What three year old little girl isn’t enthralled by the royal wedding? Daddy let her watch some this morning, and they turned it on just as the Duke and Duchess were coming back down the aisle to exit the abby.
On the way to Hudson’s bus stop, she was sure to pick her bouquet.
Looking up at her admirers.
Walking down the aisle with her Prince (and her wedding processional music maker).
This is what happens with our kids when ......
It is warm.....
At a park......
With water nearby.
(the other night at dinner…..)
Hudson: Mommy, I’m crestfallen.
Mommy: I’m sorry, Hudson, did you say crestfallen?
Hudson: Yeah. You know. Like sad.
(I’m sorry, you are five years old, right?)
I think that when Daddy used to read the dictionary for fun it somehow entered his DNA and got transferred to Hudson upon conception. Because that word certainly didn’t come from me.
Long story made short here, because Anna will tell it below – she fell at a friend’s home yesterday. She slid on the grass and bumped her head on the driveway. Super Mom (ugh!) of the year picked her up, brushed her off, helped her change into her friend’s extra clothes and put her in the car. It is a brushburn on her forehead – not a bump, not a cut, a brushburn.
Unbeknownst to me, it was much more than that. She took a nap (because it was nap time!) and when she awoke she cried, and cried and cried and said her head hurt. I thought she was just having a hard time waking up (once again, super mom of the year). She had a snack and then said she was going to throw up. We went to the bathroom but nothing happened, so I held her and walked into the kitchen…..and then it let loose. On her clothes….then on the steps on the way up the stairs….then in the bathtub.
At the first puke, the alarms went off in my head and I called the emergency line at the pediatrics office. I didn’t know if I should take her to the ER or to the office. To the office we traversed after dropping Hudson off with Mr. Tad and Ms. Kristin. And she started crying and got sick again (2x) on the way to the dr. Chris and I both felt helpless. We arrived and they helped us get her a clean shirt (the towel I had with us hadn’t quite helped enough). And now I will let Anna tell the rest….
Ms. Margo and Emerson came to bring Anna some warm, clean clothes and helped to entertain her for a bit. What great friends! After they released us to go home, Anna was starving. She was feeling much better by this time and they told us she could have Jello and crackers. So since none of us had eaten dinner and it was late, we picked up a gourmet meal at the hospital cafeteria. :)
We’re at our first family ice hockey game – tomorrow is to be 80, but we’re livin’ it large in the hockey arena with all these crazy fans. We are having a blast – special thanks to El Cap, Marion and crew!
After the first goal – she wasn’t quite sure what to think!
He was SERIOUSLY interested in what was happening!
and then the sugar high hit….and the fans around us thought he was hilarious because he danced like a maniac during each music break.
a little father-son moment: Daddy explaining the finer points of the game.
Grace.
It’s been on my mind today. Mainly because I had to ask God to give it to me. I had to ask specifically for Him to help me to have the eyes to see someone I interacted with using His eyes. I had to ask Him to help me find grace in my heart.
You know, the typical situation when you are out and about and apparently someone near you is having an obvious bad day.
They’re hurried.
They’re not making eye contact.
They’re sighing.
And then it comes….the snip. The snippy comments that make the inside of you cringe and you fight hard to have a good attitude….and to keep somewhat of a smile on your face. OH, I admit, the thoughts were there. I had my comeback on the tip of my tongue – but then I thought, held it and stewed.
I stewed all the way to my husband while trying my best to see this person in a different light. It wasn’t easy. I was clearly the brunt of her tough morning. I didn’t deserve it….hmm, come to think of it, no one deserves stuff like that – BUT, from the moment it happened, it was one of those refining moments. One that you know that God has placed in front of you to teach you something.
Just talking to Chris helped me. It made me say it aloud and realize I’ve been there…yup, it’s been me on the other end and others have given me the benefit of the doubt. Should I not extend it to this stranger?
Sometimes you can almost visualize the battle of the unseen happening around you…well, at least I can. There’s the Holy Spirit cheering you on while you are trying to respond with a Christ-like attitude, and then on the other side of the ring there is the enemy urging you to say something to her boss ‘cause you know it will probably get her fired. And I’m in the middle.
My flesh wants justice.
My heart knows grace and love need to be extended.
The right doesn’t always prevail. I need you to know that. But today, the good guy mostly won. If He had totally won, the thoughts wouldn’t have been there in the first place. But in the end, He won. Why shouldn’t He? He has my heart…ahhh. The crux. He has my heart – but do I daily give it to Him? I am free to chose.
“You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature [oops on me]; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:13-14
The idea has been so rolling around my gray matter that we were talking about it tonight at dinner. And Hudson asked, “What exactly is grace?” My simple answer for my 5 year old pretty much sums up what I need to remember…
Grace is getting and giving love even when you don’t deserve it.
I get underserved love every day from my Savior. How simplistic that I can share that love abundantly with someone that is sighing, hurried and having a bad day. I hope I remember next time.
Too delicious not to share.
My husband and my son declared it the best pasta they had ever had. Now that is sayin’ something.
Hudson had three bowls. This recipe was based off of a recipe I found here. This version below is with my adjustments.
Preparation:In a skillet, heat butter and oil - sauté onion.
Reduce heat; add wine, tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper.
Throw in the spinach. Wilt and reduce through gentle simmer. Simmer to desired thickness. (We like it chunky, so I let it reduce quite a bit.
Add the seafood of your choice and heat through (scallops and raw shrimp take about 5 minutes to cook in sauce).
Serve over whole wheat linguini or your pasta of choice.
This is what we woke up to on April 1st….no joke.
Ha, ha. Funny joke, God.
I personally don’t find snow in April that funny. But the fact that the unexpected snow dropped 3 inches in our area, the roads were untreated because no one thought it was coming. We live in a fairly really rural school district and many back country roads would’ve been too icy for school buses to traverse to grab secondary students early in the morning…2 hour delay means no school for Hudson!
We turned the unexpected family morning into an outing to a hands on childrens’ museum. We like our museums. Close enough to a few bigger cities and a couple big metropolises to be able to enjoy country life with the benefits of city livin’.
We arrived early – well, we were at the door waiting for them to open – I am sure we entertained the desk staff with our songs and games while we waited. We hit the first few stations before they got too crowded. Anna requested a butterfly – Hudson got Daddy’s artistic flair of a Phillies “P” and Home Run on his face. (If you didn’t know, it was opening day for us Philly Phans!)
Banana and Hugs loved the Automoblox station – building your own cars to race against one another. We have an Automblox car and Anna was excited to see they had pink and purple wheels!
This is the Ant Cave – it is really cool. I kinda wanted to grab a book and sit in there for a while. We commented how cool it would be if that could be under a bunk bed for a kids’ room – hello Extreme Home Makeover, there’s an idea for you!
We spent A LOT of time in the market. If you’ve ever been to our house, that shouldn’t surprise you much as the kids really enjoy their kitchen, table and chairs, food and cash register at our home. But how cool to have a whole room?
The teacher in me loved the fact that they made the labels easy for little ones to categorize – every food had a label, as did the register, of meat, veggie/fruit, bread, dairy, fat. And they had shopping lists – this really intrigued Anna.
She stayed really closely to her shopping list to fill her basket and only strayed off for two things – eggs and a donut. Who can blame her?
Our little Pilot and Princess loved the dress up station.
We had a fun day hanging out together as a family – and even got to include grandmom in our activities as we met up with her in the evening for dinner.
It was a great day – no foolin’.
