Orphans and Squirrels

Lately I have had a few orphans on my heart and mind. My friend Julie found her daughter in Ukraine this last month and it has been quite a journey. Through her I have found a new friend Kelly who adopted two boys in February but had to leave a third in Ukraine. Her fight to bring him "home" is chronicled on this blog and also here. Warning... These blogs have produced spontaneous bouts of high blood pressure, tears, and hours of prayer in my life so... read at your own risk! :)

(Channeling my best Beth Moore) As God would have it, another little orphan wandered into my life this weekend. It all started Friday when Rob ran in from the backyard to get the camera because there were two baby squirrels in a tree and they were coming down to say "Hi!" to the kids. (See Rob! You started it!)

They were cute. They were playful. We told the kids not to get too close or to touch them. One ran up Rob's leg and took an acorn from him. They played around and scampered under the trampoline and we took pictures. Then one of them climbed out of the tree and just started yelping. It was the loudest and saddest cry! (Pictured crying for his mama!)


At that point I told the kids to stay away from the squirrels because they obviously wanted their Mommy and she might be too afraid of us to come get them. Then I left the backyard to do other things. Big mistake.

Kolby was just fascinated with these little guys. When one crawled in an old bird house that was on the ground, Kolby picked up the birdhouse and put it on the patio table so she could see the squirrel better. Terrified the little guy jumped out of the birdhouse and nosedived off the table. Limping it then scampered under some bushes. Hours later I came back to check on the baby squirrels, hoping their Mom had come for them. There was no sign of either of them.

I asked Kolby if she had seen them and she confessed what had happened. While we hope one squirrel did indeed find it's Mom, the one that dived off the table was still huddling under the bushes. Kolby and I both felt bad for it. But I was not taking it in. The Mom might still come back...right? Since it was really pretty chilly here Friday night, (45 degree low) I felt bad for the little guy and we put leaves all around the bush and over it to give the squirrels some warmth. And we named the squirrel Khaki. ( I know. Never name them!) I told the kids if Khaki survived the night and was still there in the morning, we would try to help it until it 's Mom came.

I did a little research Friday night and found this helpful site. Saturday morning I was very reluctant to go see if Khaki had survived. But I kept thinking of how loud and sad that little cry had been the day before. And since Kolby scared the baby squirrel into hiding and may have ruined it's chance reunion with it's Mom, I felt I had to check. Armed with dirty yard gloves and a soup ladle (to scoop it up if it hadn't"made" it through the night) I peered under the bush. Khaki stared back at me and didn't even try to run away. He had survived the night but was shaking. My "mama rescue mode" set in. We filled a box with old clothe diapers and a little flannel blanket I was planning on giving to Goodwill. We poked air holes in the lid and then I warmed up one of those casserole warmer packs, (that came in my Pyrex To Go set) wrapped it up and placed it under the blankets.
When we put Khaki in the box he immediately snuggled in next to the warm pack. (I am just assuming he is a he. I didn't really look. ) I closed the lid, put the box in our bathroom and we were off to get Sari from the airport, go to lunch and then to Rhett's soccer game. I was really hoping that I would not find a dead squirrel in my house when we returned. I didn't.

We gave Khaki some warmed up watered down Gatorade (I didn't have any pedilight like the web site suggested) and then I put some pecans and sunflower kernels in the blender to make my rendition of baby squirrel food. Khaki seemed to take to both. Since he was warm and had some food in his tummy... I thought he should try to find his Mama again. I put him back in his tree while we did yard work. Off and on from 5 to 7 the poor thing cried for his mama but... to no avail. Around 8pm, I gave him some more Gatorade and put him back in his box. Afraid of cats in the area, I put the box on a heating pad in the garage for the night. Again I did not know if he would survive the night.

Again he did. I gave him my version of squirrel food and drink and put him back in the tree. The little guy did his part. Off and on all day long I heard he called his Mama. ( I was not home most of the day) When I returned around 7, we could not find him in the tree. I was so excited hoping he had found his mama! But when I picked up his box that I had left at the base of the tree, there he was! I guess Khaki liked snuggling in his warm box better than dangling from a tree.

