Surprise weekend visitor!

It's a COLLEGE STUDENT!

Always studying!

As usual, I emailed to check on our Lizzie this week. Instead of getting a comforting reply about classes keeping her busy and a general "all's well" report, I got a one liner about a sprained ankle that was laced with desperation........ or exasperation, not sure which! Either way, it didn't sound good. "Grace" stepped off the curb to get into her Nana's car and got into a drainage hole instead! That is apparently what you get for trying to do your laundry off campus!

I checked in on her the next day and it was worse! Her ankle was really hurting her and she was going to hobble blocks to get to her classes. Her first class that day was near-by, but she was worried that she would not make it to her second class, several blocks away, without being disrespectfully late!

It so happened, her Daddy was working at a hospital downtown anyway! One quick call to him and he did exactly what I knew he would do! Yep, he raced over to the college......... because he was a man on a mission now! (insert Mission Impossible theme music here) Using the latest in technology, (a cell phone) he located the target, then circled on the one way streets near the campus until he got "the signal". At precisely the right moment......or close, he pulled up to the curb and whisked Lizzie away and around the corner to drop her at her next class. I half expected him to call me blurting out the code "Papa Bear has the cub, I repeat, Papa Bear has the cub" ! This would not be out of character for him as he frequently called me with similar codes when he would drive to the meeting spot to pick Lizzie up for weekend visitation. Yes, Lizzie comes by her humorous side, naturally! He then went in search of our college student's prefered lunch, Subway! He managed to find one, get the lunch and get back to the street corner in time to shuttle her back to her dorm. In the mean time, we issued the invitation that she was welcome to come home for the weekend to be "nursed" back to health with the help of her four loving, yet nutty brothers and sisters. She actually took us up on this offer! Of course, if she hadn't she may have had to survive off of Easy Mac because there was no way she could have gotten to the cafeteria for her meals without starving to death first at the rate she was moving!

We ended up having a really nice weekend! We took full advantage of the opportunity to indulge in a seafood extravaganza and I served crab legs and shrimp cocktail for Friday night's dinner! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and it cost less than taking our whole crew out for chicken! Lizzie, ever the comedian, had us in stitches all through dinner and Noah almost managed to make root beer come out his nose....or should I say Lizzie almost made root beer come out his nose! Yep, we've got a talented bunch! The best part of her visit was actually getting to visit! She put in a lot of needed bonding time with Claire and I got our first ever pictures of ALL FIVE KIDS!!

A little ice, a support brace and some rest has done wonders for Lizzie's ankle this weekend and I am happy to say that though she is still gimping, she is doing much better. We sent her off well fed, well loved and well rested. She managed to visit, make us laugh, watch a few movie and get all her homework done!


I recently encouraged her that blogging could be a creative outlet for her....after all, she is a writer and a talented artist. I thought she could post her poetry or short stories and upload scanned drawings. Lizzie firmly believes that her dorm is haunted by playful ghosts and so she decided to start a blog that chronicles paranormal activity at the college! It is aptly titled The Ghosts of Berry Hall. Well, knowing Lizzie, no matter how serious she is, it will still be entertaining....because that girl is a riot I tell you!

Playing with "Izzie"

This video was taken in my kitchen which is horribly dark. I even refer to it as "the cave", so the video is also very dark. But it's cute just to listen to Claire interact with Lizzie.

(Don't forget to turn off the music at the bottom)

Tune in tomorrow for more adventures as the Mama and Daddy fly to St. Louis with Claire for the Great Reveal ! By this time Tuesday we will be boarding our flight home with her new and improved feet....made just for walking...and running...and dancing and climbing! Oh my!