under the sun, but because I have a vested interest in adoption, I think having Adoption Month is a good thing.

I think for so many people, adoption is an afterthought. It is "Plan B". If you are unable to bear children, then you adopt them. For us it was that. We probably wouldn't have adopted if we were able to have children biologically. However, God had other plans for us. I never realized it, but adoption is never "Plan B" with God. It is His first plan with us regarding our Salvation. See the following verses:
Galatians 4:5 ... to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons...

and

Ephesians 1:5 ... He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will...

Our own relationship with God as our Father is an adoptive relationship.

We also see in Scripture a command to adopt. Throughout Scripture God has put in place ways that His people are to care for those who are victims of sin and the sinfulness of others, as well as those who are unable to care for themselves. We are to care for the poor and the oppressed, and to take in and care for the widows and the orphans. Of course it is not possible for everyone to adopt a child, but there is always a need for foster care providers, respite providers for foster parents and then the plain old giving money to orphanages overseas and agencies here in the States who care for foster children.

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

Psa 82:3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

Adoption is not an easy road. We have chosen to adopt through foster care and it can be ugly and long and very very frustrating. Our first two adoptions went fairly well, but we've been waiting for over two years now to adopt again and it's been difficult. However, I see the blessing of family that God has given us, I see how He has worked miracles in bringing our children to us and am excited to see how He will use these children for His glory.

Psalm 113:9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!

A thankful girl!

This morning I was out working in the yard and Missie Lou comes running to the backyard from the front yard to get something or other from the dirt pile and she says, "I like our house Mommy! It's a good place to play. And live!"

I agree with her. I like our house, too. And just the other day I was thinking about how I'd love to have a bigger house - have a school room, have room for more children, just have more room. But, we do have a good house and I need to be content with what God has chosen to bless us with.

So, I am saying this, "I like our house, Lord! It's a good place to play! And live!"

New pictures

Here are a few recent pictures of the kids!

Our homeschool group went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Monday. We had a great time. It was a long day, but the kids were real troopers and I think it was a good trip for all of us. My mom went with us, too, and that made it really special.

We finished up at the aquarium about 2:00 and we weren't quite ready to go back home, so we drove out on the peninsula and the kids played around on the rocks. Bubba had a great time. He's such a little mountain goat - so sure footed and strong. He loved it.

Looking at the sea stars. The kids had a great time at the touching tables.

Here's our Halloween pictures. We went to the Fall Festival at Reedley Mennonite Brethren Church instead of trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Our neighborhood is always a zoo on Halloween, so we try to just get out of there.

Missy Lou wanted to be a princess, so a princess she was.

And then we had our two little pirates. They had a great time.

It's been too long!

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. A friend of mine mentioned yesterday that she hasn't posted in a long time, but then she looked at my blog and saw that it had been even longer since I posted, so it made her feel much better. Hey Carolyn, any time I can help you out! LOL!

I have no excuses. I don't know why I've stayed away for so long. I guess it's because I haven't had much to write about. Life's just been chugging along. The leaves have turned color, we're studying the Sioux Indians in History and today we read about babies who live in their mother's pouches in Science. Duh-duh had to apologize to the librarian today for drawing in marker on the front cover of the tank book. Fortunately for him, the librarian was able to get the marker off so Duh-duh didn't have to pay for it. So, we've been having those kinds of learning experiences as well.

I'm hoping to be able to get a little more blogging done in the near future. I need to get back into the groove.