So despite my attempt at releasing him, Khaki stayed in his box on the heating pad again last night . This morning I gave him breakfast and called a local wild life re-habber whose number I found from this site. I am taking Khaki to her this afternoon.

My kids really want to keep Khaki but I refuse for many reasons. First, it s illegal to keep a wild animal in the state of Texas. Second, I do not know what to do for a baby squirrel. Third, the squirrel rehab site says you need to care for them for at least 4 months! FOUR MONTHS! And fourth... I am not really that fond of squirrels. As Rob has said time and again in the last 48 hours, I have too much to do as it is. There is no time for baby squirrel mothering. Besides, can you imagine all the squirrel jokes I'd hear? And yes, I have already heard quite a few.

So... Khaki is off to meet his new tempo-mama in a few hours. I will never look at squirrels like they are "bushy tailed rats" as I once did. My kids have learned some things about nature, wildlife and about what can happen when you interfere when you shouldn't. We have talked about showing love to all those less fortunate. We have talked about thinking of animals as God's creatures. Rhett especially has asked lots of orphan questions. And there is a baby squirrel who lost his Mama who still has a chance at life. Not a bad weekend all in all.





So. What did you do this weekend?

Promised pictures

It may be days/weeks before everything is back in place. A few boards may have to be re-done. There are also some unfinished things that the guys will come back for next week so, we are not rushing to get it all put back.. But here are the current before and afters...
Before

After (Just after they finished the last board actually. See all that dust on the floor?!)

After (I can't find a kitchen before and the tile had not been grouted or cleaned up in this picture.)

Before (Actually this was day 1 of installation. Our frig is not usually in front of the phone by the kitchen table!:)

After

Before

After

Notice the fireplace tile.
No more fake green marble!
I was so happy to see that go. And yes, I did take a few swings at it during the demo phase! The entertainment center is a not back in place as I am trying to figure out new furniture placement. I forgot to take before and afters of the hall. I will have to post some more "afters" later when we get it all put back together.

Next up I think I need to get a few rugs...
Does it ever end?

Parents needed

Anyone who would be remotely interested in adopting an 8 year old boy...Please read this post!
And you can keep reading Kelly's blog and join me in frequent and fervent prayer for a boy named Viktor!

Going Private

Video added at the bottom!
No.
I'm not.
Not yet.
But it seems everyone else is.
They are getting creepy comments. Or perhaps they have a healthy fear of strangers looking at their children. Some can see from their site meters that UFB's (unidentified freaky bloggers) are coming to their blogs at weird hours and clicking on pictures of their children multiple times. They fear they may have blog stalkers.

I have wondered about all that from time to time. But according to my site meter I don't have that much traffic. No UFBs in the night. ('cept me when Rob is doing papers and I can't sleep) I don't get creepy comments. No one is negative or mean to me here. So I currently don't see the need for me to do the private blog thing. I feel like my little blog world is being divided into gated communities. I see the need, but it makes me a bit sad.
And honestly...
I'm feeling a bit left out.
What is wrong with me that I don't need to go private? Why am I not worried? Why don't I get more anon. comments? Why don't people visit my blog in the middle of the night? How come other people's kids get clicked on? Could I actually have blog-stalker envy?
Now that is sad!
Not sad in that my blog/life is not interesting enough to rate a stalker. (Which, come to think of it, is kind of sad.)
But SAD in that I could feel left behind by something as silly/creepy as that! I think the "loco" in "mi vida" has gone to my blog head!

Speaking of my crazy life....
Today was the first day in two weeks that there were not installers or repairmen in my house! YEAH!!!! I had the freedom to run around the house in my PJs all day... and I did!
Kolby was at home sick today so we three girls just stayed home... and dusted!
Wow. There is a thick coat of white dust on everything. And I mean EVERYTHING! How could just changing out the floors make everything so dirty? But as soon as we get rid of the dust and get all the furniture put back in place, I'll post some pictures! Overall, I love my new floors and am so happy to have this major big home improvement project behind us! Yeah!

