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*Disclaimer* It's Yucky
Sunday afternoon we all piled in the van and as Mike started it there was this big thud. He turned it off as quick as he could and we looked at each other. It was NOT a good sound. He got out and started looking under the hood and under the van. He kept looking, and looking at me, but he didn't say anything. I finally got out and saw something dripping under the van. I thought it was coolant. But in a moment I realized it was blood splashing onto the pavement. The blades of the engine fan were lying broken next to the pool. We couldn't see anything under the hood, but we could hear raspy, labored breathing through the grill. A quick look around revealed two kitties, Janey Cat and Darcy. No Bingley. UGHI was totally beside myself. I didn't know what to do. Soon Darcy was sitting under the van yowling. Not long after, Jane joined him. It was...awful. We were certain there was nothing we could do, he had been sucked about a foot back and couldn't be seen. We knew he was dying, kids were crying, I was crying, we couldn't just sit there so we piled into the other cars and left.At dinner Eli reassured us all that it wasn't Bingley. He says he saw Bingley with Darcy. "No, Eli. That was Jane, we couldn't find Bingley. Bingley is his cat and as that sunk in his eyes welled with tears. Then he shook it off and declared that he was sure he was around somewhere. We were gone a few hours and when we got home it was dark and Mike decided to handle "the matter" then while everyone was safely inside.About 20 min later, I hear a frantic "Michele!" Ohhh, "he's not dead" I thought. And I rushed outside to find a bloody and battered little kitten in a plastic tub. He looked a mess, but he was clearly alive. And we had left him there for hours. I was just sick. We quickly decided we had to take him to the emergency vet in Bakersfield to have him euthanized. So all the kids were ushered out for final goodbyes and we left.They immediately take Bingley back and we settle in for the wait. After waiting an eternity to be called back into the little room we are ushered in for the vet. And she cheerfully tells us that he's the best looking engine cat she's ever seen and she thinks he'll be just fine. And it's not even going to be expensive, only about $600 We just couldn't say, oh no we just came for the shot! So we signed on the dotted line and I scaled back my home improvement wish list :)
One testical had been ripped out, so the neutering was completed. He had quite a bit of head trauma, but all he really needed was time, rest, and pain meds. He is feeling quite chipper now, and he even looks mostly normal :)
And that is that story of Bingleys very bad day, and ours too for that matter :)
You get smacked in the face with a 2x4 that has a big ole rusty nail sticking out of it :(
On Saturday Mike took the kids to Whitney Portals for a fun day of fishing and hiking, and Annaleise and I got to spend a quiet day together. Because my husband is just that cool. It was lovely.
We spent a little time at a park taking a few pictures when I wasn't trying to keep other peoples kids from jumping on her, over her, and around her, and taking her attention off of me :)
She was a little tired and not entirely in to the picture thing, she mostly wanted to suck her thumb, eat her blanket, and watch the other kids. But I got a few shots that made it all worthwhile.
Here are two of them.
Which one do you like better?
I played with the color a little on the second shot, the first one is SOOC (straight out of the camera). I don't know much about doctoring my pictures. I think I actually prefer the un-touched one. I'd really like to learn how to make the eyes pop a little more. So much to learn, so little time :)
I also forgot to button the back of her outfit, so it is a little floppy at the neck. It's really apparent in some of them.
Seriously though, don't you just want to eat her up!?
There are so many reasons to object to Obama's upcoming speech to schoolchildren, and many people in the blogsphere are talking about it. This is the best article I have read, and at the Common Room she has some great ideas for our own kids :)
Michelle Duggar is pregnant again. This will make an amazing 19 children! They are certainly not your average family, and I am sure that when she and Jim Bob married they had no idea what God had in store for them. I'm certain that if you had asked either of them if they thought they could "handle" 19 children they would have thought you were mad. But God doesn't give you the grace to walk through something until you are walking through it. It's a day by day, moment by moment kind of thing. I surely never thought I would have 9.What I thought was really interesting is the article I linked to. I've talked to so many people anxious to "do something for God." They want to delay marriage and child-bearing in order to do "Gods work". Or they limit their children in order to be better able to minister. I've talked to women with several children who wonder what their calling is... But Alex Leo gets it. He seems to be writing from a secular perspective, but he sees the power in what the Duggars are doing. Can we really say Michelle hasn't done anything but have babies??
It's so easy to forget. It's so easy to think that because we are at home, wiping noses, rocking babies, making meals, and doing laundry, that we aren't involved in ministry. That we aren't doing anything to advance the kingdom of God. But in wiping noses, rocking babies, making meals, and doing laundry, we are worshiping our God. As we lay down our lives we take up the cross. And what we're really doing with those children entrusted to us is discipling them. As we live our lives in faith, we teach them to do the same. They are arrows to be sent out as weapons for Christ! If all we do is welcome all of the children the Lord has for us, whether it be one or twenty-one, raise them in faith, and send them out, and if all they do is the same, in just a couple of generations we will once more live in a christian nation! Raising children in the fear of the Lord is powerful. It is humbling and awe-inspiring. It is hard, and nothing will have you on your knees more often. It's encouraging I think, that the Duggar's oldest son was eager to have children upon marrying. Being the oldest in a home with so many children would mean a lot of responsiblity would fall on him. He has spent his life helping to care for children, and yet he is eager to care for his own. This is a family that has passed on their vision. And their faith. That is my prayer.
