Ordinary Time

I suppose what I should really do is some thoughtful New Year's Eve post, but honestly? I don't have it in me. 2017 has been a year of huge ups and huge downs, and everything in between. It will take a while to process it all. I'd much rather focus on the things right in front of me right now, anyway. The Build-A-Thing animals are settling in, and everyone remains thrilled with their choice. Don't be alarmed, but L.'s bear seems to have caught a cold on the ride home yesterday, and has been coughing a bit, but L. has provided quite a bit of care, and he seems to be on the mend. He also fits in 18" doll clothes, so I'm afraid the American Girls have some missing clothes at this point.  Y. announced to me this morning that yesterday was the best day ever, and she still can't believe that she has her favorite Pokemon stuffed animal. After a pause, she then added, "Sometimes I wonder if it was a dream, and I worry that someone will take her away fr

If the title surprises you, that's as it should be. I'm just not a mall-type these days. But when your mother gives her younger six grandchildren a Build-A-Bear trip, that is where you have to go to find one. (Personally, I think they should rename it Build-A-Thing, since there are precious few actual bears to choose from.) As you can imagine, the six were incredibly excited about the upcoming trip. J. had the day off work, so this morning seemed like a good time to go. G. L. (More about the hood in a moment) Y. H. H. K. G. K. (He's stepping on the pedal to run the machine that fills the toy with fluff.) After the toys were chosen, stuffed, washed (in the pretend washing station), dressed, and paid for, it was time for lunch. The total was less than I had anticipated, so we did the almost unheard of thing, and went to the food court. They loved the wonders of getting to choose what to have. Three chose pizza (K., G., and L.), and

we are given a teeny tiny bit of hope as far as R.'s abilities. We know she is making progress, but so much of it is the structural, foundational kind that has to be done first, but isn't always apparent. It's kind of like having the wiring redone in your house. You know it is vital, but it's expensive and messy and time-consuming. Plus, it doesn't really leave you with anything to show to people, other than the fact you can turn your lights off and on without burning the house down.  R.'s progress strikes me as this sort of progress. There's not much to show, but has to be done, and if the work doesn't get done, then I'm afraid her house really will burn down, never to be resurrected. I truly don't think this is an exaggeration. R. has experienced so much neglect and so much trauma, combined with an incredible number of care givers in her short life, that I feel as though we were the last straw. There was too much change on top of too much

It wouldn't be Christmas without a good animal story, huh? Meet Romeo. He is the orange cat there on the left. No, we didn't get a new cat. This is B.'s cat who came to visit for the holiday.  Romeo is a very cute, very polite fellow, and was a very good house guest. It won't surprise you, though, to hear that at least one of our resident animals was not exactly a good hostess. Pretty much, each animal was true to form. Olive really wanted to play, and by play, I mean slobber all over the fluffy cat. Romeo was quick to put an end to that, and Olive has a new scratch on her nose to show for it. Olive gave Romeo a fairly wide berth for the rest of the visit. I'm quite OK with this, as I feel a dog should develop a healthy appreciation for cats early on, and this was just another piece of that education for young Olive. Kenzie was interested, but got hissed at once, and that's all it took. He was actually a little bit afraid of Romeo, and was very hesita

It's a record... we celebrated a Christmas without tears, great big noisy fits, or even seizures. Truly it was a wonderful day, and we are now all relaxing, enjoying each other's company, making noise, playing new games, and arguing about who gets to take the dogs out in the sub-zero weather. I love having everyone home. Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures taken over the past two days. Christmas Eve L. P. and M. Heading to church New Christmas Jammies L. and G. TM Christmas morning Waiting and waiting... and waiting for the parents to wake-up Everything is ready... (including the cat) for everyone to come downstairs. Of course, the animals had presents, even Q. (catnip) Q. received a mirror And people had presents, too. We ate food (a lot of food) And we played. MERRY CHRISTMAS