And lastly...We have not had our TV plugged in/hooked up for over a week. I haven't missed it. EK has watched Elmo on the computer every morning and the kids have watched movies on Kolby's little TV when need be. I think I could live with out the big TV for good. (Though I have missed HGTV a little bit.) No one else in my family feels as I do. They are so excited that Rob is hooking it all back up tonight. But I'm a little sad. Without a TV we have had many moments together like the ones in this little video.

Free MySpace slideshows, photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I think I am going to have to declare some TV free days in the future. Of course my family might counter with some computer free days for me! And that's not even funny. :)

And yes, life has been crazy. I won't go into how crazy, but suffice it to say this week was on par with the week before it. (The one I blogged about last Tuesday.) However, as crazy as these days have been, it hasn't been all bad. As I was rocking EK to sleep tonight I was able to reflect on these last two weeks. I remember a lot of the funny things, lots of laughter, and things that happened to that show me that God has a great sense of humor so I should too. Yes, my kids were/are a handful at times, but they are also the most precious little people! I am still in awe that God has blessed us with these three great kids. Rob and I did nothing to deserve them, but we love them so very, very much! And they are all three growing up so fast! (Is there a way to slow this ride down?) Maybe I have become a little "crazy" myself because I would not trade these days, not even the last two crazy weeks, for anything. Thank you God for my crazy life!

PS I'm having way too much fun with my Playlist over there! I love that site!!!!

"Mi Vida Loca"

I started this post last Tuesday and never had a chance to finish. Life is still crazy so, I'm going to just publish this post "as is" and finish it later... Maybe! At this point I feel the need to journal. Am I recording the beginning of a nervous breakdown? Hope not! :) Read if you dare. Today (3-31-08) is day 7 of the floor installation. Oh boy! corrected

My crazy life. So fitting this week. Why you ask? Let's review the last 7 or 8 days or so.

First some back ground. Last Monday we went back to school from Spring Break. I had a horrible sinus infection that would not allow me to sleep. I averaged 3 to 4 hours of sleep at best. Our washer was broken and had spewed oily stuff all over my clothes. The water heater was putting pebble size white chunks of something in our hot water and stopping up the washer, dishwasher, shower heads etc. The time had changed a week earlier but because we were on Spring Break we were not at all adjusted.

Monday... Our PTA brought the Fort Worth Children's Opera's production of "Carmenella"
to the kid's school. I'm the Cultural Arts PTA person so I got to play hostess, which was really fun. Had I not been sick or had I not had a repair guy coming to my house, I would have totally enjoyed it. My sweet Mom who was on her Spring Break stayed with Ella Kate and let the repairman in. It was a hurried morning. At the last minute I remembered to put on the only clean green thing in my closet. (Never go to an elementary school on St Patrick's Day not wearing green!) I made it to school just in time to greet the "Carmenella" cast. I showed them around going all over the school. They set up , the kids filed in and it began. I was so relieved. About 15 minutes into the show my friend leaned over and whispered that the tag to my sweater was showing in the back. She tried to tuck it in for me but couldn't. About that time I looked down and we both realized I had my sweater on INSIDE OUT!!!! It was hard not to burst out laughing. I had just greeted strangers and gotten up in front of the whole school wearing my sweater inside out! NICE.

I went home to find out that there is a 4 foot 6 inch long piece of PVC like pipe in a water heater called a dipstick. When the repairman pulled the dipstick out of our water heater it was less than an inch long. That means that 4 feet 5 inches of this pipe had disintegrated and clogged everything in our house that gets hot water. And all those things have to be cleaned out or if too clogged, replaced. And the water heater tank needs to be drained weekly until all the stuff is out. AND none of that "cleaning out" stuff is covered by the Home Shield we have on our house. So we will be doing all that ourselves. FUN! But I have to say, I love how much better it feels to take a hot shower now that there isn't a cup of crud blocking up the shower head! :)

Later that day (wearing a different shirt put on the right way) I took Rhett and Ella Kate to get eggs for their class Easter Egg hunts. I thought Rhett would enjoy picking out his eggs, candy and a cheap "take to school" basket. I was wrong. Maybe it was the fact that I made Rhett stand in the shopping cart baby seat to get "BIG" eggs for me off the top shelf that drove him over the edge. I'm not sure. But half way down the crazy crowded Wal-Mart Easter aisle, with his baby sister screaming and pulling all she could grab off the shelf, and an grouchy old woman behind us ramming my heels with her basket if I paused for too long in the bumper to bumper basket traffic... Rhett lost it. "Mom let's just get the eggs and get out of here!" he roared. Every man on the Easter aisle seemed to cheer in agreement and all the women snickered. Rhett turned bright red and melted on to the basket which made it even harder to push. Evidently, he's not a shopper.

