Another First

Can someone please tell me what the appropriate punishment is for a 3 and 5 year old who spray half a bottle of laundry spot treater on a cat?

This is post-bath.

Bittersweet Countdown

1 1/2 days + 1 1/2 hours.

That is how much more school Z has left.

Tomorrow is his last full day, then a half day, and then on Friday they have church and get their report cards and we are done. Done with 2nd grade, done with uniforms, and done with his current school.

For those who do not know, he has gone to the Catholic school near our home for the past two years. We made the incredible difficult choice to not re-enroll him or enroll his sister for next year because of how expensive it is! For three kids we are talking about in-state college rates. It is the smartest choice and I have not felt any twinges of doubts that this is the best choice for our family and where we are today. Emotionally I am not so confident. I hurt knowing he will not be getting the religious education at school and I hurt knowing he will have to join a new school and be the "new kid" again. In that respect I feel like I have failed him (yes in my head I know that is not true but my heart is louder than my head right now!)

So if you think of me please pray I will not be too self-involved and emotional over all of this. Oh and that Z will get into the school we hope for the fall. More on that another day. Now back to my tea and pity party.

Hearts Breaking

I heard the news today that Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, Maria, was killed in an accident at their home. On their blog is a sweet video of Maria and hundreds of posts with the most beautiful words showering this family in love. One was this poem. I have no idea who wrote it but wanted to share it here.

GOD'S LOAN
"I'll lend to you for a little time,
A child of mine," He said,
"For you to love the while she lives
And mourn for when she's dead.

"It may be six or seven years
Or twenty-two or three,
But will you till I call her back,
Take care of her for me?

"She'll bring her charms to gladden you
And should her stay be brief,
You'll have these precious memories
As solace for your grief.

"I cannot promise she will stay
Since all from earth return.
But there are lessons taught down there
I want this child to learn.

"I've looked this world over,
In my search for teachers true.
In the crowds that throng life's land,
I have selected you.

"Now will you give her all your love
Not think the labour vain,
Nor hate me when I come to call
To take her back again?"

It seems to me I heard them say,
"Dear Lord, thy will be done.
For all the joys a child shall bring,
The risk of grief we'll run.

"We'll shelter her with tenderness,
We'll love her while we may,
And for the happiness we've known
Forever grateful stay.

"And should the angels call for her
Much sooner than we've planned,
We'll brave the bitter grief that comes
And try to understand."

Birthdays and Bubbles and Bears oh my!

Yesterday was my neice's 1st birtday party. This is my only brother's daughter. They also have a 4 year old son. It was so fun to hang out with him and his family an dhis in-laws. The two of us are really the only ones left from our family in the area so any time we get to spend together is wonderful.

My sister-in-law gave the kids bubbles and these are from this morning when E and I were playing in the yard.

On Friday was Z's Cub Scout Picnic where he was honored to be chosen for the Color Guard
and was promoted or whatever to the next level (I have no idea what animal he is now Bear or something).

It was a busy and fun weekend!

Say Cheesey!

"Yee-haw"

For the next year K has to wear a hat whenever she is outside to protect her skin as it heals. She has chosen an irridencent pink cowboy hat. Sorry cow-girl hat. Of course - there could be no better choice.

Happy's Smile

She may look like a hockey player but at least her beautiful smile is beginning to return!

Praise God!

Good Friends

K got these beautiful flowers from a preschool friend. She and her mom dropped them off today along with a little card and some candy. It made K's morning!

Thank you Lord for caring friends.

Update

K is still swollen and showing more bruising. I will try to continue posting picture updates.





The shadow on the right side of her face
is from her hair, not bruising.



Thank you so much for all the well wishes and prayer. It means so much to me especially. When I feel really shaken I can find peace knowing that God protected her then and will continue to care for her and help her heal. He is calming this traumatized mommy's heart too!

A Day In the Life....

I had every intention of posting something cute and sweet yesterday afternoon. Instead I will share with you why I did not.

Do you ever have that feeling when you wake up that something is not right? Like there is a disaster right around the corner? Well I don't. That is why when I woke up I was expecting another typical day in the life of this suburban domestic administrator (sounds better than housewife). And that is why when I heard the glass-shattering scream from the backyard as I cleaned up after lunch I was caught off-guard. When I made the two steps across the kitchen to the window I saw K covered in blood that seemed to be coming from her left cheek. I cannot type what ran through my head because I want this to remain Family Friendly. The next actions were a blur but somehow I managed to get a towel on K's cheek and get us all in the van. I gave a call to my hubby that went something like this:

"K fell and is hurt bad. Meet us at the ER" click.

