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| Wednesday, January 31, 2007 |
| Lemons, Gerbils, and Diseases |
In the previous post, I mentioned that my lack of posting last week was due to an overwhelming set of circumstances. Some of the things we went through last week, I am not at liberty to post about. However, I thought I'd hit a few highlights that I can post about. :-)
Problem #1 LEMON
It all started with my dh selling his truck. He has always loved his pickup, but he commutes about 45 miles one way to work every day and the truck was not very gas efficient. He decided to get a fuel efficient car to save some money. The second person who looked at his truck decided to buy it. He showed up on Monday morning with his money and left with the truck. Well, the Big Red Van has a flat, so that left us with one vehicle, my van. All of my kiddos had dental checkups, so my hubby toted along with us, dropped us off and went car shopping.
A few hours later, when our appointments were finished(only 1 small cavity between them all), he picked us up. He said he had found his car, but then had accidentally backed it into a pole on the lot. It had a small scrape they were cleaning up. We were taking him to pick it up. Well, on the way there, the guy who bought the truck called and was very upset. He had driven less than 30 miles and the truck was busted, it needed a new engine. He was accusing my dh of selling him a lemon and lying to him. He was demanding full repayment. Well, for one, we had never had one problem with the truck. It had been serviced recently and was in tip-top shape. Secondly, he had already spent the money on a little car. We really don't know what happened. We wonder if the guy hot-rodded it because it has one of those loud engines on it. Anyway, long story short, it needs a $2500 repair and we have agreed to pay half. Ugh!!
Problem #2 BIRTHDAY PRESENT GONE AWRY
Tuesday, last week, was E and Z's birthday. They have wanted a pet for a long time. Their daddy refuses because we haven't had the best of luck with pets. Anyway, I finally talked him into letting me get them gerbils for their birthday. They were absolutely thrilled. It was the best birthday present they had ever received, or so I thought.
On Thursday evening, D called me at work, which is highly unusual. It's not easy for me to take calls while coaching. Anyway, he was at wrestling practice and was calling to tell me to go by a store on the way home and get medicine for ringworm. El and L were covered in it. I, of course, was shocked and asked where in the world they had got it. He said that it was probably off a wrestling mat. I cringed and said I would pick up some medicine.
After coming home, he told me he had a new theory- the gerbils. I wasn't sure whether gerbils could carry ringworm so I did some internet research and found out that they can. The next day was crazy because our gym was hosting a meet that ran Friday night and all day Saturday. I was getting stuff ready, in addition to teaching school, etc. About noon, I was on the telephone with the award company asking where our awards were and E came in with her gerbil sitting on her hand. Now, if you know anything about gerbils, they don't sit still on an open palm. She was crying. It was dying.
I immediately called the pet store and they said to bring it in. I couldn't take it to the branch that was 5 minutes from my house, I had to take it to the one that was 40 minutes away. I had to be at work early to help with the meet, so I stuffed some lunch in my kids while I took a quick shower and we loaded the gerbils and kids and headed to the store.
Sure enough, by the time we reached the pet store, E's gerbil was gone. The other one was frisky, but upon examination of it, they asked for us to get two new gerbils. What was it?Ringworm!! I had two girls crying because they had lost their gerbils. The store only had one gerbil to sell and I was running out of time. I finally asked for a gift card to go to the store closer to me so we could get some there (hopefully uninfected). We made a quick run there, picked some brand new ones out and headed home. They were so new that the store wouldn't release them yet, so we waited until Sunday and picked them up.
So there you have part of our week. After the fact, it doesn't seem that terrible, but we are still feeling the sting. We still have to have the truck fixed and I'm still slathering on ringworm medication. The boys had to miss their wrestling tournament this weekend because of it. The other factors from last week have much more lasting effects and were deeper wounds to mend, but as I said, those are unreportable. I can report to the fact that God gave grace and we made it through. I just have to say that I'm glad that week is over and this week is here! |
posted by 6blessings @ 6:58 AM  |
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| Sunday, January 28, 2007 |
| Shake, Rattle, and Roll with Us |
Long time, no post. We've had one crazy week, to say the very least. You know, when it rains, it pours. By Wednesday last week, I was praying heavily that God would help me through. One day after the other, we were pounded on every side, but God is faithful and here we sit at the beginning of a new week.
