Callie

We are all so very excited -- Will came over tonight to ask if we really do want to watch Callie for two weeks. We were all afraid that his mother took her home to NE to take care of her. So, in the morning she will be "ours" for awhile. She is a sweet girl and definitely a snuggler! It just amazes me how God worked this out for us. He is concerned about the little birds that fall from the sky, so I KNOW He is pleased with how this all worked out. Thank you, Lord!

Our Princess

Savannah has been begging me for weeks to buy her a princess dress. Her Dear Aunt Natalie found out she likes princess things and sent her a big box of not just ONE dress, but THREE! She even had shoes that match and earrings and a purse too! She was soooo thrilled. Thanks, Nat, for getting that out to her and sharing with us. Savannah was trying them all on, with Prae's help, when she suddenly looks up at me and asked, "Do you think Emily has any left!?" She was worried that Emily didn't have any dresses to play with now. Every day we go from being Cinderella, to Snow White, to Fairy Princess and then start all over again - ha! I tell her she is God's Princess because He is our King. I hope she never forgets that...

Max

This is such a hard post to write. We had to take Max to the vet this morning. He has started having trouble going to the bathroom, but I was watching him and switched him to a half wet, half dry diet. I was also giving him some cranberry vitamins once in a while. Well, yesterday morning Max was acting very sick. He had two accidents on the carpet and was hunched and moaning. I made up a plate of his wet food that he normally goes crazy for, but he never touched it the whole day. I couldn't even get him to drink. I kept him in the washroom hoping that whatever it was would work it's way out and he would once again get better. He never did. Last night was a long night. I stayed up with him until 1:30 and he seemed to like me there -- snuggled up against my foot once in a while. It was terrible seeing him suffer so much. I got him in right away at 8 and found out that he was totally blocked and it would be $500 to fix the initial problem and then we were also looking at an additional surgery. After telling the vet that I couldn't afford that he left and room and then came back and said I could sign him over to the clinic and sometimes people donate funds to fix an animal and then they would do their best to find a new home for the "special needs" cat. He is so beautiful so I have little doubt that someone would take him in a heartbeat if he survives the surgery. My heart has been heavy all day but at the same time is at peace that it was the right decision. I am thankful for the time we have been blessed with Max and the many wonderful memories we have of him. Thanks, Max, for being such a great asset to our family: for being a companion to Prae, a play-mate for Si, for being a rag doll for Savannah, and for being a foot-warmer for me. You will be missed!

What a Wonderful Day!

We had such a great day today! It started off with Si testing for his red belt. It was a three hour testing that was very rigorous but he did such a great job! My dad and mom were able to come and watch. He is so focused and can kick so high!! But he's also very humble and quiet about his strength and ability. I praise God for his healthy body and mind to be able to do this sport!

We then had Mom and Dad over for sandwiches and enjoyed hanging out and catching up on life's events. We love fellowshiping with them! While Savannah was taking her nap, Aunt Connie came over and grabbed Mom, Si and Prae and off they went to go shopping. When they came home they surprised Savannah with a brand new bike and the two older kids had brand new scooters. They had their old ones stolen two nights ago. (I will be blogging about that later.)



So all in all we had a very busy, very blessed day!! The kids are so very thankful and so very excited about all that happened today! My heart is so full of praise too because of how blessed we are.

Passing it On

Today Prae came home so excited because she wanted to bake her teacher Snickerdoodle Cookies for school tomorrow. He happened to make some comment about "getting on his good side" if someone would bring him some tomorrow. I had already made Sour Cream Twists and they were just about ready to put into the oven. I asked Prae if she just wanted to take a few of those, but she said she'd rather not. Well, the afternoon soon disappeared as I whipped up a quick supper, got Si to Tae Kwon Do, ate supper, cleaned up after supper, helped Prae with her piano, went on a walk with Eli, and before I knew it it was well after 8! I could see the disappointment in my daughter's eyes. Again I asked,

"Couldn't you just take a few of those twists?"

No, she really would rather take what he requested. Why not? I asked myself. So quick as we could we whipped up one batch of Snickerdoodles and put the rest of the dough in the fridge for tomorrow. She was absolutely beaming. I thank God that I took just those few extra minutes out of my night to make Praetoria's night. It would have been something my mom would have done for me. (Thanks Mom!!) And one day I can see her in her kitchen, with her daughter doing the exact same thing!

Making Empanadas

I had so much fun making this new Mexican/Spanish dish! Here's how I did it:




First I threw a pork roast in the crock pot on low over night. I had some extra enchilada sauce so added that as well.



Let it set and when cooled shred the meat and mix in the juices. Heat oil/butter and cook onion, garlic, and peppers. Add meat mixture to pan and add two cups beef broth.






The recipe called for making a volcano in the flour, adding eggs, butter, and water and just mixing it all up with your hands. It was fun! :-)



I rolled the dough into a long tube and cut off a small portion and rolled it into a circle. Add the meat into the middle and fold over to make a "half moon".



Seal the edges with a fork all the way around. Fold up each side. Eli and I decided to turn it over, but there was some leaking of the juices, so I think next time I will leave it with the folds up, not down.




Then, mix one egg and paint on the top.



Place on grease baking sheet, make a small air-hole, and bake at 375 for 20 min.
You can also make them up and freeze before baking, then take out as needed and bake frozen.
Fun to make and Yummy! Silas ate two! Next on my list is corn tamales...

Well, so far so good. "Missy" as we have renamed her, has been a very good kitty all day long. She hasn't had one accident and is such a sweetie! She hisses at Max but I really think it is because she is blind and it is all a big show. Max has been the BIGGEST gentleman and just looks at her like, "what is your problem!?" He seems to understand that there is something special about her and even lets her eat first!

I just need to add that I am so proud of my kids. They saved up their money all through the summer and pooled it together and bought themselves a Wii. We are having a blast with it! They have done pretty well with the whole taking turns thing and take very good care of it. It will be fun to see what they save up their money for next time -- good life lessons hopefully being learned early.

That's all for tonight...

New Cat

Well, it's been almost a year since I last wrote. NOT a very good blogger, I'm afraid. But I'm willing to try again.
We brought a new cat in the house tonight. Her name is "kitty" and she is from two houses down. She is partially blind and has been "put on the streets" by our neighbors. Not sure why, but since it's pretty chilly out tonight and raining, we thought we'd see if she and Max get along. I'm afraid of what I'll find in the morning. I tried locking her in the bathroom but she wouldn't quit crying. Everyone's asleep so I didn't want her waking everyone up. So far so good as far as Max goes. He follows her around and she will hiss at him if she realizes he's too close and that is that. I just don't want to deal with messes -- especially now that I'm finally getting my house in order. I even have my spices alphabetized! :0) (Owww, how "Kitty" is claiming the couch as her own. We might have to change that name...) I have more work to be done in the washroom and in Prae's room and finally in my room. I feel I need to purge the most there. I've already gotten rid of two FULL black garbage bags full of my clothes and another of the kids' clothes. That felt good! I am paining the bathroom and when done with that will head into the living room. I'm afraid I've been bit by the "home improvment bug" and just can't quit. I'm sure Eli's thinking "It's about time!!" LoL :-)