Prayer

Yesterday during the wee hours, I sat on my bed rubbing Nathan's back to soothe him back to sleep. It had been a restless night for him. He had been struggling to breathe all night. He seemed to settle down and then I heard him offer a prayer. While I couldn't understand every word, I definately knew he was praying when he closed with a loud, "Amen." I was thinking how sweet it was that he was praying in his sleep when he blurted, "I said, 'Amen.'" I quickly said, "Amen." His face relaxed as he returned to a restful slumber. How blessed I am to be reminded what a wonderful gift prayer truly is and how a young child's faith in Prayer's power is answered.

Funeral for Florene

This weekend I had the priviledge of having my Ellgen Grandparents, my Uncle David Ellgen, and my mom come and stay with me as we gathered for Great Aunt Florene Pavlicek's funeral. I was so grateful that Noah offered to stay home from his very first Scout Camp-out so Ray could come with me to the viewing. As I was standing in front of the casket, my Grandma came and stood beside me. My Grandma squeezed me tight as she expressed how at times like these our faith in the next life is tested because we really don't know exactly what is going on where those who have passed are. I squeezed her back as I testified that I know exactly where those spirits are. "They are here all around us, right now." I shared with her my distinct impression that I had had earlier that day that Florene's husband, Great-Grandparents Pace, and Margie were there to embrace Florene's spirit as well as be with her now to surround us with their love. Through tears, my Grandma asked me if maybe Beth was perhaps there too? Ashamed that I hadn't mentioned Beth, I quickly added, "Of Course Beth is here too." "Absolutely." We both squeezed again. Words restrict my ability to convey my feelings. So, in my inadequacy, I will simply state that I am so blessed to have been there and had this experience. Grandma and I then agreed that Florene looked beautiful--younger and happy. How difficult it must be to be the oldest in a family and have your younger sisters pass on before you. My Grandma is my hero.

Kiss it Better

As my mom sat on the floor, Nathan thought she was inviting him to jump all over her. Concerned for her safety, I prompted my mom to show him her "owie." Nathan traced the long scar tenderly with his finger. He asked if the DR had cut her open to pull something out. Although I haven't offered to show him my C-section scar, I'm sure that is why he assumed something must come out when a DR and Surgery are involved. He sat intently listening as Grandma explained how the DR put a new knee in.
Perhaps in his desire to demonstrate empathy, he pulled up his pant leg to find the slightest remain of a scratch and then shared the horrible account of his owie to Grandma. Grandma asked him if I had kissed it to make it feel better. He said, "Yes!" I suggested he kiss Grandma's owie to help her feel better, and he retorted that I should kiss it. Grandma & I laughed, she thinking her scar was too scary for him to kiss and I thinking Nathan has great confidence in the healing powers of my kisses. Regardless of what Nate meant, he later went to Grandma and kissed her now covered knee.

Indulgent Exceptions

Noah has missed having his buddy, Etrick, around. He and his family moved to D.C. this past summer. For the past two months the rumors of Etrick making a two week visit in January stirred dreams of possibilities for Noah. Sadly, Etrick came and spent his first few days with another mutual friend. This other boy enjoyed sharing the details of his visit with Etrick while making it impossible for Noah to join in their fun. As a mom, this broke my heart. Noah tried to be so positive and hopeful as he defended his friend's right to play alone with Etrick. As a mother, I wasn't so understanding. After two days of being unsuccessful at trying to get Noah hooked up with the mighty duo, I called Etrick's mom. She was happy to allow Etrick a private visit with Noah and suggested Wednesday after school.

Wednesday, Etrick called and while sobbing apologized that he couldn't come after all because he'd been grounded for wetting his pants in the car. Realizing the difficulty his admission to me must have been and knowing Noah would be heart-broken, I asked to speak to his mom. She was flustered after a long drive from Logan. They had been behind schedule and Etrick had tried to "hold it" so he could get to our house as quickly as possible. Bless his heart. I suggested he come, and I could loan him some clean clothes and provided a personal experience of Ray's to ease her own feelings of frustration and humiliation. She agreed to let him come. We also worked it out so he could spend the night and allow the two boys to play all day on Thursday.

When my intelligent daughters learned of the plan they inquired about what Etrick would do while Noah went to school. I felt like a cool mom as I simply stated Noah would stay home from school to be with his best friend since it was an unusual circumstance and I would make the same allowance for them in a similar situation. I braced myself for dramatic rebellion to unfold. To my surprise, however, the girls expressed their enthusiasm for Noah to have this special visit with his friend. My children continue to amaze me.

