SOOOO Much to Cover! =O

On Tuesday morning, I was just incredibly super productive. Let's see if I can remember everything that was accomplished. Hmmm...a big 'ole bunch of dishes done, 4 rooms dusted for Sabbath, garden harvested, two-days-worth of weeding done, and the Wal-Mart shopping trip done. Huh...that doesn't sound like much. I MUST be forgetting something! =P Anyways, I felt good about it that day. =) That night, David and I headed out for a date. Those don't happen real often, so we're super thankful for them when they come. The date started out rough because David didn't much care to hear about my super productive morning, though I told it to him in bullet-form instead of a detailed, written-out form. In fact, his response to my list of things accomplished during my super productive morning? "I termed an 8-year employee today". (It might have been a 6-year employee. Rats. I'm not a good listener, either. =O) Anyways, that hurt my feelings, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get over it in time to enjoy our date, but thankfully, I was able to let it go. We went golfing. I haven't been golfing since before I was a mother. It was over 5 years ago. I'm still no good. =) But I can drive a mean golf-cart! =) Our scores for what was a 36-par course (or 37 for me, since I'm a gal, and all) were as follows. David: 68. Me: 86. Sure felt like I swung more than that! =O Good news - I did beat David on 2 of the holes. Ahhhh.....=) Anyways, we then went out to eat at the Mexican restaurant, where the food was WICKED good, and we both ate too much. We also ate too close to bedtime. I had heartburn when I woke up in the middle of the night. =O

Oh! When I went out to work in the garden on Tuesday morning, Ruby told me to "give us a holler" or "holler at us" or something when I was ready to go to Wal-Mart. That girl just keeps on growing up. They came running back from the chickens when I called them! Yes, they love Wal-Mart. =/ And their chickens. =)

On Wednesday, we headed over to Shriner's for Ruby and Isaac's appointments with the orthopedic surgeon, aka Ruby's "hip doctor". We started out with x-rays for Ruby, then they both saw the resident (I assume that's who he was) and then the doctor, and then I saw a social worker, checked-out and scheduled our next appointments, and just as we were going out the door, our care coordinator found us and we were sent back for another x-ray. It was about a 3 hour ordeal at the doctors, but we had David with us this time, and things went MUCH smoother. It also probably helped that the kids have matured 6 months, and that we didn't go right at naptime. =O

Rundown of the doctor's visits? I think they both lost weight. =O Good grief. Ruby is like 25 pounds, I think, and Isaac was 27 or 28? Good grief! They'll be rear-facing in their carseats until they're 10! =O Anyways, good news for Isaac: he doesn't have to wear his braces anymore! Wee-haw!!! =) Anyone need a shoe-horn or 7? We don't need 'em anymore! YAY!!! =) His feet still look TERRIBLE when he stands/walks, but his muscles are doing a good job at holding him upright, and he isn't falling much anymore. He really hasn't been wearing his braces much at ALL this summer, 'cause they go barefoot so much. It's just easier. =O Anyways, he still has a follow-up appointment in 6 months, and I hope that's the last one.

Not so good news for Ruby. Her hips are still "subluxed" or whatever, and they are in fact out further than they were 6 months ago. (There had been no change in the previous 6 months.) So things are getting worse. =( The doctor wants to make sure that there is no genetic condition underlying things, so she referred us to a geneticist. (She seems to think that Ruby's face is shaped funny or something, and that she's just so "petite". David told her that her skinny face was the "Verbrigghe" part, and that her skinny legs were the "Dickerson" part, but you know...=P) That's why I had to see the social worker. To give her the info she needed for this referral. Bad news there...there is only one pediatric geneticist in the state of Kentucky, and the waiting list can be as long as a year. I mentioned this later to the care coordinator and the Dr., and got the feeling that they'll manage to get us in a lot sooner than that. I haven't heard anything yet, though, so we'll see. Anyways, the Dr. wanted to consult with her colleague, who specializes in hips, and that is why we got called back to do another x-ray - different position. So, things aren't looking real good for Ruby getting off the hook as far as surgery goes. I kinda got the impression from the Dr. that she'll have to have surgery...I just don't know when. Which is a problem for me. I just want to get it over with, if she has to have it. We've been working on this for over a year, and the older she gets, the worse it is for her, as far as I understand. So, if she needs it done, let's get it done and over with! Plus, I'm just a worrier, so yeah...I guess I need to learn to lean on God and be patient. Grrr..... So, Ruby's scheduled for a 4-month follow-up. =P

