handsful

I’ve always enjoyed being “crafty”, but as life has gotten busier I’ve had less and less time to do those things. Years ago I made a few bows for Abbey and Marley, and now I’m at it again for Miss L. It’s fun, you get quick results, and voila…a brand new clippie to wear :)

We’re still having issues with multi-photo posting, and Randy promises to work on it this weekend. In his spare time. Spare time…makes me laugh everytime I type it.

Carrie is a gal I’ve never met, but hope to one day. She has 3 bio children and traveled to China in March of last year for her new 7 year old daughter, MJ. Tragically, 7 months later MJ would pass away from complications of a head injury.

Prior to MJ’s passing, Carrie’s family had already begun the adoption of another little girl in China that they would name Anna Grace. Due to the unexpected costs of MJ’s medical treatment and other related costs, they have found themselves short of the finances to bring 2 year old Anna Grace home. You can help :) Go to their site listed in my sidebar under the “CCAI-WC” category and the link “Carrie-Anna Grace” to read their story. There is also a “Chip In” box at the top left where you can safely and securly donate to their adoption of Anna Grace. Even the smallest amount will help them. Thank you.

Okay, I can technically post (otherwise you’d be dreaming about now…), but it’s a total pain. I can only post in HTML, and even then the pictures all end up on top of each other or out of order. Don’t even ask me to write text BETWEEN pictures. We’re working on it, but there is no “customer service” with WordPress – we just have to go on forums and figure it out…fun, fun. I just wanted my handful of faithful readers to know that we’re still here and will post as soon as possible. Otherwise, I might start twitching from withdrawal and nobody wants that…

A poem about child labor in the 19th century – by Abbey

I hear creaking, sighing,
I see fingers flying.
There is smoke and fire,
and faces that are tired.

With all of this, I dread
That I will never go to bed.
And even though my wages are few,
I still have hope for something new.

“The World Gone Upside Down” – by Payton

The grass just ate the cow,
I don’t know how.
A man is climbing a tree
while a squirrel is very busy
doing his taxes,
signing those faxes,
doing it very quickly.
A sad man gives a smile,
a happy man gives a frown,
it’s the world turned upside down!

I had more to say / pictures to post, but my WordPress isn’t in the mood to cooperate…grrrrr. I’ll see if my resident computer whiz (a.k.a Randy) can figure it out :(

Here’s Lainey from Saturday – yes, she has 4 ponytails in her hair because that’s how many she asked for. She’s into colors and numbers these days :) Yesterday, our weather was very spring/summer like. High near 80, sunny. We were out doing yardwork and got HOT. Randy was adjusting some of the sprinkler heads, so the kids decided to cool off…

At this point, I look over and she’s taking her shorts off. I ran inside and got a swim diaper. Bathing suits from last year are TOO tight, so…

Skip forward to today. We wake up and it’s raining and really windy! High today? 55! This afternoon, we finish up the yardwork that was started yesterday.

Don’t let the bare feet fool you…Lainey and I were the only sane ones wearing shoes. Even Randy kicked off his flip flops. I’m a wimp in cold weather and had on a tee shirt, sweatshirt, and a jacket!

Randy and Jack :) Yes, he has on shorts, but you can’t trust the weather based on that. He would wear shorts all year (and, here, he usually can!)

A girl and her dog share a wagon ride!

I have to admit, I wasn’t too upset about the colder weather. I’m just not ready to be hot yet! But, living here, I know it’s coming…

This is Ethan, affectionately known as EJ or even E-money at times (his daddy gave him that last one – no idea why, but it’s kinda cute). Ethan gives us challenges, just like any other kid, but a big one has always been this:

He hates to read.

So, when he was prompted to choose a chapter book for literature last week I thought he’d do the usual…pick the easiest, shortest, minimum-#-of-words-on-page book he could find. He surprised me and chose The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. And, not the watered-down youth version…the adult version. Biggest surprise? He loves it! For years, I’ve been trying to find that subject, that genre of book that would “get him”. I’m now on a mission to find good science fiction novels…I’ve already found that C. S. Lewis wrote a trilogy of them and I have the first one on reserve at the library.

Just had to brag on my EJ…