My littlest girl in her hand-made curls...

The position has been filled.

Little Cuddlebug is about to turn 7. In the spring, she finished up her first year in the grade school program at Bible Study Fellowship. There she met a little girl named Sydney, but Sydney moved away. And then there was Rachel. On the last day of class, the two exchanged addresses.

Since then, Cuddlebug has written to Rachel more times than I can count. She wrote to Rachel to tell her what she had been doing this summer; she wrote to Rachel to share with her the fact that she was still waiting for a reply from Rachel; and she wrote to Rachel to guilt her a little bit about her civic duty to write back to her.

And when none of that worked, she pestered Dumpling to step up as the big sister. I know, because I found a letter--from Dumpling to Rachel--politely, but firmly exhorting Rachel to be about her civic duty and write back to her sister.

But really, at this point, I almost hope Rachel never replies. God knew what He was doing when He gave these two souls to the same family 26 months apart. Really, why should either look further than the other side of the room when she wants to play with a fun friend?

We homeschool year round so we can spend the spring like this...

We Love...

We've been invited to our first ever Valentine's Day party!

And we're abuzz with questions and excitement over the unknown!

Dumpling and Cuddlebug chose their card stock, Bible verse and cloth ribbon to make their Valentines special...

...but they're a little concerned over whether there will be boys in attendance. I remind them that the love of Christ is for everyone. Even boys. *wink*

Discovering that my love is not great...

This morning, we got up too early to join our homeschool group in the glass lobby of the Lila Cockrell Theater.

We were there to sit audience for the dress rehearsal of the Nutcracker ballet. The opening scene isn't part of the deal, but we only pay $5 for a ticket--so there are no complaints. The girls were decked out in their prettiest Christmas-colored garb and happy enough to sit around for a half hour waiting to be seated because they were waiting with fun, new friends.

After the production, we walked down the block and ate lunch at Shilo's Delicatessen. It's closed eight out of ten times that we try to stop in--usually evenings and Sundays--but they were open today! I was pleasantly surprised at my vegetarian croissant sandwich, but the little girls didn't care much for their potato pancakes and applesauce.

As we ate, our attention was turned to three young servicemen in camouflage studying the menu outside our booth window. They debated among themselves for a long while before coming in for a round of lunch specials and water. Twenty minutes later our hearts were warmed to see them file past the register without stopping to pay because another patron had picked up their tab anonymously.

As we left, Cuddlebug meekly inquired about a boat ride on the Riverwalk. A mild day, nowhere we have to be, a resident discount, no lines and three sweet smiles quietly awaiting my answer. It was the perfect storm. This is their victory procession to the ticket stand where I will have to borrow $15 cash money from my 8-year old because they're not taking debit today.

I do not know why my 8-year old is carrying around $15 cash money. We keep emptying that wallet into safer places, and it keeps filling up with money--like the widow and her oil. I blame the grandmas.

Back on street level, we ducked into St. Joseph's Downtown Church. It was beautifully adorned with tapestries, paintings and stained glass as was the way to share the Gospel with worshippers before publishing and literacy were commonplace. The beautiful sanctuary was also riddled with at least a dozen life-sized statues, and Fifi's demeanor gave me concern.

I worried that she might be sick or faint dead away before we left.

We reverently walked the perimeter of the room, not daring to sit in a pew, and came upon a man unpacking his bedroll and backpack on a bench. As he wriggled his left arm out of its strap, I took note that his shirt was ripped the length of his torso. Clearly, this place was more his home than mine, and so I said nothing and continued on my way to the exit.

We passed the "poor boxes," and swiped a tourist information sheet on the way out.

Thinking back, I don't know why it didn't occur to me in the moment to give the girls some bills or coins to slide into those boxes. They kept asking about the boxes. They whispered about the boxes. They noticed every one of the boxes.

"Mommy, why does that say "poor box?"

"Mommy, how do you put money in there without a key for the lock?"

