Wowzers...

Two sweet days in a row! I'm blessed.

Isaac was over-the-top sweet today. Going out of his way to do anything nice for his sisters, specifically Ruby, who was tired today. Because she was tired, Isaac got her new sippy cup for her. And when it was time to pick up, he made sure that she only had to carry light things. And held her hand as she went down the step into the hallway. Too bad I somehow got terrible at taking pictures of sweet things.

This week's Sabbath School lesson is about the Triumphal Entry and how we can worship Jesus, too, when we praise Him. An activity we're doing this week are "Thank You, Jesus" papers. Today, Ruby wanted to praise Jesus for "Isaac helping me down the step with toys. Help me go up the step, too. There's something else I'm thankful for, too. He only gave me light toys to carry." Isaac wanted to praise Jesus "that I helped Ruby go down the step and up the step. For helping me think that I could put my hands by the fire to warm them." And use mittens. Jadelyn, with help from Mommy, decided to praise Jesus for the nice walk with Daddy tonight. OH! And Jadelyn decided to sweep the floor for me today, but tuckered out soon in the process. =P Love the sweetness. Love it. Got to give out lots of stickers today! =)

Today is my little brother Mark's 30th birthday. How did HE get so OLD?!?!?! =O Anyways, I guess that means I'm about ancient. =P It's also the kid's Great-Grandpa Link's birthday. We were talking this tonight, and Isaac wanted to know who was older, Grandpa Link or Mark. I told him Grandpa Link was older. Then they wanted to know how much older Grandpa Link was. I told them that Grandpa Link was 55 years older than Mark. Ruby's eyes were HUGE. Then Isaac piped in out of nowhere, "I thought Uncle Darby was older!" =) That kid is still so random. =)

Sweetness...and Sadness...and CRAZINESS!

So, all 3 kids earned 7 stickers this week, thus earning them a prize. Ruby and Isaac wanted to buy something with their birthday money, so off to Wal-Mart we went. Ruby was going after sunglasses, and Isaac - he was going after spending his money. Isaac picked, of all things, a sippy cup. One of those items I had finally ridded my cupboards of. AHHHH!!!! Ruby saw that, and decided later that's what she wanted, too. Then, David took the kids to pick out Ruby's sippy cup, and Ruby decided that she would buy Jadelyn one for her prize, too. David said he almost cried. Ruby told him that she would have $1 when she was done buying those dreaded sippy cups because she had $5, her cup cost $2 and Jadelyn's cup cost $2. David was so proud. Both of her math and her sharing skills. Now they are drinking so much water I'm afraid of how wet their beds will be in the morning. =O

Sick chicken died. Finally. Poor chicken. When they got to the door of the chicken shed, David asked the kids if the chicken was dead. And Isaac answered, ever matter-of-factly, "yes, it's dead. It's head is down." Then, while David was burying the chicken, the kids were all standing around saying "it's sad. It's so sad. It's sad." Or at least the girls were. Then Jadelyn asked if the chicken was going to come back alive. And Ruby told her "no". Animals won't come back alive. Only humans come back alive when Jesus comes again. David told them that there will probably be chickens and other animals in heaven, but not that exact chicken. And Isaac asks if we can ride the chickens in heaven. THAT KID!!! =P (Side note: By the time they got back inside, they weren't so bothered anymore. In fact, David had to remind them to tell me about the chicken.)

Went to visit Mr. Tom and Ms. Tina tonight. They are the sweetest neighbors EVER. And don't fire us from coming to visit even though at times Hickory gets into their stuff and drags it over here. Ms. Tina teared up a couple times about the flowers David brought her. And then gave us some Jiffy-Pop popcorn - saying it was for when the kids were in bed and David and I were alone. Mr. Tom said at some point during our visit that our kids mind better than any kids he has EVER seen. Was a nice thing to hear when so often I feel like I'm failing. Or at least beating my head against a figurative wall. =)

David's now singing a song about "I like sleeping." "In my bed." "On my head". I think I should head that direction now. Craziness continues to abound.

Little Tidbits...

Overheard Isaac talking to Jadelyn yesterday in the sweetest voice. My favorite line included the words, "Honey Lyn". =)

Jadelyn was walking around yesterday, asking, "where's my Ruby?"

The kids were drinking water out of medicine cups yesterday. They went through two big containers of water (that were about half-full each time) in this manner. Then, they were all sitting at the piano singing, "Water is so good for you!" Way to flush out their systems, 'eh? ;)

Today, I asked crazy Jadelyn where she came from. She didn't know. I asked her if Jesus made her. Yes. I asked her if Jesus loved her. Yes. I asked her if she loved Jesus. "Monkey's bite me all the time" was the answer I believe I got. Okay, kiddo. =P

OH! One more thing. Yesterday Isaac drew a giraffe on a magnadoodle. I could actually tell what it was. I was SO proud I took a picture. Funny kids can really draw but except for these little glimpses into their abilities, they just scribble and cut their masterpieces into tiny little shreds. And I love 'em anyway.