Tuesday my fever rocketed. It was raining hard. Mom took EK to school for me. I slept. Finally my fever broke around noon giving me enough time to get up, shower, go to the pharmacy for prescription #3 and pick up EK and the big kids from school. We later met Rob for Taco Tuesday at Rosa's for dinner. I then sent the kids with Rob and set off to Target and Dollar Tree to get some Easter shopping done. I had accidentally left my cell phone at home so Rob gave me his. Long story short, someone took Rob's cell phone out of the outer cell phone pocket of my purse in the Dollar Tree. I was only in there 25 minutes. I realized the phone was gone as I left the store and went back in the store immediately to call it. I wanted to see if I had dropped it in the store. Maybe someone would hear it. When I called it went straight to Rob's voice mail. I knew something was wrong right away. Whoever took the phone had already taken the SIM card out. I can not tell you how infuriated and violated I felt. I cried the whole way home. It really upset me and Rob. To add insult to injury, we found out that somehow we didn't get insurance when we upgraded phones last fall. So someone has Rob's cool new black razor and he has his old phone. I offered him my hot pink razor, but he passed. I'm still sad about it. And I'm not going back to the Dollar Tree unless I lock my purse in the van. But even then I'm not sure. I have since heard that there are between one to three purse snatchings or car break-ins on that corner area every week. Did I mention Target is across right the street? UUUGGGHHH!

Wednesday... Well, I got to start Wednesday before I finished Tuesday. Ella Kate woke up screaming just as I was going to bed around mid-night Tuesday night. She didn't go back to sleep until around 5 am. It was not fun for either of us. The washer repair guy came at 9am. I was not pretty when I greeted him at the door. He fixed the washer anyway. The rest of the day I tried to catch up on over a week of piled up laundry. Wednesday night we were heading to church to eat. They stop serving at 6:30 and Rob doesn't get home until 6 at the earliest. It is always a rushed thing if we are trying to make it for dinner at church. As the kids were getting in the van, I unloaded some top secret Easter stuff from the trunk. I had both arms full and was trying to hide things, so I left the hatch up. Rob didn't realize the hatch was up and backed out to wait for me in the drive way. I knew what had happened as soon as I heard the crash and grinding metal noise. The garage door, door molding and Van hatch all took a hit. Most still work, but aren't near as pretty. We ended up being too late to get dinner at church so we went to Jason's Deli. Due to a potato malfunction, Jason's ended up taking too long and we ended up missing church altogether. Kolby was in tears because she wanted to go to church. It went downhill from there. It was one of those nights that if properly documented on film would inspire any sexually active person to use multiple forms of birth control. Par for the week, Ella Kate had another very tough night.

Thursday... I called to get EK a doctor's appointment before I even got out of bed. (I just knew it was going to be "a virus" but after three nights of little or no sleep, I felt it necessary to have her checked out. ) Since I had spent some major time stuffing Elmo eggs the night before, and since i am a sucker for holidays, I really wanted EK to get to go to her first Easter Party. I also needed her to go to school so I could go help at Rhett's Easter party. So by 9 am I was on a role. I had everything ready for both parties and had a doctors appointment for EK after school. My mom came over to wake up Ek and get her to school for me so I wouldn't be late to Rhett's party. When Mom got EK out of her bed she was hard to wake up and completely covered in snot. I'll spare you the gory details, but I have never seen that much dried snot in my life. SO disgusting! Poor little thing just cried and cried. And she had no voice. And she had fever. Change of plans. EK did not go to school. My sweet Mom kept her and I went to Rhett's party as planned but a tad late. That afternoon we found out it was more than a virus. Double Ear Infections. (EK's first ear infection ever) And a sinus infection. Happy Easter! But I was happy to get an antibiotic and some drops to help EK sleep at night.

