Whew!

It was quite a day here! Jordan had a field trip today, so we had to pack a sack lunch before the bus came. This kid is a snail. On a regular day it is a struggle to get to the bus on time. He also had a class party this afternoon, so the costume had to be sent to school in a bag. Last night he was not happy with his costume shirt, so I was worried that he might freak out on me this morning. Nope, he was very easy to get along with this morning and made the bus on time. Whew!

Next, I had to finish Rose's dress for her class party. Thank goodness that she goes in the afternoon. I still needed to hem the dress and I have never hemmed anything! It took me two hours and it doesn't look pretty, but it got done just in time to pack up for afternoon Kdg.

After she got on the bus I scrambled to get out of the house and do some last minute errands. We started at Goodwill. Wesley works there and was invited to a luncheon since that store won the store of the year award, or something. While he was eating, Ralph, Leroy, Thomas and I shopped. We found a shiny metallic tank top that looks like chainmail - great for playing dress-up. I also found a ladies size 4 suit coat that was perfect for Thomas' costume.

Next we hit the Walmart for drinking water and to look for a costume for Leroy. We found a couple of costumes for about $20, way too much. I wanted some vampire teeth, but they only had packs of 20. 20 vampire teeth?? Everything was picked over so I grabbed some pirate tattoos and the water and we left.

Next stop, Dillons. I love this place, mainly because they double coupons and mark down meat and produce. I also saw a cute costume the other day, but I didn't buy it because it was one of those shopping trips where I bought diapers, wipes and dog food. High dollar items! I left Wesley in the van with the baby, and Thomas. Leroy and I ran into the store on the off chance that the costume was still there. It was! Cheaper than the stuff at Walmart AND, 33% off!! We grabbed a couple of bags of candy just in case some kids knocked on our door tonight. The funny thing is that Leroy's costume fit him, but not the hat. I was perfect for Ralph, though!

Next we take Wesley for a haircut. He pays for his own haircuts now so he can choose where to go. I wait with Leroy, Thomas, and Ralph, who is getting really tired by now. Me, too. It is now 2:30pm and I need to get to the school to help Rose get into her dress. I promised.

We head for home after this. The traffic is heavy, very heavy. Of course, it is party day at the K-5 schools. Our whole little town is jam packed full of the cars of moms helping with Fall parties. I considered riding my bike up to the school, but I'm late. I'm late enough that the traffic had died down after I drop the kids off at home and get the baby down for his nap. Lucky me, my mother-in-law lives next door to the school so I park in her driveway. Otherwise I would have to walk 1/2 mile to find a parking space. Whew!

I brought Jordan and Rose home myself after the parties so they didn't have to take off their costumes for the bus ride. Rules. When we got home it was time to carve pumpkins. I delegated this to dad this year. He is normally out of town on Halloween, so it was great to have him around today. I broke out my old make-up kit and had a little fun with Thomas after the pumpkins were done.

By the time we ate a little dinner it was time for candy gathering. Dad and I took the four little kids, Thomas, Jordan, Leroy and Rose. Richard and Chipper stayed home with Ralph to hand out candy. Wesley had a date, so he wasn't around. That seems to be happening a lot lately.

What do you think of my pirates, Jack and Will? How about my cowboy and pioneer girl? Whew! I'm ready for bed.

It starts tomorrow!

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Extended by Overwhelming Poor Demand!!!

You may notice that the custom handbag chip-in has been extended by one week. Interest has not been as great as I had expected. It is understandable.



Many of my readers are already big fans of Reece's Rainbow and there are many raffles going on right now by families who will soon be traveling to bring home their new children! You could enter a raffle for a laptop computer, a Visa gift card, and TWO for a Wii, just to name a few. Some folks are just raffled out.



This is really not such a bad problem to have. This month alone, at least 18 new families have made commitments to adopt a child featured on Reece's Rainbow. There have been many homecomings as well. Praise GOD! Many of these children have been waiting for a very long time. Oleg is still waiting.


I've extended the chip-in for another week in the hopes that my friends would spread the word to people who may not know about Reece's Rainbow. Maybe you could skip a super-sized value meal or designer coffee this week and chip-in a 5-spot to a little boy with Down Syndrome who is facing a dismal future?



On a bright note, a sweet friend of mine has given me a check for $40 for Oleg's grant fund. So that would bring the chip-in total up to $115.



Also, exciting news - the Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Project goes live tomorrow. Starting at midnight tonight the Reece's Rainbow prayer warriors will be praying over each Angel Tree child for the next 24 hours. I'll have more information about Angel Tree Project in the next few days.