Once at the back of the sanctuary, another homeless man held the door for us. I greeted him with a smile and a "good afternoon," but we must have been too close, still, to the sacred place because he did not respond.

Back on the curb again, Fifi strung together her impressions the best she could. It sounded something like, "Mommy, people like that would never think to come into any of our churches."

It is sad and she is right. Our churches are all locked. There is no steeple. There are no people. We are grieved and talk through our feelings. Inaccessibility in the protestant church is a hard truth to swallow. Especially when it's coupled with childish indignation at the idea of taxes going toward government-sponsored social programs. My question then becomes, "O.k. then, Christian--what are you doing about it?"

And on our way home, we exited the freeway near our suburban neighborhood, and I met a man who busted my heart wide open...

to be continued

My Aching Womb...

I don't mean to be greedy, LORD...

But if You will give me the strength and health to do it again, I will. After all, I'm not quite as old as Sarah, and Jim isn't near as old as Abraham.

I know I should be grateful for the ones I've had...and have...and I am--but how could I not want to do it all over again when I come across a moment like this?

Dumpling and Cuddlebug, 2003

Wordless Wednesday: Freeze. Right there. *sniffle*

Cuddlebug can be summed up in two words.

And they can be used in any order.

They are:

"I can!"

and

"Can I?"

And she says them in one order or the other...50 times a day.

Oh yes. And she lost another tooth, which is kind of cute and gross all at the same time.

A sister is born for adversity...

Mmmm mmmm good. Frozen yogurt from Costco.

*sigh* Yum.

"I'm all done already."

"Oh, that's nice for you. I'm not."

"Whoa there, Cuddlebug! You almost dropped that whole sundae."

"You know...I can help you with it, if you want me to."

"Um...."

"No thank you."

"Well. I don't really want any, anyway."

"No. Really. I'm good. I'm glad for her."

"Ack! I can't stand it!"

"O.k., o.k., let me think. What can I do to get this deal done?"

Fifi's thinking, "Who needs t.v. when little sisters
are so amusing? Everywhere. All the time.
Except when they are not."

Here is where I decide that some lawyer, somewhere, at some time,
once told Dumpling that possession licking is 9/10ths of the law.

"Tastes like chicken!"

"So....? Can I have some? Friend?"

Uh oh. Fun moment over.

The Little Wooden Chess Set

Jim and I spent hours playing chess on this little wooden folding board when we lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment nestled into the side of a mountain large dirt clod on the northern end of the Phoenix valley. That was 19 years ago. Before children. Before homemaking. Even before we knew our Savior.

Our best evenings at home were usually spent listening to music and either playing chess or putting together puzzles. There was a brief Nintendo Tetris phase, but it was addictive, unprofitable and not otherwise compelling.

Making choices...Tetris doesn't live here anymore, but the checkers set does.

Cuddlebug gets some good council from big sister, Dumpling. Oh wait, maybe she's just screeching, "King me!"

A day later, something inspires Jim to try and teach these two whirly birds to play chess.

And to my delight and surprise, they learned it pretty well. In one sitting.

In the end, Dumpling took the King and won the match. And then she and Cuddlebug hunkered down to compare counts on their opponent's captured pieces. And in that case, the tables turned and the match was lost! Because they are 6 and 8 that way.

Whose Birthday Is It Anyway?

This is the cake.

Cuddlebug wanted five things. She wanted it:

(1) homemade
(2) brown...brown? Really?
(3) with pink swirlies
(4) with pink insides
(5) with princesses on top

I thought, "blech." But then, I'm not the one turning 6. So, into the wee hours I did decorate.

I was almost overcome by the sweet smell of that chocolate frosting going on the strawberry insides, *blech* but in the end it turned out o.k. I'm not the one turning 6.

By the way, those figurines are from the German and French toy companies, Shleich and Papo, which guard against lead paint, even though the toys are actually still made in China. And they looked better than Disney anyway. See the knight on the lower level? He has his shield up, sword raised, and is charging into battle to protect the maiden.

