Ice Storm of 2018

We didn't do much of anything last week, except try to stay warm and dry! It was too cold and messy to get out. At least our roads stayed safe. Ice was on everything else though! A lot of people were without electricity, but ours only flickered. Nam couldn't say what was happening, so he would just wiggle his head and hands to show what the lights were doing. LOL! There was a LOT of tree damage all over. They still have crews working all over town clearing up the mess. It was beautiful to look at while it lasted, though!

I spent all day Saturday getting the house ready for company. Yesterday was our monthly potluck and we decided to try it here again. We had a good turnout! It was a bit crowded in the kitchen, but we managed ok. The young folks went to the den and played games, the ladies visited around the dining room table, and the guys took the living room. It was good to have a crowd in the house again!

It was also the day for our monthly Sunday afternoon singing. I really love those special services! The songs were so well chosen, and I ended up getting a bit emotional at one point. Music can have such a powerful impact on our emotions!

Nam had his first real "babysitter" last night. Sheila's office finally had their company dinner, so Jessica went over and stayed with Nam. He did great! That is a pretty big hurdle! Sheila was concerned that he might be extra clingy today, but he has been in a great mood all day. We played bubbles outside and went for a walk. Then he and Grandad got their after lunch nap in.

We were going to have another challenge this week, but it has been cancelled. Dennis and Ricky were going to take a road trip together. Sheila had already talked to Nam about it, and although he wasn't happy about it, he was handling it well. Ricky has been having some health issues and went to see his doctor this morning. She wants to send him to FW for some tests asap to see what's going on. It may be complications from some of his health problems as a child, or something else may have developed, but she wants to find out what's going on as quickly as possible. Prayers would be appreciated!

Daddy goes to see his kidney specialist tomorrow morning. His bloodwork from a couple of weeks ago showed a little worsening of his numbers, but they are still stable. The kidney doctor will let us know if he thinks Daddy should have his back procedure done. There are so many things that work against each other! Health care (especially in the elderly) can be a real balancing act.

Renee is hosting a ladies' luncheon on Wednesday for our Highway women. I'm really looking forward to that! We hope to make it a monthly event. The guys get together regularly for their business meetings and studies, so we ladies need something to help us bond together better. Renee is so good about opening up her home for get-togethers! They have a wonderful house for having crowds over, too!

I guess that's about all for now. Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts! We are liable to see trees and flowers start blooming from all of the moisture we had, and now with the warmer weather and sunshine. I've enjoyed having a real winter, but I am also looking forward to spring!

Happy President's Day! (and Chúc mừng năm mới!)

Our walks with Nam are going very well. We got up to almost 2 miles on one of our walks last week. We’ve discovered that if we can find grassy areas that he can run free (rather than having to hold our hands), he does much better. It is fun to watch him take off! He has a unique running style…he holds his arms out to his side like he is trying to take it all in! The walks are good to let him run off some energy, plus Dennis and I both need the exercise!

Last Tuesday, we took Nam to visit Pappy and Rue (Thiess and Gina). We are trying to get him comfortable with them, so they can occasionally keep him. I think he will be ready before very long. He loves going to their house, and he does really well with them! I’m hoping to do a trial run for an hour or two within the next week or two. Besides them wanting to have him from time to time, it will be great to have a back-up, in case we need one sometime. So far, he hasn’t stayed with anyone other than Dennis and me. Jessica was going to keep him one night, so Sheila could attend a work dinner, but Sheila was sick and they had to cancel.

After our visit with Pappy and Rue, we met up with Sheila at The Schoolhouse, where she registered Nam for preschool, starting in the fall. He was a little shy, but he loved all of the toys! He is excited about the idea of going to school. We did find out that he attended some type of preschool in Vietnam. (The girl that he Skypes with told Sheila about it.) It will be good for him to have more interaction with other kids. Right now, he is limited to the kids at church, once a week, and some occasional kids at the park. It will just be 3 days a week, for half a day. Sheila would also like to sign him up for some special programs this summer at the zoo or museum. I really think he would enjoy those classes!

