Pictureless Post

No pictures to match my words this week. You will have to use your imagination.

I hadn't seen Bugg and Bean for a couple of weeks before this past Thursday. My class work is a bit overwhelming this year, so I'd hardly had time to miss them. By Thursday though I was happy to be picking them up.

Bean seems happy in his school situation, which thrills me.

I sensed a bit of disappointment in Bugg. She has always gone to daycare where she is now going to Pre-K. I wonder if it just wasn't the difference she was expecting from regular daycare. She's a bright little cookie and whereas Bean was a year younger than most of his classmates, she's the older one with a September birthday.

It is hard work deciding which Gramerly house things to do when we just have a very few hours, not like the full days of summer.

So we played a memory game, baked an applesauce cake, picked flowers and built our own tacos.

We taste tested all parts of the cake mixing and discovered flour is blah, sugar is dee-wish-us, applesauce yummy, and vanilla paste, though divine in sniffing, lacks something on the tongue.

Bean helped me cut flowers in the garden.

When I was a little girl, I loved picking flowers, but never seemed to be where picking flowers was an acceptable practice. I didn't want to discourage him from cutting all the ones he found perfect, so I ended up with way more cut flowers than needed for Ms. Glitzy shower. So, he took flowers for his teacher and I made additional bouquets for Kaye and Mom.

Then he wanted to cut the corn stalks and build an indian house. Be still my heart! I think there is a side of me I try to keep hidden that keeps peeping at him, wondering when his great imagination will begin to taper, when video games or other such pointless engagement will replace his love for the outdoors, pretend and great books. That peeping Gramerly sighs and smiles and wonders how those corn stalks can make a house.

My Missy Bugg, she still loves games and puzzles and I love how a little memory card game teaches her about Bible characters while she laughs the dearest laugh each time she makes a match.

Time with them is always a healing balm after Kaye visits.

God gifts us so many ways. I was not gifted with being in the presence of suffering. Hats off to kind, caring docs and nurses and to that man of hers who has gone where no one wishes to go.

She will lose at least her big toe. Monday they will roto-root that leg again and then do further tests to determine how far down oxygen has gone, before making a decision about how much to take.

They believed the antibiotics had checked the infection, but then she spiked a temp again Friday. She got a picc line since there wasn't much place left to poke her. She is black and blue.

Now the steroids have her sugar over the moon. Of course antibiotics mean yeast infections, upset stomach etc. So we visited a while yesterday morning, then I returned last evening with supper and a coconut cream tart. Now and again, she looks at me and makes some remark like yesterday, "You are so sweet." For a minute, I feel six again and she's the big 1 7 year old sister. A moment-then I realize that now she's my baby and I'm the big sister and the pain I feel is physical. Not because I don't want to do what I do. I want to, but more I wish, for her sake, there was no need.

So thankful for the joy of gramerlings.

I'm trying out some new to me digital scrapbooking technology. When I review it, I'll have one to give away, so stay tuned if you are interested.