Library Christmas gala

Last night our library held its annual Christmas gala, where they have crafts for the kids as well as Christmas music, drawings for prizes, a Scholastic book fair, and lots of Christmas trees throughout the library to look at and enjoy. We also picked out new books and videos to check out and the kids got to sit and play the computers for a while, which is a treat -- usually when we go to the library, we pick out our stuff and leave!

I tried to take a nice picture of the two kids in front of their favorite tree, but they were tired and uncooperative...so here are the two pictures I have...a slice of real life!

Raining leaves

I forgot that I had taken this video on the day before Thanksgiving. I was making pies and Abigail, who was watching out the window, asked if it was raining -- the oak leaves were dropping so thickly that it looked and sounded like rain -- so the kids went out to enjoy it. What a quintessential autumn scene! Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Share Photos - Free Video Hosting

Today's war wounds

I know this picture doesn't show it very well, but that's okay...I think you get the general idea. I had my skin-testing done today and, 31 under-the-skin injections later, I got the good news that my childhood allergy shot series did the trick -- I am no longer allergic to hornets and wasps.

Grandma, the first row of pricks are dedicated to you. Mom, the next row is yours. Bruce, the third is yours. Aunt Connie, the fourth is yours. The fifth row is for everyone else whom I can not recall at the moment who has nagged me about getting this done!!! =)

Our heavenly Father knows when a sparrow falls...

...and when a little boy's beloved 'blankie' is missing. David's blankie has been missing for over a week now...he has been so sad about it at bedtime, and I have felt terrible...I have searched everywhere, in the usual places and then some. Just last night I had expressed to Bruce that I had exhausted my ideas and had no idea what had happened to the blanket.

This morning I was reminded that the Lord's mercies extend even to these little details. While tidying up and such, I kept hearing a faint beeping from one of those cereal-box video games the kids have. I tried to ignore it but after an hour or so of hearing it every time I walked near the toy closet, I couldn't bear it anymore, so I dug through the closet until I had narrowed the search to David's little pretend-hiking-stuff backpack. When I opened it to get at the video game, what do you suppose I found?! The blankie, of course!

I was humbled as I was reminded of the Lord's care for us, even in the little, "unimportant" (in the scheme of eternity) details of our lives...and as you can see from the picture, David was excited beyond words to have his blankie back. What a great teaching moment...for both of us!

A crazy week ahead

Not that we ever have very quiet weeks, but this week is going to be particularly wild! Today the kids go for their quarterly checkup with Dr. Herrmann (their great ENT, who follows their hearing loss and will eventually do their CIs). Tomorrow I go for skin-testing to re-check my bee-sting allergy. Wednesday is a project & informal alto-practice for our Christmas cantata with some friends. Thursday is another dr's appt for me. This is my usual warning just in case I don't blog...so that none of you either a) worry as to my absence or b) nag just for payback!!! =) Enjoy the last week of November!

Christmas tree 2007

Yesterday, as is our tradition, we went and got our Christmas tree, then stopped at Starbucks and each got a "special drink" (that's what the kids call it, since it's the only time of year we all go there and get our own drink!).

I think this year's tree is tied for the prettiest one we've ever gotten, rivaled only by a perfect Scotch pine we had one year when we lived in Illinois.

Decorating the tree was a little different this time since it was the first year that both kids were really into it. I am used to doing most of it by myself (Bruce's tradition is to take a nap while I do it!), but this year I mostly just sat by the ornament box to reattach ornament hooks and pass the ornaments out to the kids. It was a lot of fun and exciting to see the kids enjoying it so much.

David has asked several times if it's almost Christmas yet -- both of them think that since the tree is here, there's nothing stopping us from celebrating fully! David is my slavedriver this year -- this morning he has already pulled a decorations box over and opened it up for me...he doesn't see why I'm not hard at it yet! He also wants me to get outside and get those lights up...but at 31 degrees, I am NOT going outside until it warms up a little (yes, I admit it, I am a warm-weather southern wimp)!!!

It was heart-warming moment yesterday when we pulled our tree star out of the box...David's face lit up and he exclaimed, "A star, just like when Jesus was born!" It is exciting to see the true meaning of Christmas start to take root in their hearts...

Our Thanksgiving 2007

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving...we had our feast at Bruce's brother's house and it was a day full of family, good food, and much thankfulness for how the Lord has taken care of the extended McKee family, especially throughout the physical difficulties of this year. Below are pictures of the whole clan by families (except for Bruce's oldest sister, who was unable to be there due to out-of-town visitors at her own house). To all of our family who were far away from us -- we missed you, as always, but sent lots of love over the miles!

