Time compression

So So much has happened in the last several months. E's birthday, with a splendid M&M birthday cake and, to her delight, her first Bible, was followed by her dropping her afternoon nap completely and losing her front two bottom teeth. K's birthday cake was more of a flop. . .or the candles were, at least. The cake hadn't cooled, and the warm temperature melted the bottom of the candles, which fell out of their holders. Doesn't it look like he's blown the candles over?

Our last trip of this "winter" was to Cincinatti, OH, to see friends, relatives, and the Creation Museum. Our plans were Providentially changed, and we got blizzarded into our hotel room and saw, well, our hotel room. And the next-door local Meijer. The girls and I took a trip with my mom to hear a senior piano recital at Wheaton College in Illinois. This classic picture shows that my siblings and I aren't the only ones to hold a three-way conversation in the "everyone has the floor at once" style.

When spring came, we planted a garden. I say "we," but really K and the girls did the majority of the work while I stayed inside feeling queasy. Here are some shots of L watering the apple tree, the dandelion plant, and the true garden, with the help of her enthusiastic sisters. Our most beautiful bulletin board to date was assembled between Easter and the following month. The best of the girls' projects get pinned up here. We had a lovely long spring break this semester, and are just finishing up the year before heading out to K's sister's wedding. The girls are already plotting what they will wear. Their junk jewelry is high on the list of "glorious" apparel appropriate for the occasion.

Courage

Today was a rough day at the end of a rough week. We came out of the weekend with a little stomach virus: enough to make everyone but me sick to varying degrees, but not enough to justify shutting down any work loads completely. I'm thankful that I never did succumb!

K sold our '85 Plymouth Reliant this week. Monday night we showed it to the prospective buyer, and she picked it up Tuesday morning. It was sad to see the car go: that dear old thing that took us down to TN on our honeymoon, and that I "personalized" when I was expecting L (the lamp-post didn't fare too well, either). Tuesday it was warm enough to walk outside. I bundled the girls just to be sure they were warm enough. E was alternately too hot or too cold the duration of the walk. In the process of taking off and putting on again, she inadvertently dropped a mitten, and we had to double back for it. I was so thankful we found it within a block of where we discovered it had gone missing!

The warm weather was not to last: it's been bitterly cold here for a couple of days. I've decided that, on the whole, I prefer "warm" snows to cold wind. Wednesday, we found the lid of our turtle sand-box in the front yard, and had to wrestle with the wind to get it back into the back yard. I was thankful that I didn't have to bundle everyone up that day to run around the neighborhood looking for a green turtle top! That afternoon, the four of us who were interested painted our toenails. Not alternating red and green, which we did in December, but all shades of pink, purple and red. But first, I spent a good 45 minutes or so trying to salvage the library book that J dumped in the bathtub while I wasn't looking. I'm thankful the older girls alerted me as the second book was poised to follow hard after. We were able to rescue it from a similar fate. Tomorrow when we go for story hour at the library, I will be buying a new, slightly wavy, book for our shelf. I'm thankful it's a book that I like!

Nothing too earth-shattering happened today: just a long day at the end of a series of long days. I tried to remember Hezekiah's words to the people of Israel.

"Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah." II Chron. 32:7

I was not very successful in being strong and courageous. When K said that he'd be home later than planned, and would that be okay, I didn't outright say no, but I sure thought it. And it must have come across to him, because he revised his plan and brought some work home so he could be here with me. I'm such a wimp! Strong and courageous? Do I get another shot at that one tomorrow?