Anyway, many of you knew that we were possibly going to have to reschedule the gwins' birthday party because of Winter Storm 2007 (not to be mistaken with Ice Storm 2007 from the previous week). Anyway, about a mile up into the atmosphere, there was a layer just warm enough to melt the 10 inches of snow we were supposed to get and make it all come down as rain. Another God thing? I sure think so!
So, without further ado, please join us as we Shake, Rattle, and Roll through the gwins' 9th Birthday!!!
*** Faces have been blocked from party attendees for security reasons.
All dolled up in poodle skirts, ready to take a trip back in time to the good ole 50s.  Bubble blowing contest- H and J are giving it their all. Who can blow the first bubble- with Bazooka gum of course?
 Doin' that Crazy Hand Jive
 Cool Dudes Crashin' the Girls' Party
 Hula Hoop Championship (Finals: Z was the winner, but look at J go!) (L gave it a shot too.)
 How 'bout a round of Twister (with a bunch of gymnasts)?
 Time for pizza, root beer floats, and cookie cake, which El found especially yummy. (The cookie cakes were made to look like records. The basket in the back was filled with prizes- old cartoon videos, pinwheels, Pez, Bazooka gum, Charleston Chews, Elvis playing cards, etc.)
 Time for presents!
 Finish up with a limbo contest and then "The Stroll"(no pics for this one).
All in all, a good time was had by everyone. The snow started coming down part way through the party and the trees iced over, but travel was good so there were no hinderances. The girls didn't want to leave the party and remnants of it still remain. My kids have become quite the hula hoopers since the party and can do some pretty cool tricks while hooping. L and El have even figured out how to keep it up for about 10 seconds!! I hope you enjoyed the party through pictures.
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| posted by 6blessings @ 10:37 PM |
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| Tuesday, January 23, 2007 |
| Happy 9th Times Two!!! |
Today is our (E and Z's) 9th birthday!!! Nine years ago we were born. This picture was taken within our first few weeks out of Mommy's tummy.  We were so tiny that daddy could hold us together. Mommy fed us that way too.
 Today we are big girls with big dreams, hard for daddy to carry around together anymore.
 HAPPY BIRTHDAY GWINS!!!You will always be our precious gifts from God.
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| posted by 6blessings @ 10:19 AM |
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| Friday, January 19, 2007 |
| Growin' Em "Big" and Brave |
Wednesday, we had well child check-ups for E, Z, and J. We also did a last round of shots for them and did the next round of shots for El and L. H is all done with shots. All together, between the five kids, we had 14 shots and spent 2 hours and 15 minutes at the doctor. All of the kids were so brave. Z had some tears, but quiet. J was the only wailing one, but it was all over quickly. Actually, the aftermath has been worse. They got the shots in their legs and they have been very sore, especially the gymnasts at practice.
I also knew my kids were small. We don't grown them too big around here. However, 4 out of my 6 aren't even on the growth chart curves for their age. Z and E will be 9 on Tuesday and weighed in at a whopping 45 3/4 lbs. and 45 1/2 lbs. They are right at 4 ft. tall. Neither were on the curve for their weights. Z is a 1/2 inch taller than E and made it to the fifth percentile there. E is at the third percentile.
J is 6 1/2 years old and is almost as big as his sisters. He'll catch them in a year. However, he is still on the small end too. He was at the 10th percentile in weight and 15th percentile in height.
As expected, El and L aren't anywhere near the curve for their chart. They rank very low even on the 3 year old chart. They are 5 1/2 years old. However, I did find out that since we were there in August for their first visit, L has gained 3 pounds and El has gained 2 1/4 pounds. I think that is significant. Tomorrow, they will have been home with us for 6 months. Hopefully, that trend will continue.
I also have to exercise my mother's bragging rights and say that they were incredible at the doctor. For such a long visit, cooped up inside a single small examination room where we could barely move, getting poked with needles, they were excellent. The nurse even said that they were better behaved, quieter, and did better all around than most two child families they have come in for visits. Way to go kiddos!! I'm proud of you.
