Caleb is our oldest grandchild and as such he received an inordinate amount of attention when he was a toddler. He was able to enjoy the attention of two full sets of grandparents, five great grandparents, two aunts, some great aunts, and quite a few other assorted kinfolk. You would expect the first grandchild might be spoiled somewhat, but amazingly he is just the opposite. He is a gem of a kid. He is almost ready to get his driver’s license. It is hard to believe that he has already reached this age; time really does fly when you’re having fun.
Caleb hung out with me and my Dad a lot when he was growing up. Dad would pick him up at kindergarten after school. Caleb was a little shy, but talked incessantly to me and Dad. Here are some samples of some of the words of wisdom from Caleb:
He was about four and had spent the afternoon with his Aunt Bethany at the swimming pool. He was standing in front of me dripping wet and all pruny and I noticed him cock his head with a puzzled look. “Hey”, he said, “one of my ears is not listening!”
He was at church with us and we were trying to talk him into going to Children’s Church instead of sitting in the auditorium with us. We gave several enticing reasons for him to go, and figured he should be convinced. “OK”, I said, “do you want to go to Children’s Church now?” “No”, he replied emphatically. “Why not” Becky asked? “Because I don’t like children” he replied.
One day he followed me up the ladder into our attic. I smelled a dead mouse and commented on it to Caleb. He said, “I smell THREE dead mouses”! “Where” I said, “do you see them”? He shook his head no. “How do you know there’s three dead mice if you can’t see them”? He just gave me that silly grin. “Are you telling me that you can tell by smelling, that there is more than one dead mouse”? He shook his head yes, and kept grinning. I eventually found one dead mouse, but never did find the other two.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Ronnie is so Sweet
Ronnie has been taking care of our posts lately...I have been very busy and fighting a cold. Anyway on Valentines Day Ronnie gave me these roses. He is so sweet. He brought white roses for each of our family members and a yellow one for our "little China girl" I cannot wait until she is our "Little Yellow Rose of TEXAS"
Adoption Update
We have finalized and submitted all of our paperwork for the new I171H, which is a form that we have to submit to the American Consulate in Guangzhou China in order to be issued a Visa to bring our new daughter into the United States. We first filed for this in August of 2005, not even thinking that it would expire before we were matched with our little girl. This form is necessary to submit your dossier to the China Center of Adoption Affairs and is valid for 18 months. Ours will expire next month. When we first submitted our paperwork to China the wait was about 6 to 8 months to be united with your child. As of March 9, 2007 we have been waiting 15 months.
God is faithful and has helped us through this extended wait time. It has been very difficult. I believe the uncertainty was the hardest. Each month when the matches are sent to the agencies we get a little bit closer. One good thing about adopting from China is that they have a very organized program and when they get to our Log In Date (December 9, 2005) they will match us up with a little girl. I believe that she is already chosen for us by our Heavenly Father. To all our friends and family who have prayed for us and for her during the past couple of years we want to say "Thank You" and please continue to pray. We still have a long way to go (literally) and hope you will continue to pray.
Becky
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Quotes for the Week
Will Rogers: Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save
I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do today. Will Rogers
An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out. Will Rogers
I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do today. Will Rogers
An ignorant person is one who doesn't know what you have just found out. Will Rogers
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentines Day
Happy Valentines Day to all of the kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, and other loved ones on Wolfhill!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Smooth Rolling
On Thursday night I had to go to Walmart after I had fed the cows and horses and I was a little bit tired, and not feeling real well. Something unexpected happened that really lifted my spirits. When I picked out a shopping cart and finally pried it loose from the others I was surprised at how smoothly it rolled. It just glided out of the cart area as I turned toward the Pharmacy area. I couldn’t help the big grin plastered across my face as I pushed it effortlessly down the aisle.
