A turtle named Sea Horse

Tonight we pulled in to World Wide Pets and purchased our 5th family member - a tiny turtle who Bright affectionately named, without hesitation, "Sea Horse." The man at the pet store said he could live 20-30 years!

And so this evening, we converted my extra Pyrex dish into Sea Horse's home. While I was whipping up dinner on the stove, Daniel and Bright were out on the railroad tracks collecting rocks. I'm not sure who loves the turtle more, my almost three-year-old...or his 28-year-old dad. I am convinced that little boys never grow up. After Bright went to bed, Daniel took Sea Horse out of his dish and let him run free on the kitchen floor. He petted his little head and played with his tail, and he has spent the last few hours trying to contrive ways to keep him warm.

But who am I to talk. I am sitting by the dish right now because I'm worried that he might crawl out. I guess we all like the little guy. I just hope he starts eating soon. His little dish of dehydrated shrimp is sitting untouched. I sound just like a mom, don't I, wanting him to eat his dinner!

Welcome to the family, Sea Horse Rupp.

Fevers and breast milk

Just when I thought we were well, Bright got a fever (today at noon). He said his knees hurt, and his belly, and he said his feet were cold, and he said he didn't want to eat his hot dog at lunch (that's when I knew something was wrong). His fever soon spiked, leaving his cheeks flush and cute. I bought him a new movie at Wal-Mart and gave him a dose of Children's Tylenol Plus, praying over him that he would NOT end up having the flu. As it turns out, the fever broke some time this evening, and he was running around the house in his Mater underwear saying, "I'm feeling better, Mom."

Zion has managed to stay well, so far. He is cruising on the furniture now, all 15 pounds of him. He still prefers what's under my shirt to what I offer him from a spoon. I think he'll be nursing right up to his first day of school. He'll pull out his lunch box and in it will a be a thermos of breast milk and nothing else. Oh well, I suppose he could be hooked on worse substances.

Homesick

We're home, but not homefree. Our lives are still in hiatus, as we take turns nursing each other back to health. The Flu. The big, fat, ugly flu. Are you all dealing with it, too? Happy February.

As soon as we get healthy, we'll be transitioning into full-time support raising. We're excited to get started. And maybe, we'll start blogging again:)

Grandma to the rescue.

So with almost 3 weeks under our belts, we still have roughly 2 weeks left to go here in Daytona Beach. It's funny how things change. When we first got here, I set to work frantically covering the carpet in our hotel room with spare sheets, so Zion wouldn't touch it with his hands. He has since learned to crawl, so keeping him on a sheet is not possible. Just yesterday, I noticed him sucking on a loop of the carpet that was sticking up. Yum, yum.

And just when our schedule here was about to get REALLY crazy, my mom flew in from Michigan to watch the kids. They are loving her, we are loving her, and she is very much enjoying her grandkids and the warm Florida sun. I think it was something like 6 degrees in Michigan last week. Brrrrr. My mom is wonderful. We couldn't be surviving this without her.

Now I get to toot my own horn...I made a 95% on my Doctrine Survey final. Hooray!!! It was good to be a student again for a while. I really do love to learn (I sound like a dorky fourth-grader. Oh well:)

Pierced!

Yesterday I got my nose pierced. I was inspired by my new "hippie" deodorant. We walked down A1A to Generation X, and Jimmy pierced my nose. (Jimmy is pictured with me here). It was so good to be there, talking to people like Jimmy, who we would otherwise never run into. The general manager was an Israeli Jew named Avi, who has only been in the States for eight years. We got to hear him speak Hebrew (a great treat for Daniel). Though a tattoo artist himself, he has no markings on his own body, because he is a Jew. He was fascinating. His eyes filled with tears of passion when he talked about the Song of Solomon. "It is a book about the love between G and his people," he said, "and about what it will be like when the 'anointed one' comes."

I highly recommend getting your nose pierced. I was surprised at how little it hurt. There was some pressure, but no real pain. And it didn't swell or turn red. My mom wasn't too thrilled, but Daniel loves it.

Poem by Kayla, Photo by Daniel

MOON QUEEN

Tonight the moon
is swollen and glowing
like a pregnant woman
at a ball,
embodying elegance
and raw nature
all at once.
And now
a veil of cloud blows
across her face
spraying her light down
over the ocean,
rousing the waves below,
which seem to be showing off
for her,
savoring her attention
as she bestows
her beauty to them
She, like a diamond necklace
resting on the breast
of a dark and lovely queen,
and they, like silver beads,
rolling around in the drawer
below her.
- Kayla Rupp

Burger King, more than fast food...

Sunday was an interesting day. We had been planning all week to go to a Korean House down the road. So we got all geared up for the hike, fully outfitted the stroller, and went down stairs only to find an extremely cold, unseasonably wintry, Daytona Beach.

We only lasted a few minutes in the wind and returned home disappointed. You may know how it is when it’s a Sunday and for what ever reason you don’t go to House and then the rest of the day seems weird. Not to mention that unsettled feeling is compounded when you’re in a weird place, with no car, and now you’re stuck in the hotel room all day because it’s way too cold to go outside.

Kayla made some jambalaya for lunch which really lifted our spirits, but by evening we were still ready to break free and get out of here. We borrowed a car and hit the road. Our first idea was the mall, which turned out to be closed. So, we stopped at a gas station to see where something fun for Bright might be. Craziest thing was, the lady behind the counter was crazy (or possessed) and literally cussed Kayla out and gave her not one, but both fingers on the way out!!! We had to just laugh because it was so absurd…

Though neither of us said it, the whole day had just left us wanting to come home. After driving for a while we found a Burger King with a big kid’s area inside. There was one woman, about 65 or so, with two young boys. As Bright played with them she introduced herself to us. She had taken the boys from their adult text study so a single mom could get some quality time – and maybe more so Kayla and I could receive some much needed encouragement from Dad.

Her name was Karen, and for the next thirty minutes her presence was like a big hug for us. She genuinely loved Dad, was full of the HS, and encouraged us as she would have her own children. Only Dad can connect people like that, if you’ve experienced it then you know exactly what I’m talking about. You feel like family even though you’ve known each other for all of 35 minutes.

At the end of our time she chatted with us and I had to stop because I would have started weeping (which isn’t too uncommon for me, but can weird some people out when I first meet them – Lee Harper…) Just when I was starting to think, “Why are we doing this?”… Just when I was starting to lose my joy and gratitude because the day had not been convenient to me… Just when I was starting to feel sorry for myself and get all in a bad mood… Dad showed up at Burger King and refreshed my heart. I needed it. I can’t wait to spend eternity with people like Karen.