Mixed Messages

Here is Tristan sliding on the forbidden arm of the couch (while Mommy takes pictures,
hopefully secretively).


Here is Sawyer hearing Daddy say, "WHAT are you doing sliding off the arm of the couch?!" (while Mommy takes pictures).



Here is Sawyer in the throes of disappointment.


One kid: "There's nothing to do now!"


The other kid: "I'm going to make a cheeseburger bed! Here's the bun....


And the salad....


And the blanket for the cheese."

Controlling Closetland

I had one of those moments where you read something and try to make sense of it because it strikes you as kind of odd, but yeah, it could work. This is what Blogger had posted on my opening admin. page:
"Scheduled outrage at 4:00 PDT Find out more, here."
"Hmmmmmmmm," I thought, " It must be cool for everyone to complain about something in all the blogs at the same time. Should I do that? Wait, that's dumb. Do they want us to join a what-are-you-really-mad-about forum or something?
This was my reasoning.
Then I read it again.
"Scheduled outage" Oh, that I actually care about.

Note: There is only one person, possibly 4, who will know why the title of this post is appropriate. It's not that you are not getting it. It's a long story.

This is How My Day Started.....

"Mom, why are you eating the most burnt one?" queried Greyson.

"Because that's what moms do." I replied cheerfully.

"Why?" he asked again.

"Mom's can suffer through burnt cinnamon toast better then kids can."

The eating of it is easy, it's the realizing you've just wasted a loaf of bread, a whack of butter, and the time it took to make it that starts your day off wrong.

Nathan's Going Home!

The doctor said he was doing so well, they could release Nathan tomorrow!
The new finding is that it looks like there is a second small cyst that was hidden by the one they drained. It is in the optic nerve area so they will not be able to remedy it. The chemo may shrink it.
In three weeks, they will put a shunt into Nathan's chest area (this will require another surgery) to administer the chemotherapy. He will have chemo once a week for a whole year to shrink the cyst and the tumor.
Nathan is somewhat melancholy and very tired. Pray for strength and joy along with healing.

Hit the Jackpot with This Fieldtrip

This was at a wildlife reserve near out house. We found so many unexpected things.



A puzzle?


A really big ship.


Beaver teeth.


A composting toilet....

Complete with instructions.



Gravel hills for sliding....


And jumping.



Mr. Crane.


Mr. Snake, with a hurt tail.


"Can I touch it?"






Lot's of woolly bears.


We had to stop to record it all.



WAIT, there was one last thing....


A fox skin.
Wasn't that a productive trip?

Goodbye Vanilla

This morning Kiki found her hamster had met the end of his days.

We all said goodbye.

"Mom, who killed Kiki's hamster?" asked Sawyer

I had to explain about dying from old age.

I think Sawyer's been watching too many Monk episodes.

Her other animals enjoy a good life. This is "contentment" in bunny language.

This is "tolerance".

This is "curiosity" with contentment in the background.

This is bathing, and "Hush! I can't hear what's going on".

They also do "furious" and "shunning", but they were in too good a mood to get those shots.

Operation Recovery

Nathan is in ICU. They keep saying "he is doing really, really well". Darlene said he even got out of his bed and walked a little! He is alert and may be able to eat today.
The surgery was successful and they will get the results of the biopsy by Thursday. Over the next three days he will have swelling, a really black eye, and some headaches. After 3 days those symptoms will start to decrease.

Current Prayer Requests:
Nathan will have another MRI today, or tomorrow. It is an hour long and he is dreading this.
Pray for healing, no infection, no blood clots, and no refilling of the cyst.
Pray that he would eat and drink today.
This is day 4 that Nathan, Darlene, and Aaron have had no sleep. Pray for rest.