(BTW, it's not always like that. Believe me. Thus, it is the reason for bragging this time.) |
| posted by 6blessings @ 6:35 AM |
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| Wednesday, January 17, 2007 |
| Check it out!! |
Margaret emailed me the other day and said she had found a great template for my blog. She has worked the last few days fixing it up and here it is!!! I am so absolutely excited. Isn't it great? I have always wanted a nicer blog, but didn't know how and didn't have time to research it. Margaret is an awesome friend. I am so thrilled she thought of me.
Margaret, you did a great job. You're the best!!! I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
C'mon everybody! Tell Margaret how great this site looks!!
P.S. She also put some links on the side and has told me how to do it. As soon as I get some more time, I'm going to link others. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 7:00 PM |
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| What's up with the weather? |
Okay, we are still a solid sheet of ice. The highways are cleared, but any other road is pure ice. The highest temp we've had since the storm is around 23 degrees and it is dipping below zero with the wind chill at night. This is Oklahoma!! Schools are still closed, except ours. My kids complain, but in the springtime, we'll be done and everyone else will be making up snow days. Snow days aren't really built into the Oklahoma school system, for obvious reasons.
Anyway, I watched the weather last night and guess what? Another storm is headed our way this weekend. The ice and sleet from last weekend is still here and we're going to have another round. The ice is so packed that you can't even tell where we have backed our vehicles in and out of our driveway. There's hardly any tracks from the weight of our cars. I have a van and my dh has a truck. They are predicting up to 6 inches of snow and some more sleet. Can you tell I'm not used to this? ( When we lived in China, it snowed in October and stayed on the ground until April. However, I didn't have a car to drive anywhere and we learned to really bundle there. I also only had one child to get out in the cold then.)
Another weekend at home sounds okay, but there's one major problem this weekend. Saturday is E and Z's big 9th birthday celebration. It's going to be a 50s party. I have been busy working on it constantly and now it might have to be scratched. We won't be able to reschedule it for 3 weeks. This has bummed us all out. Their whole gymnastics team and some church friends are all invited. We are having a sock hop to the oldies, eating pizza, drinking root beer floats, playing Twister, having a hula hoop contest and much more. I really want to just have it done at this point. However, it's looking like 3 more weeks of anticipation. Oh well. I'll keep you updated. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 5:53 AM |
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| Monday, January 15, 2007 |
| Storm Update |
We're all fine, but pretty much shut-in. We still have electricity, but last I heard over 50,000 Oklahomans did not. We seemed to dodge the bullet somewhat. Round 2 all but missed us, travelling to one side of us by just a few miles. Round 3 got us some, but the bulk of it went on the other side, by just a few miles.
We have about 3 inches of sleet which is hard-packed on the ground. There is some icing on the trees from freezing rain, but not as much as was expected. It was so funny. Last night, the kids took the boys' flip-n-go cars that they got from my aunt and uncle at Christmas outside and put them on the ice. It was hilarious. The cars go straight until they sense something close, then they flip over and go a different direction. The 5 little ones were out "skating" trying to get the cars to hit them. Then, when they'd go another way, they'd go chasing it down again. It amazed me. The cars acted like they were on hardwood floors.
It looks like we have several inches of snow outside but it is hard as a rock. You can just walk across the top of it- no indentations at all. It is 16 degrees outside with the high today in the low 20s. Everything is still totally shut down with no hopes of thawing until it gets above freezing on Wednesday or Thursday.
***1/16/07 update: Last night the news reported that over 120,000 homes were without power after the power crews restored power to many yesterday. Apparently my numbers were a bit off. That is homes, not people. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 6:57 AM |
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| Saturday, January 13, 2007 |
| What's that Smell? |
 Everyone "chillin' "(literally) in front of the fire. L and El are the 2 lumps under the big blanket. They were coloring.
 What kept us warm
To most new adoptive parents, the title of this post-"What's that Smell?"- would signal a very distinct thought. I have read several of those type of posts. However, this is not our case.
Thursday morning, I awoke very abruptly and sprung out of bed to the smell of smoke. I yelled to my dh, "What's that smell? Where is it coming from?" I frantically went running out our door and down the hall looking in the kids' bedrooms on the way. Everyone else was still asleep. I noticed it lessened away from our room. I ran back to our room and by then D was up smelling too. Long story short, our heater was busted.
