A Heart To Heart With My Daughter

As I was crossing the great room picking up toys and sweaters strewn about I heard soft crying overhead.  I looked up and there she was hanging over the side of the catwalk; tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What is it sweetie?  Why are you crying?"  I said quite incredulous, because I swear we just read a wonderful bedtime story and hubby piggybacked her to bed and she was smiling and laughing all the way.

These moments happen without warning;  often when least expected.  It almost always catches me off guard, because I'm never prepared for the fact that my little girls are growing up much faster than I expect.  I wish I could slow it down;  sometimes stop it altogether.  And often I don't even know the answers myself and I scramble through thoughts and words looking for something smart and insightful to say. 

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"Mommy, please don't ever leave me!  Please don't go to heaven!!  I don't want you to die!"  she said, now sobbing loudly.

My heart skipped a beat because I think most of us struggle with this one, even when we are old and all grown up.  "Honey, I am not going to leave until I'm old and grey!"  (I know.  Lets not get technical!  I'm speaking with a girl that turned six years old last week.)

"How old was great grandmother when she died?"

"She was more than 90 years old!"  I blurted out.

"But I'm scared!  I don't want to lose you!"

"Fudge, by the time you are fifteen you probably will be wishing I was not around!"  I said in an attempt to lighten up the conversation.

"That will never happen!!  I want you to stay with me until I'm sixty years old!!" she protested vehemently.

"I will not leave until you tell me to, OK?  I will be walking around with my rickety old cane squawking at you all day, until you  tell me to get out!"  And for special effect I walked around squawking and bent over with a pretend cane shaking back and forth.  That at least brought a faint smile to her face.

After a few more of these exchanges I realized that this was one of those times I really have to have a heart to heart with my children.  So as I got settled in between them; I took a deep breath and told them what I've learned the hard way.

"We have to have faith, girls.  Living your life worried and afraid of all the "what if's!" is not the way God wish for us to live our lives.  We all have some fears and concerns, but we should not let these overtake our thoughts and lives.  It can make our bodies sick and deprive us of living full, happy and exciting lives!  We have to lay these worries and fears down and choose faith, hope and love to envelope our hearts, so we can truly live and be alive.

Nothing has ever been accomplished with fear and worry.   Still, I sometimes feel worried too, but we have to have courage and believe everything will be OK!  And besides, you are not going to get rid of me that easily!"

"Are you really going to walk around with a cane when you are old?" my other daughter asked.

"Well,  maybe I will get one of those 4X4's with the wheels!   It might be a little easier to move around!"  I said, grateful to see the light returning to Fudge's eyes.

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A Magical Birthday

"Ahhh, home sweet home!" they exclaimed while twirling around the kitchen floor, magic wands in hand.  "It is so nice to be home again!  Look how the vegetables have grown this week!"   They even sound like they are one year older, I thought to myself.

Birthday cake for breakfast, a makeover at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique,

lunch with the princesses at Cinderella's Royal Table, street parties, a wild and crazy ride around Space Mountain, Mickey's Philharmagic, the main street electrical parade

and the Wishes Nighttime Fireworks Spectacular filled their birthday with magical moments from the time they got up at sunrise until 11:30PM when we finally called it a day. 

Our feet felt like we've returned from the Trail of Tears but other than the hundreds of pictures and gleeful memories recalled, it was the only proof that this was not just a dream, but a wonderful reality, as well as the highlight to our trip visiting Walt Disney World resort this week!

And We Are Off

Knight has been following us around the house;  tail twitching side to side.  He was quite annoyed.

All the bags;  the washing;  the packing..........He knows something is up.

We dropped him off at the cat hotel this weekend.  Finally we were off for some fun in the sun.  Cannot wait!

Spring Break Test Drive

This week has been a serious test drive for me.  Like "lets push the pedal all the way down to the floor and see what this baby can do!"  kind of test drive.  The girls had a week long Spring break and I had quarterend deadlines at work.   It was the perfect opportunity to try out having them around all the time while under huge time pressures at work.  My opinion being if I can make worse case scenario work then we are going to be better than fine next year when homeschooling the girls.

And even though I worked one evening I will do so again in a heartbeat, because I got to

play hopscotch,

make some ooey gooey mud pies

fly kites, dance around the great room until breathless, eat ice cream, read books, make crafts and

go to a local ranch with animals galore to see, with our girls, when we felt like it.

The ranch was an absolute delight to them.  A horse drawn wagon traversing a scenic, winding route with lots of stopovers to feed deer, oxen, ostriches, bison, giraffes, emus and alpacas.

To say they loved it is the understatement of the week.  When we left they already asked when we can go back again.

I have so many ideas floating around in my head.  I cannot wait to get started on this adventure.

Some Food for Thought

“That work which is of most importance to

society is the bringing-up and instruction of the children—in the

school, certainly, but far more in the home, because it is more

than anything else the home influences brought to bear upon the   

child that determine the character and career of the future man or

woman.”
-Charlotte Mason 

Easter

Easter has always been one of the major holidays we celebrate around here. 

We dyed and decorated Easter eggs.  We've baked and decorated our bluebird cupcakes for Sunday's lunch after church.  And no Easter will be complete without delicious hot cross buns!

We had our Easter egg hunt in our very own backyard this year.  Not a planned event, but turning lemons into lemonade is something I've learned to do.  When a local Easter egg hunt ran out of eggs within the first five minutes, mom decided to take matters into her own hands.

You can just imagine how happy I was when my kids exclaimed:  "This is the best Easter egg hunt ever!  Can we always have our Easter egg hunts at home?  We like it so much better!"  Yes, I think I did pull a few strings to ensure I have some home court advantage.  Like two golden eggs and special prize Easter packs filled with all kinds of goodies to enjoy, but if you knew me you will know I don't do this to spoil my kids, but rather because I want for them to remember these moments; to celebrate life and to rejoice in everything it has to offer.  And what mom does not love being hugged, kissed and told how much her children love her?

We took a picture with the Easter Egg bunny, but I'm sad to say they already figured out that he is pretend, because "he is way too big to be a bunny" and they "saw his human wrists sticking out as well as his neck from under the bunny face".  But they still loved and enjoyed the whole idea.

As they grow up things will change but the great thing is we all grow up together, as a family.