Speaking of trampolines...

When we moved to our new house a while back we didn't quite get everything. From the old house to the new is less than 1 mile, so we didn't really need a truck. We just took the seats out of the van and that worked great. But, we never moved the trampoline and playhouse. They were just too big and too hard to take apart.

We finally moved it over last Friday. Here's how:

The little kids were so excited that they have done nothing else but play on it since then. The tow truck driver said he will never forget the look on their faces when he pulled up - priceless! They moved the playhouse, too. I even took Ralph out to play on it last night. You never saw such a happy baby! We would have spent more time out back, but I thought the mosquitos might carry him away.

Little dood.

As I am driving down the road today after taking Wesley to work, I hear Rose and Leroy explaining to Jordan how to play the new game they made up on the trampoline. I'm listening to them explain a game that my older kids would have played years ago and they called it playing babies back then! Nowadays I guess the game is called 'little dude!'

They all agree to play 'little dude' when they get home. Jordan says, "Dude? How do you spell that?"

Rose begins to sound the word out loud, "Dude...starts with d. Oooo sound...that's oo. D! D-oo-d spells dude!"

I'm still driving but struggling not to laugh out loud! I don't correct her. After all, I WAS eavesdropping!

And the winner is...

Kate Goshorn! Thanks to everyone who participated, $230 was raised for Oleg's grant fund. Keep praying that someone will step up and committ to adopting him. And just wait 'til you see what I'm giving away in October!

Chipper

Last Thursday Chipper turned 13 years old! Wow! He was the sweetest baby, all smiles and grins. My grandmother swore that she should pinch him to make sure he knew how to cry. He is the only one of our children born in Arizona.

Being our third child, everyone assumed that we were 'done.' I guess we bought into that, too, because I sold a lot of baby things after he outgrew them. It's funny to look back now, knowing what the Lord had in store for us!

At age 3, Chipper was a very bright little boy who couldn't understand why his older brothers could go to school, but he could not. He was begging to go. He was really ready! I was disappointed that the preschools close to home were not academic but eventually I was able to find a Montessori program for him 30 minutes from our house.

Now my sweet baby is 13 and in 7th grade. He was recently invited to take the ACT or SAT tests, his choice, because he scored so well on his school's latest round of testing. He is playing on the school's 'A' football team, even though he has never played before this year. He spent much of his birthday weekend at deer camp last week. I think he is growing up rather nicely!

The Waiting Child

Our family had such a crazy, busy weekend that I'm still recovering! I'll share more about that later. But, I wanted to share this poem with you all. It is a fact that a child over the age of two has very little chance of being adopted. Enjoy the poem and consider that the quilt raffle for Oleg ends in a couple of days.

The Waiting Child by Debbie Bodie

I saw you meet your child today
You kissed your baby joyfully
And as you walked away with her
I played pretend you'd chosen me.

I'm happy for the baby,yet
Inside I'm aching miserably
I want to plead as you go by,
"Does no-one want a child of three?"

I saw you meet your child today
In love with her before you met
And as I watched you take her out
I knew it wasn't my turn yet.

I recognize you from last year!
I knew I'd seen your face before!
But you came for a second babe.
Does no-one want a child of four?

I saw you meet your child today
But this time there was something new
A nurse came in and took MY hand
And then she gave my hand to you.

Can this be true? I'm almost six!
And there are infants here you see?
But then you kissed me and I knew
The child you chose this time was me.

Buried

I'm buried in paper. Can you believe that I'm still trying to get our insurance company to pay for several claims that are over a year old? Can you believe that I've called them repeatedly they say they will research the matter and call me back, and never call me back? You can?

We never had a bit of trouble with insurance before Ralph was born. Now everything seems to be a battle. Could it be that, knowing I'm buried in paper, they are playing games? You know, a 'let's see what we can get away with' kind of game.

The hospital is still negotiating with them over a supposedly experimental treatment from May/June 2007. Nitric? For pulmonary hypertension? Hardly experimental. We are talking big bucks here...not something anyone wants hanging over their head for over a year.

The latest outrage is that they have begun holding me responsible for two $25 co-pays each time we visit the cardiologist. One for the doctor visit and another for the echo that is done during the doctor visit!!

Oh, here is a funny one! I get accident information request forms quite often for doctor visits. I guess the insurance company wants to make certain that no one else is responsible or legally liable for an injury before they will pay. I got a request for Jordan for July 8, 2008. I can't even remember taking him to the doctor that day so I called the office to see if they could refresh my memory. Turns out, now I remember, that I took him in for a tick bite! It looked particularly nasty, with red rings around it. Tell me, though, how a tick bite can be mistaken for an accidental injury!

Special Exposure Wednesday

Where's Thomas?

Peek-a-boo!