Camp 2012

We had  a GREAT time!  I climbed the telephone pole again after 6 years. :)

The girls loved hanging out with friends, going on the big swing, swimming and doing all sorts of things, like attacking a caravan of boys with water balloons after the camp fire. :)

Oh my, it was an amazing week.
Here are some highlights:

A roomie.

 

Erika playing guitar for the talent show.

 Fishing

 In the lodge

 Shannon is an amazing counselor.  I have seen her grow up over the years, and she is going to get married in November! :)

 What a sweetie.

 A horse with a prosthetic leg. :)

 It was rock star day. :)

 Ummm. this was the result of a water balloon fight..... all bathing suits and towels up the flag pole. :)

Anna and Alli

When Erika, Sarah and I were at Camp.  Anna and Alli were busy little Biebers. :)
(the word that sounds like the S word is shout.)  I wasn't too sure at first. :)

Camp

Tomorrow, Erika, Sarah and I leave for "Out on a Limb camp". You have to be out of a couple of limbs or have multiple limb difference, or more to go to this camp. 
Over the years we have met some wonderful people. Some have become some very sweet friends, and our reunions each year get sweeter.  The rest of the family gets to go to the Winter Camp Retreat, in February.
 I explained to Alli last year, that this is the only place where Erika and Sarah ever see anybody else just like them.  And they are very fortunate to have each other. Some children don't have a sibling with missing limbs to identify with, and it can be very lonely.

There is much to do to get ready!  I will miss Daddy, Anna and Alli, but we always talk on the phone at night.  Daddy, I'm sure will have some fun things planned for the three of them. :)

I am so thankful that we are going. I became very ill last night trying to battle an infection and had to go to one of those Emergency Room places.  I have to say, they were VERY good and got me in quickly.  After getting a shot of antibiotic, advil,  and staying in bed and not cleaning  carpets, I am already 50% better than I was last night.  I still have that one left to do that I wanted to finish before we left, but it is not to be. My body says, REST.  Unfortunately, I had to stay behind from services today. :(    But I'm glad I got some obviously much needed sleep, as I just woke up at 12:30!

So, camp here we come! :)  Stay tuned! :)

While I am gone, please enjoy some of the "Posts of Note" on my side bar.  :)

Carpet Cleaning Fever

We purchased a carpet cleaner so we could get the rent house ready. It did a really great job on the carpets at the rent house.  Now, I decided to do the carpets at THIS house. 

It may sound whiney, but I really do not like our carpets.  They needed to be replaced when we moved here over 10 years ago.... We never made a decision what to do with the bedrooms, so they have remained.  I have had them cleaned , but have never been  pleased with the results, the times we have had it done. AND it is COSTLY.
So here is the carpet cleaner. It looks like a vacuum cleaner from Mars. :)

 And here is our bathroom.  After I finished.   This carpet will never get perfectly clean, I will never understand light colored carpeting.   But that is just me.

When we can, we are going to get rid of this carpet and replace it with something wood.  For now..... we have carpet that is cleaner than it was yesterday; and for that I am truly thankful. :)

A Fellowship

We attended a going away party for our friend's dear daughter and her husband and children, who will be leaving to go to a far away country .  They will be planting a church. 
My heart wrenches, as I know the dangers they will face.  But I am so happy for them, that they KNOW they are doing what God would have them do.
They are leaving on Tuesday for Language school, which will last 2 years.  And then.... to the country that the Lord has led them to.
It is an honor to know this beautiful couple.  I knew our friend's daughter when she as just 3, and a little "Cubby" in Awana.  
For those who teach Awana, or Sunday School.... know, that someday, one of the children YOU teach, may be off to a faraway land, to share the Gospel....The GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ!
And you, will have had a part in the training of that person.  Take your job seriously! Serving the Lord is SERIOUS business.

Thoughts About .....Correction That Connects

Our children's beginnings...


Tonight, we covered "The Connected Child" chapter 2 at our support group.
I could barely get through this chapter without weeping.  Reading it once again reminded me of how NEGLECTED our children were, before they came home. :(

But I was also reminded of the FOUR MIRACLES that LIVE in our home. :)
YES! They are absolute MIRACLES......

When one considers that each and every day, in the normal life of a newborn babe, their mother connects with them time and time again; touching, hugging, changing, loving and caring for them, I see just how truly NEGLECTED our sweethearts truly were.:(
To have to lay in a crib all day for YEARS.... is a nightmare that 2 of our sweeties lived  in reality.
To be neglected by parents who were addicted was a nightmare that 2 of our other sweeties lived in reality.
Yet, today, EACH of them THRIVE.
I am so thankful for them beyond words.

