Fairy Tales & Butterflies

I know I mentioned we were going on a date over the weekend. In hindsight, I really don't think "date" was the proper word. It was one of the most fun, fairy tale-like nights. The people we were with were enough to make it memorable, but then to add on a horse-drawn wagon ride at sunset, candlelit dinner under the stars, and some of the best food I've ever put in my mouth, then it just turns in to ridiculously amazing. I did not have my camera because two more talented photographers and writers were there. We were so glad to be a part and thankful for the love, thought, and work that went in to making it so wonderful. {And for my awesome aunt who kept the kids for us!}

This arrived in the mail Friday. I opened it immediately. Inside were five small painted lady caterpillars in a jar with enough "food" to feed them until they move on to the next stage of their metamorphosis. At first we thought only 3 of them survived the long journey from California. But as of today, they have all awakened from their mail-induced coma and are eating, excreting, and growing exponentially.



Butterflies are a pretty fun subject and inspire lots of creativity. In a few short weeks, we will have watched  caterpillars transform in to beautiful butterflies. And then we get to release them. That is, if they survive getting picked up once every three minutes and shaken by little hands.

Her paper says, and I quote:

"Maxilla is her name. She drinks nectar from her proboscis that mens long tonue. and this is my butterfly. also by elle. i rote it all by my sellf even that. even that the end."

All Good

He's all good. With the help of a few eye doctor friends, we decided it had to be some sort of bite and not a wrestling injury. His eye is almost back to normal today and there's been no bruising. I'm thankful for more knowledgeable friends who helped my husband us know everything would be okay {and saved us a trip to the doctor}.

The annual Azalea Dogwood Trail is this weekend and our house happens to be on the trail. I'm thinking about getting my old hoop skirt, antebellum dress and umbrella and waving to everybody from the front lawn. We also have an exciting date with some great friends tomorrow night! Happy Weekend!

Puffy

I think it's safe to say we've had some sort of eye trauma. He woke up like this and has remained puffy all day. He was involved in some minor yard wrestling with Steven yesterday afternoon and maybe he took an accidental jab to the eyebrow. It has not, for one second, slowed him down today:).

My Baby Love

How in the world is he already 21 months old?

Where to start with this one...

He loves to run. After breakfast this morning, he did about 20 laps around the ottoman at full speed, smiling the whole time. When we play outside, he'll just take off running in circles. Perhaps some soccer in the future?

He is "talking" a lot. Mostly it goes like this, "Mommy, Daddy, ashish waaa beee oo toool lush." He enjoys a good sentence. Unfortunately, we can't make out much yet. He has gotten in to a bit of a habit of, "I want dis!", and we are in the habit of replacing with, "May I have it please?"

He likes to dance when Steven plays the guitar. And he loves watching the "Just Dance Kids" Wii game. Specifically the Wiggles, Do the Monkey. Or Who let the Dogs Out. He won't watch many cartoons but thanks to big brother and sister, he's gotten in to the old Scooby-Doos and Wild Kratts.

He has a very happy disposition. Even when it comes to going to bed. When we say it's time for bed, he gives Elle and Grady night-night hugs and then goes to his room. Sometimes even holding my hand. He's the only one I can still rock. **Sigh**

He has made doing school a bit tough because he is at a stage where he just likes to tear, dump out, and generally make a mess that he is not capable of cleaning up. And he has not learned the most important lesson of where crayons can and can't be used. 

He is a pretty good eater. A little picky with vegetables, but eventually he'll learn to eat them even if they aren't his favorite {because that's what all smart, healthy adults do, right?}. He loves milk, juice, blueberries, strawberries, and any form of bread or cracker. He will eat a lot of "mixed" foods like pastas, Mexican, casseroles, etc. Like his mother, he loves sweets.

He has really big, beautiful eyes. These eyes get very sad when we go to church. Sometimes as soon as we pull in to the parking lot. He does fine once we're gone but the drop-off is still rough. He is a sweet, happy, healthy little guy and I am so, so thankful he's been entrusted to us.

My Middle Love

I'm glad I don't cry over spilled milk. Or half bottles of syrup. Or bowls of dry cereal. These things happen a lot at my house and I would spend a lot of time crying. That was just breakfast this morning.

This boat captain here is something else.

The other day he said, "Mommy, a bubble just came out of my bottom!"

Tonight, I was helping Elle brush her teeth while he was sitting on the potty. He said, "Oh, I need some privacy!" I said, "It's ok buddy, we're not looking."

And he said, "Oh the indignity."

Seriously.

Some days I forget he's only 3 1/2. And then when he screams like his arm is cut off and cries uncontrollably for 10 minutes because I said he can't climb a spiral staircase, I remember.

But he is so much fun. And such a joy to my heart. He is quick to give thanks and is so enthusiastic with you and for you. He loves climbing trees, swinging, riding his bicycle, watching TV and playing Peter Pan. Just recently, I caught him outside with Elle's roller skates on. He said, "Mom, you hold your arms out like this to help balance." And then he barely caught the pole before the skates slid out from under him.

He's been doing great at church on Sundays. We've signed him up for Mother's Day Out two days a week next year and he's actually excited about "school". He surprises me sometimes too with the things he knows. Honestly, I wasn't even sure he knew all his letters. But he knows them and all the letter sounds. He doesn't particularly like writing or coloring or anything involving holding a pencil or crayon. But he'll paint anything and smash play dough with the best of them. He seems to really enjoy music. We listen to classical music sometimes and he can remember the names of the songs and the composers. I think I have a tendency to compare him and Elle and I forget 1) she's 2 years 2 months older than him and 2) she's a girl. So that's not a fair comparison.

Anyway, this is longer than I meant for it to be. I felt like I hadn't written real "updates" on each of the kids in a while and I wanted to do that.