Not my finest moment. Sorry about that honey.

By piecing the stories of my injured daughter and her 3 year old sister together, we gather that K was climbing in a grouping of aspens we have near their playground, slipped and fell. There was one of those green and white posts you tie young trees to next to these trees that may have been involved. There was also a thin branch on the ground where she fell that had recently been broken off so we assume it was the catalyst in this. We are not sure what made the gash exactly and are very thankful for tetanus shots.

ER visit: $100
Popsicles, ice cream and cookies: $10
Bringing your baby home in one piece: Priceless

Today she is sore and still a little shaken up. She is concerned that she looks bad or weird and is afraid of hurting herself. There is some swelling but that has improved since this morning and I expect she will have some colorful bruises over the next few days. The wound is similar in shape to a fishing hook. Her mouth is drooping on that side but it could be because of the bandage or swelling (best case) or nerve/muscle damage. We will find out next Monday when we see the plastic surgeon.


A huge thanks to the fabulous staff at Good Sam including Jen, Jessica, Kurt and Dr. Kiehn who took such good care of my baby, made her feel better, calmed me and my hubs, provided pain relief and a grape popsicle, and put K back together praising her and making her feel like the bravest girl ever. I think she is.

She is trying to smile here.

Happy Mother's Day

What a day! To all the moms out there I hope you had a terrific Mother's Day.

My day was simple but nice. Hubby let me sleep in (hear the angels singing? I did) and then brought me "breakfast" in bed (4 mini chocolate-flavored-wax covered donuts and a kiddie cup of milk - its the thought right?) The kids were quietly watching a movie in the family room but errupted into joyously yelling "Mom!" as I came downstairs. My favorite sound in the world! I then was showered in wonderful homemade and schoolmade cards and signs and pictures. No diamond is as beautiful. E even wrote her own name on her very colorful card!

As I was reading Beth Moore's blog post for today it made me think of something. She always makes the think! She was talking about the mercy and grace God gives to parents and remembering all the times I was neither merciful nor graceful in my parenting. There are more instances then I care to admit to even myself where my lack of sleep, distraction or agenda got in the way of being the parent my child needed at the time. Not only does God give us grace a mercy (using it is up to us) He also created children to be very resilient. In teh painting Kmade for me she did not say "My mommy screams like a maniac," which is true. No, she said "My mommy is very good at coloring." I do not know why this makes me cry but it does! Z wrote a note saying that I am "Awsom" (exact spelling) - wow.

So today I celebrate the truths I know.
1. God loves me
2. My kids love me
3. God gave these kids to me and not by accident
4. I am not God and I will run out of mercy and grace
5. God is God and will not run out of mercy or grace (Lamentations 3:23)
6. God and my children will forgive me
7. I can always be a better mom or a worse mom - that choice is up to me each morning

Mother's Day is a tough one for me too in some ways. At least this year. My mom and dad moved 700 miles away and I miss them so much! It is hard for me to be so far away from my mom. We talked twice on the phone today which helps but is not the same. I hate being so far away from her.

Today I am also thinking a lot of my birth mom. I hope she has had other children who were with her today. I hope she knows how much I love her.

So thanks to my mom and all the moms who have made an impact on me and helped make me the mom I am today.

OH! I have to brag that I gave birth to a genius. When getting kisses for bed tonight K asked if Mother's Day is tomorrow too. When I told her no she was appaled "But we didn't have enough time to do fun stuff and love on you! It needs to be longer!" Amen sister.

Dust off your running shoes!

I have to help promote an event that is very important to me. It is the Run, Walk and Waddle and it is this Saturday, May 10th at 9am at Sloan's Lake in Denver, CO. This is a fun and family friendly event that gives all its proceeds to help support the Kempe Center's Postpartum Depression Intervention Program.

If you look really close at the pictures under the logo on the Run Walk and Waddle home page you will see a picture of the kid's fun-run from last year. My son is the one in the red shorts and blue shirt and my older daughter is just to the right in green and pink. :)

See you there!

Ellie's Kisses

The video speaks for itself so hopefully I can figure out how to get it onto the blog. I will just set this up a little bit. Ellie was in a very cute mood this day so I thought it would be cute to send a little video to Daddy. This is what I got.