childlike faith

Bryan and I have been so encouraged and challenged lately by Ella's amazing faith in God and His goodness, faithfulness, and power. When she has aches or pains, she asks for prayer without reservation or fear that God may not show up to help. In particular, she had a small wart on her temple that she was somewhat embarrassed about and didn't like anyone to see. One night, as I was putting her to bed, she asked if I would pray for her that God would make the wart go away. So I did. We covered it with a band aid and as I tucked her in, she said, "We'll have to check on it in the morning to see if God made it disappear!" Sure enough, the next morning, we removed the band aid, and the darn thing fell right off! She was so thrilled! And I was amazed!

Even when she doesn't receive healing right away, her faith isn't dampened. She has a small cut near the top of her ear that has caused her some pain. I have prayed with her about it a handful of times. One day in particular, she approached me with lip quivering and eyes full of tears because the sore hurt and said, "Mommy, will you pray for me?" I am so proud of her that she doesn't stop believing, even though God didn't take the pain away the first, second or even third time we prayed.

At the dinner table a few nights ago, Ella looked up at me with a huge grin on her face and with a bit of a shy demeanor, and said, "Mommy...I'm a Christian." I was taken aback at first, not expecting her to even know the word so I asked her, "Ella, what does that word mean?" She replied, "It means I love Jesus." And I know she does.

What we find most challenging and inspiring about her faith is how pure it is. It's unhindered by disappointment or questions about whether God really is good. There is no question in her mind that He will take care of things and that He will act out of love toward her. I have found it personally convicting that when Bryan or I will complain of some ailment or weariness, we will search high and low for the ibuprofen or complain to one another, and she will offer to pray for us. We'll both look at each other perplexed, like, "Why didn't we think of that?!" It just proves to me that, even though I believe God to be good, accessible and willing to help, I still look to myself for the answer by default. I am blessed by her every day and love that I can learn so much from her, even as I try to impart as much wisdom as I can to her. It brings to life so many of Jesus' references to little children, how precious they are, how he treasures them and how we are to be more like a child as we relate to our heavenly Father.

Matthew 19:13–14 ¹³Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

school dilemma solved!

Some of you faithful readers (whoever you are) may remember my distress in an earlier post about making the right decision for Ella's upcoming start of preschool. Thanks to a friend who happened to read the blog, I was made aware of a lovely preschool less than ten minutes from our house that offers a schedule much more digestible to our current lifestyle. It's called Union Preschool and it has been up and running for nearly 40 years by a Methodist Church of the same name. We took the kids with us on a tour and they both went absolutely nuts with wonder and imagination! Every room was colorful, full of life, and even though it is an older facility, it has a charm and warmth that I haven't seen in other schools we've visited. The tuition is bearable, at least for this year, so we have made the commitment folks! Ella starts school on September 9 and will be going 4 half days a week! Such a load off my mind and a relief to see her so excited about the school! As for next year, we will try again to get her into Kennard for kindergarten.

princess tea

Even though we've not quite made it to August 12th, we had Ella's fifth birthday celebration over the weekend. We'll be traveling the week of her birthday so we decided to have a party early this year. We kept it small and quiet this time around but it was oh so much fun for mommies and daughters both! We had a "Royal Tea Party" and invited three of Ella's little friends (including her cousin Lauren.) Each girl arrived in her finest princess gown and we presented them with their own strands of sparkly beads, a big princess ring and a fairy wand. We had our beautiful friend Amie who arrived in her own princess dress act as our guest princess and she helped the mommies to paint little princess nails, curl hair and add sparkle to their sweet faces. Everyone looked so pretty! Then we set out a spread of tasty princess treats and they had their tea party, complete with princess tea (pink lemonade.) Such a sweet time! The moms got to enjoy some time together over munchies and cake. A big highlight was when our grown up princess read them princess stories before we had cake and ice cream. They were enraptured! Better than Disney World (or a close second!)

Ella started out the morning by opening her special gift, just for the occasion. It was a white princess dress with silver sequins and a white velvety bodice complete with crown, earrings, necklace, wand and shoes. She carried herself with such grace...I could tell she was feeling so special! It was just the right amount of spoiling! I think her best birthday yet.

cold feet

Ella is due to begin preschool in a few short weeks. As I posted earlier in the year, the school we were hoping for requires a lottery because the demand is high and the slots are few. She didn't get picked in the lottery for that school, so we ended up choosing another public school close by that has a very part time magnet program (1 hour per week). As much as I have felt she will do well in a school setting, I have found myself hesitant about the amount of time for such an early school experience. The school day is long, from 9:10-4:10 which would mean Ella wouldn't arrive home until nearly 4:30. Some questions I've been grappling with are:

1. If this season of my life is centered around staying home to look after my children, would Ella be better served in being home with me while she is still able?

