Shadow gets a sister and a new home

Shadow has really missed having her brother around to play with over the last 6 months. And although the children love her very much, life is just too stressful for us to think about getting another dog. So we started looking for a new home for Shadow. One that would provide her with the canine family she so needs.
A friend suggested we get help from Second Chance Dog Rescue. They use their facebook page to advertise "private adoptions" and it didn't take long for someone to make contact with us. This family also sadly lost a dog 6 months ago. Their dog Honey now also needing a sibling. So we organized for them to come and have a visit today. Honey and Shadow got along straight away. The couple had fallen in love with Shadow when they saw her photos and it was solidified when they saw her and Honey playing so nicely together.

It was fun to watch them.
I was really impressed with Shadow too. She stood still and allowed Honey to give her a good sniff all over. Honey often goes to a dog park - so she knew exactly what to do. Shadow must have learnt quickly from her. It was really good to see.

Honey is just 1 year old. So they both still have loads of puppy energy and we could already see how much they would enjoy each other.

Hezekiah and Hannah started crying as soon as the decision was made that Shadow would head home with Honey today. Hezekiah came and gave her a hug and said goodbye.

Then the girls wanted a photo with her too.
It was very emotional to say goodbye to her, but we do also know that this will be so much better for her.

Her new owners sent this photo in the evening. These two had spent hours outside playing (and knocking water over in the process). I don't think I have ever had Shadow sit so still for a photo. She will sit nicely when you ask her to - but as soon as you start moving away she will want to come with you. So I could see she had already had a good play and some of that pent up energy had already been used up.
They even sent us a little video clip and we could immediately see how happy Shadow was. She settled in right away.

She is going to be an inside dog now too. Look at her already sleeping on their bed. :-)

Bump, build, blocks, baby and ball

Monday 12th Jan. Asher loved her bath with Ruth this evening. She was actually due to have some milk and I thought she would perhaps join Ruth afterwards. It was not to be though - and for the first time we have found something that trumps "milk". She LOVES water and so there was no way she was not getting to enjoy that bath. And enjoy it she did. Brendon let her sit in the bath without her ring. She had so much fun slipping down and letting the back of her head go into the water.

Tuesday 13th Jan. The kids enjoyed a full day of play with Logan and Brooke. Hezekiah loved having  'big brother' to play with. He did have a rather rough day though. He tripped and got a bad bump and cut on his head. Then later he got a nasty cut on his foot. I eventually managed to get his foot clean and then I put some antiseptic cream on with a plaster. He felt better having a sock over the plaster, and just needed some time to rest and feel better.

Wednesday 14th Jan. Dearest Asher was woken abruptly this morning by a seizure. She sat up looking at me as the shaking just took over. She stayed conscious with this one and I could see in her face that the shaking was scaring her. I am glad I was right there, able to talk to her, comfort and reassure her. Thankfully it only lasted a minute and her breathing was ok. I let her lie with Ruth while I got her morning meds. She didn't have a solid sleep afterwards and was rather grumpy through the morning. She also had a really loose stool during the morning (which often accompanies teething with my kids), and so I checked her mouth and yip - the molar on the other side is coming through. It's almost out though - so hopefully it won't bother her for too much longer. I think it added to her grumpy disposition for the day though.
Logan and Brooke came for a day of play again. After lunch Brooke and Hannah headed off to Noor to play with her grandson who is visiting.
Hezekiah watched a movie while he had his lunch and so that left Ruth and Logan to create their own game. So they made a fort in the hedge. They asked if they could use some stones for the path.
It was fun to see it develop through the afternoon.

It was sweet to see Asher and Hezekiah playing with the lego together. Hezekiah being a great big brother and making stacks for Asher to break up.
He did also get to make a really big tower. He specifically kept all the blue ones for the top. :-)
This week I discovered that Anne of Green Gables is available as an audiobook for FREE. So I got it loaded onto the iPod for Ruth and she enjoyed being a bit like Rachel today - listening to a story while she works in the kitchen. I was so very pleased that the story caught Ruth's attention. Although she is a very proficient reader - she does not enjoy reading. So having an audiobook for her is great.

On Friday I managed to get a photo of Shadow with her doll. While Rachel has been away, Ruth and Hannah take turns letting her off in the morning. They struggle though as she is so excited in the morning and jumps on them. So I found a solution. Shadow does not chase a ball - but she chases the doll. Funny dog. :-) So as soon as they have let her off - they throw her doll for her and she runs back and forth with the excitement - distracting her from jumping.
She is really good with bringing it back too. So fun to be able to play fetch with her now.
Asher is getting so good with these toys. She always stacks the circles first though. I had to smile the one day as she made sure that the red one was on the top of each stack.