After we were done at the hospital, off we went to picnic at a park. When I got Jadelyn out of the van, I instructed her to start heading up to the picnic tables. She instead waited in the (not busy) parking lot. Isaac got out of the van, tried to hold her hand and lead her to the grass, and quite sweetly told her, "you can't have a baby if you don't obey me." I asked him about this, and it was as I thought...that if she got squished by a vehicle while standing in the parking lot, she would never be able to grow up and have babies. For you see, that is Isaac's big quest in life. To grow up and have lots of babies. That he will keep in a cage, but he will bring one out to play with me when I want to play with them. Disturbing, I know, but he's only 4, so I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. He loves babies, so I don't think he'll really cage his up. =) Oh, and he wants to have as many at a time as he can. He's leaning towards having 8 at a time, since that's as many as I know about being born at a time. Ai yai yai. Anyways, at some point around this time, Isaac informed David that he was "exhausted" or had been in the past. I didn't catch that part. =O So...after eating, the kids got to play at the playground a little bit. Ruby was about to go down a slide that had a bit of a tunnel over it. I was at the bottom and asked something like, "hey, where did you come from?" Ruby then said something about a belly. I told her the slide was too steep to go down on her belly. To which she replied that no, she came from my belly! Oh, right. Ooops for that misunderstanding. =)

Jadelyn is still all about eating. Right after we were done eating on Wednesday (I think), she turned to me and asked, "eat time?" Uh, nope! =) Also, you know how some kids will go, "Mom, mom, mama, mommy, mama" and when you finally say, "yes?" or "what?" they say "I love you!"? Not my Jadelyn. She says her "Mama, mama, Mommy, mommy...." and then, "I want food". Crazy kid.

At some point, Ruby was telling me, "I know my colors" before proceeding to list them, "clear, gray, silver....". Cracked me up how she started with those strange ones instead of the usual, "pink, red, purple, green"...you know. ;)

At Shriner's, Ruby was given a coloring book and crayons by the volunteer at the desk in the middle of the waiting room. Well, really, the lady gave Isaac a stuffed dog and Jadelyn a stuffed cat, and Ruby was driving a "car" at the time, and the lady probably didn't see her. So, Ruby took David with her and went and asked if she could have a toy, and then she got to pick! She LOVES this coloring book. She colored pretty much all the time that she was allowed to while at the hospital. She colored at home. She colored outside at home. She has said several times that she really wishes that Jadelyn and Isaac had a coloring book, 'cause it's so fun. But she can't bring herself to share her book with them. Though she has shared her crayons. And she shared the stickers she got when she got her x-rays. The last one she went in for, David said the lady asked her if she wanted a sticker, so Ruby marched over, pulled three down and ripped them off. Then, when she was back in the waiting room, she immediately gave one to Jadelyn and one to Isaac. I love when she looks out for them like that! But I digress...back to her coloring book. After the first few pages, she started coloring everything on the page in the same color. Without trying to stay in the lines. She told me, "I like to color messy. So before I die I can look at this book and have joy with Jesus." Not sure what that's all about, but I'm glad she wants joy with Jesus! =)

On Wednesday night, I told Isaac that I had good news - his favorite jammies were washed, so he could wear them. At which point Isaac started doing his silly giggling. Then he said, "I'm glad the squash died!" That kid is SO random!!! Then Ruby piped up, "that's sad, 'cause they're super good for you." Go, nutritionist Ruby! =)