Sheila took Nam for his first dental checkup Friday morning. The dentist and hygienist are both Vietnamese, so they could talk to him about what all they were doing to where he understood them. Sheila said he did really well! His teeth looked great, too.

Friday was the Lunar New Year, which is called Tet in Vietnam. It is a really big celebration in most Asian cultures. Sheila and I took Nam to Asia Times Square in Grand Prairie, where they were hosting a celebration, including the lion dance. We arrived just in time for the festivities to start and got a good place to observe. It went on a lot longer than we expected, and the lion dance didn’t start for probably 40 minutes or so. Sheila said it wasn’t as good a performance as last year’s was, but Nam seemed to enjoy it. After the lion dance and then the dragon dance, the dancer’s came out in costume to interact with the audience. One of the lions came up to Nam and greeted him. He loved it! Afterwards, we went inside the mall and found a place to sit down and eat lunch. Then we shopped for a bit, buying a couple of souvenirs and some Banh Tet (the traditional food eaten at Tet) to take home with us. (Neither Sheila nor I liked it, but Nam was excited about eating some.) One of his souvenirs was a Lion dance puppet, which we ended up cutting the strings off, so he could use it with his action figures. Sheila said he played with it most of the rest of the day!

Since Sheila is off for President’s Day, we have the day off also. I’m enjoying having a slow day to catch my breath! Usually I take it pretty easy on Saturdays, but with the Tet celebration, that didn’t happen this past weekend. Sundays are pretty full, with picking the folks up and entertaining them in between services. We did end up having to eat out for lunch yesterday. I had made up a chicken enchilada casserole Saturday night to stick in the oven to cook yesterday morning. When we got home, though, the oven was off. I guess I set it (for slow cooking) and either forgot to hit the start button or accidentally hit the off button instead. Either way, we didn’t have lunch cooked, and it was almost 1:00 before we made it home. So we just grabbed something quick, then I cooked the enchiladas for supper.

The folks were both doing very well yesterday. They are really settling in (FINALLY!) at Brookdale now. They play Bingo twice a week and have started finding other individuals to play other games with. They are also starting to join in on some of the outings that Brookdale takes its residents on. They are planning to go to the fish place on the river this week. They seem happier and more content than they have since they moved in. The lady who runs Brookdale had told us to expect it to take about 6 months for them to adjust. It ended up taking them twice that! But I’m thankful that they have finally decided that they are better off being there and looking for things to enjoy. They are so much better off physically now than they were a year ago!

Dennis decided to try working on the house (to a limited degree) last week. He took Nam with him to Weatherford to buy supplies, which he LOVED! It was his first time to ride in Grandad's pickup! Dennis is trying to finish out the garage interior. He still had a few sheets of hardie board to cut and put up around the door leading into the house. Then he'll trim out the door. After he finishes out there, he plans to (finally) finish up the trim in the kitchen/dining room/laundry room. We'll see how much he can actually get done, having a 4-year-old "helper". 

Well, I guess I had better try to get a few things done today. I’m wanting to try out Snickerdoodle cookies on Nam to see how he likes them. So far, we haven’t come up with any homemade cookies that he likes. But he loves cinnamon/sugar donuts, so I’m hoping this will be the right choice for him! 

Enjoy the day off (if you are fortunate enough to work where you got off today) and have a good week!

Things that are praiseworthy

This granny's heart was overflowing when I arrived to pick up Nam this morning. He met me at the door just bursting with excitement, wanting to tell me about Jesus! He told me the account of when Jesus calmed the storm in the fishing boat and when the bad men hurt Jesus, but then he was "all better."

One of the main reasons Sheila adopted this sweet little Vietnamese boy was to be able to share the gospel with a child who might not ever have the opportunity of hearing it otherwise. She placed a poster in his room, at his eye level, that depicts the life of Jesus. She reads from his Children's Bible Story book every evening at bedtime. From the first night we had Nam, she has played him Wee Sing Bible Songs. Plus she has tried to explain, as best she can to a 4-year-old with a limited grasp of English, about God's love and what Jesus has done for us. Teaching the English words for things and actions is fairly easy. Teaching the English words for spiritual concepts, not so much. She managed to find a series of children's animated shows on Amazon Prime that depict different Biblical accounts in a way that children can see and understand, which is what prompted his excitement this morning. Now he can "see" Jesus and what He did and learn about His life and His death. It is wonderful to see my prayers being answered for this little guy as he begins to learn about the One who stilled the waters!

