Praying...

Today my heart is aching & praying for the child who still has no parents. No safe place. No security. No hugs. No kisses. Not enough food. Not enough medical treatment. No kind words. No tender smiles. No Mommy to tuck him into bed each night, to make sure he is using lotion so his skin doesn't get ashy. No Daddy to tickle & wrestle with him, to comfort him if he has a scary dream. No parents to pray with him, to hold his hands, to teach him, to make him feel loved & safe, significant, precious & wanted. 

I'm praying.... please join me.

Birthday Boy

Somehow I missed posting pics of Nathan's big day. 

Yee haw for #6! 

Decorating

 I'm not much of a decorator but I like to look at other people's creative ideas & love the fun of making something pretty out of something of little or no value. When my Mom was visiting with us this Winter she did some sewing for me & we added this green fabric border to my very plain & inexpensive living room curtains. I love the custom look!

She also sewed up these coordinating pillow covers for me for the couch. All the fabric for both projects cost less than $20 & is nice & heavy so I can wash & rewash. If I had found fabric I liked at Good Will it would have been even more economical. I've salvaged old table cloths & sheets that way before.

 Then I found these pretty old table legs in our shed - can't remember where they came from & no table top attached. I love those curves though & John just stuck a table top on for me that he got at a home improvement store. 

I'll never be a Design Diva but I've been having fun creating. What have you been up to lately?

Friends

There is a special connection between these two. I am loving watching it happen...

Jake Mug Shots

 

 In this one, you can see the lumps on his right leg where he has old, improperly healed fractures, as well as some harmless benign tumors & skin tags.

Here he is after two vet visits, a bath, grooming, several meds, flea preventative & some ear cleaning. His weight is good & he is a happy fellow. Favorite activities include napping, eating, more napping & snuggling. It makes me happy just seeing him here - alive, comfortable & happy for whatever time he has left. 

Jake Update

We got great news from the vet today! Jake is actually in pretty good shape! I was resigned that he might not have much life left to live, based on his scary looking tumors & general rough health, but his tumors are all benign &/or are actually fractures from a previous accident. It is horrible to think that he had a broken leg & little to no care for it, but it is not too uncomfortable to him at this point. He also has some arthritis & ear,dental & tumor infections but none are serious. We're putting him on antibiotics & pain meds & his prognosis looks pretty good for an old guy! Yay!

"Old Jake"

So...I've been looking for a dog for some time & I've always wanted to adopt a senior dog...& it wasn't quite what I was planning to do just now...but I couldn't bear the thought of this old Boxer dying in the animal shelter all by himself...& since he tested "OK" with dogs, cats, kids & even chickens...he is now our newest family member as of this morning!

The boys named him "Jake" & I think it fits. He is fawn color with a nicely squishy Boxer face that is white with advanced age, & a nubby tail. (I'll get pictures pronto.) We're still getting to know him but he seems like he was someone's pet at some point. He is apparently house trained & has been neutered. But he was picked up as a stray & was not claimed in the weeks he waited at the kill shelter. 

I'm taking him to see my wonderful vet tomorrow to have some blood work done to try to figure out his health situation. He's got a lot of tumors & small old cuts, & his hind end seems a bit weak. He hasn't been cared for in a long while. :(  

He still has a happy doggie-smile though & we'll just see what we need to do to make him comfortable for whatever time he has left. I think I'm really OK if it ends up being several more years or only months - I'm just feeling good that he's not being put to sleep at the shelter just because he's old & not in the best health. 

 





 

Nathan is Six!

Nathan turned six on Sunday. He got cowboy boots that he LOVES to clomp around in, even though they are actually too large for him. They are big shoes to fill but I have no doubt that he is up for that. Nathan is a BIG personality! 

Random. Nathan is the most random of my three. He mentally leap frogs from one topic to the next so quickly for my very concrete orderly kind of mind. I am not like him in that way at all, but I love to sit back & watch where he'll go to next. It's such a fun ride! :)

For example, the boys & I were recently talking together over lunch & the topic of the President came up. "Obama?" says Nathan. "Is he still alive?" We assure him that he is still living & add that he has two beautiful daughters. Not wanting to miss out on new friends (He loves girls!), Nathan quickly pleads, "Can we have them over to play sometime Mom?" 

Nathan... you keep me on my toes & often give me the giggles & I love it! I'm so glad I get to be your Mom & to watch you grow up into the super cool guy you are becoming.

Spring! Glorious Spring!

I'm loving the warmer weather! It seems like even our animal neighbors are happier!

Soccer Fever!

I can't remember ever imagining myself as a "Soccer Mom"when my first son was born... 

It started with Luke loving "fut bol" - a hugely popular sport in Ghana. He played on  a team last Fall & loved it. Now he & Mark are both on the same Spring team & so far, are excited about even the practices.