Isaac Loves His "Giggles"

I read recently that if you laugh at least 20 minutes a day, your memory improves.  Isaac has a smokin' memory and kicks my tail at the Penguin Matching Game.  Ruby does, too.  I'm old.  And apparently don't laugh enough.  Well, my sneaky Isaac has a plan to improve his memory even more.  At naptime today, Isaac asked me to tickle him after nap so his memory would improve even more.  Glad he's a thinker!

OVER A MONTH?!?!?! =O

What's wrong with me, anyhow? =O

Well, not sure...busy, but you know, that's always the case, right? Maybe lazy and unmotivated. So I will do my best to get "caught up" and then stay caught up better...for I was reading old blogs last night and rather enjoyed reading nice things about my kids when so often I feel like I'm just pulling my hair out! ;P

So, to my old, old notecard I go.

One of the sweetest things I've seen is watching Isaac wipe Jadelyn's nose when they were sick. What a sweetie...don't think it was the CLEANEST wipe-up ever, but you know...he did his best.

Ruby told me that it takes her a while to go to sleep because it takes a while for her eyes to close. =P

I was throwing away one of Jadelyn's stinky poopy diapers when she commented that she was "sad for diaper. Because there's poopy in it". Empathy for a diaper, huh? Maybe sometime that will develop into empathy for PEOPLE, right?

When Ruby is sick, Isaac can just be the sweetest little man ever. He takes good care of her. I don't know if I blogged about this before or not, but relatively recently (in the past month or two), Ruby was not feeling well and was laying on the couch. I was working along when I looked over at the couch and found Isaac laying right next to Ruby with his arm wrapped around her. Oh, that boy....

We had some "tree cutters" at our house about a month ago. The kids were intrigued. Ruby was so intrigued, in fact, that she let me know, "I changed my mind. I was gonna be a nurse but now I might be a tree cutter". =) Isaac, too, has let me know that he might be a tree cutter when he grows up.

Jadelyn has very adamantly told us that she and Ruby were in Mommy's belly, but Isaac came from Daddy's belly. I assume this is because Isaac is a boy? Hmmm....

David was sick for a long stretch - sweating and snotting like crazy and I was having to change the sheets about daily. Yeah...nasty. Anyways, Isaac came up with a solution: "Daddy should sleep outside so you wont' have to clean it as much. Clean it. Clean it. It will just go in the grass." Hey, at least he's looking out for MY best interests, right? Not so sure about what would have been his frozen-Dad's interest if he'd been forced to sleep outside in the grass. ;)

We were eating our supper out on the porch, when Alpine the cat came up and got in Jadelyn's baked potato. Jadelyn let me know, "I not sad, Mom." When David came back out with a new potato for her, Lynnie asked me if I would "cut my tornado, please?" Ha!

Ruby was talking to (I think) Isaac about skirts and said, "see the little skirty thing in there?" and later asked, "are you sad you don't have skirts like us?" And yes, I believe the answer was that Isaac IS sad. Poor only boy. =O

Jadelyn often prays and talks about Mr. Matt and Ms. Josie. Still. And she only remembers them from their one visit to our house around 2 months ago. Guess they made a strong impression! One day she said, "I love Mr. Matt. I love Ms. Josie." And I believe she does, too.

One day after sneezing (I think), Isaac let me know, "I like 'blessing yous'. It feels good to me." =)

I had to remove a band-aid from Jadelyn and she cried and cried and cried, but then told me, "I not cy 'bout it". Oh, right...wonder what it was called, then.

There. Caught up on my notecard. That wasn't so bad.

Catching up - again! =P

Last week we had what I believe is our first official prayer for forgiveness by one of our children on their own. Who was it? Little Jadelyn. For hitting Ruby, she was sent around the garden. She didn't want to complete it, so had a spanking for disobeying. She whimpered around the garden, and then came to me, where I was working in a strawberry patch. I hugged her and didn't say a word. Then, she started: "Dear Jesus.....dear Jesus.....dear Jesus" by this time I was going to jump in and help her, but then she continued on her own, "Forgive for hit Ruby. Amen."

My Isaac continues to be a thinker. He came up with some exercise to 'help' Ruby's hip. I told him that he is a good "exercise doctor". Ruby then asked him if that was what he was going to be when he grew up. He responded in the negative. So I probed further to discover what he would do when he grew up since he would need some money to support his LARGE family. (He informed me recently that he is going to need a dining room table bigger than ours so all his kids can fit around it. ;D) Isaac perked up, and informed me that he was going to have a "money machine" that will "make money!" Both coins and paper money. Thus taking away the need for him to have a job. Genius, 'eh? =P Good grief...I sure hope I can get this boy to enjoy good work!

