Highlights and Lowlights

Where have I been the last week and a half? I've been here, there, and everywhere and have had no time to blog. You'll understand when I tell you. Because I pay to be blond (and am sometimes blonder than I pay to be), I'll give you this last week or so in some highlights and lowlights.

First, Friday (a week ago). I took some of my birthday money that my in-laws gave me and bought tickets. I bought a ticket to see/hear Beth Moore in September, and I bought tickets for Darren and me to see/hear Robin Mark on Friday. It was great to go and listen to some great music, plus hear Robin talk and pray, which was worth going to church about 10x in a row. He's phenomenal. If you're not familiar with him, just check him out on youtube. A highlight.

Saturday (the 7th) we finally got around to celebrating Lucy's 7th birthday. We did have a little celebration with my mom in June, actually the last day she was home. Then on Lucy's actual day, my mother-in-law came up and I left the hospice for a couple hours, and we all went to a drive-in for lunch after VBS. That was fun, but birthdays are a big deal at our house--not a big party or anything, but you get to pick the meal and the cake and have a couple friends over. Of course both girls always want our best friends, who we really haven't seen much this whole summer. It was so fantastic to all be together again.

Here we are clustered around somebody's iPad for some reason.


Here is the cake Lucy wanted, plus cupcakes. Elaine and I decorated them. Well, let's say I decorated them while Elaine ate the candy and licked the frosting. And I must add my birthday cake disclaimer: I make with love, not skill:


Here's my beautiful seven-year-old girl and her sweet BFF (yes, they call each other that).


Blowing out the candles...


Isabella brought Lucy a giftbag with sunglasses, a Hello Kitty glasses case, lip gloss flavored like sugar cookies, clip-on earrings, and Silly Bands. Perfection. Before everyone came over, Elaine demanded, "Are they bringing me a present, too?" "No," I told her. "Only birthday girls get presents. When it's your birthday, they will bring you a present."

"Well, you know," she told, "I really don't like to be left out."

She handled it all pretty well though. The whole evening was a definite highlight.

Sunday afternoon, Darren and I were taking the sacred Sunday afternoon nap. We both sat straight up from sleep when we heard a piercing scream. Running down to the living room, we saw Lucy holding a paintbrush (the kind you find in a little kid's paintset) and crying, and Elaine holding her ear and screaming.

"I was just trying to give her a makeover, I promise!" Lucy sobbed.

"She poked my ear five times! She poked it thirteen times!" Elaine screamed.

It took quite awhile to calm everyone down, but in about 45 minutes they were both sitting at the kitchen table, making cards and singing "Blessed Be Your Name," while Darren and I were wondering if there's an available room for us at Shady Pines. A lowlight.

Sunday night--dinner out with friends, sans children. A highlight.

Monday morning--Elaine comes in the bathroom and curls up on the floor. "My ear hurts," she whimpered. I lifted her hair, looked, and saw dried blood all over. I looked at her pillow and saw blood on it, too.

Blood coming from the interior of your child's head. A lowlight. An impromptu trip to the pediatrician an hour and a half away. A lowlight. The doctor not being able to see the eardrum due to blood blocking it. A lowlight. Stopping at a gas station and buying everyone completely overpriced snacks and consuming almost an entire bag of Swedish fish on the way home. I guess you could call it the highlight of that day. Stopping by Walgreens and picking up the tiniest vial of eardrops for $35.00. A lowlight. Trying to put eardrops into a 4-year-old's injured ear 3x a day for the next several days. The lowest light you can imagine.

Wednesday. I went to a job interview at a nearby hospital and got the job! I was the only contender, but I got the job! A highlight, especially since the job was completely dropped in my lap. God is better than He has to be.

Thursday. Another trip back to the pediatrician--do you remember that it's an hour and a half away?--and this time he can see that the eardrum is just fine; Elaine just had a small gouge in the ear canal, which is healing nicely. We can call that a highlight at this point.

Friday (as in yesterday). A trip to the splash park with the girls and two of their friends. I have not been great about coordinating playdates this summer, so I really wanted to make it happen for them. It was such a highlight. The park was pretty empty, and they ran around and pretended to be Word Girl and Super Why and I don't know what all. They were covered in sand from the sand box, black stuff from the playground material, and chocolate ice cream, despite running through the sprinklers over and over. Then we came home, and they all played dress up and raided my closet for shoes, clomping all over the house and hiding under the bed when their moms came to pick them up so they wouldn't have to leave. All four of them were great girls the whole afternoon. A highlight.

We had other stuff happen in between, but you're probably not still reading this by now. I took the girls shoe shopping, which should get entire entry of its own. And this week I've got the annual back-to-school haircut post and more. Plus, watch in the coming weeks for a possible big announcement.

Saturday. Finally sitting down with a cup of tea and blogging. A highlight!