Perhaps some would argue that to allow a child to skip school for a play date is an indulgence and a lack of respect for education. They would be entitled to their opinions. Lucky for me my husband isn't one of those. When he asked me if Noah would be missing school to play and I said, "Yes," he said, "OK, good to know."

"No, I'm Two!!!"

As Nathan's birthday approached I was sad thinking about my little boy growing up. Kids are always in a hurry for tomorrow to come while most of us would love to freeze time for awhile and just enjoy the today we have. Nathan must be a wise soul for on the morning of his third birthday as we all rushed to wish him the happiest birthday ever, he became agitated when informed he was now a big three year old. He demanded we continue to address him as a two-year-old, but then inquired if he could still open presents. After threatening the older children with restrictions and the possibility of missing out on birthday party activities, they agreed happily to agree that Nathan could stay two and still have presents. We all laughed as he opened a pair of Thomas the Tank Engine sunglasses shouting, "These are the coolest glasses ever! I am so cool in these!" And, he is.


Elizabeth was so good to prepare party games for the not-so-big boy. We all took turns "pinning-a-car-on-the- track." As Elizabeth says, "I think this game is better than 'Pin-the-tail-on-the-Donkey' because there are more opportunities to win." She also made a Blue's Clues Game which took Nathan on a search for treasure. It was fun to watch all of the kids encourage him on his quest without trying to do it for him.

For the final activity we had car races using a set of car party favors that attach to piece you hit and the car takes off. Usually it is the birthday child that has the meltdown but this year it was poor Emma. She just couldn't get her car to go straight even though it zoomed into the next room. While Nathan's car barely moved five inches forward, he was as content and happy as if his car had gone miles.

Emma decided to forget her troubles and continued to help Nathan have a great day. She pushed him around in his new tricycle for the rest of the afternoon. I tried to embrace the love everyone was demonstrating towards one another and forget about the sensitivity of my hard wood floors.

The only request Nathan made for his birthday was that he wanted a BLUE cake. I am happy that not only was it blue, but it tasted really good too.

Nathan is my first 3-year-old to not have had friends over for a birthday party. I was "guilting" over this until he reminded me that his best friends are his brother & sisters. :) I am feeling better about him growing up since he still loves me like when he was two.

It's the Little Things that Matter Most

Today when Elizabeth came home, Nathan looked up at her and said, "My mom is playing with me." I smiled. Nathan reminded me what is important to him & to me :)

Phone Call

This morning I answered my phone. The man on the other end said, "I am calling you back." Intrigued I replied, "When did I call you?" He then elaborated, "I am with your phone service and your voice mail should work now." I hesitantly thanked him while admitting I hoped it worked too. I quickly asked, "So, I still try star sixty-two?" He responded, "NO, star, six, two."

Now I remember that Ray had called the company on Friday so of course I should know that a strange identified man who is calling me back from four days ago, is the man Ray talked to. And, our voice messaging service is still not working...

Marbles

I was not the kind of kid to put things up my nose or in my mouth. My children must have these tendencies from their father. Or perhaps this is some kind of ritual that needs to be performed before one turns three. For our family it all began about 10 1/2 years ago...

On a family drive, Elizabeth started crying in the back seat. I turned around to find her nose bleeding profusely. I became concerned when I noticed that one of her pony tail holders was missing. I asked her where it had gone and she pointed to her bloody nose. We stopped the car, laid her down, and looked with a flashlight up her nose. No luck. We ended up at the closest ER. After several attempts the elastic was recovered.

Noah did a "magic" trick with marbles. He would put one up his nose and say, "See it's gone." Then he would snort it out and say, "See, now its back." This trick did not impress me nor was it approved of and so he sought out his best friend for approval and applause. He secretly performed his trick for Elizabeth using two marbles in one nostril. Yep, the first one in got stuck. I tried blowing as hard as I could over his mouth to dislodge the marble with no success. After a trip to the DR, and then the ER, and then the Childrens Hospital, it was finally freed.

When Emma tried her version of the marble trick, I took her immediately to the childrens hospital.

Tessa must have more of my genes because so far we haven't had an incident.

Today, Nathan put a marble in his mouth. He started to panic, but couldn't talk to tell anyone about what was happening. Luckily, Emma saw and identified the problem quickly. She screamed. Ray went to get after her about screaming, and saw the reason for her screaming, and ran to help Nathan. He picked him up and shook him upside down, dislodging the marble and sending it flying down the stairs.

Hopefully, this counts as his magic trick and we can bypass any nose incidents.