Dad & Mom McKee (Bruce's parents)

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Chris & Eugenia & kids (Bruce's brother)

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Rick & Karyn & kids (Bruce's sister)

Us

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Here's a video of David & Abigail singing

their Thanksgiving turkey song.

"He's big and fat and he gobble, gobble, gobbles...

He spreads his tail and he gobble, gobble, gobbles...

But when Thanksgiving Day is here

Then it's our turn to gobble, gobble, gobble!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

David's asthma & allergy update

David had his second round of skin testing done at the allergist today. The conclusion is that he has a mild allergy to dustmites and to two kinds of mold, but nothing bad enough to warrant allergy shots etc. However, they did find that his antibody-level to the pneumococcus bacterium is rather low, so that may be contributing to his recurrent sinus infections. They gave him a shot today to try to boost his immunity and then they will re-test him in a month or so to see if his antibody levels have risen. His CT scan (ordered by the ENT) came back clear, which was a relief...they were looking for any kind of obstructions or structural abnomalities, so we are glad everything was clear! As I've said before, David is such a trooper...he got 14 under-the-skin injections of allergens, as well as the pneumonia shot in one arm and a flu shot in the other arm -- all without tears or protest -- what a tough little guy!

As for his asthma, he is now going on Singulair as well as a controller inhaler (once a day). Hopefully this will relieve the attacks and reduce the need for the rescue inhaler. Between illnesses, surgeries, and Bruce's heart-med regimen, we've developed a very friendly, first-name-basis relationship with our pharmacist this year!!!

A note to my mother and grandmother: I made an appointment for this coming Tuesday to get a skin-test to re-check my bee sting allergy...so you can both stop fussing at me now! =)

Dinosaur smile

Last night we were sitting on the couch and Abigail was snuggling with her daddy. In the midst of the snuggle, he smiled at her, at which point she pronounced, "Daddy has dinosaur teeth!" I'm not quite sure what she was referring to, unless it's just that his teeth are bigger than her little teeth, but it sure was good for a laugh!

Out on a date

This past Thursday Bruce and I went on a date. It's not something we do very often, so it's very special when we do go! We got a babysitter (whom the kids loved, by the way...they couldn't wait for us to leave so that they could have her all to themselves!) and we went out to dinner at Village Tavern. After dinner we went to a show by Fully Rendered, a group of artists whose art expresses many different aspects of the Christian life with a wide variety of artistic style and media. Our favorite work of the evening was a picture of Isaiah penning what we now know as Isaiah 53, a very detailed prophecy of the Messiah Who was to come. The gallery handed out iPods, on which visitors listened to the artists talk about various aspects of their particular work. It was a great way to fully enjoy the art. We had a wonderful evening and thoroughly enjoyed the time together...

On the mend, we hope...

Abigail and I are home from church this morning...I think she is finally starting to feel better but, as you can see from the picture, she is still very mellow and just wants to lie quietly on the couch. We took both kids into Urgent Care yesterday morning; Abigail's cold had morphed into an ear infection and sinus infection, so she is on antibiotics and a prescription- strength decongestant now...she slept for thirteen hours straight last night and she sounds like she's on the mend now. David's asthma was getting worse, so he got some oral steroids to use in addition to his inhaler and he is doing much better this morning as well.

At right is a picture of David from earlier this week, "shaving" with Daddy. He was so pleased at how smooth his cheeks were when he was done -- no whisker stubble! =)

Autumn color

As is typically the case, these pictures do not do nature justice...they don't show how intense and vivid the colors are...so you have to use your imagination a little bit. For instance, the big oaks in the foreground are a deep firey, rusty red. This is the only time of year that I miss the sweet gum trees that we cut down -- they turn a beautiful deep purple in fall -- but even that pretty color is not worth the mess they make the rest of the year!

Brrr...

Just out of curiosity, I checked the current temperatures this morning in places around the country where we have friends and family. At 7:00 this morning, I found (according to weather.com), listed from highest to lowest...

