Here He Is Again

I promise I won't keep doing this but wanted you to see him with what little hair he has and without the purple face. He's shaping up nicely.

(The baby, not the cat. Photos reversed somehow and I'm not about to try to fix them.)

Elcie had a good day today. She blew up once at her sisters but that's normal. She's been cheerful and even laughed when I told her the story of the Pied Piper. Don't know how she missed that one.

Rebecca and I made it to church about 20 minutes late but in time to hear Pastor Charlotte talk about da Vinci (book and movie). Bottom line - if you like mysteries and code, you'll like the movie. Just don't take it as gospel. I learned a lot about Constantine and Nicea I hadn't heard before.

Rebecca helped me prepare dinner. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and succotash. She did every bit of the meatloaf (simple version) and learned what succotash is. She thought she'd eat around the baby limas but I think she ate a few.

Sh'e going to be a cook. She's neat and precise, remembers what I've told her from the last time, and cleans up as she goes along. That's my girl. She decided to clean the silverware drawer once she'd finished. Looks good although Ray won't be able to find a thing for days.

I have a couple of bookcases she can tackle when she gets bored.

Other than that, they all went for a walk in the rain to the school and back. Elcie held an umbrella over her chair so she wouldn't melt. They all learned that bumbershoot is another name for umbrella and on the way back from church I taught Rebecca the Russian words for yes and no. She made a song out of them. They may be the only Russian words I know. Except for Pravda which is truth, I think. It's been vocabulary day here although I'm not sure how much those words are used in everyday conversation. Rebecca likes nyet. She would.

It's been a good day. Rochelle's been a little draggy but I think she's okay. She hit her knee on the bike frame and it's still sore. I've said before she's the athlete and the one with the most bumps and bruises. The picture at the top is Rochelle with Fidget and Fidget with a stuffy (also a small stuffed tiger) on my bed which is at its worst in the late evening. I shovel it off to have a place to sleep. For those of you who haven't heard before, our bedroom is also our sitting room and the storage area for the girls' clothing. There is no way to keep it pristine.

The girls have the living/dining room as their area and Elcie has her own postage stamp bedroom with a t.v. and the other computer (parental locked). The little girls share the large back bedroom with their Grandma Carol. It's huge. Odd but it works for us.

Thanks to all of you for the good wishes and advice about Elcie. Several of you suggested Big Sisters or something like it. It doesn't exist here (or I don't think it does but I'll check). Something like that might help. All her classmates like her but she's not in her neighborhood school so at the end of the day they go their separate ways. She really is isolated except for the sisters. She needs a girlfriend. Most girls do. Project for summer - matchmaking. It's not quite that simple but I think having a friend that she can hang with will help. She's agreed to be a helper at Vacation Bible School this year and I hope she'll get back to singing again.

She's always been so brave and until this past year has seemed happy. She's still brave but I want my happy Elcie back.

Ray's still doing well and now it's Carol's turn. Her tooth abscessed suddenly and I took her to the e.r. this afternoon. They gave her antibiotics and she'll have a prescription tomorrow. She's already feeling better and managed to eat. We can't mess around with any infection because of the chemo and her compromised immune system.

Can anyone explain why I never see typos until they're green on purple? I'm typing this in "edit" and will probably be back at least one more time. Spell check doesn't help. My typos are usually actual words - just the wrong ones.

I'm still going to backtrack on visitors - I promise.

Note to Mollie - Giants 6 Oakland 0 Cain pitched a one hitter.

Long day, early bedtime - maybe.

Take care, everyone.