LOVE your children. Have COMPASSION for them.  Bring them to a place of HEALING.
It is SO HONORABLE to be a parent. :)  And it is so REWARDING..... :)

Karen asks the question in chapter 2 workpages.  What is behind the behavior? And what is your child trying to communicate?  Sound familiar? 
In other words, dig deeper.  Try to find the solution. 

Also mentioned was "the belief system"..... if your child  is a child of trauma, or comes from a difficult background", their belief system may very well be, "I am not worthy to be loved". 
"I am not worthy to be fed."  "If I were loveable I wouldn't have been abandoned."

These deep seeded beliefs are things that we have encountered with each of our children.   That is why I believe it is important to have tenderness and unconditional love during a time of needed correction.   
Taking a child who is sullen and angry and singing to them, a song like Masterpiece, with words that soften the hardest of hearts, because it speaks TO that very belief system, counters it and says, you are worthy of all of my love. You are loveable. God loves you. I am PROUD of you....

Combine THAT with, "What would be an appropriate way to respond to mom when I ask you to do the dishes?"  or.........
Mama isn't asking you to do anything to cause you harm. I only want what is good for you.
Because I love you, I cannot let you be snotty, (fill in the blank)  as you are my precious, sweet daughter.  :)
And you have a recipe for healing and building trust.


DON'T avoid correction because you don't want to deal with the fall out.  Instead, find a way to CORRECT that CONNECTS you to your child! 

Hey I sorta like that statement..... "Find a way to CORRECT that CONNECTS! " (and that does NOT mean corporal punishment)  I'm talking about the deep communication of love between a parent and a child.  This is called "Teaching" and it is the TRUE ART OF DISCIPLINE.   If what you are doing does not connect with your child, then it is time to do things differently.  The change starts with YOU! :)

Erika the Babysitter

Or should I say, "The Sister Sitter".... :)

Tonight, it was Anna's turn to go out with Daddy and My turn to go to the Support Group.   Erika is now 14, and we feel that each of the girls are ready to stay alone for  a time with no parents. :)  They are all doing really great.... So we were both comfortable leaving for a couple of hours and doing what we needed to do.
Oh Boy! Erika is a wonderful big sister, little sister sitter.  :)  I made the rules very clear. Just as with the brothers; each person is RESPONSIBLE for their OWN behavior; but Erika would be responsible overall in any emergency and they should listen to her.  :)

They did fantastic and had some fun in the process!  Anna had a good time with daddy too. :)

 Oh the mischief of that little Sarah face. :)

 And then Miss Alli had a turn.:)

 Did I mention it is HOT here!

 I really like this picture!

Oh I love it that my girlies love each other. :)  They are just precious.

Arms and Legs and Doctors Oh My!

 Sarah has developed a hard lump on her forearm over the last couple of years, after she had surgery for a tendon transplant.  It was looked at 2 years ago, and they said it was normal.  Then, 3 weeks ago she complained of pain. The area was a little red and swollen, with that lump looking much larger!
I made an appointment for her and they took x rays today.
The verdict is, that the bone is trying go grow around that transplant.  She most likely just irritated it being Sarah.... :)   There is no tumor, which was my biggest fear.  YEA! So she is a healthy girl. :)

While we were there, I noticed that she also was walking a little crooked, so we headed down stairs to prosthetics to see if Dwight was available. He was!  So she now has another centimeter added to her leg. :)
He also ground out the leg to make more room, as she has grown.

He also said that Erika's legs were ready to try on.... We tried them, and there is some tweaking to do.  That won't happen until after camp.   Which is next week! WHEW!

 Waiting for the doctor to come in at hand clinic.

 Now we are in Prosthetics..... waiting for the leg to be lengthened.

 Erika trying on new legs.... Sarah still waiting....

Oh my precious girls.  So fortunate to have them in my life. :)

This Old House

We still own our first home that we ever purchased, much to our own surprise, and most likely, much to our own laziness in trying to sell it. 
We rented it out for several years and then decided to try and sell it once more, to no avail.  Then, the housing market came to a pretty good crash around here.  Homes with granite counter tops and wood floors were selling for  75-85 k.      Our house didn't have any of those. 
We refinanced it last year, as we still owe a small amount on it, but the interest rate was killing us.
The payment went WAY down to an acceptable level and we have been working on getting it ready to rent out again. 
After all these years, we are not selling.   It is FINALLY at a point where we will begin to recoup the investment we put into it. I hope. 
So today, we are headed to Join Mike and finishing up the last jobs to get it ready for inspection by the city.  Our renter will move in at the end of the month, and I will no longer have to face the utility bill and house payment each month for a home we do not live in.
YEA!
I still like this little old house.  Mike and I married there, in the den.  It was the first home we ever owned.  It was a 1300 sq. ft. fixer upper when we bought it....in 1989.  We remodeled it together, though it remains a 1300 sq. ft. fixer upper. LOL   I still remember dad letting Chuck karate chop into the wall to start the remodel process. LOL
There was a sand box in the back yard and the boys used to line up G.I. Joes and play army.