Lahaina, Maui, HI 68 degrees

Eureka, CA 59 degrees

Oklahoma City, OK 51 degrees

Puyallup, WA 46 degrees

Des Moines, IA 42 degrees

Naperville, IL 36 degrees

Oswego, NY 36 degrees

Pomona Park, FL 36 degrees

Columbus, OH 36 degrees

Thermopolis, WY 35 degrees

Thurmont, MD 33 degrees

Phoenix, NY 31 degrees

Marysvale, UT 31 degrees

Taylors, SC 30 degrees

Ocala, FL 30 degrees

Middleburg, FL 29 degrees

Pembine, WI 27 degrees

Horseshoe, NC 26 degrees

Canton, GA 26 degrees

Hack, cough, sniffle, sneeze...

...'tis the season already! Abigail has had a nasty cold & cough that she is still battling. Twice now she has seemed to be getting better, then proceeded to get worse again...she sounds terrible. David is fighting another asthma attack...the dr had warned after the first attack that it may be a virally induced thing, and sure enough, the circumstances are the same this time -- Abigail gets a cold virus, David gets an asthma attack. I know that "two points do not a pattern make", but it's certainly something to watch! So that's why I have not blogged, to those of you who have nagged me about it (you know who you are -- how does it feel to be the naggER instead of the naggEE for a change?!). =)

Keep talking, Baby!

Yesterday Abigail had a speech evaluation. When I made the appointment a little over a month ago, I was concerned that she was starting to lag behind...but in the last month, and in the last couple of weeks especially, her speech has taken off and she is conquering the sounds that had been giving her trouble. In fact, even her "l" and "r" sounds are emerging (those are typically ages 4-6+ sounds), and I haven't even started working on those with her yet. Well anyway, she scored just above median for her age and is unlikely to need speech therapy at all. I am thankful for the benefit that she has derived from her big brother's struggle -- namely, parents who have now learned the ropes of hearing loss/speech development and all of the unique knowledge and know-how that help us to best equip her for the related challenges. It has made her path much easier than it otherwise might be. Keep talking, Abigail -- we LOVE to hear you!!!

Abigail, the Bad Chicken

Abigail put this graduation cap on, assumed her "bad" face,

and told me that she was

The Bad Chicken.

What a drama queen...!

The kids and one of their favorite people

It's been a while since I posted a picture of the kids and RaDora, but this week I finally remembered to take the camera to our hearing check...so here's an updated picture!

I meant to post this on Tuesday, but my computer is getting sicker and sicker...it's miserable to work with...I think Bruce is going to have to blow everything away so that we can start with a clean slate (grooooaaaannnnnn).

Hearing update 11/6/07

The kids had hearing checks today; as is typical for our family, there was nothing boring about it! David was pretty stable, but he has an infected ear drum -- no, not an ear infection -- the ear drum itself is infected. It looks nasty but hopefully the antibiotics will clear it up quickly! Abigail had a mostly-across-the-board loss. The loss is relatively minor in terms of decibels, but this is usually how she starts one of her big slides. In addition, her left HA is malfunctioning and so it has been sent off for repair (she is wearing a loaner in the meantime). Simple? What's simple? We don't do simple! :-)

A few excerpts of this past week

<After I dressed Abigail in this outfit, I realized that this is how I remember my mom dressing me much of the time...it has come full-circle! (notice Abigail's mood...she's so hard to read!!!)









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If you know what it is, you probably would have enjoyed it with me. If you don't know what it is, you probably don't want to know. (Note: Any "poor Bambi" comments will be deleted!!!)

David and Abigail playing CT scan. You know your kids have had too many medical issues when they can play doctor for an hour without exhausting their supply of medical procedures to perform!!!

Bubbles, anyone?!

...nowhere on the foot-soak-stuff bottle

did it say not to use it with a jetted foot spa...!

Family time

Yesterday I got a gift that was better than a dozen roses -- Bruce came home from work mid-afternoon just for some extra time together!!! It was wonderful. Today we went to a picnic for Atlanta-area BJU alumni (Bruce's college). The weather today was beautiful, and we enjoyed eating barbecue and s'mores (not at the same time!), visiting with friends old and new, and the kids enjoyed playing with other kids in a couple of those big inflatable things. On the way home, we got a call from Bruce's brother, who had gotten a deer this morning and saved the heart for me. I cooked it this evening, and so the tradition from my growing-up years continues in my own house! It tasted soooooo good, and the kids and I thoroughly enjoyed it (Bruce hid in the living room). We finished out our family time by teaching the kids to play charades and then we played some Go Fish (on a side note, I lost every game). Now the kids are in bed and I am going to get a pedicure by my in-home pedicurist (Bruce)! I think I've gotten spoiled this weekend...