BTI Babysitting, Days Five, Six & Seven: Friday - Sunday

On Friday morning we started vinegar treatments at 8:30 sharp for the Great Speckled Children. Canada is just three weeks away for the Hays kids—no time to waste. Ha! I locked the boys outside and let the girls watch Veggie Tales while lying on the floor of the den with vinegar compresses on whatever part of their body was most covered in spots. Some of the kids are REALLY bad. Hot Tub Rash breaks out worst underneath whatever clothing you are wearing, so since our children get in the hot tub in nearly fully clothed they are pert-near covered over. I told Brother Dustin he shouldn’t have any trouble getting his kids across the border if he dresses them appropriately. I would suggest snow suits and ski masks. Hahahahaha! So far Lillie is the only one who has any spots on her face. I noticed a couple on her cheek that morning. The rash is worst on most of the kids on their torso and upper legs—and some have it real bad. And just think, even after the rash goes away they will maintain hyperpigmented lesions… for months. That, of course, is unless God heals them. We’ve had so many laughs about this crazy stuff (and it was great ammo for Brother Dustin—though he is WAY over exaggerating my involvement in the matter; after all, MOM is the one with the contaminated hot tub! Ha!) and with as much as we’ve joked about it I hadn’t even seriously thought about praying for the kids until that day. "I suppose we ought to." :-)

While the girls were receiving their vinegar treatments I heard a crash come from the back porch. Uh-oh. I fully expected to find three wide-eyed and guilty looking boys. Nope, just the neighbors’ new dog Gracie. She’s adorable, but still soooooo puppy. And big puppies (she’s a boxer) can be super destructive. Gracie was on the back deck, wandering around and looking for some company and attention. The screen from the kitchen window was lying on the floor broken and bent. The larger part of me was relieved that Gracie was the only one in sight. That's the part that’s adding up the damages accrued here at Mom & Dad’s house and imagining the bill we’ll receive from them at the end of these two weeks. The other part of me was a little disappointed. That's the part that was hoping Isaac was the culprit because I need the pendulum will swing full force the other direction in the Hays/Horne feud. I’m at a small disadvantage right now after having endowed their kids with a long lingering rash. It would help me out a lot if the tables would turn a little bit. HA!

Once I finished up with the girls I locked all of them outside and treated the boys. Sam and Isaac enjoyed the whole thing a little too much, I think. Ha! Crazy boys.

I was feeling really rough that day with a dull headache some serious sweaty chills. I swung back and forth from wishing I was wearing a parka to wanting to strip down to a t-shirt. And I felt sooooo groggy and unfocused. But I remembered that I was supposed to get the annual care package to HQ for the Alabama students. I sooooo did not feel up to it, but decided that since I had to load all of the kids up to go buy more vinegar anyway (!) I'd go ahead and take them to Headquarters for lunch and do the Alabama thing. Due to some miscommunication one of the Alabama folk didn't show up for the great opening and blew the whole thing. HA! No, it really was just a misunderstanding of when and where we were meeting. I took the kids and headed home, stopping for gas and the much needed vinegar. By the time we made it back to the house I was feeling HORRIBLE. I called an immediate and desperately needed quiet time so I could crash! I slept off and on for about an hour. I felt as bad or worse when I got up, but everything seemed to ease up a bit when I got to moving around again. Jamey had been sick all day that day, too, but far, far worse than me, with more symptoms and WAY more severe! She managed to make it through all of her classes, but I'm not sure how. As soon as they were over she came home and fell into bed and we didn't see her for 6 or 7 hours. She didn't even make it to evening service and that is sooooo not like her. I felt so bad for her! God was good to both of us though and we woke up feeling much, much better the next morning. Thank the Lord!

Backing up a bit, we did have two shoe incidents on Friday night. Sam was by the pond that afternoon and apparently saw a spider on his shoe. In his kicking and flailing in an attempt to remove it he managed to hurl the shoe off his foot and out into the pond. Katie was good enough to retrieve it for him via paddle boat. I made him wash the pond scum off of it, then set it in the sun to dry.

