Communion

In our church, the children are brought in from the nursery to take communion with the rest of the church. It has been really neat to experience communion with them at such a young age and to explain to them what it means. Of course, Chase is too young to understand anything other than he gets some food. Yesterday, he was brought in, and as soon as he saw the bread he said, "I want, I want, I want..." He knew he liked communion. So, he received his bread and was about to eat it when I reminded him to dip it in the juice. We did that together, and as soon as he put it in his mouth, he said, "mmmmmm...." Again, laughter all around us! I loved it! Thank you Lord for your sacrifice for us. It was good!

Grandmary

Last night, Mary Frances came running out of the room where they had been reading a Bible story and praying with their daddy. She was so excited as she ran to me. "Mommy, mommy, we get to see Grandmary!!" "Really," I said. How are you going to see her?" We get to go to heaven, and we get to see Jesus too. I love Grandmary!"

It is so nice to hear that. Right now, Mary Frances knows that Grandmary made her the special quilt she has in her room. What a great memory of her and a way for us to start conversations. I always tell her how much Grandmary loved her. How wonderful it will be to see her again one day!!

Smarter than me already?

A few days ago, Thomas asked me how to spell xylophone. I said, x-l-o-p and then he stopped me. "No, mommy, it starts x-y-l." My husband walked in just as he was saying this. I turned to him and said, "Did my 4 year old really just correct me and he was right?" This is becoming a little scary!!

Wittle Pig, Wittle Pig

Mary Frances and Thomas have been watching Blues Clues lately. They love the story-telling episode when Blue and Steve act out the Three Little Pigs. So, every morning when I go into my room (and lock the door) to get ready, (Of course, Ray C. is out there with them), Mary Frances knocks on my door and says, "Wittle Pig, Wittle Pig, Wet us in!" She says it over and over and over. I usually say, "Not by the hair of my chinny, chin chin," and she walks away.

One day, when she learns to say "L," I will really miss her "wittle pig." So, I'm trying to savor it while it lasts! I love her so much!!

Where is my pull-up?

We ate dinner at the local Mexican restaurant Friday night. It was a little crazy as usual, but we managed to enjoy it. Anyway, as we were leaving, we started talking to someone and the kids scattered. Mary Frances was in the boys' bathroom and Thomas was in the girls' bathroom. Once we got everyone back together, we walked out the door and Mary Frances started screaming. She was so upset that I couldn't understand what she was saying. So, I picked her up to put her in the van and realized she had nothing on under her little dress. After doubling over in laughter, I returned to the restaurant to retrieve the missing pull-up. It was in the boys' bathroom. So, I had to ask the friend we were talking with to get it for me. What are friends for, after all?

E-mails don't reflect Love for Neighbor

I keep getting e-mails about immigration and illegal immigrants, sometimes racism, most of the time they are about the war or somehow related to it. Every time I get one I shake my head and wonder what is wrong with it. The most recent e-mail was about a U.S. stamp being released this holiday season to celebrate a Muslim holiday. I am a Christians, not Muslim, but I don't see a problem with a stamp celebrating their holiday. Here is a description I got off the Internet of what this holiday is:

Eid al-Adha or Feast of Sacrifice is the most important feast of the Muslim calendar. It concludes the Pilgrimage to Mecca. Eid al-Adha lasts for three days and commemorates Ibraham's (Abraham) willingness to obey God by sacrificing his son. Muslims believe the son to be Ishmael rather than Isaac as told in the Old Testament. Ishmael is considered the forefather of the Arabs. According to the Koran, Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son when a voice from heaven stopped him and allowed him to sacrifice a ram instead.

The feast re-enacts Ibrahim's obedience by sacrificing a cow or ram. The family eats about a third of the meal and donates the rest to the poor.

Again, I don't believe what they believe, but what's wrong with a stamp celebrating it? This is a diverse country, and the majority of the Muslims who live here are very good and kind people. In fact, I just met one this week. In the same way that most Christians do not want to be grouped with the radical Christians who bomb abortion clinics and kill people to "solve a problem," I hope that we do not intend to group all Muslims with the horrible people who murdered so many 5 years ago.

9/11 was a horrible disaster that radical Muslims orchestrated. I empathize with the families of those who were lost, but this stamp does not have anything to do with 9/11.

We have got to stop spending so much energy on hating people! For Christ's sake, we're Christians, aren't we? Jesus taught us to love people. Don't assume that because someone is Muslim they are out to kill people. Let's love the people around us whether they are white or black, Christian or Muslim, Caucasian or Hispanic. (Don't get me started on how we treat Hispanics!)



MAIN POINT: Love people and think about your love for people before you allow something to be passed around that contradicts what you believe as a Christian!!

According to Thomas

"You know mommy, a cow's yudder makes milk!"

Thomas turns 4!

Bad Mood, Good Decision

I was really in a bad mood this morning, and I wanted to skip our homeschool (preschool), but I realized that if I had any other job, I would just have to suck it up and go anyway. It would not be good for me to get in the habit of not doing school just because I'm in a bad mood. So, we did school anyway. It wasn't the best of our days so far, but we pushed through. In the end, I was proud of myself for making a smart decision against my feelings! Hooray, me!!

It has been a really long day, and I'm ready for bed. I'm praying (as I always do) for a full night's sleep before we start again full blast in the morning!

A Ballerina and her Mommy

my three preschoolers

B is for Barn Animals...

Awake at 4:15 a.m.

Okay, I started a journal - you know one of those in a book with paper - and at 5:30 this morning I thought maybe I'd like to try a blog. Maybe someone will get a kick out of my day, and that just might make it better for me too!!

This is my first BLOG. My husband will be so excited. He won't believe I was able to even create one! Anyway, I will try this out to journal my days and the crazy things that happen in the life of a mom with three preschoolers - 1, 2, and newly 4!!!

I woke up at 4:15 this morning. The baby was crying. So, I put him in the bed with me. He went right back to sleep, but Thomas, my 4 year old, came in 30 minutes later, completely wet. I begged my husband to get out of bed and help him so the baby wouldn't wake up. He eventually agreed after I had to explain the whole scenario to him! I never went back to sleep. Thomas got in the bed with us (since his bed was wet) and poked, kicked, rolled, etc. He finally decided to get a blanket and lay on the floor, but in the process, he woke up Chase. So, here I am. On the computer before sunrise - long before! Oh well, more time to do the laundry and prepare for preschool this morning!