Picturing October with the Pages

Lots of pictures for this post (36- that's a roll of film!), but I will start with the news.

Mom is home from the hospital. YAY!  She arrived at home on Thursday evening.  I have not seen her all week because I have been fighting a vicious cold and going to bed after work everyday.  She does, however, sound much better today. When I talked with her on Wednesday, she sounded like she was half asleep and told me that her medication made it appear that the walls were closing in and that she felt like she could put her arm right through a print on the wall in front of her. I teased about the 60's style hallucinogens she was taking. You have to laugh, right?

I have torn through two books in the last couple of weeks.  Bound by Love by Sharon Droeger tells the story of Lily Nie.  Lily founded the agency we used to adopt Wyatt and Julia and grew up during the cultural revolution in China.  The book is a compelling page turner, and Wyatt and Julia are listed among the children in the back.  They were quite excited to find their names in a published book.  If you should read this book and look for their names, you will find Julia in group 777 and Wyatt in group 1362.
One thing that was striking about this book was that Lily kept saying, "we will do everything we can and then leave it up to God."  As I recall that was my motto during Wyatt's grueling adoption process.

I also finished The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.  Another page turner, this memoir reveals the bizarre situation in which Jeannette and her siblings grew up.  With an alcoholic dad and a mom who tried to make them believe that starving and living without indoor heat or plumbing was an adventure, the story unfolds to reveal determination to triumph over such a difficult (big understatement) childhood.

The pictures share the rest of October to this point.
1. Homecoming came on a beautiful day.  Zach does not usually get to bring home any of his football uniform, but they had the jerseys for school that day.

2. Andy arrived home from Alaska just in time (literally) for a field trip to the pumpkin patch with Julia.  She and her best friend Larissa left little time to hang out with the parents, but we enjoyed chatting with Larissa's parents...must have a play date soon.

3.  The third time is the charm in choosing the pumpkin.

4. Julia and me

 5. Homecoming that night was a big improvement over last year when it poured.  It was beautiful this year. Savannah's field hockey team was ready for the parade.

6.  Wyatt awaited the parade with some of Julia's friends.  Julia missed the parade for gymnastics and joined us later in the game.

7. The seniors did the best float - loved the Up theme.

8.Zach after the game.  He did not get to play in the homecoming game but did make it into three varsity games this season.

 9.  Wyatt had hill billy night at AWANA and came up with his costume himself for the most part.

 10.  We saw baby Regan get dedicated at church, and she behaved nicely for the event.

11.  Everyone except Zachary enjoyed Halloween at the zoo.  Wyatt dressed as Dan from Bakugan, and Julia was Silvermist from Tinkerbell.

12.  My favorite characters at the zoo.

13.  We took the kids for a family day at the pumpkin patch on Zach's birthday.  It was hot and crowded and not exactly fun, but we did bring home a pumpkin.

14. silliness at the pumpkin patch

15. When we celebrated Zach's birthday, Tara and I got photographic proof that we can touch our noses with our tongues...well, the photographer must have missed my talent in this one.

16. Savannah enjoyed her field hockey banquet.  She received a very nice jacket with her name embroidered on it for her participation.  Wyatt went through a $10.00 game card in no time.  Wyatt!!

17.  We spent a family day at the park where I attempted to get good pictures of the kids since I no longer buy school pictures...thinking Christmas cards here.  Andy declared it the best thing we've done as a family in a long time.

18.

19.

20. Andy jumped out of a tree and then this happened.  It is a good thing he has a sense of humor and didn't get hurt.  (later, he ran down a hill with the kids, and his knee was not at all pleased about that)

21.

22.

23.  Zach was less than cooperative, so we will be seeing a professional photographer soon.

24.

25.

26.

27.  loved this shot

28. He belongs in a movie, don't you think?

29.  Julia let me put her hair in ponytails...may be the last time as she is pretty adamant about doing her hair herself.

30. We went to a fall festival at the church where Wyatt attends AWANA, and Julia ran into some friends.

31. We saw Scooby Doo and enjoyed a hayride through the woods.

32.  more football -Zach was one of the two captians chosen for the last freshman football game.  He is respected by his coaches and teamates and a great encourager.

33.  Andy and I both made it to Wyatt's Halloween pirate-themed Halloween party at school.

34.  They played a game where they wrapped each other up as mummies.  The toilet paper kept breaking, so none were very successful.

35. I've never seen kids so anxious to clean up.

36.  Wyatt and his teacher -aren't they cute?

Mom's hospital stay has been extended, and Wyatt loses his first tooth

 Mom remains hospitalized and will be there until Tuesday as they plan to insert some sort of device to help drain her lungs.  She did receive chemo today.  I may go stay the night with her tonight. Scratch that, Julia is having a rough time with that plan, so maybe tomorrow night.  I have to work on Sunday, so I can't go to my Sunday school class anyway. Mom really has had few visitors for this stay.  Aside from my not so pleasant sleeping options, her room is quite nice with lots of space and privacy. 

In other news, Jules (mom's little dog) is so depressed.  She has to contend with Lola, the diva to end all divas dog, who attacks anytime anyone offers sweet Jules any affection.  Too bad I can't sneak Jules in to see Mom, but I may do the next best thing and bring her to my house for a few days so that we can love on her until Mom can get home. (Mom's dog was named Jules when she got her. Mom intended to change the name because I often call Julia Jules, but I told her Julia would probably get a kick out of it, so Jules stuck.)