Just before service that night I grabbed Joe's dress shoes and painted them black with some shoe polish. The shoes were in really rough shape, but I thought it would help out to darken them a bit. We were going to be leaving in just a few minutes, so I set them in the sun to dry too. When we went to load up one of the shoes was gone, no doubt stolen by Gracie!!! There was no time to go try to find it, so I hopped in the van and rushed to a shoe store to buy some new ones. Joe needed them anyway and I was thankful we had left early enough to have time to do that.

I got there in time for our newly scheduled Alabama meeting at 6:30. I wasn't in any condition to try to make things much fun, so I just handed the bag to Sister Washburn and asked her to read the notes attached. It certainly wasn't the side-splitting good time we had last year ;-) but everybody seemed to enjoy their gifts, or at least pretend to be amused by them. Ha! For the record, here are the people and their gifts.

Kody Ridlespurge -- I can't quote it exactly, but the note instructed him to hide his new rubber snake in Sister Smith's desk drawer. He did that just today (Monday) with a fairly amusing scream (the reaction was captured by the camera Kody had hid in the tree in her office--ha!), but it certainly wasn't one of her better scares.

Jeremy Wallace -- A police set (to keep order as the Doctrine and Policy Police)

Brother Grimes -- A trophy awarded to "Most Likely to Compose a Song for Each of the Auxiliaries and Theme Music for Every Headquarters Employee." :-)

Kimmie Keel -- A giant eraser that said "For BIG Mistakes." I'll refrain from sharing what the note said. ;-)

Tammy Washburn -- A puppy coloring book and crayons, because puppies are so therapeutic and we all know she has some issues... with puppies. Ha!

Mike Washburn -- A wrist wrap for old and arthritic people.

I enjoyed service that night, but not as much as I would have if I hadn't been feeling so poorly. Brother Clarkson is the 3rd Term president and I loved hearing him moderate the service. I loved having him for my pastor for that one year and it was great to see him behind the pulpit again. Brother Werkheiser’s message was a blessing. I struggle to remember it all now (!), but I remember he talked about Naaman and his expectations when he went to see Elisha. Sometimes we have expectations just like that about how God should move in our service or in our lives and we totally miss what God really wants to do.

After service one of Jimmy & Vicki Williams' sons came up to me and said, “Would you please introduce me to your daughter?” This was a first for us and I was a little stunned (!) so I asked him to repeat himself. He said it again and I still just stared at him for a moment before answering, "Mmmmm... no." To which he replied, “Will you please tell me her name?” "Mmmmm... no." He said okay and kind of laughed. I told him to come back in about 22 years and we'd talk. ;-) As I was leaving the church that night he raced out the door to catch me. “You say to come back in twenty-two years?" he said. Then he opened his eyes real wide and said in a somewhat crazed manner, "I WILL!!!" Hahahahahaha! What a nut! Brother Jimmy had put him up to the initial question and stood back to watch my reaction (he'll get his), but the follow up was all his own.

After church that night we scrounged at the house for something to eat. I stayed up way too late. I really tried to go to bed as soon as I finished my dinner but I was constrained by the whole "What if I miss something???" thing that always tugs at me. ;-) The sweaty-chills were REALLY bad by that time. I found the heaviest blankets I could, piled them on the bed and still shivered for several minutes before falling asleep and sweating the rest of the night. Woke up feeling great, just in need of a shower. :-) Aside from being weak and a little shaky, I felt GREAT. Thank the Lord!!!

Saturday morning we got up and took all of the kids to Zion Hill for BTI morning devotions!!! Wa-Hooo! Devotions didn’t start until 9:00 that day (it's usually 8:00), so it was very doable. Then the kids and I hung around while everybody else went to take their mid-terms. I visited with Jimmy Williams (of "Jimmy & Georgia" Williams, not "Jimmy & Vicki") and then Chris Wright and Brandon Keel who had come up for the weekend. I walked around and counted children (got to get to seven) every so often for a few hours until tests were done, then went to Pizza Hut with the Hays, Kody, Mom & Dad, and Chelsei. We hit a couple of shoe stores then the kids and I came home. I talked to James on the phone for quite a while that afternoon. Before church that night the boys got all brave and wondered over to the neighbors' house. They have LOTS of dogs, most of whom are very friendly, but there is this one big bulldog who doesn't act much like he wants to be friends. They located Joe's stolen dress shoe and Sam raced to nab it while Joe and Isaac hid in the bushes. Hahahaha! Sam is always the gutsy one around our house.

