The Past Four Months, continued

Updating my blog has been very cathartic for me. This has been a very unusual summer. Thinking back over the last few months, it felt as though I never left the house except for doctor’s appointments. It was fun to go through the photos, post them and relive the fun we have had together. I am so blessed to have this great family. Cocooning at home with my family was the best choice I could have made this summer.

The photos aren't in any particular order. The following two posts cover events from April to August.

My sister Barb was washing our parent's porch furniture. Nigel couldn't resist helping.










I hate shopping. I used to shop for a living when I was a photographic stylist in NYC. Whenever I have to shop I still feel like I am working. We ran into Old Navy to get shoes for Nigel. He is growing so fast! Mikaela said, "mom, take my picture." So I did. Thanks for making shopping fun, Mikaela.




My dad's 80th birthday August 5th
Happy Birthday daddy. We love you.


My sister Kris and her daughter, Kaitlyn


Cousin Dylan and Mikaela


my mom and Mikaela


Nigel getting some Aunt Barbara love



Motherhood 101: don't let your children put plastic bags over their heads. I took it right off after I took the picture, I swear.


Let me in!


Nigel hides under the pole bean tepee


Mikaela teaches Nigel to ride.



Nigel loves to ride and eat


Such good friends



Park Time




Ribbit!






Michael instructs Mikaela about the physics of siphoning as he attempts to empty the pool. In the process he learns that life would be easier with a smaller hose.




Our Fruit Fest
When my sister Kris heard I was sick she sent fruit flowers. Yum. We all felt better after that.





Father's Day when the damn husband gets to be king (for the day)


My pop. He has always been the king in my life. Never could I have wished for a better father. I miss his funny sense of humor, I miss our chats, I miss our political disagreements. I miss everything about him. Alzheimers is a cruel disease.



June Balloon Fest








Mikaela tried hula hooping with her necklace


Prize Duck




Happy Siblings


Anyone who knows Mikaela knows she is horse crazy. Loves, loves her horses!! She has taught Nigel well. He makes an excellent owner and he also knows how to whinny and canter. Quite funny to see. Who knew I would be raising equines more than I would be raising children. Thanks to Aunt Kris, Mikaela was able to spend a week at horse camp. What a blast! Her friend Maya was also at camp which made it even better.











Swimming in the backyard


Mikaela works on making clay out of ashes.




Gotta love a guy that can sweat a heart




One cool dude







He loves phones!


Always on the move, my beautiful, happy boy

The Past Four Months

Four months have gone by since I have posted. What has happened in that time? Even with the medical maize I found myself in and canceling most plans for the summer, still, a lot of fun things happened.

We released our Isabella moth. Mikaela made a little comfort spot to ease its adjustment back into the world. We watched it for almost an hour waiting for it to fly off. Mikaela talked to it and offered words of encouragement. We watched and waited. When we turned our backs, it flew away.





Nigel celebrated his first birthday on April 9th.


Mikaela and Nigel, wild explorers of the garden.





Loving our backyard swing!




Harry, the mouse in our rodent relocation program had his own relocation plans. We enjoyed his company during the late winter. I could make a clicking sound and he would pop up from under his nest and wait for me to feed him. One morning I walked by his cage very early in the morning (I have many sleepless nights) to see him sitting in front of his cage instead of inside his cage. I stood very still and watched his antics. He ran around his cage several times and scratched his head against the plastic edge of it. He then climbed up the glass I kept next to his cage to refill his water. He splayed his legs out across the rim and splashed each foot in the water and slid back down the glass. He climbed up again and slid back down. He had created his own playground. After spending time with Harry it will be hard for me to deny that rodents have personalities, wants and desires and play. (Watching Ratatouille has also perhaps influences me recently) Mice have very poor eyesight but he must have know I was there or sensed something because he would run back and forth along the edge of the shelf and then lean out over the edge so far with his nose twitching and his front feet pawing the air, that I thought he was going to jump onto me. I then discovered that Harry had created a second home nearby in my Tibetan singing bowl. It was filled with fluff from tissues and one of Mikaela’s socks. I opened the door to his cage, put food inside and he hopped right in. I removed the singing bowl and never saw Harry out of his cage again. It was curious. Had we left the door open once? Could he really come and go whenever he wanted through some mysterious opening? It is pretty unbelievable, if that were true, that he actually chose to live in and around the cage I put him in instead of taking off to wherever he used to live. When it came time to release Harry back into the wild I choose Ridley Creek State Park. Michael refused to get out of the car saying this was highly illegal. Michael, it is only a mouse! Carrying Harry’s cage, Mikaela and I went into the woods near a picnic area (food for Harry). Here comes a car, Michael yelled. I suddenly felt I was on a secret SWAT mission and should have worn camouflage. Mikaela and I created a little spot near a hollow log, left a pile of his favorite food (sunflower seeds) and some of his bedding. When we opened the cage and uncovered his little bed, we discovered he was NOT THERE. We drove all the way to Ridley Creek with an empty cage. Damn mouse! He was snuggled in his bed a half hour before we left. He was either still in the house or… in Michael’s car. Although I left food in the spot where Harry’s cage had been in our house, it was never eaten and he was never seen again. If we catch another mouse in our Have-a-Heart trap it goes straight to Chester with Michael. I can’t believe how much time I have spent writing about a rodent!

Chester County Hospital Fair





I love people watching





Lots of time for reading.




It has been ten months since we received the referral for Yaebsira. Eight months since I held her in Addis and promised her I would be back soon to pick her up. We continue waiting and hoping, sometimes feeling like dreamers, sometimes feeling like crusaders.

This update only covers May. Sometimes it is amazing all that happens when you feel as though nothing is going on.