Muffins: A Sequence

We made strawberry muffins yesterday. They weren't good enough to post the recipe. It still needs some work. Here's Jack's reaction, however.

Gorgeous Boy, How I Adore You. And Your Rodents.

This is Jack's hamster, Ziggy. Ziggy runs on her little wheel all night long. Ziggy is the friendly one. She'll let you hold her and usually, she won't do something mean or gross.


This picture, I snapped of my boy at the Texas Rangers game on the 4th of July. He really likes baseball. At least watching it.

My MOMMA took this picture. It was also on the 4th of July. Notice that my lens is covered in humidity??? Still, just love that boy.

Summer just isn't summer without a picture of Jack in the pool. I'm sure you'll agree. I sure do miss the local pools in Nebraska! Jack misses them even more, though.

I took this picture last night. Jack fell asleep reading his Bible Stories book. I love how his food is sticking out of the covers. I love how he looks just like he did when he was a baby. Gosh, he's gorgeous.

This is Rhino, the evil one. She poops on you or bites you if you pick her up. She's also quite fat and lazy. Notice the sleepy look in her squinty eyes....she's peering at you.

Jack is growing, ohsofast. Summer seems to fuel his body like sun fuels the fields. He always sprouts up on us in the summers. His little world is getting bigger and his sweet heart is, too. I'm always amazed with how conscious he is of the comings and goings around him. He's been a tremendous help to me in the last few weeks. He insists that I rest when I need it and he watches his sister without being asked. He's a truly amazing child.

Jeff and I were talking last night about discipline. We agreed we don't know too much about it other than to present a united front and to be consistent. Jack makes it easy. We don't have to use full-force discipline, hardly ever. He's a well-tempered child who wants to please. We just hope his sister follows that path in life.

He really hates living in New Mexico, and if he had it his way, we'd be in Nebraska. He doesn't hold it against us, though. He seems more than willing to ease the burden of life just by being a good boy. His favorite things are easily taken with him, so he's still relatively happy. If I made lasagna more often, he'd be in heaven.

He reads all of the time. Lately, he's gone back to some old favorites in the "Hank the Cowdog" series. He's also revisiting some Kate diCamillo books. He even reads to his little sister. Fortunately, the child has discovered that anything you want to know can be found by reading. He is slowly turning off his math fascination. I think he's just rounding out a bit. Math was the only thing that challenged him for a time, so he focused on it. Now, he's discovering some other things and it's summer, so worksheets are enough to make him whine at me about schooling all year.

He's a very effective communicator. He's not afraid to tell people "no." I'm glad of that. He doesn't abuse it, he's just good at expressing his point of view. His emotions have been a wee bit turmoiled lately, but that's to be expected. Nothing in his life or our lives has gone according to plan as of late. He's actually a super-champ for not turning into a beast.

Jack is just the greatest. Everyone should have one just like him!

Ewww...Just Ewww...

So, on Monday, we were all in a rush to get to Lubbock so that I could go back to the doctor and find out why this rash is still here and why I feel crummy. I was trying to get clothes together and get dressed, all at the same time. The laundry room is a really natural choice for this procedure. I managed to change my clothes and grab some more clothes and kill this ugly thing without missing a beat. Or noticing.

Jeff thought someone had tracked dog poop in until he took a good look at A THREE INCH LONG SCORPION THAT I SQUISHED WITHOUT NOTICING AFTER BEING A) BAREFOOT, AND B) NAKED.

New Mexico, I will not miss your insects.

The Heat Goes On....

In the Southwest, it gets hot. In April. It's downright sizzling right now! I wish we were outside more, maybe next week. We're still in the process of wrapping up our New Mexico project so that we can move on to Texas.

In the news: Abby is learning to eat with a fork and drink out of a real cup. It's a mess.... See?

Great and Small

It's actually a mild day here in West Texas. My son and my nephew went to the park this morning and just returned home.

While at the park, they found a frog. This frog was in sad shape. It was clearly dehydrated and was missing a leg. As the Jack worked up the courage to grab the frog and attempt to save it, it died. Apparently, it was pretty gross. However, in all good Christian charity, the boys dug a hole and buried the frog. Ben (my nephew) said a prayer. This is what Jack said he said:

God, we're sorry we couldn't help this frog. Bless it with lots of flies and some mosquitoes. Amen. And please let it's leg grow back. Amen.

All creatures great and small, right?

The Sweetest Thing

Last night, I took a shower fairly late. I'm at my MOMMA'S house, so Abby takes up residence in the master closet. It's huge, so there is room and it's quiet. Gotta love all of that insulation. Anyhow, I realized too late that I had left my pajama's in the closet with my sleeping baby. I crept quietly in to snatch them. As I turned my back to the crib I heard the little shuffle of Abby's tiny body in the bed. I turned to face her just in time to see her wave at me and sleepily say:

"Hi."

It melted my heart. I just had to pick her up and love on her a little bit longer. As much of a shock as that baby was to my system, I have gobbled every second of her up. I adore her little personality and her inquisitive mind. She's starting to talk so very much these days - I'm thinking she's going to take after her MOMMA in that regard. Just had to share.

I'll Take Infection for $300, Alex...

So, that's where we stand today! All of this appears to be the result of a fairly nasty and complicated infection! Whoo-hoo!!! And, it's almost gone!! My thyroid is a bit wonky, but the doctor and I both agree that medication isn't really a necessity at the levels I'm at right now. He's supportive of a nutritive approach. At my age, I can easily turn the tide of hypothyroidism around and get my health into an optimal position. I'm looking forward to the possibilities.

He even speculated that this infection might have started with the staph infection that showed up several months ago...hmmm. At least we know and at least I'm on the mend! Thanks for the prayers!