We had so much fun in the afternoon teaching Hezekiah some soccer skills. He can kick so well. He just didn't want to use his feet to stop the ball - and kept picking it up and placing it to kick again. At one point he said "I will never use my feet" but it wasn't a few minutes later that he tried again and then started to get it.
Such a cutie.

Saturday 17th. Asher loves the balls too. I had fun watching her this morning. She spent ages with the balls, and kept throwing or kicking them from one side of the room to the other. I loved how they were all lined up. As soon as I got the camera out she came over and said her version of "cheese". :-)
We headed down to the pool in the afternoon and unfortunately, again, Asher only managed a few minutes of swimming before having a seizure. So I sat cuddling her while she napped and the others got to swim.
That brings it up to 7 seizures in the first 17 days of the year. We have gotten a formula for a combination homoeopathic remedy from our friends (who are now in Dubai). They used it with good success for epilepsy in their practice in South Africa years ago, so we have gotten the formula to our homoeopathic pharmacy here in NZ and they are going to make it up as close as they can (12 of the 14 ingredients being the same - although in a different potency). We hope to get that next week and pray that God would graciously allow it to help reduce the frequency of these seizures.
Thankfully she didn't have a very long sleep, so she was not up too late.
Ruth handed out the loom band crosses at church in the evening and she said she could have made many more. The 20 she had went very quickly.
On Saturday morning they headed outside for some soccer (Asher enjoying the sand pit behind them). I just love this one of Hezekiah's face. You can just see how much fun he was having.

Our new neighbour, Anthony, had played with the others a few times in the week. When he saw them outside this morning, he came over to join in the fun.




Below:
Asher joined in too.

The children had a great time playing through the afternoon too. We had to smile when we spotted Hezekiah - on top of the dog kennel. Hannah came in telling us that he was stuck up there. He however, was not at all worried. He was happily making a concoction of something in the watering can.

Hi Michelle, goodbye Zorro

On Sunday after church, Michelle joined us for 2 nights before she and the older 4 children headed up to Auckland on Tuesday morning. The girls have been so excited about her arrival, it's like their holiday started on Sunday afternoon already. :-) Brendon managed to get a bit done in the garden in the afternoon and then I cut most of the grass for him (I am the one that really benefits here as Brendon gives me a break from watching Asher in this time.) The girls started getting some of their packing done and Brendon got Hezekiah's clothes sorted. So Monday's focus was getting the children packed. The had an early start on Tuesday morning, needing to leave by 6:30.

Through this last week I have been tightening Ruth's hair in the evening after the younger 3 go to bed. It has been the best tightening sessions so far. She sat watching something new, with chewing gum to chew, and we got over half an hour done every night. On Monday night we only worked for about 20 minutes, got to the end of our movie and had all her hair done. It was only this last little section (of 17 little braids) that brought wet eyes to Ruth as it was the hair right at the bottom on her neck, and it's a very sensitive area. So I was glad it was only a little to get it all finished.

Noortje popped in on Monday morning to say goodbye to the children and Zorro gave her quite a scare as he tried to nip her. So it ended up being a very emotional day for me as the decision was made to have him put down. I was exhausted by the end of the day from all the crying that I had done (and tried to hide) through the day. Brendon took Zorro and Shadow up to the Spencer's in the afternoon with Rachel and Ruth as originally planned and so Brendon got to tell the older girls. They knew that this decision may have to be made, so were a little prepared. I was so thankful for how it all worked out. It was horrible to go through but there is much to be thankful for. I am thankful that the girls could get some time to cry after dropping the dogs off. I think it would have been so hard for me to see their pain. I think this was why I struggled so much with it all, knowing how much the children would miss him and how hard this would be for them.
I am thankful that I had spoken to Kerry earlier in the day and she had said that if Brendon made the decision today still, then Malcolm could sort it out for us while we are away. This takes away so much of the trauma of it. As well as the fact that we will all have these two weeks away now to help heal that hurt. I am thankful that Michelle was with me on Monday and could just hold me as I cried. She was also able to help with the children as issues came up as I was really feeling very drained from it all. I am also thankful that Shadow will not be totally alone as she pines for Zorro as there is another dog close to her.

I am also (selfishly) thankful that I will not have to hear her pinning. I think that would just bring so many more tears to me. I have been crying just writing about this all, 4 days after it all happened. I think the person who will miss Zorro the most is Asher. She spent time every day throwing the ball for Zorro. Even on Monday evening she asked for his ball to go play. The ball then got packed out of sight, and I am glad the time away will also break that daily routine for her.

I will always remember how wonderful he was with her specifically. Right from when he was a puppy he had a soft spot for Asher and would often come and lie next to her if she was playing outside. When we threw the ball for him, he would bring it to her specifically, even though he knew he would not get a long run with her throw. He would often alternate between her and I so that he could get the long run, but then also give her the turn to throw as well.

