A dry and thirsty land where there is no water

It has been over a month since I wrote, which is sad, but true. It seems I have become super busy and super tired and therefore during my child's naptime I am either working or sleeping. Plus, we in Mobile have started returning to our normal summertime schedule of thunderstorms in the afternoon, which makes me want to take a nap or more specifically, not be on the the computer during the storm. Here are some things that have been going on lately at the Hodges house:

-Drought. We have been experiencing a severe drought, which means my lawn is dying and I have to water my flowers every day or every other day in order for them to survive. When I water, my 18 month old "helps" me, but ends up squishing the flowers with her little watering can, or sticking her hand in the flow from my hose, and getting soaking wet as the water drips down her arm.

It is either feast or famine on the Gulf Coast. Last year we had record rainfall due to multiple tropical storms and hurricanes hitting us directly or to the east or west of us. Now we're praying for a nice tropical depression to give us some relief!

-Broken bones. My little Ruthie fractured her arm two weeks ago while we were visiting my in-laws. She was riding a very unthreatening little rocking horse, and fell off into a pile of pillows. This seemed to be an ok thing- the pillows cushioned her fall. But she cried and cried so we thought she must have landed wrong and maybe sprained her wrist. When I took her to the doctor on Monday morning, the doctor felt her arm and said, yes, it is broken. The ulna and the radius. I was really shocked. You just never know- she's fallen from greater heights and on hardwood floors and bounced right back. So little Ruth has a hot pink cast from her knuckles to just above her elbow. It is very pitiful.

She plays well in spite of the cast, but gets frustrated sometimes and pats it derisively. We tell her it is going to help her arm get better, and, isn't it so pretty? She is sort of convinced and returns to her play. We go Monday to get a smaller cast, we hope. My camera is broken, but I will try to post a picture of the cast soon.

-I am now 24 weeks pregnant, and doing well. I'm not too huge, and I've had a pretty good energy level. Little Boy Hodges is sitting lower than Ruthie did, so I haven't had as much indigestion as with that pregnancy. I've eaten a lot of pickles this time too. I love pickles in general, especially Claussen's kosher dills, but I desire them greatly of late.