I'll leave you with this: Steven was out of town last night and I watched two episodes of Hoarders on TV. I spent most of the day cleaning and putting away and throwing away and straightening up. The back of my van is full of stuff to donate. This one woman's stuff filled up a 3200 square foot church auditorium and she'd had it all in a 1300 square foot house. It really is mind-boggling to me. Nothing like a little Hoarders to jump start that spring cleaning! I really think the trick is not only to purge, but to stop buying! You hear me! We don't need half of what we think we need.

Impromptu Trip

We took a little impromptu trip to Troy last night. Steven had some work-related business there and the rest of us tagged along. I called my aunt and uncle who live there to see if we could come by and visit them after Steven was finished working. They did better than just "visit" and got us tickets to join them at the Troy baseball game! I was interested to see how the kids would react since the only game Elle's ever been to was a junior college game of my cousin's in Montevallo a couple years ago, when Grady was a baby. We sat right behind home plate, so they were fairly enthralled with all the sights and sounds at first. And then my uncle taught them how to spit sunflower seeds and they were golden.

Elle brought some home with her and practised this morning until they ran out. The funny thing is, she cracks the shell, eats the seed, then puts the shell in her mouth just to spit it out. Chris, you would be so proud.

It was fun to be in Troy again. That's where Steven and I both went to college, where we met, and where we spent our newlywed years. It's also where we both became believers. It has changed a lot and I felt pretty old, but it's still a very cool place. I wouldn't be sad at all if any of our three children decide to go there.

Mount Sinai

We had a small volcanic eruption today. A little playdough, baking soda, vinegar and some good books.

I asked Elle to think of a name for our volcano. "Mount Sinai! Because it's a real mountain." I said, "Oh yeah? Where is it?" She said, "I don't know but Moses climbed it."

I was a little disappointed to find we had no red food coloring this morning when I knew we had red food coloring. So Mount Sinai had white lava. It did tint a little pink  from the playdough after the fourth eruption.

And then they destroyed it.

Our computer was sick with a virus of some sort but I think my tech-savvy husband has made it well. And while I'm talking about him, can I just say he earned a new position as official bathroom cleaner. Without getting too detailed about the condition of our toilets, the one in our bathroom had some staining in the bowl that even our landlords had pointed out. I have cleaned the toilet a few times in the 2 1/2 months we've been here and the stain remained. After he cleaned it on Saturday, we had a shiny white, gleaming toilet bowl! I said "How in the world did you get those stains out?" He replied, "Just a little elbow grease." And then his chest expanded a few inches. And that, ladies, is why I love him:).



Life

**Sometimes I hesitate to share sad stuff on here. I feel like I have to have funny, good stories all the time. But, it's my blog and the last few days have been difficult and I want to write about it! Funny ones will follow, I promise:).

It really is a sad world we live in. There is so much beauty, so much grace. But so much pain. Deep, bone crushing pain. How in the world do we make it? How do we cope when friends' marriages crumble? When young mothers and babies are killed in car accidents? How in the world do we not succumb to depression and despair? We have to find the beauty. We have to see the grace. We must remember there is a home waiting where there is no more sadness. Where our bodies are whole and cancer is not a word. Where relationships are never broken. And sin is no more. We have to be thankful in all things. I'm not sure I know how to do that. I am trying.

Today, I'm thankful for this face.

And oh, so thankful for this one.

I'm thankful that this one needs Zyrtec and Nasonex and not chemotherapy.

We celebrated communion this past Sunday at church. I was overwhelmed with sorrow for these friends and family of mine that are struggling. And I remembered that Jesus took on the sickness of the WHOLE WORLD. My soul feels like this over a few! Can you fathom his anguish over the world? I really do long for home. I long for that wholeness. Until then, I will continue, in His power, to see the beauty and the grace and the good. I will give thanks to Him. I will not try to understand His ways. I will try not to ask Why? And I'll pray that He will come quickly...

Camel Allergies

It's been another fun week around here. We are still enjoying lots of time outside playing. I have started doing Elle's morning school session at 8:00 {mostly still in pajamas} and that has helped things go a bit more smoothly. Reese is not quite as clingy and needy at 8:00 as he is at 9:30. They are all begging to go outside by then!

We celebrated Elle's 100th day of school. She could eat 100 cherries. She would like 100 flowers. She can count to 100. She has seen 100 bees. And she just might have 100 allergies.

We subjected her to this torture again:

And the results were similar to 3 years ago. She had an excellent year of health in 2010, not having a single sick pediatrician visit, but the allergens here are a bit more than she can handle on her own. All that means is that she needs to be back on the two allergy medications daily. A few weeks ago, she asked if she could be tested again to see if she was still allergic to "cats, dogs and camels" because she thought she might want a pet. I'm still not sure how she knows she's allergic to camels. The biggest whelps on her back are the two cat ones. The other big ones are dog and cedar trees. There were several reactions to some weeds, grasses and molds. Thankfully for my housekeeping, dust was not one. Unfortunately, she had to be off her medicines all week and she is paying for it with a severely congested, runny nose and cough.

I know some of my family and friends think I am an animal hater. I am not. I think animals are great and amazing creations. If you want to have animals, that is awesome. But if I don't let my daughter pet your animals or let them lick her face, this is why. I thank you for understanding:).

I have to say that she was incredibly brave. We prayed together before we went in and God was gracious. She sat in my lap with her arms around me, bare back braced for the pain. The anticipation got her and she cried and begged not to do it. But when the nurse actually started, Elle said quietly with each prick, "Ow... Ow... Ow... Ow...". Later, she said the itching afterwards was the worst part.

We are going to California Yogurt Craze this afternoon as her reward for being so brave. Happy weekend!