It felt so good that I turned by the toys and took it for a test drive. It was like driving a new car off the lot, after you have been driving your ten year old, two hundred thousand mile bucket of bolts. You see, I didn’t know that they actually made shopping carts that would roll like this. I wondered if I could buy the cart and store it somewhere in the store like a golf cart in a cart shed. I put the cart through its paces, with some sharp right and left turns. It accelerated easily and had plenty of power. Wait a minute, I was getting carried away there.
I know that you think I’m crazy to get so excited about a shopping cart, but if you had to use one every day at our Walmart you would understand. I wonder if maybe there is a big sister Walmart somewhere that gives her worn out shopping carts to our little sister Walmart. I consider myself lucky if I wind up with a cart that all of the wheels roll. It is to be expected that the cart will vibrate like a rototiller and intermittently veer to one side or the other, while emitting various shrieks and squeals. I have found that if both rear wheels or both front wheels are locked up the cart is still usable. Just tilt it to where only the rolling wheels touch the floor. It is best if it is the rear wheels that roll, since it is easier to tilt the cart backward than lift it forward. It could be a problem if the cart was very full, but if you are only shopping for one or two day’s groceries it’s OK. If one rear wheel and one front wheel are locked up it’s best to try another cart, unless they happen to both be on the same side and you are strong enough to push the cart around tilted sideways like a stunt driver.
You may be wondering why I go shopping nearly every day. I wonder that too. I remember when Becky, the girls and I would go shopping on payday, and buy enough groceries to last a week. Nowadays Becky is working out of the home and I try to help out. I think that when a man shops he reverts to the primitive, hunter-gatherer mentality in his genetic code. When I see enough in the cart to feed us for more than a day, my brain just shuts down. I can’t think of anything more to buy, or anything more important to do, than to just get it back to the cave….er home. So I buy just enough groceries to keep Becky from having to, and so few that I’m caught in a recurring cycle.
Well anyway, it was nice to push a fully functioning shopping cart for once. I loaded it down with thirty dollars worth of groceries, and it felt so good that I pushed it all the way out to the truck, even though it was only two sacks.
It felt so good that I turned by the toys and took it for a test drive. It was like driving a new car off the lot, after you have been driving your ten year old, two hundred thousand mile bucket of bolts. You see, I didn’t know that they actually made shopping carts that would roll like this. I wondered if I could buy the cart and store it somewhere in the store like a golf cart in a cart shed. I put the cart through its paces, with some sharp right and left turns. It accelerated easily and had plenty of power. Wait a minute, I was getting carried away there.
I know that you think I’m crazy to get so excited about a shopping cart, but if you had to use one every day at our Walmart you would understand. I wonder if maybe there is a big sister Walmart somewhere that gives her worn out shopping carts to our little sister Walmart. I consider myself lucky if I wind up with a cart that all of the wheels roll. It is to be expected that the cart will vibrate like a rototiller and intermittently veer to one side or the other, while emitting various shrieks and squeals. I have found that if both rear wheels or both front wheels are locked up the cart is still usable. Just tilt it to where only the rolling wheels touch the floor. It is best if it is the rear wheels that roll, since it is easier to tilt the cart backward than lift it forward. It could be a problem if the cart was very full, but if you are only shopping for one or two day’s groceries it’s OK. If one rear wheel and one front wheel are locked up it’s best to try another cart, unless they happen to both be on the same side and you are strong enough to push the cart around tilted sideways like a stunt driver.
You may be wondering why I go shopping nearly every day. I wonder that too. I remember when Becky, the girls and I would go shopping on payday, and buy enough groceries to last a week. Nowadays Becky is working out of the home and I try to help out. I think that when a man shops he reverts to the primitive, hunter-gatherer mentality in his genetic code. When I see enough in the cart to feed us for more than a day, my brain just shuts down. I can’t think of anything more to buy, or anything more important to do, than to just get it back to the cave….er home. So I buy just enough groceries to keep Becky from having to, and so few that I’m caught in a recurring cycle.