We had another good service, this one moderated by 2nd Term President Dustin Hays. :-) I was blessed by the special songs that night (Anita Clay and Mary Shelton sang), but I missed most of Brother Crumley's message. I hated that! I really, really, really like Brother Crumley, but I've never heard him preach before. I was so sorry to have missed out. The altar call was such a blessing. Josh & Brittney Anders had come up for the weekend and it was so beautiful watching her seek for the Holy Ghost. It was just as beautiful to see the entire congregation "invested" (I think that's the word that was used to describe it) in it as dozens of people gathered around the pew where she was praying and helped pray and worship for the longest time.

At church that night the Williams' boy, Jackson, came up to me again and said, "One day down... one thousand four hundred and twenty-seven to go!" Or something like that. Hahahahahahaha! His math was a little off, but it was amusing anyway. What a character!

After service that night we came home and made cheese dip (yum!) and had another great night of fun and fellowship. ~sigh~ I love it here. :-)

Yesterday (Sunday) morning after all of the BTI folks left I got up and got seven kids ready for Sunday School. It's nothin' at this age. Everybody can pretty well take care of themselves, so it was a breeze. I just had to fix hair for four girls, all of whom requested pigtails. I'm not very good with pigtails, but they don't know it. ;-) We got to church with a few minutes to spare, so that's good. Brother Anders preached a GREAT message about SATURATING SITUATIONS WITH PRAYER. Lord, teach me more and more to do just that! I was so blessed and inspired by it. I feel so refreshed!

After service we stayed and had lunch in the fellowship all with the crowd. I sat with the Keels and the O’Dells, so it was a good time, naturally. :-) Before I gathered the children to take them back home Aleah managed to burst into the 2nd Term class and say, “Daddy, I need you!!!” Ha! She technically wasn't under my care again (I go off the clock as soon as the Mom or Dad are out of class--ha!), so I can't be blamed. ;-) Then Lillie opened somebody else’s van door and crawled in. To her credit, the van was almost the same color as mine and she thought we were leaving. :-)

All of the kids were cranky on the way home. They were just bickering a little bit and tattling over silly stuff. QUIET TIME, here we come! :-) Even when they’re cranky this group of kids is far better than most. I haven’t a single complaint about their behavior this past week. They’ve all listened and responded very well and been really good to try to get along and be nice to each other. We’ll see what Week #2 holds. ;-)

When we got home I cleaned up our bedroom and vacuumed the floor. ~Aaaaahhhh~ It felt so good to have the room under control again. I had the kids grab their pillows and books and head to the den. ALL of them fell asleep except for Katie and Sara! I couldn't believe it, but I was so glad! Ha! I know they are worn out and were in desperate need of a little extra rest. Since five-sevenths of the children fell asleep I was really trusting that it would assist in the overall mood of the group! I think it did, but boy was Katie a crab that night and the next morning! She had to have a good, long nap on Monday. She'd been crabby and she had great big dark circles under her eyes. She looked and acted so much better after being forced to GO TO SLEEP for a couple of hours!

Anyway, I'll have to write about the Sunday night service next time. It's late Monday night (early Tuesday morning, to be exact) as I write and I've got to call it quits and get some sleep. I'm sorry I fell a few days behind. I know how much I look forward to pictures and info about BTI when I'm not able to be here! I will try to stay on top of things a little better. Here are two random pictures from the weekend before I go.

Chris Thompson and Sam have been wrestling up a storm. Brother Chris finally got his 30' Velcro strap and hogtied him. :-)

And this is where we found Aleah the other day. I assume she'd gone upstairs to get her pillow to bring down and rest in the den. She just couldn't make it that far I guess!