Hey, look, I made a camel!

Now, that fact I made a camel might not necessarily be blog-worthy news, but it is if you consider how long this particular camel has been cut out and waiting to be put together. Want to guess? Well, if your number is a single digit, you're wrong. I cut this camel out at the same time I made our other nativity dolls, but just never got around to putting him together. I even packed-up and moved the cut-out camel when we left the charming, tiny house to live in the big, ugly house. I would imagine that this little guy has been waiting to be put together for approximately 15 years. Talk about satisfaction at finally finishing a project!  Here he is:

I'm sure the wise men next Christmas will be thrilled with their new mode of transportation. One child, who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, did wonder out loud if we would know where the camel was when Christmas rolled around again.

In other news, Gretel had the last of the stitches removed today, thus ending our 4+ week stint of visiting the vet at least once a week. I don't even have to say who I am anymore, we walk in and the whole staff says, "Gretel!" as if she is Norm from Cheers or something. The good news is that it is nearly all healed. I spared you a picture of the wound at its worst (you're welcome), but here is is without the stitches.

And even better, she no longer has to wear a t-shirt to protect it, since she can't do anything to hurt it anymore. We have a dog again!

Something else I wanted to share with you was this page on phonics work that H. did today... with very little help from me. (I spent far more time helping TM, who was particularly scattered, on his math. If you've ever witnessed TM at his most scattered, you will appreciate the amount of help I was not offering to H.) This is the type of page that H. had great difficulty with last week, to the point where I wondered if we just needed to put it aside and wait a bit. But something seems to have clicked and she was able to figure it out... even reading the sight word, 'the'. Pretty exciting, no?

And finally, I realize that there have been precious few pictures on the blog recently. Here is one of L. which I took over the weekend to help make up for it. Of course, L. is in a costume. (When isn't she in a costume?) This is her dragon costume which she received for Christmas.

I don't know how many of you keep up with the blog The Blessing of Verity, but if you don't, I wanted to point out and link to a post which mentions the three children I have been advocating for. Please go and read it to find updates about how these three are doing. The initials H., B., and C. stand for the three children whose pictures I have subjected you to once a week for months. My heart breaks over Harvey's condition, but there is still time for Brandi and Chad. If you visit, you can also scroll down and see pictures of Susanna's new son whom she was visiting on her first trip.