2. Would she grow more intellectually and emotionally being at home with Mommy, brother and a new sibling on the way rather than in a classroom 35+ hours a week that may only be a glorified play group?

3. With Ella being so ready to read, would she be taught at the preschool level, or would she be more likely to begin reading if I began some structured phonics and reading study with her at home?

4. Would it be ultimately better for our family unit if she was a part of the daily routine and adjustment of welcoming a new sibling? (I am confident she will be a huge help in playing with Simon while I am in the midst of newborn care.)

5. Is there any need to rush her off to school or is waiting for kindergarten (after just turning 6) waiting too long and ultimately detrimental to her social development?

As you can see, this is not an easy decision for me and most of all, I want to do what is best for her emotionally, intellectually and socially. I am searching for where the peace of mind lies and am in the midst of prayer about this. It's something I will need to decide on very soon! If you have any wisdom to share, please do! I'm open for insight from other Moms!

did i hear you correctly?

Simon has gotten increasingly verbal over the last couple of months and he truly takes us off guard with things he comes up with sometimes, just because it seems like it happened overnight. How I've waited to hear what's going through his mind and now it's all coming so clear. Today in the car I kept hearing him say the same phrase over and over and I wasn't paying much attention until I realized that he was saying "POO-head". I turned around and asked Ella, "What is he saying?" just to confirm my suspicions. (I was sincerely giving him the benefit of the doubt since he has a great deal of catching up to do as far as talking is concerned and I was reluctant to believe that "poo-head" would be one of the newest words in his blossoming vocabulary.) Unfortunately, Ella confirmed that I was hearing correctly. I sternly corrected Simon, trying very hard to be intimidating rather than burst out laughing. I told him that "poo-head" is not a nice name to call someone and we don't use that word and that if he continued to use the word, he would need to be punished. Not a moment later, Ella tattles that he has said the word again. I again correct him and give him a tap on the leg just to let him know he is on his way to punishment. (Driving in the car is not the ideal place to inflict punishment, however.) After I turned back around, I hear Ella whispering to him and realize that she is provoking him to say the word again so that he will get in trouble! I turn around to face the backseat once again and say in my intimidating, "Mom-is-about-to-throw-down" voice, "Ella, are you trying to get him in trouble??!" To which Simon extends his pointed finger in his sister's direction and says loudly, "ELLA DID IT!" And then we all melted in laughter. And so the sibling rivalry begins!

a gentleman

Just wanting to make note that Simon is a gentleman. We've not gone out of our way to teach him this, it just seems to come naturally to him. In the wintertime, he insists on helping Ella get out of her coat, which she is usually reluctant to comply (feminist?). As I fumble for keys to lock the door behind us when we leave the house, he makes sure to hold the door wide for me and whenever a guest leaves our house, he always beats them to the door in order to open it for them and give a proper goodbye. Tonight, our friend Amie came for dinner, and, right on time, he headed to the door and opened it wide for her. Once she was out the door, he waited and watched through the storm door as she got into her car and then as she drove away, he waved and then closed the large door. Then he locked the deadbolt and came bouncing back into the kitchen.

What did we do to deserve this guy?? He amazes me with his goodness!

signs of summer

A fond memory of my own childhood is catching fireflies (or lightening bugs, whichever suits your fancy). I've loved introducing this magical wonder to our kids and we've had fun pretending to be kids again ourselves jumping around in the grass trying to catch the bugs in the dwindling sunlight. Ella has kept them in her room in a jar (the first firefly we caught early in the week passed away several days ago and his carcass still sits motionless in the jar.) Last night at the kid's grandparents' place, we caught quite a load and put them all in a sippy cup which sits next to Ella's bed with the other dead one to remind them of what's to come. Tonight as we put the kids to bed, I heard Bryan say, "Poor bugs." to which I had to chuckle, knowing that he must have inflicted much worse torture on various creatures over the course of his childhood.

Later, after books were read and I spent some time quietly chatting to Ella in her bed, she posed the question, "what if I were to drink down all those lightening bugs and then they were all in my belly?" She giggled to herself, knowing it was a silly question, but we had quite a time coming up with all the possible outcomes to this scenario like:

1. Her eyes would glow so that she could never fall asleep because it was too bright.
2. Her belly button would blink like a stoplight.
3. Her teeth would glow in the dark.
4. Strands of light would shoot out of the tips of her hair.
5. (Ella's favorite) If she tooted, light would shine out of her butt!

We had quite a laugh tonight.