The Eleventh Commandment?

   As we were driving down the road today, the conversation turned to the grand subject of animals, a regular in our household.  I was telling Christian about the "secret weapons" that God gave to each of the animals to protect themselves against predators.  I told he and Audra that deer have long legs that can run fast and antlers to fight with.  Monkeys can also run fast and swing from tree branches.  Rhinos have horns on their noses, some animals blend into their surroundings, and skunks have a smelly spray as their secret weapon.  I proceeded to tell Christian that if he ever saw a skunk, he should never chase it or try to catch it.  He needed to get away from it fast and let it be.  I told him how you can't get rid of the yucky smell for a long time and no one would want to be around him.  He thought for a minute, then asked, "Does the Bible say, (and tucking in his chin, he mustered up his deepest voice and said,) "THOU SHALT NOT GET CLOSE TO A SKUNK! ?"  I had to laugh!  I'm sure those folks out there who've gotten a little too friendly with an unwilling skunk would regard that as the eleventh Commandment!  But I assured Christian that it was no where to be found in the Bible, just a real good thing to remember.  :)  I reckon if you go chasing after a skunk, you kinda' deserve to get sprayed.  :)
    I took the kids to a children's shoe store today to get Audra fitted for some good shoes.  Its been around since Andy was a little boy, and he remembers getting shoes there as well many times.  The same people still own the place and work there!  We got Audra's foot braces in the mail yesterday, so she's all set for shoes now.  She was fitted into some pretty little white high tops that almost hide her braces completely.  They are wider than normal to accommodate the brace, but other than that, you wouldn't know they were any different than regular shoes.  She has a hard time walking in the braces without the shoes, though, but she'll get used to them.  She doesn't fuss about the whole set up, so that is good.  She even insist on wearing her new shoes.  She loves them! 
   Most of the snow has melted off, but it looks like we're in for another 6-10 inches tonight and tomorrow.  This has been the worst winter around here in about 20 years from what I've been told.  I hope we don't get a lot of ice with this next "wave" coming through!  Last Sunday, the roads were solid ice!  Tomorrow is supposed to be a Level 3. (Emergency vehicles only allowed on the roads).  Yesterday, it "warmed up" to 34' so I bundled the kids up and we went outside so that Christian could try out the new snow shovel his Sunday School teacher gave him.  (Thanks, Kathy! :)  He LOVES that thing and its all I can do to get him to let go of it long enough to take a nap.  He even took it to the shoe store today.  Oh, I made him leave it in the van  :)  Its definitely a favorite right now.  Anyway, it was good for the kids to get out for awhile.  The temperature dropped about 5 degrees in the half hour we were out there so we couldn't stay out long.  I think we are all getting a good case of cabin fever!  I'm welcoming Spring with wide open arms this year!!!
   Wesley is still doing good on his bath and cream routine.  I missed his morning bath and cream-up on Sunday and by his bedtime bath, I noticed a few faint red spots on his chest, shoulder, and side of his face.  They disappeared though by the next morning.  He still has three more weeks on the cream.  Maybe whatever he's allergic to still hasn't gotten out of his system yet.  I hope he doesn't have another serious flare up after the three weeks are up.  I keep thinking I see the redness after I drink milk, but it could be my imagination.  Time will tell.  If the rash comes back, we'll be going to an allergy specialist to try to find the problem in his diet.  But so far, he's feeling SO much better and is even sleeping 5-6 hours at night, MUCH to my great delight!  Oh, I needed some rest after this past month!  I'm slowly but surely catching up. 
  

Audra's new shoes