Sarabeth's "four" wheeler

An old bike of Grace's came out of hibernation and I pumped the tires and added training wheels. Sarabeth had been bugging me all week to ride her bike. She was ecstatic until she tried to get on!! I then lowered the seat all the way down for her. I said, "I thought you rode a bike in China?" Her reply, "I did, but it was a small bike!" She pedaled around the driveway and up the sidewalk, all the while leaning on one of the training wheels - us parents all know what that looks like! Juls and Nate whizzed by Sarabeth on their trikes and she kept yelling for them to get out of the way. To which, in true brotherly style, Nate only got in her way all the more! The day was overcast and dreary, but at least it was warm. With muddy shoes and dodging raindrops, the kids all came in tired and satisfied!

Oh, BTW, Nate broke another wire! The second unbroken wire has GOT to last until we leave for the hospital on Monday night. He goes for surgery #2 Tuesday morning, bright and early. The docs will harvest a piece of Nate's own rib with some cartilage attached (growth plate lies in between the bone and cartilage). Then they will graft this bone, after reshaping it, to create a new upper portion of his right mandible. The following 3 weeks his jaw will HAVE to remain immobile so they better triple layer those wires and use extra heavy duty this time around!!

Would appreciate prayer for his surgery - that the Lord's hand will guide the surgeon's and all will heal well.

Peace,
Mary

Tea for two!

What's better than a mini tea set with cups, spoons, real tea, sugar, creamer and cheerios? A sister to share it with!! Sarabeth and Juliana enjoyed their tea for 45 minutes or so. The only bad part was when Mom said it was time to clean up. Juls threw a whopper of a tantrum and I spent the next 45 minutes helping her wind down, relearn "children obey your parents" and snuggling in the recliner after the meltdown!! Ain't it great to have a 3 year old .... wait, we have two of them! Nate was resting, tho - he missed out on the party - after all we only had "tea for two".

Blessings,

Mary

Car sleepers

Okay all you viewers, just TRY to get your head to touch your shoulder like this. How can kids sleep like this? All three of them knocked off during a 10 minute drive after playing at the park Thursday afternoon. Grace had the last 2 of her necessary 4 teeth extractions that day - we dropped her off and then went to the park. The kids had a blast on the big twistee slides and swings. Grace was a trooper throughout her ordeal and now will wait the year out for her teeth to move around and then start into her invisalign in January 08. She can't wait!

Mary

A chip off the old block!

The "Big Meltdown" occurred over this last week. Caitlin loves to chip away at the huge slabs of ice and landed this 'big one' after a long effort! Nearly 4 inches thick and over 4 feet tall. We are sooooo glad to see nearly ALL the snow and ice gone now.

Mary

Quick update

It's been a week since we've posted - sorry!! The evening of the 17th (last Saturday), Nate broke his second wire at 7p. The docs at U of I didn't want to rewire him at 11pm, so John, Caitlin and Nate took off for U of I on Sunday morning. 3 hours down .... 10minutes to rewire him .... 3 hours back. I was glad to stay back home and go to church this time!!

We all went to the Wild Game Buffet at church that night - venison, salmon, wild turkey, goose and some normal fare as well. We always enjoy a nice fellowship at church!

Mary