Halloween

Our jack-o-lanterns- top to bottom:Marty, Theo, Mama, Sarah, Amy
The Spooks-left to right:
Theo as Annikan Skywalker, Marty as an army general, Amy as Thing 1, Timmy as a chicken, and Sarah as Thing 2.

We had a lovely night for trick or treating. It was about 75*!
Much candy consumption followed, as was expected and they gave away about 5 pounds to Matt's staff again this year. They are such kind and generous kids.

Spoiled dog, and some knitting-and a Halloween party

Timmy loves his Halloween shirt, he needs a new one for everyday now.

detail of my new shawl

Finally done! Can't wait to wear it!

a mummy contest was fun for Theo and Amy

but Sarah was in her glory here, and her team won!

Amy and Sarah turn 11

On the 17th, they shared the spotlight with a friend, Jonathan, who was turning 5!.

He had a party at monkey Joe's, which is a big place filled with huge bouncy houses. Very fun!

They were thrilled with their "Good Life " shirts from Aunt Sheila. I have noticed that the shirts are always in the laundry, which means they are being worn frequently.

This unbelievable cake was made by a friend. Amy and Sarah have always wanted a "Full House" cake, and I could never make one happen. This one was fantastic!!!
Here are all the characters, made in fondant.

And here they are when they first saw it!

It lives on their dresser now, where I imagine it will have a place for a looong time.

Happy Birthdays, my sweeties!

Oh my goodness!

Is this not the funniest sign you've ever seen?!?

....only in North Cackalacky!

Feast Day! Our Lady of the Rosary

We had a fun afternoon celebrating the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary last month. The kids and I have always wanted to make a cupcake rosary and this was the perfect occasion! My dear friend, Betsy and her gang came over to celebrate, play, and talk knitting (oh, that part
was just the moms!).

It turned out so pretty, didn't it?

But this little guy was an even cuter sight...

All together, having fun!

Rats, I had another picture , but lost it.

Field Trip to the Alpaca farm

One day I read or heard blurb about a "Farm Day" nearby and on a whim, decided to check it out. My friend Betsy knew about it too, and it happened to be located between her home and ours, so we met there. There was a lady there spinning yarn, and we were given a very informational tour of the alpaca pens.

We went on up to Betsy's house and the kids had fun playing, while the moms had fun talking knitting and yarn.

An afternoon well spent!

This little guy's name was Zebedee--isn't he the cutest?

The kids even got to pet some of them.

This little one was only two days old!


This is Betsy my wonderful knitting friend and her gang
with the kids.

Health report II

Theo is feeling better today, but after playing outside in the wind can't understand why his ear hurts. I can't understand why he won't listen when I tell him to wear a hat. I think he will sleep through the night and tomorrow will be pretty well over the pain part. Hopefully, the whining will be gone, too.

Sarah was back at the dr. today. the rash seemed to be backing off (a bit) but she was in agony with the itching part. She was up several times in the night, and ended up sleeping with me after Matt left at 4:30am. The dr. was pleased to see the improvement, but stated that he "was thinking about her last night, and hoped he would not have to hospitalize her." Poor kid--two near hospitalizations in less than a month! He gave her a prescription strength antihistamine, and I do think it is helping some. She just finished soaking in a tub of Aveeno water. Hopefully she will be tired from the antihistamine and will sleep tonight. She is crying at the drop of a hat (steroids) and is exhausted on top of it.

Marty has been nasty all day. How long will it take me to realize that any sickness, for anyone, automatically translates (in his mind) to "They are going to die. I am going to be abandoned." I guess I'm a bit of a slow learner on that issue. After I reassured him that "Sarah is not going to die, and I am not going to get sick. I will still be your mama," he was a happy camper again. It's so hard to read the fears he harbors.....another, often forgotten, issue of older child adoption.

Amy is being helpful, and will probably be fine until it's all over. Then she will fall apart, cry, talk about it, and be done with it.

Isn't it amazing how differently they all go through the same situations? I am a bit frazzled by the stress of having sick kids in somewhat serious situations; I need to get to bed earlier tonight.

Oh, and I forgot, the continuation of the fire truck post was this; the next night Timothy ate a cactus and had to be anesthetized to get the spines removed from his mouth and muzzle. What a goofball.

Health report

Here's the deal:
All kids had the swine flu 3 weeks ago. Bad week, that was.
Sarah got stung by something at the beach and it turned into cellulitis 11 days ago. She was given an injection of Rocefrin, oral steroids, and steroid cream. It seemed to be working to stem the cellulitis, until Sunday morning. She awoke with a terrible, itchy rash; very red and raised. By afternoon she had a temp. of 103.2*. I gave her a dose of prednisolone and she slept through the night.
Theo, however (and consequently, I) did not sleep through the night and was awake 3 times with a terrible ear ache.
Off to the dr. today. Sarah is having a severe reaction to the sulfa antibiaotic (Bactrim). Poor kids had to get another shot (steroids this time) and oral steroids for 5 days. If she is not better tomorrow morning, we are to return to the dr. for IV meds. and possible hospitalization. Must get to ER if she has trouble breathing (so far, that has not been an issue--thanks be to God).
If she's better we go back on Friday so they can see her before the weekend.
Theo got ear drops for the pain and an antibiotic for the infection.
Both of them slept for 2.5 hours this afternoon, so I know it's bad! Amy and Marty have been a great help to me, and I'm grateful for that.

In other news, I got word today that Dr. Ponsetti passed away Sunday afternoon. He was 95, and had a stroke a this desk on Tuesday. Dr. Ponsetti was the pioneer doctor in club foot treatment, and helped thousands of children have normal lives, with pain-free feet/legs because of his unique way of treating clubfeet. His legacy is great, and he will be sorely missed. We have been very fortunate to have Dr. Deitz, who was trained under Dr. Ponsetti, as Theo's doctor. Actually, we were supposed to be there today but missed because of flight scheduling problems. I'm sure it must have been a sad day at the ortho clinic.

Eternal rest grant to Dr. Ponsetti, oh Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. Grant him and all the souls who sleep in Christ, eternal rest. Amen.