"Pupdate"

I really love this pic of Biggest Brother and Libbs waiting for Grandpa to arrive last night. So I thought it would be a good time for a quick update on her condition:

We still don't know what caused her to be so sick. But right now she is on an antibiotic for Lyme Disease, and a pain med to keep her comfortable until we see if she responds (diagnosis by response to treatment essentially).

I'm not sure which one of the two is working, but at the moment she is doing a hundred times better! Hopefully she will stay that way once her meds are finished.

It's so nice to see her back to her old self again!

*

(It's a double post kind of day! Continue reading below for the original post from today.)

Love Afterall

This just broke my heart...

Grandpa G came to pick up Biggest Brother last night for their annual vacation. A lot is expected of Biggest Brother in the "every day" here on the home front. But being the oldest does have its perks. One of them being that each summer BBrother and Grandpa take a trip together somewhere. This year they will be joining his cousins to go camping/boating in the Ozarks.

The kids waited anxiously for Grandpa to arrive. And I wondered how the little ones were going to handle having Grandpa show up for just a minute to pick up Biggest Brother and none of them.

I have to say, they did me proud! They greeted Grandpa with smiles and hugs. And not one of them complained that they weren't getting to go too!! In fact, the only tears we had came from Younger Brother, and for a much different reason...

Younger Brother, who normally makes it his daily mission to fight with Biggest Brother as much as possible, was a mess. He ran to the car to give BBrother a last minute hug. And as they drove away, he sat down on the front porch steps and cried and cried...and not because he didn't get to go, but because he didn't want Biggest Brother to leave!

Poor guy! :(

Of course I gave him lots of love.

But as a mother, it also does my heart good to see how much they really do love each other...

and to see how selfless they all were about the whole situation.

God has given them some quite amazing little hearts!

Cosmetherapy

How does a big brother make it up to his little sister when he bumps into her and knocks her face first down the driveway?

Bingo!

Thanks Biggest Brother, she feels much better now!

An M Family Outing

As I mentioned in my "Scenes From An Evening Feeding" post, things have been even a bit crazier than usual around here recently. And even on a normal week, J and I work opposite schedules. So it's always fun when we are able to steal away and do something, all 7 of us together.

The kids (and Daddy) love to go to the skate park!

I'm pretty sure I didn't handle my bike this well at age 5

Or 9

Or even now.

Those ramps are a lot steeper on a bike looking down than they seem!

Uh oh, man down!

The gentlemen take a minute to commiserate.

You can tell this fall has really affected him. :)

Even the girls like going to the skate park.

Big Sis rides her bike for a little while...even on the ramps!

And then they mostly just play.

Hey Daddy, read number 1!

Basically, I have two jobs when the boys are doing their BMX thing:

1. Take pictures

2. Shout things like, "Put your helmet on!" and "Remember, if you break an arm, you won't be able to swim for 6 weeks!"

Courage mounts quickly.

Biggest Brother has no shortage of confidence.

And whatever Younger Brother lacks, he just makes up in recklessness.

I love the look on his face in this one!

(click on the picture if you want a closer look)

mini air

micro mini air

But I'm sure it won't be long before they can follow in Daddy's bike tracks.

Princess A is totally impressed...

or teething...

it's kind of the same expression.

When the boys were all biked out, or perhaps more the girls than the boys...

we walked over to the park to let them swing for a few minutes before lunch.

Princess A loves to swing!

But who could stay awake after a fun morning like that?!

My New Tattoo

Big Sis got tattoo pens for her birthday, and they have become quite the hot commodity around here! In fact, in a t-shirt and shorts today, she only had one forearm of exposed skin that wasn't completely covered in ink. So while I was sitting down sorting through some pictures this afternoon, she decided that I needed one too.

It's a picture of me, apparently!

She was going to give me really really long hair, but I requested that my tattoo not travel all the way up my leg.

Nice job Big Sis!

It's like looking into the water at my own reflection.

:)

Scenes From An Evening Feeding

There has been quite a lot going on on the homefront this past week. Libbs has been in to the vet 4 separate times (we're just waiting to see how she responds to her meds at the moment), I am on full farm duty morning and night, Grandma M had a knee replacement on Tuesday, and Grandpa M (who has been caring for her) is now in the hospital with results pending on a possible staph infection. Thankfully, J is very Mr. Mom...so he kept all 5 kids (including a nursing Princess A) so I could go stay overnight with Grandma M. And boy howdy, that's probably the longest night's sleep I've had in a long time! :) Here are a few pictures I took last night before heading that way. Life is always peaceful at the farm.

hungry

nosey

reckless

still nosey

goodnight scarlet

goodnight joey

"L"

Otherwise known as, "Princess A."

Raw Talent

Princess A has a brand new trick!

Watch, and be amazed!

:)

Bravo! Bravo!

Bravo, Princess A!!!