Crafty Easter!

Holy Week and Easter Weekend have been a flurry of emotions and activities.  I have enjoyed spending lots of time at church this week in musical and reflective pursuits, and I have also enjoyed time with my family at home.  My Sophia constantly pushes me to engage in crafty ventures.  I am easily persuaded but spend most of the time grumbling, "I HATE crafts!"

Dear Sophie, please know that I love you dearly.  I force myself out of my comfort zone so that I can glue, stick, cut and color with you... all so that we may have this sought after thing called "quality time" together.  See my crafty specimens below...

Specimen A: the chocolate molded/ dipped pretzel rods.  

Heaven help me.

Specimen B: The colorfully painted Easter eggs.  

Hush your mouth!  Don't think this is a real craft?  My stained finger tips beg to differ.

Specimen C: the flower-covered Easter bonnet

Behold the craftiness of it all!  There was lots of holding and waiting for glue to dry involved.

And Mama didn't even cuss once.

Specimen D: the Easter basket cupcakes.

This is the ONLY kind of craft that I don't mind making.

And nothing says, "Christ the Lord is risen today" quite like a coconut cupcake that has been stabbed with a bent Twizzler.  Alleluia!

On a more serious note, I wish you all a very Happy Easter.  I hope that you have felt blessed, full of joy and even awe-struck today.  I find myself endlessly singing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," and that is nothing but a good thing.

"On Easter Day the veil between time and eternity thins to gossamer."  ~Douglas Horton

Why Big Sisters Rock...

A great big sister will take you by the hand (or hoist you up onto her hip if the the terrain is too rough for your tender little feet) and lead you into the forest.  There she will show you all sorts of enchanting everyday miracles.  She will point out the hidden spots where fairies dance when no one is looking, and she will show you a humble, unassuming hole at the base of a tree which just might be the entrance to the underground lair of a tiny (and very kind) dragon.  She will encourage you to stomp your feet in the crispy, crinkling leaves.  Then she will help you find a stick that is the perfect size for grasping in your toddler-sized hand and casting magic spells on the fat black squirrels that scurry through the trees overhead.  That big sister will watch as you take each moment in through your wide-open eyes.  She will take pleasure in your glee and astonishment, and she will stay with you and show you "more, more, more" until Mom calls and says it is time to come in...
Because that is simply what a great big sister does.  Lucky little you.

Backseat Expressions

Every Thursday I drive my three children plus one to church for an evening of youth activities.  There is always a theme, and it is generally lots of fun.  This past Thursday the theme was "Red Carpet," and the suggested style of dress was "dressy."  Sophia and I looked through her closet and found her prettiest spring dress with eyelet lace and a pink sash.  We pulled out faux pearls, a fancy flowery headband and her super-fabulous "high-heeled" shoes.  She was set and gorgeous.  Emma, however, had something else in mind... ultra tight black leggings, black leather boots and a short black t-shirt with a leopard print peace sign on the front.  I sighed and could not conceal the look of disapproval on my face.  "I'm not sure that's appropriate for church," I said, "And I'm also not sure that's what was meant by 'Red Carpet,' Emma."

She regarded me with mirrored disapproval, "MOM!  Can't a rock star be on the red carpet??"  In the end I persuaded her to go with a beautiful blue and white floral dress and some sparkly ballet flats.  Very nice and respectable, but not at all "Emma."

On the way to church Emma and her friend who rides with us each week sat in the backseat of the van.  I felt a sense of dread creep down my spine when I saw that her friend was dressed like a mini-skirted, female version of Michael Jackson, and I listened silently as Emma pulled on her sensible dress and grumbled to her friend,  "Do you know what I WANTED to wear?..." Emma described the "rock star" costume that was lying rejected on the chair in her bedroom.

"That sounds so cool!!  You should'a worn THAT!!"  the friend replied supportively.

"I KNOW!!" she cried, "It's like my mom is totally against me being cool and expressing myself."

So there I sat like so many other moms* overhearing a significant backseat conversation that my daughter assumed I was oblivious to.  And I felt a little ashamed of myself... not for eavesdropping (since I plan to listen in on those backseat conversations until she has her own car), but because she was right.  I DO step in and prevent her from expressing herself too often.  I am sure that I could have assisted with the rock star costume and made it more church appropriate while still allowing Emma to be cool and expressive, but I didn't.  I am still learning.  Since she is my first born, she is the only almost-nine year old I've ever tried to mother.  Lucky Emma.  She has so much to teach me.

And so later that evening I apologized to Emma for suppressing her inner-rock star.  I am slowly learning. Be patient with me, my dear.

*My beloved best friend, Jenny, can you even imagine half of the nonsense Evangeline overheard us discussing in the backseat of the Chrysler during our middle and high school days??  Aye Carumba!

