17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
Tonight at bedtime Ellie told me, “Jesus died on the cross. That was bad news.”
I’m so glad it is Easter time – she will be so glad to hear the next part of the story!
Ellie was praying for her Daddy last night before bed.
“I pray that Daddy had a good dinner…pizza and salad….chicken and meat….banana bread…fruits and veggies….And he lived hapily ever after. The end.”
….Forecast through tomorrow for the foothills of western Denver (much more in other parts of the state).
Fresh powder in the high country. Lovely, huge snowflakes swirling to the ground outside my windows. No ice, no sleet. (Hear that my mid-western friends? – no ice, no sleet! even though it was a bummer to learn that March is known as the snowy-est month in Colorado.) It will be sunny and in the mid-50′s all weekend so the snow won’t be hanging around. Hannah already checked to see if we have sweet cocoa to warm her up after her tromp through the snow.
Daddy will probably be stuck in Oklahoma City for the night. Ellie, who I sometimes call “my porcupine” because she needs a hug the most when she is acting out the most is missing her Daddy. But we are focussing on the importance of Daddy’s safety over Daddy’s arrival today. Tomorrow will be better in order to get him here safe and sound.
Ellie has been into asking about what God made in creation and what man makes with the hands and wisdom God gives us.
Mom: Ellie, did you know that God made the stars in the sky and the sun and the moon and when he was finished, he said, “it is very …… (dangling to see if she will say “good”)”
Ellie: “…important!”
Mom: “…gooo-ood. Did you know that God made the water and the land and then he said, “it is very…. (hoping she got it…)”
Ellie: “….important!”
Mom: “…goo-ood. And then he put fishes in the ocean and birds in the air and then he said, “it is very….(eyebrows raised, hoping she gets the pattern…)”
Ellie: “….important!”
Mom: on a mission now to get some theology in the girl, “And then the made the lions, and the elephants, and the cows and the chickens. When he was done he said, “it is very….. (come on, now kiddo, you can do it…)”
Ellie: “good!…. and …important!”
Yeahhhh! Life with Ellie is very good.
When Hannah was a pre-schooler storytime at the library was a regular part of our routine and Hannah loved it every week (our librarian was a pro with kids and it was sort of like a whole pre-school class with crafts, songs, costumes, decorations). I tried story time with Ellie about a year ago and she didn’t enjoy herself at all. I dismissed it and thought she was maybe too young. I was wrong – today she was glued to me the whole time today refusing to participate in any song or activity. (She’s usually not clingy about classes – loving co-op and church and willingly going in without a backward glance.)
Not sure why she isn’t into storytime – she loves to read and to be read to…
On the other hand, when Hannah was a pre-schooler, I never looked at Ryan on a cold, wintry Saturday in January and said, “we’ve got to get this kid out of here, she is bouncing off the walls…and the couches, and the floors, and (oops!) the dogs!”
Right now, over their mac and cheese, they are both making plans to take Karate. “Hi-ya!” Look out for the Hale girls!
Here is a quote from my Adoption Specialist in a note about getting our immigration paperwork transferrred from St. Louis to Denver:
“You’ll need to take care of this soon, as you could be receiving a referral in the next few months.”
…and it just made me smile…
Hannah was at little bit of a loss today wanting to have someone to play with, but all the neighbor kids were in school. We are taking the rest of this week to get settled and visit with Mimi and Papa who stopped by to see us on their way home to Indiana from snowbirding in Arizona. We will jump in next week with a schedule and school. I think her loneliness for a playmate made her lonely for her buddies back in MO. So she spent a bit of time on my lap getting some hugs.
I decided we should get out of the house for a bit…
She was pleased when we headed out to the local library to get our card. She was delighted when she got her very own card. She was beaming when they handed her a sheet with several themes to choose for her card. Mom chose the skiers. Hannah went for the dalmatians. She made her book selections bargaining with me about how many she could check out today – I intentionally low-balled her knowing she would want more no matter how many I said!
Oh! AND they had self-check out like the grocery store where she swiped her card and checked through all her books and got a printed receipt.
That girl was in 7th Heaven!
When I returned from the grocery store yesterday there were dusty fingerprints way down low on the refrigerator handles. I think this is going to be a permanent feature of our new house – here’s the math: sandbox, sunshine, thirst, and a little one who loves to help herself to her cup in the fridge.
So the dynamics shift. She can get her own cup now, but I am left with the dusty fingerprints to wipe up.
********
When Hannah was this age she called the fridge “the fridger-idger”. And then one day, she got all the syllables in there and has said the full word “refrigerator” ever since. I think I am not going to worry about those dusty fingerprints…someday those little hands will be too big for playing in the sandbox.
We love our little house here in Littleton.
-The movers did a terrific job packing and moving our furniture. I don’t think I can say enough about how hard they worked and how kind they were to our family. They definitely were key to making this move as easy on us as possible.
-The weather has been sunny and in the 60′s. Ellie has a new home in the backyard – there is a huge sandbox! She has spent hours out there already. I can watch her from the window and I love to see a kid so immersed in play — fill, dump, pour, fill, dump, pour and on and on. I just have to catch her on her way back in because she is filthy – luckily she is still small enough to have a quick wash up sink-side.
-We walked to the neighborhood playground and much to Hannah’s delight there were a couple of sisters playing there who were 8 and 10. They had a grand time playing tag.
-Today we are going to a church close-by, do a little furniture shopping, and try to put some order to this house. Probably ought to get some groceries as my little ones are very tired of restaurants and I finally have the kitchen unpacked. We lucked upon a Chinese restaurant last night – they passed Ellie’s dumpling test (actually she ate a lot of everything) and Hannah was great guns about the chicken lo-mein. As we left I found their delivery menu which was very exciting since we used to live too far out for delivery of any kind.
-Ryan says we are on the downhill side of this move. Judging from the boxes and piles I am not so sure…but all things considered, things are moving along just fine.
