Don't Run Shoes

While Peter races to the post office to mail the tax forms, I'll give you the Hannahism of the Day:

Hannah: "Would you like to know what kinds of shoes I have?"

Mommy: "Yes. What kinds of shoes do you have?"

Hannah: "I have jazz shoes, ballet shoes, tap shoes, and don't run shoes."

Mommy: "What are the Don't Run Shoes?'"

Hannah: "The blue ones, the red ones, and the gold sandals."

Mommy: "Oh! All the high-heeled shoes that used-to-be-Mommy's in your dress-up box!"

Hannah: "Yes, you always tell me 'Don't run in those shoes!'" :-)

March Madness

March was a whirlwind. Here is some of what happened:

Trips to the zoo. We love the zoo. We have zoo passes, which I totally recommend to any family. With the Family Pass, we can get in two adults, and 4 children. Babies are free, so my friend Julie and I, our 4 kids and 2 babies got in for no charge! Hannah's favorite part is the petting zoo. It's like she comes home when she gets in the pen. She has to pet every single animal in there, and then when we finally have to drag her out, she has to bid each one farewell. Daniel on the other hand, well we're just trying to get him to not walk BEHIND the animals...

I decided to redo Daniel's room. Actually, I didn't really decide to, but I just decided to peel a bit of wallpaper off, and before I knew it, I had taken all the wallpaper down. Then I HAD to do something. I'm so thankful to my mom, and to our friend Sydney for coming over and doing what it took to get that room liveable again! I don't have an "after" picture yet, but I repainted the room, and we're doing a train theme in there. It made it totally worth it all when I took Daniel in to see it. It was like watching Extreme Makeover. He was ecstatic! He touched the walls, ran over to his bed, threw off the comforter and starting shouting "TRAINS!!!" as he traced the trains on his new sheets, detailing what color each engine was.

We had our fifth anniversary. You can read about that below. I'm still amazed!

For St. Patricks Day Peter made green eggs. OK, so Daniel looks a little pained in the picture, but let me assure you that he was just trying to get them in fast enough! It looked so disgusting that I just couldn't get any down, but the kids think Dad is a superhero now. Caleb became The Speedcrawler. He is into EVERYTHING. I've realized that since we've moved to the country, I no longer freak out at him getting a little dirty, or even eating a little dirt. Now I just try to "limit" the dirt intake. Fortunately, his favorite activity of the day is bathtime!

Daniel starting singing real songs. If I could post an audio clip, I would. He's got the tunes down. His favorite songs are "Doe, a Deer" (from The Sound of Music), the Doxology, and The Old Rugged Cross (he calls it "Cross Song"). "Doe, a Deer" sounds something like "Doe, a dee, a fee-a dee. Ray, a drop of golden SU! Me, a name, I call mySEF! Fa, a ong ong way to ru!!! (The capitalized syllables are emphasized heavily.) He also surprised us by quoting a Bible verse that Hannah had taught him when he wasn't being kind to her - Ephesians 4:32: "And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you." You go, kids!

Hannah has been so sweet and helpful. She wants to learn and "do school" all the time, but she's a good sport about waiting, when one of her brothers has an emergency to be attended to. Here she is doing Mrs. Potatohead while she waits for me. She also passed Level 2 in her swim lessons. We are so proud of her!!! Peter got his riding lawn mower. He is so cute. He has been wanting one of these, almost as long as he has wanted to live in the country. He just tools around with his ipod blasting sermons to him. He loves working outdoors. Good thing, we have a LOT to do keeping it up.

My cousins came! Actually, Allison is my cousin, but Hannah thinks that she is Allison's cousin because they are much closer in age. They came to help us celebrate Dad's and Caleb's birthdays! Dad turned 60, and Caleb turned 1, both on March 29. Dad loves sharing his birthday with Caleb, and Caleb thinks his Papa is so much fun. I'll write more about these 2 of my favorite guys at a later time.

The Gators won. For those of you not following the 'gatormania,' as I like to call it, this makes them back-to-back champions of the NCAA tournament. Peter and his dad are big Gator fans, so this was huge. I don't know how to insert a link to read about it, and Peter is not available to quote right now, so you'll just have to believe me, this was a big deal.

And that's all I have time for today!

5 Years

Peter and I recently celebrated our 5th anniversary. FIVE years. Without a doubt, this has been the fastest and most full 5 years of my life, and I think he would say the same for himself.

In 5 years we have moved 3 times, borne 3 children, and (believe it or not) had not even 1 major disagreement. We've been to the other side of the world and back (Italy), but mostly just love our quiet nights at home with our Double Fudge Brownie ice cream. We've lost 4 grandparents, but gained countless new friends. The past 5 years have been full of the gifts and blessings from the Lord.

Oh the memories...