A Bit of Drama

This little girl is not a complainer.  She's one tough cookie.  That is why when she was crying and doubled over in pain on Saturday afternoon, I suspected something might be up.  Early Sunday morning we were off to our local Urgent Care center.  None of the simple, easy to fix ailments seemed to fit the bill.  (I had really been pulling for a bladder infection.)  The doctor ruminated.  I ruminated.  We both decided I should take her home and watch her while checking in with my Mommy Instincts on occasion.  That wonderful doctor also uttered the word "appendicitis" more than once, so after I got home, I ruminated on appendicitis.  Then I Googled "appendicitis."  Then I started to worry.

After all of this ruminating, I scooped up the young'uns and went over to the ER where Sophia proceeded to baffle more nurses and a couple of doctors.  To complicate matters a bit further, my husband was on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean while all of this was going on.  When it looked like things were starting to get hairy, an angel of a friend responded to my distress call.  She came and took Lili home from the hospital.  She met Emma who was returning from a sleepover.  She cooked dinner, changed diapers, ordered stinky people to take showers, and generally did all of the mothering that I couldn't do since I still have not worked out how to be in two places at the same time.

Sophie was sent for uncomfortable tests with her fretting mother by her side (wearing a hefty lead vest).  The tests were not helpful in determining what was causing her pain and tenderness.  The surgeon and I agreed that I should take her home and bring her back early the next morning for more blood work.  If she showed no signs of improvement, that appendix would  be coming out.

The next morning, Madame S was still quite sore and tender, but there was a spring in her step that hadn't been there the day before.  After we returned to the hospital, she appeared to move around with much greater ease and even caught a case of the giggles at one point.  Additionally she was ravenously hungry.  Insert great sigh of relief here.  I hate that she underwent a CT scan at the age of seven when she didn't have appendicitis, but I am thrilled that she didn't have appendicitis!  What in the heck DID she have, you may be asking??  Who knows?  The doctors scratched their heads and said, "Abdominal pain can be caused by a wide variety of things in children..."

For now I am overwhelmingly grateful.  My children are healthy and happy.  I also have a wonderful friend who didn't even pause before agreeing to spring to my aid me when I needed help desperately.  Did I mention the fact that she spent the night on Sunday and took care of Lili on Monday while Sophie and I were back at the hospital?  I seem to be blessed with good friends everywhere we go.  Grateful me.

Today Sophie was back at school and even went to her two hour gymnastics training after school.  No more drama for that girl.  Enough is enough.  After my whirlwind weekend with Sophie, Emma did hold me captive last night for a few minutes to tell me that ALL daughters need quality time with their mothers... most specifically daughters named Emma.  I assured her that she needn't develop an abdominal infection to get quality time with me.  We will be putting a date on the calendar soon!

"Be careful about reading health books.  You may die of a misprint."  ~Mark Twain

The Doorknob

Sophia got something very special for her birthday this year:

A new doorknob.

The previous hardware on her door was one of those fashionable French door handles, and that simply would not do.  You see, Lili has mastered the art of opening a French door handle, and therefore Sophia could frequently be heard screaming, "OH NO!!!" upon discovering what that little monster had done in her bedroom whilst she was away at school.  The logical request came about consequently... "Dad!!  Can I puh-lease have a new doorknob for my birthday so that I can keep Lili OUT?!"

Sophia is obviously pleased with the alteration.

Lili, on the other hand...

Not so much.

"If you don't understand how a woman could both love her sister dearly and want to wring her neck at the same time, then you were probably an only child."  ~Linda Sunshine

Spring Family Vay-Cay!

We were all geared up for sun and fun in Florida last week.  What we actually got was lots of rain... painful, dumping, drenching, relentless rain...and some fun.  We did enjoy celebrating Sophia's birthday with family, and we managed to catch one sunny day at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park where we took in Harry Potter's magical world and sampled some of the Three Broomsticks' Butterbeer.  (Curious friends, it was much like a caramely, vanilla-ish, frothy cream soda.  Tasty, sweet and a little sticky.)

Pictured above is Hogwarts and the ride which required nearly an hour long wait.  Since we were in good company and had sunshine, it was worth it.

Traveling and "theme parking" with a toddler was no picnic, but I did very much enjoy seeing things from her diminutive perspective.  The aquariums at Sea World elicited such squeals of excitement from her, that we all spent more time watching her than we did observing the aquatic life.  At Universal we were surrounded  by larger than life, noisy attractions and Lili paused to observe a tiny lizard...

...and stopped to sit and regard a pot of chrysanthemums.

And that is why traveling with a toddler is magical.  The magic makes up for the stubborn strops and  out-of-control tantrums.  Even when we got caught in that blinding, drenching, unrelenting rain at Sea World, Lili laughed all the way to the car as I held her in my arms and ran for all I was worth.  Her innocent and naive laughter was highly contagious.  By the time we all got back to the car, we were soaked and utterly cracked up.

In spite of all of our weather woes and conniption fits, this little girl had a brilliant birthday...

"Pleas'd to look forward, pleas'd to look behind,

And count each birthday with a grateful mind."

- Alexander Pope