All dressed up to go to the doctor... I couldn't let that cute dress go to waste!

If you are still reading this LONG entry, you might find it hilarious that as I was typing this (Tuesday, March 25) I was interrupted by a phone call from my Mom. All her fire alarms were going off and the Fire Truck was on the way. "Could I please come help her get their cars out of the garage?" No kidding. It really happened. I even took pictures to prove it.

Turns out my parents hadn't changed the batteries in one smoke detector, but all the smoke detectors and alarm system are electrically wired to go off together, so everything went off. (Thank goodness they don't have fire sprinklers!) Ours smoke detectors work the same way but they usually give us a beep warning before going off like there is a fire. (Question. If the smoke detectors are all wired together electronically, why the need for batteries? ) My parents didn't get a beep warning. Instead, they got 6 screaming alarms and 5 firefighters standing in their living room (who were very annoyed at being called out for a dead battery.) At least the neighborhood kids got a show.

It's just another example of how crazy life has been around here. That's all my time to blog for the day....

Picture Perfect?

Not exactly!

Good Friday

I had so many things to type today, but it can wait.
Please say a prayer for the family of Suzanne Catchings Motes tonight.
Suzanne passed away this afternoon.
No more pain.
No more tears.
God speed sweet Suzanne.

Spring Break

Well I didn't mean for our Spring Break to be a break from blogging, but that is what happened.

I'm afraid this Spring Break was a bit dull as far as the kids are concerned.

We had a normal soccer Saturday last weekend.

Kolby had a stomach virus from Friday night until Sunday around noon.

One of Rob's aunts (who we really didn't know very well) passed away last week. She was only 58 and had just found out the week prior that she had cancer. The family was devastated as anyone would be. Rob really wanted to go to Denison to the funeral, but I really didn't want him to drive all that way by himself with one arm still in a sling. So we all went! Nothing like a last minute family road trip! Sunday night we spent the night in Plano in a new to us hotel which the kids loved! (Gotta love that Priceline "name your own price" site!) We took a portable video game system that hooked up to the room's big 42 inch flat screen. The kids and Rob were in gamer heaven. I think I know what Rob wants our next big ticket purchase to be. I however fell in love the sofa in the room and would love to find one just like it for our house! Since our sofa is 12 years old and showing it's age, I bet we buy a new sofa first.

We got up early Monday and drove to Denison in the rain. Rob went to his aunt's funeral while I stayed at his parent's house with all the kids. On our way home we went by IKEA in Frisco (YEAH!) and then we went west and hit "The Incredible Pizza Company" for four hours.

It was really fun as apparently no one in that area was on Spring Break and we pretty much had the joint to ourselves.My favorite was go- kart racing with both Kolby and Rhett. EK loved the little rides in her area. The big kids loved it all!


We got home just in time for bed and were all completely tuckered out.

Tuesday we did nothing. NADA. Stayed in our PJs all day. I loved it. The kids did to, until they realized it was 7pm and we had not "done anything fun" all day. sigh.

Wednesday we went for donuts, played outside, and ate at Chili's with Daddy for dinner.

Thursday was our big CHUCK E CHEESE outing followed by soccer practice. To round out the day Ella Kate fell into the neighbor's pool fully clothed! Kolby immediately pulled her out by her feet. EK didn't even cry. She seemed pleased as punch to be all wet and the center of attention. However, Mommy and our poor neighbor were/are a bit shaken up! I have thanked God (and still am) that EK's big splash was just that. I am well aware that it could have been so horrible. Rob and I decided that EK can't go next door with out a floatie on from here on out.

Today I went to the doctor to find out why I have been feeling so blah and coughing non stop for a week or so... another nasty sinus infection! And I also have symptoms of acid reflux. So my short lived coffee drinking career is over. (I just started in December) A "bland, nothing fried, nothing spicy" diet was ordered. Fun Fun! Chips and salsa are out for a while. In the mean time Rob is off braving the Zoo with our three monkeys. They have been begging to go to the Zoo. What is it with kids and animals?

That about sums it up for us.
As exciting to read as wall paper.... AND you know how I LOVE (not!) wall paper!

