We were having a quick bite to eat tonight. Ellie was being helpful and wanted to get out the bowls for our mac and cheese, corn, and salad. She didn’t believe me at first that this divided plate is really just like a bowl. She cracked up and walked around for several minutes saying, “Is it a bowl or is it a plate?”
Maybe in the spirit of the “spork” we can call this handy invention a plowl??? blate??? Hmmmm.
goofy
How to motivate an 8 year old…Tell her that if she can get all of her schoolwork finished by tomorrow she won’t have to take any work to Indiana while visiting Mimi and Papa for Thanksgiving for a whole week!
The pencil was flying!
whether we adopt a boy or a girl. I will be thrilled with a third girl to round out our princesses or I will be thrilled to use blue in our nursery and watch Ryan toss a football with a son.
But, I am beginning to believe Ryan really, really needs a boy. It seems time and again Daddy is outnumbered and a bit overwhelmed with all the trappings that girls bring.
He loves his girls – wouldn’t trade them for the world – but he is beginning to make his wishes known that, gee, it is time for a boy.
(The prologue to this post: Dancing with the Stars has been on – in HD, on our new widescreen – two nights in a row. There was a small tussle for the remote and talk about NCIS, but alas majority won.)
One Child, Two Mothers
One mother who waits, and wonders, anticipating how this New One will fit into the rhythm of her family. She is bound in hope, and love, and tenderness for this new child. They will live together in the here now and also in the promise of the future.
Another mother whose bonds of love for this child is filled with pain and such immense grief none of us could bear to understand.
From one mother to another mother — God bless your soul, there are no other words.
One child, Two Mothers
One Redeemer who holds us all in His Hands
It is a beautiful day in Missouri, but a bit chilly. The kids, and Daddy, were outside playing on the swing set enjoying the sunshine. When the girls came in they were sure they needed hot chocolate (with lots of mini-marshmallows) to warm up. Ellie couldn’t remember what it was called and kept saying “sweet cocoa”.
It must have sufficiently warmed her. She went straight into her room, grabbed some books and settled in for a rest.
Ryan has traveled a ton this summer/fall for work and even for ministry. It has been a little crazy having him gone so much and it has worn on each of us at one time or another.
He just booked our flights to Florida to visit his family over Christmas. I have been bracing myself for “the grand total” for purchasing four airplane tickets….
…$60!!! It took me a few minutes to understand that is the total, not the per person cost. We all travel free, we just have to pay the fee to convert our points to miles for the return flight home. I will try to remember this blessing when we are booking to Addis Ababa next spring.
My girls are enjoying playing together and being together a lot these days. My sister is only two years older than me and most of my childhood memories involve she and I being together. I always liked being the tag-a-long behind my two older siblings (not sure if they were so wild about it). I am seeing this beautiful bond form as my girls are not only sisters because we say so, but because they love each other and enjoy one another’s company.
This is book is a family tradition – it has been in my family since I was very little. Recently, on one of the last nice weather days, I thought the girls were outside playing on the swing set or in the woods. If found them snuggled in on the front porch reading our collection of Thanksgiving books. To Hannah (and hopefully Ellie) books are a treasure and she loves it when the fall books come out for the season.
I find them snuggled in somewhere at least once a day enjoying a good book together. Hannah is very sweet to read to Ellie so much. Her love of books will translate to Ellie as she makes this investment of time with her little sister.
They are pretending that Ellie is a baby bird and has just hatched from her egg (the blankets). Hannah, the Mommy Bird, feeds her baby worms and is so happy she has finally hatched. Seriously, Ellie cannot get enough of this game.
Ellie and I were looking at a publication today by a ministry who works in several parts of the world to help children and orphans. (My sweet friend, Sheri, will be going to Ethiopia early next year with this group to minister to young girls who have been rescued from the sex trade.)
There was a photo of a very sickly, extremely malnourished African infant in the arms of one of the missionaries. It was a difficult picture to see and I would have maybe shielded Ellie from it had I realized it in time.
She was so lovely. She said, “Oh, that baby. I love that baby. I want to love that baby.”
Thankfully, Little One, Someone loves that child.
Seeing that child in the missionary’s arm was almost like seeing Jesus holding that dear one. We are his hands and feet. We dare not under emphasize how His love can be borne through us.
A couple of nights after Hannah turned eight I had a very realistic dream that she had just left for college. I even woke up thinking that I should call my neighbor whose daughter went off to college last year for advice.
I WAS SO RELIEVED to realize that she is only eight! I have another DECADE…
I didn’t go back to sleep though.
