Bye Bye Birdies

Well, we had an incident today involving, C-Ray, the cat, and the birds in a confined space. The birds are fine, but Mom was traumatized enough that she decided it was finally time for the birdies to find a new home. I have arrangements with a lady who is supposed to come and get them tomorrow. I broke the news to Faithie, who cried her eyes out and locked herself in a room with them to "spend some time with them" before they left. Let it be known that she hasn't spent more than 5 consecutive minutes with them since a week after they arrived in our home. After those tactics garnered no sympathy from me, I found a note on my desk. There is a picture of a bird drawn on one side, and the following note on the other:

Dear Mom,
I wish you could give me another chane (chance). I konw (know) I haven't been giveing them food and water. I promie (promise) I will tack (take) better care of them. (Picture of a crying face drawn here)
Sadly,
Faithie

I must be a horrible mom because I wanted to laugh hysterically. And I don't feel the least bit bad about giving her birds away. I am proud however, of her writing skills and knowledge of proper format for a letter- I think it's pretty good for a first grader- all that tuition is paying off!

"The Three Little Pigs," as Told by C-Ray

"There were 3 little pigs. One had a house made of bricks, one had a house made of sticks, and one had a house made of straws."

Can't you just picture in his little 5 year old mind a house built out of thousands of drinking straws?

Ponderings of a Tired Mommy

I have decided that there must be a flashing neon sign above my bedroom door that says, "Please Come In and Wake Me Up." The curious thing about this sign is that it is only visible between the hours of 1 AM to 5 AM and to people under the age of 8. How Little One can see it from her crib, I'll never know. Maybe it sends out an audible signal to her. We seriously need a king-sized bed so a child or two can fit without my having to cling for dear life to the edge of the mattress. Somehow, I was deluded into thinking that once babies "slept through the night," my sleep would be returned to me. No one told me that kids never really "sleep through the night." There is always one with a cough, or a bad dream, or needing to go to the bathroom, or wanting a drink, or an itchy mosquito bite, or cold, or hot, or any other number of reasons why the mysterious sign beckons them to my room. Mack tells me that when they are big, and no longer need Mommy in the middle of the night, I will miss it. That's because they don't come to his side of the bed.

Chivalry is Dead

C-Ray was heading out to play with the girls yesterday, with his pirate sword in hand. As he was leaving, I said, "Cool sword, buddy."
C-Ray replied, "Thanks, Mom."
Me- "Are you going to protect your sisters with it outside?"
C-Ray- "No. Why would I do that?"

But on the flipside, he gets upset if any of us "girls" opens or holds a door while we are out, because that's "a boy job." Maybe there's hope.

Starting 'Em Young

Apple's favorite job to help with is washing dishes. I told her that was very convenient because it is my least favorite job. Anyway, this time Little One wanted to "help." They were SO cute!

Smiles!

I love Little One on her knees here- trying to get a better reach

Lessons in Eternity... From a Toddler

For those who can't keep up, Little One is our youngest- she is about 20 months right now. Apple is our second-born- she is 6. The other day, I was upstairs sorting laundry, and Apple and Little One were downstairs in our dining room. The spot where I was sitting provided me full access to hear everything going on with them. Apple was working on her Valentines for her class, and Little One kept trying to climb up onto the table and get to them. Now Apple is a GREAT big sister- she loves Little One, loves to play with her and help out with her, but she was getting frustrated and annoyed. After listening for a little bit, I finally called down, "Apple, she just wants the suckers you are attaching. Give her one of your extras and she'll leave you alone." Apple replied, "Mom, I don't have any extras- I gave them all to C-Ray." Pleased with her reason for not having any extras, I said, "You can give her one of Faithie's - her box is in the kitchen."

My intent was for Apple to either give Little One one of her own, then go get one of Faithie's to replace it, or to go by herself into the kitchen and get one, and bring it to Little One. But, in typical 6 year old fashion, Apple had her own plan. I begin to hear her say, "Come on, Little One. Let's go in the kitchen and get you a sucker! ...Come on!... Let's go!... We'll get you one from the kitchen... Little One... Mom, she's not coming!" Chuckling, I thought to myself, "Yeah, good luck with that, Apple- getting a toddler to leave the candy she can see to follow you for something she can't see." Suddenly, the gravity of that thought hit me.

That is exactly what we are called to do as Christians- forsake the tangible rewards and desires of this world, to follow something completely intangible- a God whom we have never seen with our eyes, based on a promise of things to come in heaven, and a faith that we truly will find fulfillment in this life by doing it His way. And, like my irrational toddler, how stubborn we are in our view of the tangible objects of our affection. We refuse to listen to the promises of God through Scripture and the wise counsel and instruction of those who know more than we do, which would actually help us attain the things that will satisfy our souls. Instead, we staunchly hold fast to our desire for worldly things we can't attain, and that wouldn't truly satisfy us even if we did.

As I sat upstairs listening, I kept thinking how foolish my Little One was being- to stay focused on something that she was never going to get, when Apple was promising her exactly what she wanted, she simply had to trust and follow to receive it. How must God view us- with our foolish stubborness leading us to frustration and emptiness, when all we have to do is simply trust and follow Him?

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
Jim Elliot

Public Service Reminder

A four year old boy plus a can of soda stolen from the fridge without permission plus a cable box will result in an inconvenient trip to the cable store to get a new one.

Which Animal Says...

Yesterday, Little One was laying on the floor while I changed her diaper. Apple was sitting next to her, showing her a book of animals and telling her what each says. Little One was doing a great little job repeating all of her moos, quacks, and chirps. Then Apple coughed, and Little One repeated her with the cutest little fake cough!

Addendum

A follow-up note to the story of C-Ray saying that the cleaning aisle at Wal-Mart smelled like Aunt J: Apple was not with us that day and had no idea that he had ever made that comment. She did come with us this week, and as we walked down that aisle, she said, "Mom, it smells really good right here. It smells like Aunt J's house!"

Old as the Hills

This morning, as I was combing Faithie's hair for school, she asks me, "Mom, did they have a vaccine for chickenpox when you were born?" I replied, "No, it hadn't been invented yet." Her answer? "Yeah, I didn't think so. We learned in school that way back in the old days, like when you were little, they didn't have the vaccine for chickenpox yet." Gee, thanks...