On another front, I took Daddy for his 3-month check-up last week. His A1C was 6.0, down another .3 points! His blood pressure was good also. He is doing really well, The doctor ordered more bloodwork to see how his kidney function is, but we haven't heard back on the results yet. I expect more good news though. Daddy has been very careful with his diet over the past several months, and it is really making a difference! He and Bobbie are both doing about as well as they have in over a year...maybe two. It is so nice to see how proper care has paid off! They have also decided to stay at Brookdale another year, since they are being so well cared for. (At least that was the word this week. No telling what it will be next week!) I'm thankful that they seem to be more content with their situation now. The employees at Brookdale also report that they are much more engaged with the activities provided now. They also have a new couple that eat their meals with them, and they are enjoying their company. They've also found a couple of ladies to play dominoes with! I'm hoping that this continues and they can be truly happy in their new home.

We also had the opportunity to attend JW and Janette's reception last Friday night in Cross Plains. We saw people there that we hadn't seen in decades! We enjoyed visiting with everyone and seeing the joy on JW and Janette's faces. I hope that they enjoy many years of happiness together!

These are just a few praiseworthy things that I wanted to share with you at the beginning of this new week. May you look for and find things in your life that are praiseworthy!

Nam's impact on my life

A few days ago, Sheila posted her first blog article since becoming a mother. Reading it filled my heart with love and joy over the blessings that we’ve received since we got Nam, and for the grace that my daughter has shown through it all. I am so proud of the mother that she has become, in a difficult situation, and I’m so thankful to be able to share in the care of this amazing little boy.

I’ve discussed our day-to-day routine, as well as Nam’s progress since he arrived, but I haven’t really gotten into the impact that he has had on our lives. We knew that this was going to be life-changing, but we really had no idea what to expect. Those first few weeks were HARD! Lack of sleep (both in Vietnam and back home) plus trying to help Nam adjust to a new world had us all struggling. Then when Sheila went back to work, we had to learn to deal with new challenges:  helping Nam feel safe and get used to traveling back and forth between two households, the effort of driving back and forth to FW every day, learning to discipline and train a child whose background we know very little about and who spoke a different language, and trying to keep up with our other responsibilities. There have been glitches and tears along the way, believe you me! But I wouldn’t trade our new lives for anything.

I know when people ask and I tell them how great Nam is, they think, “Yeah, typical grandmother speak!” But this little guy truly has been amazing and has brought SO much joy and laughter into our lives. He is smart…because he works at it! He has such a curious nature about him and LOVES to learn new things. He is funny and mischievous. He loves to tease and laugh. Sometimes he carries his teasing too far, so we have to try to reign him in…teaching him that teasing can hurt people’s feelings, which we DON’T want to do. But he finds joy in so many things, which inspires us to do the same. He has such a vivid imagination and can play for hours with the simplest of toys. His favorites are blocks and puzzles and Play-doh…and of course, his super heroes. He loves animals! He likes to watch nature videos, especially about the large cats in Africa. He has always used various toys (blocks, puzzle pieces, Play-doh) to play like they are animals. I ordered him a set of 6 plastic animals this week (which came in yesterday), and he didn’t put them down the rest of the day. He enjoys looking for deer (and horses and cows) along the roadway or in the state park. He can’t wait to get old enough to start hunting with Grandad! But most of all, he has a loving and tender heart! He can be very hard-headed at times, and downright mean occasionally, but he is (when not angry) very reasonable and listens to why he should behave in a certain way. He hates it when he ends up hurting someone, whether physically or emotionally, and is quick to make amends. He is generous with his “thank yous” and “I love yous” and hugs and kisses (unless he is in a teasing mood!). He loves to “help” with most chores. He is sensitive and self-conscious and a bit self-doubting about a few things. He is gentle with younger children and shares well.

