Why am I tall?

 Not me. This is a question the 12-year-old asked today. I told her God wanted her to be that tall. Also, I need her to be that tall. I cannot reach the top shelves in the cupboards, so I need her to be able to reach them. Yes, it is probably a mild form of child abuse, I think I could convince a judge of the value.

too tall to climb through the tunnel easily! 

 our yearly pose at focus on the family

The younger kiddo is having a rough time today with memories of her toys that were lost in the house fire. She has spent the afternoon in the attic looking through boxes and looking through an old phone at photos. It has taken the better part of this evening to calm her sniffles. I am not sure if the new medication contributed or just finding pictures from our old home burning and pictures of toys that were lost to previously unseen flames. 

That particular day (Friday) turned into an all-nighter. It was 0430 Saturday morning before the youngest even tried to lay down and sleep. She was not cranky, or begging for attention, or hyped up. She just could not fall asleep. She slept in until 0715 which by all accounts was somewhat of a miracle. We did not take any medication on Saturday morning. I had high hopes that we would get some sleep Saturday night. I even thought she might try to steal a nap in the afternoon. That did not happen.

The look alike granddaughter came over that morning and when she went to start her car it refused to cooperate. She was not phased too much by this as she had somewhat planned on spending the night anyway. After several rounds of Uno Flip, we decided to go to town and pick up some things for the week. The girls went with us and the youngest decided it was "toy shopping" trip. We do NOT need any toys as I trip enough without more stuff. We ended up limiting our trip to a mini-Walmart for yogurt and Dollar Tree for some miscellaneous stuff. 

On our way back home, my daughter tried to call me to ask if her older daughter was able to spend Saturday night with us or at least come and see the new pet. I had given my phone to the youngest in the back seat of the van and she would not let the car answer. So, the older granddaughter called her to let her know that it was fine. What was I thinking!? I had clearly stated I wanted to try to get some sleep! I was already going to be pushing the sleep limits with the daylight savings time switch, but alas I hate to tell the kids no, they cannot come over. 

When we left for town dinner was planned as pizza. On the way home, somehow it ended up being planned as orange chicken. I made too much orange sauce and there wasn't much time to get enough chicken cooked to send my older kiddo to youth group with food in her tummy. We managed somehow and the younger granddaughter arrived in the midst of this. Her mom had blocked DH's van in place so she left in order to let him leave to take care of dropping off at youth group. The younger granddaughter and my younger went out to play. After, of course, I made sure the turkey was secured in her pen.

Chicken and veggies for orange chicken 

playing with the only dog that will run while we ride

our street 

They fussed and argued over dinner, so I texted her mom that she probably was not willing to spend the night. She texted back that she would come and get her in a bit. Next thing I know she is calling asking for advice as her neighbor is experiencing chest pain and high blood pressure and the pain was getting worse. I told her to take her to the ER and I would force the granddaughter to stay overnight. This neighbor is the favorite of all the kids, and they were instantly concerned for her. The fussing ceased if only temporarily.

Finally, it was time for at least my youngest to hit the hay. It took a lot to get the granddaughter to settle in and a promise that once L was asleep, she could go visit with the older kiddo. As it turned out everyone drifted off to sleep except DH, myself and the youngest granddaughter. It was now 10:30 pm. She couldn't sleep. Neither can I when a kid is awake. I must have dozed for a little bit a I awoke to her calling my name and complaining that her phone was dying. I got up and searched for a charging block and the appropriate type of cord.

When I returned to my room DH was up digging through his dresser, I laid down. He stated I found it. What is it? A charging block and cord. I let him in on the secret that I had previously told him about having found one. He laid down. I scrolled through some news feeds on my phone. Finally boring myself I tried to doze off again. My phone buzzed; it was 2330. It was her mom asking me to check on her. I went to the bedroom and took a picture of a very wide-awake kid and sent it off. At midnight she texted back that they were leaving the hospital soon and she would drive out and pick up her kid.

I told her it was up to her, but the child would fall asleep eventually. She decided not to come get her as the child wanted to stay. At 0030 I got up and checked on the kid, still awake. I talked to DH and decided to try to "sleep". I dozed off but I don't know when. I do know that the fire alarms woke me at 0136 and it woke all but one child. I went to the circuit breaker checking rooms along the way for smoke or smells. Tripping the circuit breaker did not stop the annoying ear-piercing noise.  I looked for something to reach high enough to reset the alarm. Why did we want 9-foot ceilings? 

I found a reaching stick and pushed it silent. I laid down. At 0215 the smoke alarms sounded again. Repeat the same process minus the breaker as I had never reset that. I reassured the children that all was well and went back to bed. The time change occurred in the midst of all the fun. It was 0330 when the alarm sounded again. DH got up and went to look for a step ladder and climbed up with wobbly legs to pull the senser down from the ceiling. It scares me when he climbs, he wobbles like a leaf hanging from a branch in a strong Fall wind just waiting to plummet to the ground. I, the other hand, do not waste time with wobbles. I just fall and get it over with. Back to my story, the alarm down helped me drift off a bit more quickly. That was a good thing after all it was nearly 4am.

It surprised me to hear the alarm in my dream, I was just beginning to relax in my dream. I am not sure where I was relaxing but I was, and the alarm was ringing in the distance. Somebody else's alarm or so I thought. I awoke abruptly at 0415 to the sound of the alarm in the youngest child's room sounding, not as loudly as the main alarm, but still loud enough. I went in and reached up with the stick to reset it. As I climbed onto my bed it started again. Repeat. This time it was only me and DH that were awakened. Last look at my phone was 0430. DH exclaimed we are not going to church tomorrow. 

The dogs were very quiet the rest of the morning and the sun peering through the hallway bathroom window awoke us to the stark reality that the day must begin. It was 0830. Time for all good dogs to go outside.