We had a really good worship on Wednesday night. Good, 'cause the kids were listening, and asking pertinent questions, and bringing things out that I hadn't told in the story - beyond the story. The story is about baby Moses, and I think at some point they were talking about Satan and how he got angels to follow him instead of Jesus, and stuff. I was just encouraged, because lately, our worships have been horrible. Like grit-your-teeth-and-try-to-hold-it-together-until-bedtime-and-then-breathe-a-sigh-of-relief-when-they're-down. =O So, it was nice to see that things they have learned have stuck with them long-term. Like the pick-up time when Isaac was singing, his old memory verse, "work together as a team". I like to know that they're remembering some stuff!

Thursday, the kids were having a really nice morning, when Ruby hauled off and kicked Isaac in the head, no less, at least I think...=O, 2 separate times. After the second offense, I told her that she needed to go out and fill up an ice-cream bucket with peaches that have fallen on the ground. Isaac and Jadelyn decided they wanted to go, too. So much for punishment, 'eh? =O Anyways, a lovely time followed. I watched them out the window as I worked in the kitchen, as they played and watched bugs/butterflies/whatever they watching...oh, and picked up peaches. ;) I think Jadelyn might've done most the work. =O Anyhow, when they were done, they reported back and I told 'em that when I was done in the kitchen, I would feed the peaches to the chickens. They asked if they could do it instead, so off they went for another adventure...stuffing peaches under the fence, throwing them over the fence, and even stuffing peach pits into the window of the chicken shed. Watching them, I was so thankful. Thankful that they have each other. Thankful that we live in a place where they can play outside and watch the bugs and pick things up and learn and observe, and yeah...I was just thankful. =)

Yesterday afternoon, Ruby and Isaac learned to climb the peach tree. They had such "fun!" They pretended they were Zacchaeus, and such. I didn't spell that right, did I? =O Anyways, they were thrilled. At some point, Ruby was jumping off the front porch and Isaac wanted to so bad. They were standing next to each other, prepping to jump, and then Ruby did, and Isaac stayed there. He tried and tried to work up his courage, telling Ruby that he was "scared" and "nervous", and asking her how she landed. So she jumped again to show him. He never did jump, but it sure was sweet watching them interact. Days like that I just love - watching the kids become best friends. Sigh. =)

Then last night, we went walking down in the creek bed. David caught a toad, which Ruby then carried for some time. Very gently, and in a way so "he can't pee on me". Smart gal. ;) Then, we saw the biggest fish we'd ever seen in our creek. It was 4 or 5 inches long, maybe, and dead. =O Anyways, Ruby was flipping it over and watching it flip back. Gross, I know. Anyways, then she grabbed the floppy things. Gross. That girl will pick anything up! Then she gave it a throw to get it out of the way, and it crashed into the rocks. =O So, she picked it up and tried again...and got it to it's intended destination, that time. While we were down there, Hickory was chasing frogs out of their hiding places like crazy. They would jump down the hill and into one of the last remaining puddles in the creek. Fun to watch. Though I wonder what in the world all those frogs were doing all hanging out in the same patch of weeds.

Today, Isaac was walking through the house holding a moth by it's wing on his way to put it outside. I was shocked. He normally traps them with containers, but never holds 'em. So, I asked where he learned that from, and he informed me that Ruby taught him. I was so proud of him! =)

After a particularly bad fight/screaming match today, both Ruby and Isaac were granted the distinct privilege of having spankings. Ruby kept whimpering quietly for a long time after, and finally I went and inquired why she was still crying. She told me that when she was getting her spanking, her shorts went up some, and her bare leg got spanked, and (said while still crying,) "my skin is very delicate!" Oh, that girl. She can crack me up even when crying. Is that wrong? =O

Okay, I think that's it for now. Now that it's taken me a whole HUGE chunk of the kid's nap time to write this. MUST GET THINGS ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!!!!