...and in other news

After months of waiting and hoping, Wyatt showed me a loose tooth this afternoon.  Wow!  When I took a closer look, I realized that his permanent tooth was already half way to full size and through the gums.  This revelation occurred between my jobs today, and when I returned from my second job this evening, that tooth was out and gone.  Wyatt put it up in a plastic bag for the tooth fairy and cannot find it. That is typical Wyatt.

Wyatt left this note for the tooth fairy:
I lost my tooth
thanks
love Wyatt
I love Bakugan
(He started with a list, but I told him that the tooth fairy does not typically do wish lists).

As this blog is for the kids, I do want to send my apologies to Wyatt at this time. 

Wyatt,
I know when we brought you home from China, we did so on a promise that we would take care of the surgeries you would need.  Our surgeon asked to see you again this past summer to consider some more reconstructive surgery, but we opted to skip that appointment.  Our insurance is an HSA, and there is no way we could afford surgery with that plan, so we opted to skip paying for a visit to a specialist that would just be a "no" on the surgery either way.  We know two things; You hate the very idea of surgery, and at this point in your life, you are probably quite happy to skip it.  We also know that God has a plan for provision in this.  He did not bring you across the world without a plan to take care of you.  We just elected our benefits for next year, so there is a maybe in that.

I love you my charming, affectionate, and funny little guy.  You are not the same spunky boy we met in China.  You are that and so much more.  Just this week you did tell me that you will pick a very good nursing home for me but not until I am very, very old.  You also told me that you will live in the woods close to my house so that you can visit every day.  I am holding you to those words Jane told me in China, when she said, "he is a very sweet boy, he will take good care of his parents one day."  She also called you naughty, but you are more nice than naughty these days.  You are doing very well in school, and I think we have turned a corner there.

I do have to finish with the Wyatt quote of the week.  We saw the doctor on Monday for a refill on medication.  Our pediatrician asked Wyatt what he likes to do.  Wyatt wanted some clarification, so he asked, "What do you mean?  Do you mean what do I like to do for recreation?"  A good chuckle emerged from both the doctor and me.  Wyatt's vocabulary is quite good.

letter to Oprah

Apparently Oprah ran an episode on the education system and basically followed the American way of blaming teachers for problems in American education.  I did not see the program and cannot comment on it, but this letter is a well-written response from someone in the trenches.

http://neatoday.org/2010/09/24/a-teachers-letter-to-oprah/

Let me add that the powers that be have decided to withhold the public announcement identifying which schools will be overhauled (overhauled = removal of the administration and 1/2 the staff) until after the elections in November.  Hmmm, could it be that there may be some shaking in the boots of some of our elected officials and school board members?  Do they think the public may not like it when the realization hits that this will happen to most schools with 35% or more free and reduced lunch populations?  It really just comes down to when it is your turn.

When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is freedom. - Thomas Jefferson

the latest on Mom

When I visited with Mom last night, the cystology report was still not back.  She felt much better but is still awaiting the liver biopsy and is anxious to be released from the hospital.  Her little dog misses her.

crazy life circumstances, an update

As I type Julia is sobbing on my lap.  She spent the night at my parents' house last night, but my mom was still in the hospital. Julia is worried about her grandma and missed having her at home. 

This is the latest:  Lots of fluid was removed from my mom's right lung today.  She can breathe much easier now.  There is, however, fluid around her liver.  They are awaiting biopsy results on the fluid from around her lung before doing the liver biopsy.  They did not do the liver biopsy today as it requires going through the lungs (or something like that, remember I am about as non-medical as a person gets), so they did not want to risk shooting infection or malignant cells right into her liver.  Praying here for a good result on that biopsy.

As for Josh, he made it home by 10:00p.m. last night, not so bad for a trip to the ER and then a visit with Mom before heading home.  Now Tara is posting daily on her Facebook page that Joshua should get the shot.  If he had had a shot at home, he may have forgone the whole EMS/ER ordeal.  He is sore today, but fine.

Happy Birthday, Zach!

I have so much to post, but I have to edit some pictures first.  Today, I am stopping to wish my Zach a happy birthday. Fifteen years ago (really just the blink of an eye), I held my firstborn for the first time.  Now, he won't even let me hug him, but I did get a slight hug today.  He weighed 7.5 pounds at birth, but now he can bench press his mom and then some.  He is all teenage boy as his birthday gifts included a much desired leather jacket (thanks to the grandparents, aunts and uncles who pooled their resources for that), a pair of jeans, and an amp for his bass guitar.  He loves his jacket and jeans and has not taken them off...so cute!

This weekend has been insane.  Mom was admitted to the hospital on Friday and is still there. They will be removing the fluid from her lungs tomorrow. Baby Regan was dedicated at church on Friday night, and after the service, we took our little people and Savannah to a Halloween celebration at the zoo.  Today, we took a much anticipated trip to the local pumpkin patch.  That proved to be a disappointment as it was too hot and too crowded to really enjoy what we had hoped would be a quality day with the family. We then gathered as much of the family as we could at our house to celebrate Zach's birthday.  Unfortunately, EMS transported my brother to the hospital just before our celebration started.  He has type 1 diabetes, and his blood sugar dropped too low for him to swallow. The paramedics were not satisfied when they got his blood sugar up to 200, and he was still unresponsive. I hope he is okay but must admit that the slow response is not unusual for him.  I think he will be fine. Whew!  What a whirlwind!

Mom

After a struggle with shortness of breath that has lasted more than a week, my mom is being admitted to the hospital.  Apparenty, she did not look good and did not feel well yesterday.  Today, she digressed into dry heaving, and there is talk of a possible abcess, but we really don't know much right now.  This was to be a weekend of celebration -Regan's dedication and Zach's birthday.  Please pray.