The repairman came at about 8:30 that morning and informed us that the motor on our heater had burned up and we needed a new motor and squirrel cage. He said that they'd try to make it back before I went to work that evening. About 3 p.m. I began wondering where they were, so I called. Here is what they said, "Oh, we forgot to call. We can't find your part anywhere. It is being overnighted here. We'll be there tomorrow morning to fix your heater." Okay, no heat for the night.
Really, this wasn't a big deal on Thursday. Temps were above average by almost 20 degrees. The house remained in the low 60s for most of the day. It was a tad chilly, but not bad at all. That night, we all bundled, added extra blankets, allowed the kids a big "sleepover" with each other for fun, and crashed for the night. However, it was not the night that I dreaded, but the next morning. You see, a huge arctic front was moving down from Alaska and we were going to be getting what the news reporters have been calling "ICE STORM 2007". This phrase is, of course, said with fear and dread booming from their voices.
By morning, the temps were into the low 20s and dropping, with wind chills into the teens. My dh headed out for his nice warm office and I readied to make a warm breakfast and hopefully start a fire in the fireplace. About half an hour later, I received a call from D saying he hadn't made it far and it was getting worse. He was coming home. I left the fire-making to him and I started hot chocolate and waffles.
We spent all morning in the living room around the fire, cuddled in blankets. We watched some TV and then, against the wishes of my kids (I was a diligent teacher), we did some school. About 11 a.m., with the temp inside the house dropping steadily, I was again wondering where the repairman was. I called. They said UPS had not delivered the part by the 10 a.m. deadline, but they would check into it. They called back shortly and said that it was at the UPS facility and one of their workers was near there. They'd pick it up and be out to fix it in an hour.
We did more school, D made his "Dad's Famous Soup" (chicken and veggies-yum!), and we waited. About 2 p.m., the repairman came. I will not replay this, but here's the recap: old house owners had installed non-factory motor and thus cut all the wiring wrong, needs wiring, will be here Monday, try to rig some heat, oops! motor we ordered rotates wrong way, need different motor, found one, installs different motor (does not look new), heat!!!! That last word is all we cared about seeing as how our ground was a sheet of white ice at this point and they are expecting possibly another inch of ice plus some snow before Sunday evening. Our temps that are normally in the 40s this time of year will be in the single digit highs with wind chills in the negative teens.
I don't care how they got the heat going as long as we have it!!! Now we're hunkered in for the weekend and maybe longer to wait out "ICE STORM 2007". They are counting on widespread power outages. Hopefully we don't join those ranks (BTDT-2002- out of power for 9 days) .
H decided she wanted to document the storm and scrapbook it to keep herself occupied over the long shut-in weekend. She took hourly, or close to hourly, pics of the progress outside and then lots of pics of the happenings inside. She took the pics above. The last pic is after round 1 of the three punch storm. That is all ice- freezing rain and sleet. It is not snow. We're due for round 2 on Saturday and round 3 on Sunday, with intermittent light stuff in between. Thanks H for the pics. ***BTW: I have noticed that there is another Kim posting on blogs now. I have changed my blog posting name to 6blessings to help avoid confusion. Hope that helps. |
| posted by 6blessings @ 6:04 AM |
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| Wednesday, January 10, 2007 |
| Ambidexterity |
As I mentioned in the "Mirror Image" post, L is ambidextrous. We first noticed this in the orphanage when we did paint-with-water pictures. He would switch the paint brush from his right hand to his left hand and back, over and over. Since coming home, we've noticed that when he is coloring or writing, he does the same thing. Another great 'feature' is he is a double-handed eater sometimes as pictured below. We, of course, have to really watch this one so that he is not stuffing. It is actually very interesting to watch. He takes a bite with one hand, chews, swallows, then takes a bite of something else with the other. Very efficient. :-)
Anyway, none of my other kiddos are ambidextrous. Is there anything I should encourage, discourage, etc. with an ambidextrous child? I think it's a great asset, but have heard mixed educational viewpoints on the matter. Any suggestions? Any cautions?
 (Yes, that is a Strawberry Shortcake plate. They picked it out at the store shortly after arriving home. At that time, we did not have enough language skills to explain that it was a girl's plate and the Thomas plate was the boy's plate. D about died when he saw it. Oh well, they love it!) |
| posted by 6blessings @ 11:47 AM |
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| Saturday, January 06, 2007 |
| Playing Catch-up |
There are several things that I have been meaning to blog about, but haven't done it yet. Therefore, today I am playing catch-up. In a nutshell, here are other events that I have wanted to share about over the last month or so.