We attended yet another 3 hour or so appointment at Shriner's last week. With a new doctor. Dr. Walker. The one who would actually do Ruby's surgery if surgery was necessary. I think. Anyhow, I was quite apprehensive about this appointment since the only rating for Dr. Walker on-line was negative - regarding her bedside manner, which is the problem I've been struggling with with the previous orthopedic surgeon. Anyways, I was very thankful to find her willing to listen to us AND Ruby. No other orthopedic surgeon has really LISTENED to Ruby. And what do you know? Because she talked to Ruby and listened to Ruby, she saw how Ruby "clicks" her hips. Ruby explained how she did it and showed the doctor. The doctor then asked Ruby to stop doing that, and turned and told us that she thinks Ruby is partially or completely dislocating her hip on her own. The doctor gave her hips some thorough examination and was unable to dislocate Ruby's hip, though it appears Ruby is able to do it. Strange, I think. Dr. Walker then told us that Ruby will probably need to be in a cast for 6 months with no surgery, or have surgery and then be in a cast for 6 weeks. She needs to consult with more doctors as to the best plan of action, and we're supposed to hear back next week. In the meantime, we've been doing the exercises that a PT gave to us to do and hoping that Ruby's muscles will get stronger and pull her leg back into the hip socket. Not real likely, I don't think, but hey, it is SURE worth the try! When Ruby complains about the exercises, I remind her that the exercises are WAY better than a cast would be. OH! The first day after our appointment, Ruby sought me out asking to exercise. I love that gal's motivation! Anyhow...that was a real side-track. =O After meeting with the doctor and the PT, it was off to meet with the social worker, Faith, for a referral to a neurologist. She got the appointment set up while we were there, so we're off to meet up with Dr. Farjam Farzam (name just cracks me up!) on November 7. Bright and early. Hopefully the kids (and David and I) will survive!

After our LONG appointment, we went to a park for a picnic and bike ride. It was Jadelyn's first "real" bike ride, and she was a trooper, albeit slow. The kids rode for over a mile and a half, I think. I was so proud! There were some big 'ole hills to get up, and Isaac commented at some point, "I wish I had a motor". Ha! =) Ruby rides her bike like a crazy woman. David said that he thinks Ruby will do real well in school with "book smarts" and all, but he's not sure he wants to ride with her when she starts driving! She'll be pedaling along and all the sudden, WHAM! Brakes go on all the way until she stops. One time, she left a good 7 foot or so skid-mark behind her. =) All or nothin' with that gal. It also tickled my funny bone to no end watching her run and have to constantly swipe at her pants to keep them up. Poor skinny gal. ;)

Ruby was talking to David on the phone the other day, when I heard her ask him if he would stay on the phone while she switched the phone to her other ear. Ha. Not sure how long she anticipated the switch was going to take! =) Then, when she was all done switching, she got back on the phone and informed David that it was "still Ruby, your daughter". Oh, that girl!

I don't remember exactly what happened, but David commented to Ruby that it must be "rough being a little girl." Ruby then replied something to the effect of it being "even rougher being a grown-up" and having a baby and not having a job and having to go to jail. This said because we met someone at church last year who had to go to jail for not paying child support. David then had to explain about how some parents don't live together and stuff. I'm still not sure Ruby got it all. =P

Ruby and I finally got the couch vacuumed under the cushions. It was getting kinda nasty. Anyways, when we were done, Isaac took the vacuum apart so I could empty the container. After the dust around the trash can settled down, one of the kids found a button in the garbage and rescued it, placing it on the counter. Well, sometime, it must've gotten knocked down, because I rescued it out of the dirt pile after sweeping the kitchen. I think that rescued button belongs on one of David's dress shirts. I should check that out sometime.

We were writing a thank-you note to a boy and his Mom who gave Isaac a book. Isaac was spouting off what he wanted me to write in the note, and then very seriously told me not to write that he couldn't have the book read to him because he peed his pants because that might make them feel sad. Ha! Took me a bit to get what he was talking about - one day he picked that book for storytime, but he had peed in his pants, so instead of getting a story, he had to change his pants, so he missed out. That silly boy. Someday, SOMEDAY, he will keep his pants dry ALL THE TIME. Last night while at someone else's house, he asked to use the bathroom. I was proud of him, because times like that he is more prone to wet his pants than others, because he's enjoying himself so much and stuff, I guess.