Jr. High Theft

My most current Jr. High drama happened this week. On Monday, after lunch, Elizabeth went to her locker alarmed to find it open. She had just put a new magnetic cubby (Christmas present) in her locker that morning and now it had been stolen. She was sad and concerned about leaving anything else in her locker--except for her books, which she believes no one would want to steal. I asked her if she'd reported this to anyone. She hadn't but hoped that I would. I forgot to for two days. And unfortunately, her locker was opened by someone other than herself both of those days. I finally remembered to call on Thursday. The pleasant student in the main office explained that I needed to talk to the woman whom I have already had too many altercations with. I was practicing deep breathing while she transferred my call. The woman answered, "Hello." I explained that my daughter's locker had been broken into for 3 days in a row and could we please have the combination reset. The woman asked if my daughter had reported this to the office. I replied that I was reporting the incident. She wanted to know if she should go and talk to my daughter about the situation. I tensely affirmed that my daughter came to me and I was now trying to rectify the problem for her. "Oh, I see," was all the woman said. After a brief pause and a suggestion on my part to just change the combination, she agreed. My daughter came home without having a new combination and I thought I'd have to give a Communication 101 review, but luckily, Friday a new combination was issued. Sadly, Elizabeth went to her locker after lunch and this time she couldn't open it. She was late to class and in a panic about not being able to get her homework out of her locker. The teacher actually went to the locker with her and after she failed to open it sent Elizabeth to the office. The Woman casually told her that she had a new combination after grilling her about locker safety. The Woman then tried to get a confession from Elizabeth that she'd shared her combination with someone...even a friend...Elizabeth promised she'd never dared to put her locker in jeopardy and fled the woman's office as quickly as possible. And why would a sweet and loving girl want or trust her problems with this Woman? I couldn't possible guess.

Go Back to School?

I have been thinking about going back to school to get my masters. The idea of taking tests, doing research, and writing papers again is completely overwhelming and non-appealing. Then, this week, it dawned on me that I never really have been out of school...I do times tables on a daily basis with my third grader. I help my older two kids with geometry and algebra. I have co-written several reports...the latest being on the Navajo Indians. The sad part is I had become an expert on the Cherokee Indians doing two reports on them, but Emma chose to do the Navajo because Ray grew up near a Navajo reservation and has expressed complete love and devotion to them. While Ray's enthusiasm is wonderful, I am the one writing the report...
I find it interesting that each of my children's teachers have expressed that parents do not need to feel responsible for their childrens reports and that we are not to do much. I suppose there are children who can do a report without their parents even knowing about it...I just don't happen to have a child like that. In fact, if I didn't drill each child every night about what homework needs to be done, I don't know if any would get done. And, even when we finish the homework, it doesn't always make it back to school. Anyway, I know for certain that I worry about my childrens' homework deadlines more than they do. With three different spelling lists a week to study, three science projects a year, book reports, and the constant drama with friends and teachers, I should be more confident in going back to school. :)

Growing Up

Today, while feeding Tessa her lunch, I apologized to her for forgetting to get her more fruit after she'd asked three times. I explained that I have a cold and all the gunk in my head is making me dizzy and a bit more absent minded than usual. She quickly replied, "No mom, it's just that you're growing up." I wasn't sure exactly what she meant by that so while I was mulling it over she added, "You are becoming a Grandma." As Noah began to explain to Tessa why I am not becoming a Grandma yet I smiled. I remember my mom, her Grandma, telling Tessa she's getting older and more forgetful. I guess I am growing up early.

After Christmas Blessings

On December 26th, I received the most amazing gift. My loving friend, Anabel, came over with her adult children to make me some applesauce. After two hours of their hard work I have a whole shelf in my pantry filled with jars of her amazing home-made applesauce. I'm not sure how I became the beneficiary of this beloved gift, but I am humbly grateful. I also got a bonus prize as they played my new favorite game "Quiddler" with me. I have to admit I had been feeling a little blue about Christmas without my family to play games with and then she cheered me up by lending me hers.

Rilla was blessed on January 29th. We blessed her at home with some family & friends. It was a special and beautiful evening.

Noah celebrated another unforgettable birthday. Grandma was here for the festivities which made it extra special. The Kelly family came for dinner and stayed for games. Cousins are wonderful! He & I are both extremely happy that he finished his Weeblos and Arrow of Light!

After Santa left me feeling a bit overlooked this Christmas, my dear husband cheered me up by making me a beautiful mail-box. He even painted it. It is true that the best gifts are labors of love.