The end of the beginning

This afternoon I will make my last trip to the old elementary school to pick up E. We've been in that neighborhood for 7 and a half years. My girls have literally grown up there. We said our goodbyes to the crossing guards this morning as they have helped us cross safely for the past 3 years. Today, they have one more time to help my daughter cross the streets safely. They amaze me with their dedication to crossing the children safely in all kinds of weather. I have seen them day in and day out brave the cold snow, blizzard winds, the pelting rain, or the hot sun. Today we once again gave them a small token of thanks for all that they do because how can you ever truly express your gratitude to someone who has helped to keep your child safe.

I've said goodbye to teachers who have taught my daughters the joy of learning and wish that the younger ones could have been taught by them and hope that new teachers will pick up where these outstanding teachers have left off.

The trips past the old house will become fewer and fewer. Already when I drive by I see my flowers blooming and hope that the new owners enjoy them as much as I did.

Yet as much I will miss all the familiar places and people there is much to look forward to in our new area. The next stage is just beginning and I for one am excited to see what it will hold.

Need I say more?

Take M:

Several metal bracelets:

Have M take those metal bracelets and put them on this (her nightlight):

And you get this:

Along with the aforementioned metal bracelets that have been welded together and one little girl with big eyes who was found covering everything with her hands and was quite scared she'd get in trouble. Needless to say we had a talk on electricity with all the girls. M seems quite fine and despite the blackness the outlet and nightlight work just fine after we reset the tripped circuit breaker.

Dandelion moments

Being in the process of selling our home has forced us to keep on top of cleaning the inside and outside of the house. A few Saturdays ago, I told the girls that we were all going to go out to the backyard and dig out dandelions. E had some clippers and was clipping the tall grass under the slides. T and M each had the job of taking the dandelions I had dug up and putting them into our weed bucket. After about 30 minutes they were ready to call it quits and go play with their friends in the front yard but only half the backyard was done. We hadn't finished and I had told them we needed to finish what we had started and then they could play. T then tells me, "I don't know why we have to do this when we are moving. Just let the new people weed." I then told her that it was still our house and that we needed to take care of it until we moved and that it would be nice for the new people to come and see a yard that was taken care of and loved.

A few days ago we were once again out back weeding when T and M spot a dandelion puff ready to blow and send the seeds flying. M ran over to pick it and T yells, "Stop! Don't blow it because the seeds will make more dandelions grow in our yard and we'll have to dig them up!" M quickly dropped the dandelion. However not blowing a dandelion is like leaving an uneaten piece of candy on the table--it's too irresistible. So T came up with the idea that they could blow it on the cement where the seeds wouldn't fall on the grass. I didn't have the heart to tell them that the seeds would just blow back onto the grass where we'd still have to dig them up.

Is it still nice?

We took the kids to the school the other night to play on the playground. While we were there another little girl showed up and she started following M around. M doesn't like to be followed or copied and so she was getting really frustrated. M went down the slide and then started climbing back up the slide but who should be at the top but that same little girl so M tries to go up the adjacent slide but the little girl moves over to that one. Whenever M tries to climb up one side the girl follows and by now M is really upset. I went over to M and told her that if she asked the girl to move that perhaps she would. So M says, "Will you please move, dupid (stupid)?!" I'm not sure if it is nice if you call the person stupid even if you say please. I couldn't help but laugh as we have tried to tell M to not call people stupid but it was just too funny when she said it looking up at the girl that had followed her around.

Simple faith

T makes me humble. She has a profound sense of what she needs to do although sometimes her temper gets the better of her. She tells me everything that she learns in Primary and loves telling me that Jesus and Heavenly Father love her. She knows this. She has recently decided that on some decisions that she needs to pray about it because Heavenly Father will tell her what she should do because he knows what will make her happy. This is applied in various circumstances. We were out shopping for fabric and I told each of the girls that they could get a fat quarter of whatever they wanted. M chose a pink and white piece of fabric and she chose it fast and didn't waiver from her choice the entire time at the store. E debated over a few but when she saw the one she wanted she put the others away and was happy. T was in deep thought about which of the two she should get because I told her she could only get one. She then pronounced loud enough for the entire store to hear, "Heavenly Father knows what one will make me the happiest in the future so I will pray to him and he'll tell me." A minute later, T, once again very loudly declares, "Heavenly Father says to get the soft turtle fabric because he knows I like soft things and he knows what makes me happy." And with that we put the other fabric away and she got the material with the turtles.

She has been quite happy with the turtle fabric as each of the girls sewed their own pillows and love sleeping with them.

Sometimes I wonder if I simply don't ask my Heavenly Father for things because I feel that they are trifle matters. Yet, watching T, I realize that to her the fabric was a very big deal as she would be sleeping on it and when she on her own accord couldn't decide she turned to someone who knew her better then herself and knew what would make her happy. I am thankful for a daughter who shows me that Heavenly Father loves her enough to help her choose fabric--even the small trifle things matter because he loves us.

Wedding kisses

E was supposed to be brushing her teeth and getting ready for bed. When I went up to check on her progress I saw in the mirror E puckering her lips with eyes squinted shut and peeking at herself in the mirror. I asked what she was doing and this is E's reply, "I'm practing my wedding kisses." This is what happens to a little girl when she's spent the entire day seeing her newly married aunt kiss the groom.

Socks don't fail me now

The other day as I was cleaning the house, the girls asked to go outside. I agreed but told them they had to stay in the yard and I would be checking on them periodically. Everything sounds good in my head, it's only when things are put into place that I notice when things go wrong. M came back inside after a bit and I put on a movie for her so that she could watch and I could still get some much needed cleaning done. A few minutes later, M tells me that she is going back outside to ride her scooter. If anyone has seen M, you know that despite her small size, she rides her scooter as fast and as fearless as she possibly can. She zips in and out of everything as she shifts her weight to steer. She doesn't like the foot brake and prefers to stop with her feet. I thought nothing of her going back outside as she is quite capable of putting her helmet and shoes on. Just a few minutes later, M comes upstairs to my room telling me that her feet hurt. She sits on the ground and shows me her feet. This is what I see and I know instantly what she has done but I would like her to tell me.



Me: What happened?
M: (with big blue eyes looking up at me) I don't know.
Me: Did you ride your scooter?
M: Yes.
Me: Did you have your shoes on?
M: No (smiles really big) I don't know where dey at.
Me: Did you go really fast on your scooter?
M: Yes!
Me: Did you use your foot to stop?
M: Yes.
Me: Do you think you should put shoes on next time?
M: Yes.

At least the socks slowed her down without getting her foot scraped and rubbed raw. However, shoes still provide the greatest amount of friction for slowing a fast moving girl on a scooter and last quite a bit longer.