He will be missed.

Band, box and ball

Sunday 20th July - Brendon and Hezekiah went to the Play Centre again for their outing. He looks forward to this so much.

We have been putting in a lot of effort to get the dogs out for walks regularly.
We were blessed with a gift of this lovely pram - it makes it so much easier for Ruth and Hannah to help with the pushing and much more comfortable for Brendon and I too). Thanks again Joyce.

Ruth has been enjoying her loom band birthday present. She had been taught by Brooke how to make things on her fingers and even though she had the tool now, she wasn't that excited about using it until I showed her that there are loads of You Tube videos showing how to do it.
Doesn't that look great.
I will leave all of Asher's medical details through this time and put those in their own post.
Wednesday 23rd. It is so special to see these two playing together. And that book to the right is one of Asher's favourite. It's so well read that even Hezekiah will "read" it to her as he knows all the words too.

Friday 25th. Asher has been learning to kiss. It was so sweet to see her puckering up her lips. She did it over and over again and thought it was all so much fun. As soon as I got the camera out though - she wouldn't do it again and Brendon only got big open mouths.

Saturday 26th. Asher has been loving throwing a ball for Zorro. Such a pity there was that piece of wood on the ground - the ball happened to be flying directly in line with that when I took the photo.

Instead of heading out Hannah and I spent some time in her room playing with her Barbies.

Then Hezekiah joined me outside with filling the wood box. It takes a bit longer having him "help" - especially when he wants to help push the wheelbarrow. But it is so special to have this wonderful willingness to lend a hand. Today he got to see how I pack the wood box. So he had to put all the pieces in nice and straight. I'm the only one in the family who takes the extra time to do it this way. I managed to get 5 loads packed in there (I think the others normally only manage 3).
Yes, I have my OCD type behaviour well under control :-) but it's fun to be able to do things like this when I can.

The girls love having candles for dinner. And we must make use of the darker dinner times while they last. Thankfully it won't be long before we have nice long days again. And then eventually they will be going to bed while it's light.
I also forgot to mention (as we don't have a photo) that we got a cattle beast done last week. It was such a blessing to have the freezer stocked up with beef again - and at such a brilliant price per kg.

Monday 28th. I spent so much time with Asher outside today. 3 separate sessions. At least with the lunch time session we could go out without jackets - but when she wanted to go out again this afternoon, after her nap, it was so cold with the shade on the deck. The ball sure kept Zorro and Asher busy for a long time today.
Below a lovely video showing how much fun she has (and how well she throws).

Ice, eggs and an excellent visit

Friday 4th July. Hezekiah headed out to find ice to break.
The girls quickly joined him and found some solid ice here that they could not even break.

Hezekiah has been spending hours outside with the dogs. Just give this boy his dogs, his bike and a "special" stick and he is happy. Don't even worry about a jersey on a cold day - he just does not seem to feel the cold at all.

Ruth is thrilled that we have continued to get good amounts of fresh eggs from a neighbour (her chooks have not been bothered with the cold weather and we benefit). She is getting really good at frying eggs for lunch. :-)

Saturday 5th July. Brendon went out with Hannah today. They spent some time at the squash courts and then at the Play centre (where this photo was taken). Isn't it a lovely one.

And I got some time with Ruth today too. We didn't go out - but got some special time together at home. Ruth has often said she wants to learn to scrapbook - so I thought it would be nice to use our time for that today. She was thrilled. She quickly picked up how to use my program and she designed this prayer card. Well done Ruth.

Tuesday 8th July. Hezekiah and Shadow can often be found on this castle. I have given up trying to keep them off the poor plant as it brings them so much joy (and the plant seems to be surviving).
It has a slide attached too. :-)

Often there is a bit of an argument about who is going to sit on Dad's lap during prayer time. So Hannah suggested I have a turn. :-) She had such a laugh.

Brendon then got her laughing even more by pulling this face while giving me a kiss.
Hannah has been rather funny about kisses and for a long time she would close her eyes if she ever saw people "kissing on the mouth". Even in a fairytale. She is getting more used to it now but still giggles quite a bit. :-)

Wednesday 9th July. It was lovely to have Paulette and 3 of her children come for a visit today. The kids had a great time but more importantly for me - I had a great time catching up with Paulette and chatting about some of life's challenges. It was great to especially chat to a mother who is now onto her 5th teenager already. It was good to know many of our challenges are not unique. :-)

Kids having some fun after lunch. The two youngest - the boys (excluding Asher in this) got a lot of tickling by the looks of it.

I got to have a look at the curriculum Paulette has been using recently and she got to have a look at Rachel and Ruth's curriculum. So it was a blessing of a visit in so many ways.
The Lord knew I need this visit today - so thank you Paulette for the spiritual encouragement you were to me too.