A lot has changed since then.  4 boys tromped up and down those stairs and we all lived cozily there, until the boys were mostly grown.  Now the boys are all married and on their own, and 4 girls tromp up and down the stairs having no memory of the house, but asking loads of questions about what went on there, who roomed with whom, where did we put the Christmas tree.... how did we cook in such a small kitchen, etc. etc.

 Den

 I still need to clean the stairwell.

 Bathroom

 I cleaned all the carpets over the last two days. They all had stains MUCH WORSE than this one.
And I am pleased that the carpets looks really nice.

 A view from upstairs into the back yard.

And the big question! "How come WE don't have stairs at OUR house???" LOL.... That is a good question! I miss the stairs too!
Hmmm. maybe we could start a remodel over here?  


HONEY???? :)

Holding It Together

I knew with all we had going on, this weekend would be a HUGE weekend for Miss Alli to handle.
First off, she knows that we have been going back and forth with the Russian Embassy trying to figure out what it is they want us to do, as far as paperwork.  We followed the list on the website, and then it was all sent back to us with a long letter of requirements. 
They basically had us putting together a dossier minus a few things.  So, we complied, but it was stressful having to get all this stuff done, including trips to Austin and Dallas to get new notarized documents. 
We finally heard back from the agency, when the Russian Embassy said we had to bring Alli to Houston in person!
She was starting to get scared! "Will they try to keep me?"   I told her no, but my thought was the opposite.  It could be paranoia, or NOT.

We reassured her she was safe, and we would get all this worked out.  It is hard trying to do things with a  12 year old who's ears are perked. :)  She was not obliviously 5.

Added to that the birthday weekend for 2 girls, the car breaking down during the trip, having to be towed, then the boat breaking down on the water (thank goodness Mike is a mechanic and never goes anywhere without his magic bag of tools)  and then the next day being Father's day..... Alli had enough triggers to last a life time. LOL

I spent the weekend reassuring her she was loved and safe, and if she felt upset to "hold it together, use your tools."   SHE DID!

That is until Saturday Night.  Everybody had started to go to bed and she insisted she had to stay up and do laundry.  She then said something rude to a sister, which we do not EVER allow, and was unwilling to apologize....  I waited with her, and that is when it all poured out.... "You love everybody else more than me! I know you say you don't and you love us all with your whole heart, but it isn't true!"  Ahhh! She has been listening.... she repeated me perfectly, with a mocking voice, but perfectly non the less.... she knows the truth.

So I congratulated her for listening all those times about how much we love her and that she is part of a family team.  She didn't like that so much.  It took her a few minutes to use her tools and settle herself down, but she did!  Of course she was terribly remorseful and apologetic.  But I was actually PROUD of her for going through ALL of that weekend with minimal falling apart.

I have come to recognize Alli's biggest trigger is feeling that others are cherished or loved more than she is.  With all the attention RIGHTFULLY on two sisters, it was a trigger that was entertained. When we were talking I brought this up..... When she was still mad and curled up, I decided to sing the Master Piece song to her......It was hard to get into a singing mode when she had just accused me of being a terrible liar for saying I loved her the same.  But I made myself do it, because she needed that.   As I began to sing and stroke her hair,  her tears flowed.... I added a few words in between such as, when the songs says, "You are a masterpiece", I added, even though you don't believe that right now"....  and when the song says  "and I'm so proud of you"  I added.... "even though you don't think I should be"......   She turned around and hugged me tightly.
"I'm so sorry mommy.... "
"I know, sweetie..."
And then, she fell asleep.

Anna was terribly sunburned after our sun screen failed to do its job. (SPF #50)!)  I was abit sunburned too, so we decided to go to the later service.  Mike, Erika and Sarah left for church and then he called.  "Did we forget the van is broken down?"  Oh yea! We did!   "What about the truck?"  "It is connected to the boat still."
"Well dear, we'll see you when you get home!"   I needed some rest after a huge weekend anyway.
We made daddy his favorite Chinese rice dish and then left again for the lake in the early evening to catch some more water before the week started again.

And the news we got today????   Cease and desist all paperwork.  After ALL THAT, we don't have to do it.  They WANT us to readopt in Russia, but we are not being required to. 
Oh I wish I would have known this a few hundred dollars ago.
I can't wait to tell Alli..... she will feel so relieved that she doesn't have to go to the embassy!

And just when things get all back to normal this week..... come Monday, CAMP for Erika, Sarah and Me.......
Some more from the Lake:

My Friend

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful dads out there~!

I think one of Mike's joys is to see his girls enjoy the boat. Today Anna got up for the first time on a Wake board.  It is harder than skis, which she is pretty good at.....