First Cold

L has her first cold. E has it too. They both have a little cough and runny nose. I'm so glad for Eucalyptus oil! I mixed it with Almond oil and rubbed it on their chests and feet last night. They didn't wake up coughing at all.

A walk in the dark

Yesterday on the way to the library, E wanted to go to the park. We were almost to the library, and I needed to return books, and she had been asking to go earlier, so I said that we would go to the park today. So, this morning I had a lot of work to do and phone calls to make, and I promised that we would go to the park this after noon. Then D had to go to Home Depot and I had to go to the post office. The plan was to hit the park on the way home- but she fell asleep.

So, by the time she woke up it was dark, but she still wanted to go to the park and a promise is a promise. It was drizzling a little bit, and I wasn't too excited to go, but I bundled up both girls and put L in the Ergo, and off we went. It ended up being really fun! The park is only about 2 blocks away, so it didn't take us long. There were street lights the whole way, but not much light at the park. She played for a few minutes and then wanted to go see the buildings across the street.

On the way over there, she noticed the storm drain. I told her that rain water goes down the storm drain like bath water goes down the tub drain. She thought the whole idea of the street filling up like a bath was pretty funny! Then we checked out some buildings which all looked cool in the dark. We looked at the moon, and an airplane and the few starts we could see through the clouds. We counted the cars that went by, and ran back to the house. Wet and cold and joyful!

First Allowance

E got her first allowance. I gave her $3 and I took her to the dollar store to buy whatever she wanted. I explained to her that she had $3 so she could get 3 things. She picked out 4, so I expained it again. We went through this a few times-at one point she wanted every color of all the chip bag clips they had! She started to get upset, but the she was ok with it when I explained. At the end she had a cup, a basket, some chip-bag clips, and stickers. So, right before we paid, she put back the cup.

She's been quite happy with her purchases! The stickers are on the car window, and she used to basket to carry books in and out of the library yesterday. The chip-bag clips haven't gotten much use yet, but I'm sure they will.

I forget where I read it now, but recently someone wrote that an allowance can't be called an allowance if it's worked for. That makes it wages or pay. That's how I feel about allowance too. E contributes to the household work as much as a 3 year old can and is willing to. However, that has nothing to do with allowance. She is part of the family, and is entitled to part of the money.

I held her while she slept

I held E while she slept today. She was in my arms as we shopped for at least half an hour. She smelled so good- like the fresh snow we had come in from. It's a good thing Grandma and Grandpa were there to do the actual shopping and hold L, so all I had to do was walk with her. If they hadn't been there, I would have had to figure something else out. My Ergo is in my car, which is frozen shut! I missed having it, because all 3 years and 30 pounds of her got heavy after a while. But it was nice, too. It won't be too long until she's too heavy to carry like that or not taking naps anymore. I want to enjoy every snuggle and hug. It was a great ab and back work out too!

Connect

In a child’s eyes
Deep and brown
See the earth, the sky
YHVH’s creation
All around
Be in it and of it and see it anew
Connect to Life
It’s in the dew
And snow
And winter rains
In the tinder
In the flame
In hearts and souls
It warms the cold
Lifeless shells that we become
Without connection to the Son
Like winds blowing broken leaves
From tree to earth to trees
He moves these broken souls
From YHVH to earth to family