We've been teaching the kids about 9-1-1 lately. Stressing to not practice on the phone unless Daddy is there to make sure they don't hit the "talk" button. Anyhow, at lunch today, they were practicing away. Isaac was the 9-1-1 operator, and Ruby was the caller. They both learned our address today, too. I was so proud! OH! And last night, Ruby remembered when her birthday is for the first time. I was so proud! OH! AND Ruby learned to play a good sized portion of "Jesus Loves me" on the piano today. I was so proud! =)

At during naptime prayers, Ruby told Jesus, "I love you, Jesus. For real. Like I sing in Jesus Loves me." Or something. I sure do love listening to their prayers!

Quick notes before hitting the hay....

Today at Sabbath school, Miss Angel was telling about Daniel and the lions. She was at the part of the story when the bad guys caught Daniel praying to God, and she asked the kids what the bad guys did next. Ruby exclaimed, "threw him to the dandelions!" (not intending to be funny), which was quickly parroted by my little parrot Isaac, "threw him to the dandelions!" They so had no clue that they just said that the bad guys threw Daniel to some flowers. =)

Tonight, we went to a baptism. Near the end, Miss Hannah was singing a special music. A song I have never heard before, so I'm pretty sure Isaac hasn't heard it, either. But. That child stood next to David, and softly sang along with Miss Hannah...like he often sings with Ruby when she's making up songs. He's more than a parrot, he's a predictor parrot - able to guess what people are going to say, even! Ha! He was singing so sweetly that I wanted to watch him, 'cause he gets so intent and stuff, but I didn't want him to see me and get all crazy and goofy. What a singer, that fella is. After the baptism, we were outside talking to some church members and Ruby fell in slow motion down the step and hit her head on the brick stairs. Because there was an audience she didn't cry. Maybe I need to hire an audience to stay around our house? =P Jadelyn also got a good whack under her chin. No crying that time, either. Hmmm....anyone want to come be our audience? =P

On the way home from the baptism, we took some back roads for fun. A "cow trail" is what David likes to call it now, I guess. Anyways, we were almost home when Jadelyn suddenly let out a little cry. I figured maybe she had been sleeping and just woke up (as she does this cry at times like that). Less than a minute later, Ruby started crying. Isaac asked her, "what happened?" but she kept crying. I then asked her what happened, and she finally answered that she threw up. Lovely. The return of car sickness is upon us. =O Then, I said to David, "I wonder if Jadelyn threw up, too". So I checked. And she had. 2 nasty kids and carseats and blankets and clothes. Man, am I ever glad that David can handle puke. I spent the remainder of our ride home with my head sticking out the window so I wouldn't smell the nastiness coming from the back seat. Well, seats. But you get the idea. Ruby was milking this for all it was worth, crying the rest of the way home. Crying when she was stripped of her clothes. Crying when getting wiped up. Crying until she was again fully clothed in "warm" clothes. Then, she wanted to cuddle on the couch with Mommy with a bowl close by just in case she threw up. And eat "sick crackers", which Isaac quickly fetched for her. =) Oh, the drama! So, I was asking her why she had been crying, and she informed me that "I just thought that I was gonna burp", but then she threw up. Scary, traumatic stuff, you know. Isaac informed me while he was still in the van that he thought he might throw up while we were driving, but he just drank water and it pushed the throw up down. I think we'll skip the "cow trail" in the future. Yuck. Oh, at one point, I was covering my nose with my shirt while taking care of the dirty clothes, and Isaac asked me why. I informed him it was because I get sick when I smell throw up. We were talking as I loaded the washing machine (on a side note, I LOVE washing machines =D), and when I was finishing up with this job, and our discussion of throw up was winding down, Isaac announced cheerfully, "I'm gonna go make popcorn now!" Maybe he won't be grossed out by puke, either, so he can clean up when David's not around! =)

Oh, another Isaac story. Well, two. David filled the holes around our metal roof with foam spray a couple weeks ago so the birds and bees (ha ha. But seriously.) can't get in our attic. So, Isaac noticed today that the holes at the base of our metal exterior walls are not filled and informed David that he needed to fill those holes, too. That kid is a THINKER! Then, tonight, David and I were sitting on the back porch after putting the kids to bed when David noticed that there is a rope tied up to our propane tank. Apparently the other day when Isaac wanted to come inside so he could lay down on a soft place, but when that wasn't allowed, settled on laying on the double stroller? Well, he made sure that the rope tied to the stroller (David had given the kids a ride in it by pulling it behind the lawn mower at one point - safe, I know.) was also tied to the propane tank. To avoid rolling down the steep embankment directly beyond the stroller? I'll have to ask Isaac that question sometime. For now? It's WAAAAY past my bedtime. Night!

P.S. Wasn't this supposed to be a "quick post"? =P