I’ve never been a big “spoiling” kind of parent or grandparent. I don’t like to overload kids with toys and stuff. But I have really struggled with this and Nam. Seeing him find so much joy in playing with his things, and seeing how much he appreciates what he has, makes me want to buy him whatever he wants. I don’t, of course, but I do end up buying much more than I ever thought I would! We are quickly filling up both Sheila’s apartment and our living room!

I had wondered if I could physically hold up to caring for an active 4-year-old on a daily basis. It has been challenging, but not as much as I was concerned it would be. Of course, it really helps having Dennis as an active participant, especially since Nam prefers playing with Grandad! I’m pretty well able to keep up with my normal chores and activities. Dennis and I trade off transporting him back and forth, so I only have to drive two days a week, and Dennis drives two days. Grandad does most of the physically challenging play, and I focus on the more mentally stimulating activities. I have done my share of lion dancing and roughhousing and racing though! Ha! I do feel more aches and pains lately, but the trade-off is definitely worth it. Our lives were pretty routine and boring before he came along. Now they are filled with love and laughter and joy and wonder! There is nothing quite like seeing the world through the eyes of a 4-year-old orphan immigrant!

With his burgeoning language skills and his emotional adjustment, Nam has started talking more about his past in Vietnam. At first, he didn’t mention it or act like he missed it at all. We figure this was mostly a defense mechanism used to deal with his loss. Now that he is truly comfortable in his new life, he can look back with nostalgia and tell us about people and things that he liked or didn’t like. Sheila has made contact with the family of an 8-year-old girl from his orphanage, and they Skype once a week. She has recently found a family in France who adopted a boy that he was friends with in Vietnam, and they plan to do the same with him. Nam looks forward to these times of connecting with his old friends. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, we are preparing for attending the celebration of Tet in a couple of weeks. It will be really interesting to see how Nam reacts to being back in a predominantly Vietnamese setting. (The doctor at the international clinic warned us that it might be unsettling for him.) Along with the positive interactions, Nam has told us about a worker from the orphanage and another boy there that were “bad guys, Nam no love”. We are hoping to learn more as he learns more English and has the capacity to share some of his past experiences.

I think one of the biggest surprises is how healthy Nam is, both physically and emotionally. His bloodwork all came back within normal parameters…no diseases nor deficiencies. A large majority of children from institutional care have problems with attachment. Nam bonded with us from the very beginning. We’ve been very impressed with the apparently superior care that he received at the orphanage. We know that he faced his challenges (the scars on his head and body attest to that), but he is, for the most part, a very healthy and well-adjusted little boy.

Sheila achieved another major milestone yesterday. The judge signed the order that legally changes Nam’s name. He is now Nam Josiah Gerrald! We had thought that wouldn’t take place until 6 months after his Vietnamese adoption, but Sheila’s lawyer was able to push it through at an expedited pace. That will be very helpful with legal matters:  filing her income taxes and getting her adoption tax credit, avoiding duplicating paperwork, and such like. Plus it just feels good knowing that he now (legally) shares our name!

Besides the joy and love that Nam brings to our lives now, I am also enjoying the new dimension that motherhood adds to my relationship with Sheila. I am amazed at her patience and adaptability! She has never been a morning person, but Nam has been a persistently EARLY riser (usually waking up between 5 and 6 am). Although she still hopes he will eventually start sleeping a little later, it does have some advantages. It gives them some special time together in the mornings before she has to go to work. Evenings are pretty busy. We eat supper as soon as she gets here after work, then there is just a little time for them to play (especially on the nights that they drive back to FW)before it is time to start baths and settling down for bed. The time that we get to spend with Sheila is much greater now also. Before Nam, we usually only saw her once a week. Now we see her daily (except on weekends). Our relationship and roles are changing, but those changes only add a new richness to our family.

So how has Nam being in our day-to-day lives affected us? More than I can possibly elaborate! I am extremely thankful for this wonderful little blessing that has invaded our home and hearts!