Weekend Stories~

Just when I think the day is going to be routine, monotonous, dull, boring....something happens to change that. The mommy got a sinus infection on Thursday night. By Saturday I was glad we hadn't planned anything but a 'home maintence' day because I was not feeling the greatest. Leni shows up halfway through the day saying "mooommmmm! I can't feel my finger! " Sure enough, her finger was swollen about 2-3x normal size. Dad determined she got bit by something and sent her on her way. A few minutes later...she's back..."moooommmmmm! Look at my other finger!!!" Sure enough, now other fingers, and even whole hand is following first fingers swelling. There were no marks. No red places. Mystery. A little while later, the other hand was completely swollen as well. Hmmm.....Dad said probably a spider bite. Lovely. We dispensed Benadryl very reluctantly because with most VanLue children it makes them hyper. Didn't want that. But a few minutes later, mom found Leni asleep in her bed upstairs. She slept for 4 hours!! It took another day for the swelling to disappear but now all is well. Did you see "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" where the selfish girl blew up like a giant blueberry? Her hands looked like that. Oompa-loompa hands we called them!:)

Dad had a meeting that night, Mom now has a 101 fever, and we're out of milk. Soooo, we put Mom Jo (grandma) in car with all of us,and troop to the grocery store. ....oompa-loompa and all. We all had ice-cream sandwiches in the car on the way home. The minute I walk in the door, Katie asks to be picked up and then projectile vomits all over the kitchen, me, herself, you name it. Lovely again.This is a first for this child. My reaction at this point was that she probably wouldn't have gotten much attention if that happened in the orphanage. She is washable and we cleaned it up.:)

Where is Eloise you ask? Remarkably normal through all of this. I sent the older girls upstairs to brush teeth and put on jammies. Then Eloise strikes. She decides that new Princess Pink toothpaste looks lovely as lipstick and eyeshadow and tries to be Tyra Banks. THEN she put toothpaste all in Leni's newly washed church hair. Now Leni has oompa-loompa hands and toothpaste coated hair for church. Eloise does it again. Mom was too sick. I dealt with all of it the next morning. (I emailed my friend Giselle after this, and she sent me scripture right away! Thank you Giselle!)

Next day...Sunday...Katie is fine. Leni is fine (except YOU try to comb toothpaste hair!!), and Eloise is perfectly happy. Mommy is still at 101. Why go to church? Because we have "sheep rehearsal". That's why. What is this you ask? Well, we missed the Sunday before because of our little retreat, and both Leni and Kristin are sheep (as are all K-level kids) in the church Christmas production. We aren't sure about one of our little sheep....the Leni sheep tends to get distracted and wander.....so parents want her to have as much "sheep rehearsal" as possible so we are embarrassed as little as possible on production day. How'd they do? Not "BAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" I needn't have worried. The VanLue girls are stellar sheep and will do an outstanding job! Mommy was proud!! Our only issue is that Leni is a little tall for her age. She's over 48 inches tall and weighs 51 lbs. She's the size of the average 8 yr. old. (doctors prediction is that she'll be a minimum of 5' 11".) Our precious sheep is bigger than all the shepherds! (the first graders). Not by a little....alot. We have a sheep on growth hormones! It was pretty funny!

Sunday afternoon mom took a nap with Cade (we had him for the afternoon) and believe it or not. ....the neighbors sent Leni home. She was outside playing in long pants but.....topless. Kristin had decided to clothe herself in one of Julie's shirts and flip-flops. .....(no comment, but they were being watched by a family member:) Sometimes they fly under the radar with their antics:))

One of my absolutely favorite shows right now is Jon and Kate plus 8. It's a reality show in TLC, Monday's at 9 (reruns on Disc. Health on Tues.). They are a Christian couple in Pennsylvania that have 6 yr. old twins, and 3 year old sextuplets. That's 8 kids, under the age of 7. Whenever I have a challenging day, I always feel better after watching this show. It's hysterical to see how they manage. I don't watch much TV at all, but try to always catch this one!! Gotta see it to believe it!

Today's picture is of our craft in school today. Kristin goes to school on Monday's so Katie and Leni are home with mom. Kristin's teacher has been sending home extra craft materials so Leni can do them too. That's a great teacher! Today we made turkeys with our hands as feathers! Kristin came in just in time for the pic. Her turkey like this is on the wall at school still, but she contributed her turkey from her Spanish class today. Mom still has a fever...but is hopeful that this will end soon:) Adios amigos for today! We're pressing on!!