Unlike waking up to snow last Friday, today we woke up to a balmy 70 degrees. It is now 88. We could see 90 or above before the day is done. I guess spring did break through this week! Happy Friday!

Snow?

For weeks I have been longingly looking at everyone else's "Snow Day" pictures. Kolby and Rhett both went to sleep last night praying we would get some of that elusive white fluffy stuff and have a rare Texas snow day.
This is what we woke up to this morning!

6:30AM
We still have school today because it was just a freak over night dusting. As you can see the roads are perfectly clear. Right now there's hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun is out. But for 30 early morning minutes before school, Kolby and Rhett had a blast out in the snow!

The mini snowman we didn't have time to dress!

Ella Kate even woke up and reluctantly joined in the fun.

Our little snow bunny.

Even though it didn't last very long, we are thrilled to say we saw snow in 2008!
8:30 AM
What a fun way to kick off SPRING BREAK. Happy Friday!

Things that go "crash" in the night....

Remember the other day when I blogged about the "Leap Day Madness" that took over my body when I was on a ladder changing a light bulb in the kitchen? And I pulled all the wallpaper down? Well a few nights later, Rob and I heard a huge crash in the night. It appears in my fit of wallpaper removal, I failed to properly secure the plastic cover sheet thingy back up into the (ugly) light box. Two nights later it came crashing down around 3AM. It not only scared the ba-jeevies out of us, it broke. And can't be put back up. UG!

Luckily, no one and nothing else was hurt... unless you consider my do-it-yourselfer pride. I am wondering why I think I can do all this stuff when I could not even change a light bulb? And as for that light bulb... The next day it and the one next to it went out! There was a sizzle sound and poof, they were dark! I think the whole light fixture contraption has gone bad and needs to be replaced. But I don't want to replace it! I want to take it down. NOW! This has fueled my burning desire to take thet light box down myself. Of course then there might be the small matter of a big gaping the hole in our ceiling... Yes. I think I need professional help.Before the madness struck... Well this picture was actually taken five years ago, but you can see the busy wall paper and the ugly, albeit functioning, light box.

After... As Crazy as is it sounds, I still like the way it looks now better! Torn wall paper backing, broken light and all! The madness may have outlasted Leap Day! (And YES! This picture was strategically taken to hide the mess in my kitchen!)

I had a bid from a fix-it man to take the light box down, texture the walls and put in recessed lights. However he hasn't been returning my calls. (Bigger fish to fry?) Since I was not to thrilled with the last work he did for us, I'm OK with finding someone else to do this. But who? And when?And most importantly, how much is it gonna cost me?

So back to square one. Living in a half lit kitchen with torn wallpaper backing on the walls and a broken ugly light box hanging from the ceiling is not what I envisioned when I started all this. Got to love home improvement projects! It's bugging me to death! But I spent all my "house" money on floors.

Speaking of floors... Our floor installation has been pushed back until the last week of the month. The tile was not in and then there was Spring Break and Good Friday to contend with. So March 24th is the big day!

Since I am out of $ and Rob still just has one good arm, (and since recent events have made me doubt my home improvement skills) we are just going to have to live with it for now.
I'm going to try not to let it drive. me. nuts.
It's just. a. kitchen.
People in Kenya are happy with fire pots and a hot plate in the corner.
I can live with this.
It won't drive me nuts.
I am just going to focus on getting my house as clean and organized as I can before the new floor installation.
And not. look. up!
That will work.
Right?

Maybe we'll leave town for Spring break...

If you are in Texas today...

1. Please go VOTE (and Caucus) in your parties primary!

2. Put the kids in bed early tonight and feed them a great breakfast in the morning because TOMORROW is the first part of the TAKS test.

3. Carry a tank top and a heavy coat in your car at all times because the weather is crazy! Freezing cold one day, burning up the next.

4. Check out the March issue of Texas Monthly. The cover story is one that I have discussed a few times on this blog in the last two years. Also there is a "review' of Oak Hills Church where Max Lucado preaches. And if you live in Houston...be glad your DA finally resigned. Wow! That guy has issues!

5. Have a great day! :)