Well anyway, it was nice to push a fully functioning shopping cart for once. I loaded it down with thirty dollars worth of groceries, and it felt so good that I pushed it all the way out to the truck, even though it was only two sacks.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Quotes for the Week
The lives of happy people are dense with their own doings - crowded, active, thick. But the sorrowing are nomads, on a plain with few landmarks and no boundaries; sorrow's horizons are vague and its demands are few. Larry McMurtry
Albert Schweitzer: I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
Allan K. Chalmers: The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2:3,4
Albert Schweitzer: I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
Allan K. Chalmers: The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2:3,4
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Vast Stink Shoe Conspiracy
I think I have stumbled upon the way that foreign governments plan to bring about America’s demise. If you have purchased a pair of shoes for your child or grandchild recently you must have noticed that they were not made in the USA. China, Pakistan, Mexico, Taiwan, anywhere but the good old US of A. And if you read what they are made of, you will find maybe a little leather, but mostly manmade materials. Whatever those manmade materials are, they have a distinct ability to begin to emit a very foul odor after they are worn two or three times.
I bought a pair of Dockers shoes a few years ago. When I tried them on they just had that nice new smell. The tag inside read, Made in China, leather uppers, balance: manmade material. I wore the shoes almost for a whole day and when I took them off that night, the smell had changed. It was almost a stink. I thought to myself that maybe these shoes made my feet sweat a little bit. The next Sunday I wore them to church. When I got home, I sat in the recliner to read the paper and leaned back with my feet up. What is that smell, I thought? Surely not, I pulled one foot up toward me and sniffed. Gag. I took both shoes off quickly and put them in the closet. They are still there, the smell has gone into hibernation, but I know the shoes are just waiting for some warm feet to slip into them and once again foul odors will begin to waft.
A while ago one of my daughters, Misty, was at our house and for some reason someone mentioned stinky feet. She said that she had a pair of sandals that really stunk. Well, I didn’t think that was very likely since a person’s feet could breathe easily in sandals. “I’m serious Dad, they are terrible” she said, reaching down and pulling off a sandal and handing it to me. Without thinking, I brought the shoe toward my nose for a sniff. It was almost my undoing. The odor was palpable, my head swam, and I jerked back involuntarily. My daughter took the shoe out of my trembling hand and said, “I TOLD you they were bad. What do you think I can do with them?” I remembered that she had recently had trouble with a skunk getting under her front porch, and I suggested that she throw the shoes under the porch. I figured that would run the skunk out of there pronto.
I mentioned this to Carmen and she told about the time that she wore her sister Bethany’s shoes. They were blue suede and were notorious stink shoes. Carmen borrowed them to wear to school one day. She sat down with her feet under the desk in front of her. A boy named Caleb sat behind Carmen and he exclaimed, “Dang! Carmen, you’re not wearing Bethany’s shoes are you?” “Yes, I am,” Carmen replied, “why do you ask?” “Because I can smell them from back here” he said.
Last week I was at the school gym to watch one of the grandsons play basketball. A gaggle of teen age boys came up and sat on the bleachers right in front of us. I noticed that each of them was wearing the high top, high tech sneakers with the latest air-filled soles, gel soles, etc. As they sat and talked, an odor began to rise from their shoes. It mingled with the scent of Polo, Drakkar Noir, and Calvin Cline. I almost could imagine that it shimmered like heat rising off Texas asphalt. The boys seemed oblivious to the smells and were talking about girls and the upcoming Homecoming dance.
It was then that I began to see the widespread effect of this devious plot. The boys in front of me had developed some sort of immunity to the smell. They were carriers, spreading the odor everywhere. It is like vampirism. If you are lucky, you flee the smell. If not, you are overcome by it. If you ever become used to it, you are like a zombie, a lost soul wearing stink shoes of every sort, roaming through the community with people fleeing from your presence. Your only fellowship will be with other stink shoe zombies. I doubted that these boys had a ghost of chance at getting a date to Homecoming wearing those shoes.