I remember falling in love with Peter. On our first date he set out to find out everything he could about me. Later that night my mom asked me how it went. I told her that I felt like I had been interrogated, and I hoped that he'd come back and see me sometime! Ha! He's so genuine. I still feel honored that he comes home to me every night. He does so much! He is so patient with me, and I have so much to learn. He is a thoughtful leader, and a loving husband, and I just love him.

For our anniversary, we went out to dinner and then (following our anniversary tradition) went to have our wedding rings cleaned while we were out. Here is a photo of us on our porch before we left.

P.S. I looked up the traditional gift for a 5th anniversary, and it is wood. We didn't get each other anything wood. I remember thinking when I was young that getting a piece of driftwood (what I pictured for "wood") wouldn't be very exciting. Who picks these gift ideas?

What Children See

Before I forget, thanks for the responses regarding Saddam Hussein's wives. Kevin's comments were very thorough and well written, as were the email responses we received separately. Thank you all! We have now set the record straight - although I just told her the name of the first/official wife.

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Last week Daniel saw a photo of Britney Spears' new look (bald) on the computer screen, and came out loudly exclaiming that Daddy was on the screen. That made for a sad smile. I know nothing about her music, but I can't help feeling sorry for her. She can't even meltdown privately! After Daniel's comment, I added the pop princess to my prayer list. It's a sad day when a two year old mistakes a 20-something year old diva for his dad, based on matching hairstyles.

And speaking of hair...we got a real insight the other day from Hannah's artwork. She drew a very careful and detailed picture that included Jesus, John the Baptist, her friends Eddy, Isabella and Gabriella, and cousins Nicola and Lauren. I'm not sure what caused that grouping of people, but what caught my attention was that Jesus was bald - just like Daddy. I've heard that children project their image of God based on their father (and mother to some extent, but largely their father), but never in my life have I pictured Jesus as bald! (Outside of Daddy and now Jesus, I've never seen her draw anyone else as bald.) It was a good reminder to Peter and I that we're being watched and what we do counts.

Question of the Day

This came at me randomly from the four-year-old during lunch.

"What was Saddam Hussein's wife's name?"

Does anyone know?

Trial Update

Peter called and the trial has finished. There will not be a ruling for a few weeks, but he feels good about it (and especially to be DONE), so that is good. Tonight we're going out to celebrate. Yippee!!! Hannah prayed for Daddy's trial to "please get over soon" the other day, so I know we've all felt his absence.

Thank you for your prayers!

Batgirl

Our firstborn has been pretending she is someone or something else other than herself. She was a tortoise this morning, slowly clawing her way down the hallway with a large book on her back as a shell. She scares her baby brother when she is a jaguar. She really is 'something else!' as she likes to identify herself.

On Sunday, after church, we put the kids to bed and headed down the hall for some rest ourselves. About an hour later, Daniel (who I know had been asleep before we went to bed) comes down the hall crying "Mommy, help! Mommy, help!" to which Daddy responded immediately.

He arrived down the hall to find Hannah hanging from the waist down off the top of the bunk bed. By the time he got to her, she was rather panicked. Her face was all puffy and swollen, and she had lots of broken blood vessels on her face. He rescued her, calmed her down, and put her back to bed.

When she woke up, still swollen and looking rather bad, we asked her what she had been doing.

"I was a bat...hanging upside down. But then I got stuck, so I woke Daniel up and he went to get you."

"Hannah," we said "did you learn anything?"

"Yes. I will not be a bat again."

Good thing. She was stuck where she couldn't get herself up, and was scared to let go and fall down. Who knows how long she had been that way?

Now we have a moniter in their room too.

What a Day!

My list today included:
1. Pay bills
2. Vaccuum
3. Unpack
4. Ironing

Instead, this is what has happened so far:
1. Leave breakfast half eaten on the table with 3 children in tow (two of which are still in pajamas) to rescue Peter. His car died on the way to court for a trial readiness hearing.
2. Deliver Peter downtown to court. Dress one child in the underground parking garage.
3. Come back to broken car. Meet tow truck man on the freeway off ramp.
4. Go to car repair place and explain the problem.
5. Go to Jamba Juice to have more breakfast. Dress third child. Have nice visit with someone I haven't seen in many years.
6. Go to Petsmart to kill time and entertain kids. Why not make the best of the day and have a field trip?
7. Leave in a hurry to pick up Peter, who is now on the west side of town at opposing counsel's office.
8. Deliver Peter to his office.
9. Come home. Nurse baby. Feed children picnic in the back yard. (Let me insert here that I have decided our backyard is theraputic. I needed it today too!) Come in to clean up breakfast dishes.
10. Notice that it is very quiet outside...
11. Discover children playing in the forbidden sandbox, full of spiders and cat poopoo.
12. Freak out.
13. Bannish everyone to inside for baths.
14. Bathe two children.
15. Put three children to bed.
It's not yet 3:00. We'll see what else we need to do today...

By the way, please keep Peter in your prayers. He is super busy at the office, even without a trial starting on Tuesday. Please pray for clear thinking as he works extra hours and gets less rest time, exercise and sleep, and for me with the kids. It feels like he's out of town even though he's here.