Bad day....

David went to work EARLY and got home LATE. Fights. Tempers. Hitting. MANY trips around the garden. Lost my cool. Beat tired. One chicken is sitting like a penguin - I don't think that's a good sign. Jadelyn took less than an hour nap. Chores always take longer than I think they will. Did I mention I'm beat tired? Adios.

Flyswatters....

My kids like such random things.

Yesterday (I think) Ruby was telling me about how she and Daddy got me a card for Valentine's Day and how she wanted Daddy to buy 3 flyswatters for the kids, but he didn't.

This following Isaac wanting (and finally getting) a weed-killer-squirter thing so he could drink water out of it.

Are flyswatters and weed-killer-squirter-things normal things for young children to want? Crazy kids.

Oh...today, the kids were dressing up in summer clothes and swimsuits. The best dressed award would have to go to Isaac, who was wearing Ruby's swimsuit over his long-sleeved gray shirt. He exclaimed to me that this was his first time wearing a girl's swimsuit, and he liked it. Oye. =P All three were running around the house like crazy, and then jumping into the "hot tub" (aka "hallway"). The fun they had! Even without the flyswatters and Isaac's weed-killer-squirter-thing (that he lost for today due to poor behavior yesterday.)

Pretending....

Today I caught Ruby sitting on the couch in the position of her anticipated cast. Which started a conversation for us. Ruby thinks about having a cast/surgery a lot. But "didn't know" what she thought about. We kept talking. She is scared. I am, too. She is worried that "I won't wake up". I am, too. We talked about the actual surgery. I did a quick, crazy, "cut, saw, bend, fill-with-bone, drill/screw, sew, cast" surgery on her. She loved it. We did it over and over. She also had two "long" surgeries. Lasting like 10 minutes, including going to sleep, getting the IV, getting scrubbed up, etc. If 10 minutes for a surgery seems long, and it did, I can't imagine what a 5 hour surgery will feel like. To Ruby, it will seem as a second. To me, an eternity.

Tonight at her bedtime prayer, Ruby thanked Jesus for giving her such a good Mommy. This is NOT a normal prayer in this house. I think that my multiple-surgery-time was well spent, and I hope we relieved some of her anxieties. 51 more days to go......

Thing-a-ma-bobbys....

Just a few things I want to remember:

On Sabbath at potluck, Isaac ate all his food and got to have dessert. He ended up with a piece of Carob-Tofu-Something-Healthy-Pie. In the middle of eating it, he stopped, came over to my chair, and told me something like, "thank you for making that pie. I really like it. I hope you make it every Sabbath!" Then went back to his seat and polished off his pie. Sweet boy. I'm glad you liked the pie. =)

This morning, there was much crying coming from Ruby Jean. Her explanation of why she was crying? "He [Isaac] fisted me!" Ha. I think it was on accident while he was swinging his soft blanket around like a crazy man. Gotta work on the whole thinking-before-acting thing. =P

Ruby went to work with David today. (David said she was great and very polite...gotta remember those times as compliments, right? ;D) So I had just two kiddos for the morning. We were getting ready to head out to Wal-Mart when Jadelyn started saying "you're mean" or "you're mad". I think it was "you're mad". Well, she loses a block for saying "you're mean", and if she tells me "you're mad", I just let her know that I'm not. (If I'm not, of course. Ha ha. =P) Anyways, she caught herself, and it turned into something like, "You're maaaaeeeooooowwwwww!" I asked her if she was a kitty cat. Nope. She was an elephant. So I asked her why she was meowing if she was an elephant. Her answer? "Because...I'm an elephant!" Oh, right. So much more clear now. =)

At Wal-Mart, Isaac noticed someone in pink scrubs and asked if she was a doctor. I said she might be, or she might be a nurse or something. But Isaac was quite sure that she was a doctor because, "she looks like she is 'cause her hair's crumbled up". (See, our Nurse Practitioner has curly hair, and so did this lady, so she MUST be a doctor, too! =D)

When putting the kids down for their nap, Ruby laid like she had a cast on. She does this quite often. I asked her if she was worried about stuff. She kind of blew me off. I told her it was okay to be worried. She then told me she was worried that "I can't do stuff" when she has a cast. Poor kid. I'm worried too, kiddo. We'll figure out ways you can still be very involved in life. I love you, Squirrelly Girly!

Anyways, I just love these kids. And their crazy giggles at night when I tickle 'em. Isaac and Jadelyn have quite the contagious giggles and Ruby has quite the crazy giggle/SCREAM that is just as goofy as she is. Love 'em.