Showers of blessing

The ladies of FBC do know how to give a delightful baby shower. This one was no exception. it was at 2 pm on Sunday, January 31, for Jennifer and expected baby, Ellie Kate. The ladies brought scrumptious desserts. I mean they out did themselves. There were a few savory items; a Greek cheeseball and Mexican Bean dip. A fresh fruit platter, coffee, coffee punch, and an adorable cake rounded out the menu. Oh, don't you love the diaper cake? They're easy to make!

When all the gifts were open, Dianne introduced Jennifer's mother in law and her step grandmother. She went on to say that although her mother and father could not there (they are deceased) she wanted to give Ellie Kate something from them. Dianne presented Jennifer with baby dresses that were made for Dianne and her sister Joann. She also had several baby outfits that she herself had made for Jennifer. Finally, Diane presented Jennifer with a cradle lovingly crafted for her by her grandfather. Happy expectant grandparents had it refinished and Dianne made all the bedding.

We always have a devotional at our showers. Today, five different women read prayer letters written to Ellie Kate. The letters were directed at different times in her life; her first year, preschool, grade school, college and college graduation.

Dinner Conversation, or maybe, not...

Five year old "Ben" chose a drumstick kids meal for supper. He was uncharacteristically excited about the real live chicken drumsticks included with the meal. So was Rocky, waiting, expectantly, under the table. Then Ben dropped a chicken bone. Almost instantly, Rocky, generally more persistent than Rambo, was at the doggy door with the chicken bone in his mouth. Since he responds to loud sharp commands, I was able to stop him by shrieking “ROCKY STOP” at the top of my lungs. Risking life and limb, I tried to remove the bone from between Rocky’s clenched teeth. His teeth were so tightly clamped that I snapped the bone in two. With three gross gulping sounds and no possibility of tasting the meat, the large end of the chicken bone went down Rocky’s throat, complete with jagged edge. Ben provided some unintentional comic relief waving his second drumstick and saying, “It’s alright, I have another one.” (Did he think I wanted the drumstick back so he could eat it?) I called Ben’s mom so tell her what happened and to find out what I should do. She called her vet and then called me back. I was to feed Rocky as much as he would eat. I gave him the rest of the broccoli off my plate and then let him lick Ben’s plate clean. After that he ate three bowls of dog food.

The next morning, Mom took Rocky to the vet for x-rays. He said “whoever fed him did an excellent job” He could barely see the bone. Now it was just a matter of waiting and watching. Because the parents were traveling for a few days , that fell to me. I was to report Rocky’s progress to the vet on Monday. Fortunately, Rocky seemed totally unaffected. This was a great relief.

I did think about what I could have done differently that night. Ben drops food. The dogs wait under the table expectantly. This happens all the time. What was different about that night was that the food was hazardous to the dogs. Next time Ben has a meal that is dangerous, I will put the puppies in mom’s office. It’s now two weeks later and Rocky is just fine. Whew!