Home Sweet Home

Tonight we are enjoying the sound of the rain outside, marveling at how two days of rain has suddenly painted our property green, and thanking God for the moisture and its part in keeping our well wet. Nature is taking on a whole new meaning these days!

Speaking of nature, the wildlife here has been more than I anticipated. Our first week here I almost had a heart attack when Peter and I saw a red fox hop up and run across our front porch as we drove out one night to Lowe's. A few days later, I was startled by a whooshing sound over my head and looked up to see a giant bird flying away. Chasing it with a baby under an arm, I recognized it was a barn owl! In addition, we've seen a pheasant, California quail, and two bunnies, and that doesn't include the wildlife that we've just heard outside. I didn't realize I was such an urbanite - it has been a wonderful change of life.

We are all very, very happy.

Moving Day

In two days, we will be the happy occupants of a lovely home in the country. It seemed like the trail leading there was long, almost like a child driving to grandma's house (are we there yet?), but now with lots of packing left, it seems like it is speeding up!

This morning I headed out there to read the gauge on the propane tank. Driving up, I got this rush...it is a clear day, and it looked like the mountains were growing out of our backyard! Then I pulled in, and discovered that someone had come and mowed, raked, and trimmed back the trees a bit. It was even more beautiful than when we first saw it!

Then we went around the back to put the trash cans away and found a burst pipe. Good thing it was discovered today...

Anyway, we're moving, starting on Friday and ending on Saturday. It's going to be a quick move. Thankfully, Peter's mom is arriving tonight to help with the kids. She is wonderful, and the kids are bouncing with excitement.

There is no DSL in the country, so my blogging may be few and far between using dial-up, until we can come up with a better solution.

It has been worth the wait to get to God's Plan A.

So what is my name, anyway?

Listening to Hannah provides a lot of entertainment for us around here. For one thing, she has adopted her own names for most people. She goes through her photo albums and recites who the various people are, of course using the names she has given them. For the most part, she keeps the same names for people. Here are a few samples:

Real Name - Hannah's Name
Daniel = Michael
Caleb = Samuel
Hannah = Karen
Daddy = Lawya ("lawyer" with heavy Brooklyn accent)
Mommy = Brownie Sword (where did that come from?)
Granny = Canee (not sure how it's spelled, but it is pronounced like "cane" with a long "e" on the end.)

The interesting thing about the names for her brothers is that those are the names she preferred for them before they were born.

Periodically, we'll ask her who the people in a particular picture are. So, we asked her about the people in this picture:

This is what she told us: "These are the maids." A few minutes later she said "Actually, these are the nuns." Actually, this is Dearzie, Judy, Susan, and Dinah singing at the 2006 Rockwell Family Reunion in Colorado Springs. I guess that's one of the nice things about creating your own four-year-old reality: facts never get in the way of imagination and are often more interesting.

My Hannah

This is my Hannah, my girl, my first-born, my just-turned four year old.

She is so sweet. When I think of Hannah, I can't help but smile. Joy is her middle name, and it suits her perfectly. She's like a little butterfly flitting all over the house, taking it upon herself to be her brothers' self-appointed cheerleader, and Mommy's helper. She's Mommy's Girl 100%, unless Dad is on the floor to wrestle with.

Earlier this week, I had a chance to have some time with just my birthday girl. Per her request, we went to Jamba Juice and shared her favorite: Pina Colada. She insisted that we sit outside in the 40 degree weather under an umbrella like the last time we went there (which was in blazing hot August). She casually mentioned that Joyce (her imaginary friend of the week) was sitting at the next table over, and I told her to tell Joyce that she had to stay there, because we were having Special Mommy and Hannah Time. She beamed, teeth chattering. She climbed on my lap to warm up. Then we went to Borders and sat on the floor of the children's section and read books. We were making memories.

Since yesterday, she has changed her vocational direction 5 times. She announced that she would like to be a lawyer, next The President, then a teacher, then a veterinarian, and finally "a teacher for the animals at Sea World." (Daniel piped in "Dan too!") She has deep thoughts, like "Mommy, can Gram see the clouds?" (Gram is in heaven), and "Daddy, if you and your spouse both died, where would I live?" (Your spouse? Even without legal terminology that is an amazing question from someone who isn't even fully potty trained yet!)

Oh, my little girl, my joy! The pediatrician keep telling me she's the next attorney in our family. That's fine with me, but what I really want is for her heart to be attuned to the Holy Spirit. She's learning lots of knowledge about the Lord in our family devotions and other venues, but Peter and I want her to know Christ, and love Him with all of her being. She likes to tell us that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. She doesn't know yet, but that's our prayer for her: that she would glorify God with all her gifts and strengths, and know, love, and enjoy Him - as her Lord and Savior - forever.

Happy Birthday, my Hannah. I'll love you forever.