But what was the ultimate goal of this insidious plot. What did these foreign countries hope to accomplish by making us all stink shoe zombies? It was becoming difficult to think. I was getting dizzy, and having trouble breathing. And then, in horror, I saw that it was too late. Four girls walked up the bleachers and sat down amongst the boys, laughing and talking. They seemed completely unaware that they were enveloped in a smell that would make the fumes from a gut wagon seem like a breath of fresh air. We’re all doomed. I’m not sure to what, but doomed for certain.
Ronnie
I bought a pair of Dockers shoes a few years ago. When I tried them on they just had that nice new smell. The tag inside read, Made in China, leather uppers, balance: manmade material. I wore the shoes almost for a whole day and when I took them off that night, the smell had changed. It was almost a stink. I thought to myself that maybe these shoes made my feet sweat a little bit. The next Sunday I wore them to church. When I got home, I sat in the recliner to read the paper and leaned back with my feet up. What is that smell, I thought? Surely not, I pulled one foot up toward me and sniffed. Gag. I took both shoes off quickly and put them in the closet. They are still there, the smell has gone into hibernation, but I know the shoes are just waiting for some warm feet to slip into them and once again foul odors will begin to waft.
A while ago one of my daughters, Misty, was at our house and for some reason someone mentioned stinky feet. She said that she had a pair of sandals that really stunk. Well, I didn’t think that was very likely since a person’s feet could breathe easily in sandals. “I’m serious Dad, they are terrible” she said, reaching down and pulling off a sandal and handing it to me. Without thinking, I brought the shoe toward my nose for a sniff. It was almost my undoing. The odor was palpable, my head swam, and I jerked back involuntarily. My daughter took the shoe out of my trembling hand and said, “I TOLD you they were bad. What do you think I can do with them?” I remembered that she had recently had trouble with a skunk getting under her front porch, and I suggested that she throw the shoes under the porch. I figured that would run the skunk out of there pronto.
I mentioned this to Carmen and she told about the time that she wore her sister Bethany’s shoes. They were blue suede and were notorious stink shoes. Carmen borrowed them to wear to school one day. She sat down with her feet under the desk in front of her. A boy named Caleb sat behind Carmen and he exclaimed, “Dang! Carmen, you’re not wearing Bethany’s shoes are you?” “Yes, I am,” Carmen replied, “why do you ask?” “Because I can smell them from back here” he said.
Last week I was at the school gym to watch one of the grandsons play basketball. A gaggle of teen age boys came up and sat on the bleachers right in front of us. I noticed that each of them was wearing the high top, high tech sneakers with the latest air-filled soles, gel soles, etc. As they sat and talked, an odor began to rise from their shoes. It mingled with the scent of Polo, Drakkar Noir, and Calvin Cline. I almost could imagine that it shimmered like heat rising off Texas asphalt. The boys seemed oblivious to the smells and were talking about girls and the upcoming Homecoming dance.
It was then that I began to see the widespread effect of this devious plot. The boys in front of me had developed some sort of immunity to the smell. They were carriers, spreading the odor everywhere. It is like vampirism. If you are lucky, you flee the smell. If not, you are overcome by it. If you ever become used to it, you are like a zombie, a lost soul wearing stink shoes of every sort, roaming through the community with people fleeing from your presence. Your only fellowship will be with other stink shoe zombies. I doubted that these boys had a ghost of chance at getting a date to Homecoming wearing those shoes.
But what was the ultimate goal of this insidious plot. What did these foreign countries hope to accomplish by making us all stink shoe zombies? It was becoming difficult to think. I was getting dizzy, and having trouble breathing. And then, in horror, I saw that it was too late. Four girls walked up the bleachers and sat down amongst the boys, laughing and talking. They seemed completely unaware that they were enveloped in a smell that would make the fumes from a gut wagon seem like a breath of fresh air. We’re all doomed. I’m not sure to what, but doomed for certain.
Ronnie
Adoption Update
Be sure to check our China Hope link to read the latest update. The CCAA matched through October 13, 2005 this month. We are getting closer.....
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