My thought for the day (I'm meditating on this) - God does not always call the equipped, but He always equips the called!

Bread Pigs

I have a habit of saving heels. You know, from loaves of bread. I probably learned this from my Gram. As a teen and young adult, I worked for her in her restaurant. She showed me how to make a couple hundred dollars out of a couple of chickens! We would save heels to use for croutons and breadcrumbs and bread dressing.

So, for years I have stuffed my freezer with heels from nearly every loaf of bread we use. Over the past year or so, I haven't had much time to cook yummy homemade dishes with my bread stash. The freezer was getting to be ridiculous. I almost posted a picture, but way too embarrassing. I'm all for keeping it real, but I have to draw the line somewhere!

The other day I was reading Christine's blog and found her bread pudding recipe. I started thinking it was time to introduce the kids to a old-fashioned dish and clean out the freezer at the same time. I actually made a dent in my bread stash! Christine's recipe didn't have cinnamon so I looked up some other recipes and ended up making up my own. It turned out pretty good.

Here is what I came up with:

Bread cubes - crusty and dry or stale
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
8 eggs
4 cups milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon

I buttered my 12 x 18 cake pan generously. I filled it with the bread cubes and sprinkled the bread cubes with the brown sugar. I blended the remaining ingredients together with a hand mixer and poured over the bread cubes. I pushed down some of the floating bread so that none were dry. I baked at 350 until a knife came out clean, about 25 minutes. If your kids like raisins you could just toss them in with the bread cubes, I'll bet.

This was supposed to be dessert for dinner, but guess what? The house smelled so good when the kids got home from school that there was no way it was going to last. I was even going to get a picture of my pretty brown pan of bread pudding, but it was gone in a flash. Ralph even ate some. It was sweet enough that no sauce was needed. Rose told me, "We are all just bread pigs!" How true.

Bagels & a little laugh!

I finally found something that Ralph will feed himself! Lately, every bite size piece of food I give him goes flying. The dog appreciates this very much!

Got a piece stuck in my tooth!

Got one over here, too!

Dr. Visit

Ralph had his pediatrician visit today. I took Leroy with me just for kicks! When we pulled into the parking lot he said, "Oooh, I like this place! They have fish!" There is a nice fish tank in the waiting room. I noticed while waiting that his shoes were on the wrong feet, so I asked him who helped him get his shoes on. He said, "I put them on by myself. Are they on the wrong feet?" He's only 3 years old, but he realized what I had not said.

Dr. H was so pleased to see Ralph looking so big and healthy. He's up to the 5th percentile on the typical child's growth chart! She has seen him in very bad shape more than once so I know she is sincere. It's been over six months since he had any respiratory illness! Wow. Since he had the high fever on Saturday and Sunday, he has been doing OK. In fact, Monday he really bounced back and didn't even take a whisper of a nap. Doc said his throat looks fine today and whatever caused the fever has probably resolved.

Oh yeah! Before we left this morning I noticed that Rose was itching. I found some round red bumps on her shoulder. Chicken pox? There were no blisters yet, so how do I know?

I told Dr. H about this when we started discussing immunizations. Her recommendation was to give Ralph the Chicken Pox shot today in the hopes that IF he was exposed then he may not get sick at all or have a very mild case. He got one other shot today, too. He was MAD! Poor thing. I gave him some pain medicine when we got home.

Dr. H did some checking for us today and found out that another doc in the office was ordering some mercury-free flu vaccine. Now I don't have to call around trying to track it down. I know a lady nearby who drove an hour to get her children the mercury-free version. I'm glad I don't have to do that now.

ALSO, she wants Ralph to get the Synagis shots again this year. This protects against RSV, a common cold virus that can be devastating to premature babies and babies with lung disease. Great. But what about the $300-400 co-pay PER MONTH? Now is when I am kicking myself for not applying for a medicaid waiver. This can act like secondary insurance for disabled people who don't qualify for medicaid or SSI and would be nice to have right about now. I'm just unsure about getting the gov't involved in our lives in this way. I have a month to decide.

Liberty

She was born the day that Ralph was airlifted to Children's Mercy Hospital. She was Ralph's roommate for a while in the ECMO room. She was a little small, born a little early. She was a beauty.

I was certain that she would be going home well before we could even consider taking Ralph home. She did not appear to be nearly as sick. I was wrong. I'm not used to being wrong, but I have been dropped in a world that no longer makes sense all the time. A world where logic and knowledge sometimes fail.

God never fails.

Today it has been one year since Liberty went to live with her Heavenly Father. Here is a video made in her memory - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVf6MChnC9g.