Hey. I'm raising girls here. Chivalry is hard-wired. And I'm NOT talking them out of it.

But...enough about the cake. We'll eat that later.

Presents in all shapes and sizes...

And here's the birthday girl, fresh and ready for big birthday excitement! We're all going to Schlitterbahn for the first...and uh...last...time today!

Only, we don't know that yet.

Here's Dumpling always ready to help...unwrapping, toy testing, whatever your birthday needs might be. We're thinking about printing Dumpling some business cards, but Cuddlebug is 6 now...and she's already got her number.

And when Dumpling is called on it, she whips out her imaginary halo and sings, "ding!" It all comes from watching too many Looney Tunes on Saturday mornings.

But in the end, Cuddlebug shares because...well...because Dumpling is so fun! And they are the very best of friends and playmates.

This was quite an animal rescue operation as these two explained. Young ones first! Adults get in line. Sorry duck, hen and owl...you're not making the cut. Better fly for your life!

The perfect end. Cake and candles with those that care the most for her...

Happy, happy birthday my darling Cuddlebug!

"Mommy? Are We Really Going to Narnia?"

- slightly conflicted 5-year-old Cuddlebug from the bottom of the stairs as I headed to my room to freshen up for dinner out at a "Kids Eat Free" restaurant--just moments after turning the last page of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and just moments after her inquiry as to where we were going was met with her big sisters' erroneous answer.

Paper Glasses Make the Teacher

Not So Wordless Wednesday: The World Through the Eyes of Five

Here's a catch I didn't know she caught. It's a good catch too, because I don't usually sit down while I'm on the phone. Kind of like when I don't grab a cart at the grocery store hoping that will keep my load light. I'm guessing that if I sat down, I talked for awhile.

Does he look tired of it? In his defense, this was at the end of a long series of poses that she demanded of him...

...and then she took a picture of his shoe. O.k., guys? What is the rule for matching socks and pants and shoes? I'd really like to know from someone besides my handsome man who I'm pretty sure is making up the rules as he goes.

Here is a baby that either she or her sister birthed that morning, right out from under their t-shirt...

For the friends and family who would subtly question Fifi's "social" life--yes! She has friends. Not enough to form a clique, and not close enough to distract her from her purpose, but yes! she enjoys a few very nice friends. Here are just a couple of them: this one has been an ever-present delight since Fifi was 5 years old...

And this one travels the world with her family, using their resources to minister God's Word to the lost and lonely...

I can only imagine that here, Cuddlebug is trying to determine if what mommy and the dentist say is true: does sucking your thumb really mess up your teeth?

I always get nervous when she's in here awhile...

Given the vantage point, I think she was still doin' her business when she took this one.

This was way back at Christmas time, which reminds me that it's time to call these friends over for a dinner fellowship again right away!

There were other pictures that I am too vain to publish. Doesn't this shot make you wonder just how bad it can possibly get?

We luuuuuuuv Andy Griffith 'round here. I know exactly what episode this is, too. Right here, Andy is about to go out to the living room and bribe his son and playmate with a nickel each, to play nice.

Here is a really smelly, ugly dog that we found roaming the streets in our neighborhood one day. I would have been happy to drive on past except for the whining, pleading, begging little girls in the back seat. It was one of those pivotal forks in the road at which you just know your children are going to decide who you were for the rest of their lives, based on what you do right then.

Dumpling must have snapped the next one. Because Cuddlebug--as determined as she is--doesn't have arms long enough for this kind of self portrait.

Sometimes we sing to the cyberhymnal after devotions, and other times one of us will accompany on the piano. I'm working on Jesus Shall Reign here, I think. That, or Just As I Am. I know because they are the only two hymns I can play. And I use the term loosely.

I think I shot this one. How does this $30 digital know whose finger is on the button? Not bad for bottom of the barrel.


And there you have a small sample of the 1000 pictures Husband went through to clean her memory stick tonight. The world from 4 feet high and 5 years long. Precious, isn't it?