#1 Dedication- Elijah and Levi were dedicated to the Lord at church on November 19. This was a part of an adoption emphasis month we had. At our church, this is a time for the parents and family to dedicate to their children to the Lord, to commit to raise them in an environment that teaches them about God and Jesus and that eventually will hopefully lead them to invite Christ into their lives personally. We do not believe that this dedication saves them. It is more for the parents to make a public profession in front of everyone that they are committed to raising this child/these children in the way that they believe God would have them to do. They received roses, a certificate, and a letter to be opened only by them on their 18th birthday from the pastor. A reception followed.
2. Christmas Train- I have always wanted a train for around our tree. This year I bought us an early family present at an after Thanksgiving sale and got a train. I knew all of the kids would love it, but especially the bwins. They are fascinated with trains. Anyway, I caught this picture as they were watching it go around and thought it was cute. This was not posed.
3. H's birthday- On December 17, H turned 12 years old. This is a picture of her opening her new mp3 player(after Thanksgiving sale-gotta love it!) and iTunes giftcard. Everyone was huddled around. We gave it to her early because my MIL took her on a ski trip to Breckenridge for her birthday/Christmas present. The mp3 player came in handy on the trip. She had a blast! She was able to invite two of her friends to come along, who by the way paid their own way with money they had saved (very good girls- being raised right- good friends). They had a very memorable time, even though there were a few run-ins with some trees. ;-)
4. Z's gymnastics meet- Z competed in a gymnastics meet on December 16. She got first place on floor, second on beam, third on bars, and is holding the second place all-around trophy. The meet had a luau theme, thus the medals on the leis- very cute!!
 5. Surprise visit from Santa-
Santa made a surprise visit to our house on December 20th to check on the kids, make sure about what time they went to bed, and to see if they were being good. He scared E half to death when he was caught waving in the front living room window that night. He took each of the kids on his lap, whispered secrets to them, and gave them each a gift. He even talked to Mama and Papa. Then he showed us how to watch for Rudolph's red nose out the back window when he left. It was a blast! All of the kids got CDs. H got Barlow Girl. E got High School Musical. Z got Cheetah Girls2. J got Crazy Frog (thanks to Rhonda's video posting months ago! He's about got the dance down too! :-) ) . El and L got CDs that had their names infused all throughout all of the songs. We listened and danced to all of the new music until late at night. My 2 year old nephew was staying with us and received a blue ball from Santa. He thought we were all nuts dancing the night away. It was past his bedtime, but he loved his "soccer ball" and repeately told Santa about the tractor he wanted. It was cute. Well, I'm sure I left things out, but at least I feel like I caught up a little. Sorry for the length.
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| posted by 6blessings @ 8:52 AM |
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| Thursday, January 04, 2007 |
| 6 Months Ago |
Six months ago today, on July 4, 2006, a judge in Stavropol, Russia, declared us the parents of El and L. Many have posted their court pics, but I don't think we ever have. We were not allowed to even take a picture of the courthouse, much less anything in or beside it. In fact, we were scorned for even suggesting it. Therefore, the pic below is outside our hotel when we returned from court, the proud Mama and Papa to two more wonderful children!!! Boy, how time flies!!!
We didn't get to see our sons on the day of court. There were other couples going to court and needing to see their children for trip one, etc. Our orphanage was so far away that it wasn't really convenient to get us there that day. The picture below was taken outside the orphanage the day after they were declared ours. It was our first day with our sons officially. To tell you the truth, I remember us having so much fun that day, but when I looked at this picture today I saw fear and uncertainty in their little eyes and bodies. The picture looked sad. They are totally different boys today. Thank you God for changed lives.
(Funny sidenote: Check out the shoes and socks, especially on L. I'll have a great pic to show future girlfriends, huh? Actually, when they first came home, they saw the girls put on their Sunday socks for church one day and L asked if they were his. :-) The boys were the youngest at their orphanage. There were several little girls that were just a little older than them. I'm sure the socks and shoes were all the orphanage had.) |
| posted by 6blessings @ 6:11 AM |
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