Tuesday

I've decided to quit mopping.  Who needs to do all that work when you have such helpful children...

         

"I've been giving Lucy kisses!"  (meet Lucy here: www.fivewalkers.com/)

As if anyone needed evidence of my excellent parenting skills...

 

And a reward for said skills... 

Actually, the single rose is from a sweet friend at our church who dropped by yesterday and delivered it;"a little happy," she said.  The red roses were from Mike, who has been gone for a little while and just wanted to say,"I love you and I miss you."  (That is a paraphrase of his actual card.  I don't believe in sharing very personal things on the internet.)

Thus endeth a day in our life. 

Lucy!

What does the name "Lucy" bring to your mind?  I think of The Chronicles of Narnia, and how Lucy is always the first one to see Aslan.  Oddly enough, "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" also pops into my head.  Charlie Brown's antagonizing friend Lucy also comes to mind.  Oh, and doesn't everybody love Lucy? 

I bet no one ever knew that there is another Lucy, happy, loveable and quite popular.  She is around here anyway.  Please, meet Lucy!

 

This is Michaela's creation.  And let me tell you, she is SPECIAL.  So don't mess with Lucy. 

Speaking of mess, though, Lucy is messy.  You can see that some of her features are deteriorating.  Sad, but that is what happens as we age, isn't it.  And this is especially true if you are colored with washable markers. 

Even though Lucy isn't quite as in tact as she used to be, she still receives lots of love and attention.  And Lucy enjoys all that love and attention.  In fact, her good mood and delightful disposition tend to rub off on everyone she comes in contact with. 

 

I wish I left such vivid traces of my sweet disposition and great attitude on everyone that I  came in contact with!  Maybe that can be a goal for me.  We can learn a lot from you Lucy, and we love you, even though you are a mess!

Tempered II

Last week, Michaela and Christian went to a paint-your-own-pottery place with some friends, and had a very good time.  I wish I had photos to share of the whole process but my brains just weren't functioning fully that day I guess.  Because every other day they operate in "full-function" mode.  It was just that one day things were a little off.  Seriously.

Anyway, we picked up the fired pieces yesterday and here they are:

They worked very hard on these projects and were proud of the end result.  I think they did a great job.  And I also think I could get addicted to painting pottery myself!  It looks like so much fun.  We will hopefully get to do this again sometime soon.  I see Christmas presents or something in the future...

Tempered

There are times when we don't get our way, that is just a fact of life.  Our little ones learn this fact at an early age, even though they don't understand it.  "Why not?  How come?  But I want  it!"  they say, or scream (with or without words).  Eliana is no different, and, at thirteen months, she is quite persistent, and determined, and willful, and confident, and persistent.  Oh, did I mention she's persistent?  Today she desperately wanted:  to type on the keypad, to get the camera, to stand up in multiple chairs around the house (which she can now climb into quite easily), to play the piano while Michaela was practicing, to write on Michaela's paper while she was doing her schoolwork, and NOT to take a bath (and boy, did she ever not want to do that tonight).  I try very hard to be consistent, especially with the standing up in a chair and not handling expensive "grown-up equipment."  She also had a bath, or a battle, whichever one you want to call it.  Good grief.  At any rate, the point is that unfortunately today she spent a lot of time in tears.  And please don't think I'm a terrible person, but I did get a picture: 

What a sweet, sad little face.  This was after a "No, you cannot type or have the camera" moment.  Those tears make me so sad, and, you know, as a mom I want to make them stop.  But I can't give in, or we'll be in BIG trouble, right?

Well, just so no one is too concerned with the girl's well-being (I am, after all, the kind of person who takes a picture of my daughter in the throes of self-pity and misery) here is what she looked like not five minutes later:

 

 She was eating cheese.  This calmed her soul at least for a minute.  She did spit the cheese out after she chewed it up.  I don't have a picture of that.

I love this girl, and I want her to be happy.  It is a struggle as a parent, at least for me, to stay sane enough to say, "no" at the right times, to pick those battles wisely, and to be consistent.  Sometimes it would be so much easier to let her stand in the chair, or sit on the school table.  But I do want to teach her to listen to what I say, and to obey.  These lessons start now, even though she's so small-she's smart as a whip.  And whips sting, don't they?  And even though it hurts me sometimes to stand strong (and take her out of the chair 72 times in a row, because remember, she's persistent) and make her sad, I hope that one day she realizes I want her to be safe and happy.  Strange how that works, isn't it?

Helping Hands

The kids can seem so big, they can act so grown-up, and want desperately to be independent.  But then something happens that shows how much they still need us as parents.  They aren't quite ready to be "on their own."  That sounds kind of dramatic when I'm talking about my 7 and 5 year-old kids, and my 1 year- old.  I'm telling you, though, there are times when I think they really think they can do it all by themselves.  And by "it" I mean live! The other day Christian, Eliana, and I dropped Michaela off at her Bible study and then headed back home.  We were on the second level of the church and I had the stroller so we took the elevator.  Christian hopped up onto the railing that runs along the inside of the elevator, right around where an adult's waist is, and he sort of sat on the railing at this crazy angle because, of course, they're not really made for riding, but what's fun is fun, right?  In the corner, where he was, the two railings meet but don't touch.  The elevator stopped on the first floor and I steered the stroller out and took a couple of steps thinking Christian would be right behind me. I heard this terrified call,"Mommy!  Mommy!"  I turned around and saw that he wasn't getting off of the rail, and he had this stricken look on his face.  I quickly backtracked and caught the doors before they shut.  I stepped over to where he was and saw that his shirt had gotten caught on one of the rails and so when he tried to hop down he was stuck.  It reminded me of  Rabadash in The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, except Christian realized that he was stuck and needed help.  I unhooked his shirt and he hopped down with a smile on his face, knowing that I had rescued him and all was well.

Moments like that remind me that in spite of all of the bravado, the intense independence, and even the rebellion Christian is still in need.  And so is Michaela.  Eliana obviously needs her parents' protection, help, and guidance (for what it's worth!).  And their need requires that I humbly serve.  All of this has been going around in my head for a couple of days, and it illustrates to me our childlike dependence on God, our Father.  We like to think we are capable of doing things our own way and being just fine, thank you.  But then, we try to move on and realize we're stuck.  We're stuck and we can't go a bit further without someone's aid.  I pray that I will realize sooner rather than later that there is One to call out to, who will help me quickly and lovingly.  And I pray that knowing that will help me to be there to give my children aid, and to point them to their heavenly Father who can help them more than I can.