The Little Things They Say (3)

It's taken me a while to put these together this time, but here is the latest collection of the little things my children say. If only I jotted all of it down before I forgot them! At least there will be a handful or two to look back on in years to come.

One Sunday we stopped at a little fast-food/gas station restaurant for an after dinner snack. While we were waiting for our order, a group of young people showed up. The only girl was dressed in a filthy red splotch-smeared wedding dress. As it was just a few days before Halloween, I just chalked her outfit up as her holiday costume. Dolly noticed this young woman's attire as well and asked me, "Look at that lady Mommy, 'What's her name is?" "I don't know, Dolly. Maybe you should ask her." Dolly, not really wanting to talk to this girl suggested instead, "Maybe her name is, Almost-Cinderella."

One evening during the family bible reading we had reached the story of Lot being rescued by the angels. Here's a bit of the discussion: Daddy: "...And they wanted to break down the door- Then what do you think would happen?" Dolly: (shrugging with uplifted palms)"Then they wouldn't have ANY door." Duh!

Dolly: "MahhhMeee..., MomME!... Mommy,... I need you to wiiiipe me. Mommy, can you wipe me?" (I go to the bathroom to find Dolly on the little potty.) Dolly: "See, I'm getting to be a big girl, because I goed potty all by myself. I goed pee and poop. Can you wipe me? PC isn't a big girl because he goes poop in his diaper, but I can go in the potty." Me: "Yes, good girl, now bend over." (And I wipe her. Then I notice she's not wearing a pull up.) Me: "Where's your pull-up?" Dolly: "It's wet, I have to get a new one." Me: "You PEED in your pull-up?!" Dolly: "I was trying not to, but it made me." Me: "What made you?" Dolly: "...it made me pee in my pull-up." Me: "What made you pee in your pull-up?" Dolly: "My bottom made me pee in my pull-up.""

On the way to meeting one Wednesday night a few months ago, Dolly calls from the back seat, "Am I going up in the sky with my clothes off?" Not sure that I heard correctly, I stalled with, "Are you going where?" Dolly patiently rephrased her question, "Am I going to have my clothes on when I go up in the sky?" Now fairly certain that I'd heard correctly, I decided to do my best to figure out what my two year old was talking about. "Why are you going up in the sky?" I asked "Because the Lord Jesus - because I can have two arms." Dolly explained

Then it clicked. Since Dolly broke her arm, we've been telling her that the Lord Jesus will fix it. A conversation Dolly and I had not too long ago went somewhat like this:
Dolly: When - I can go to see the Lord Jesus?
Me(not exactly sure of where she's going with this, I vaguely answer): Um hm..
Dolly: Where is He at?
Me: The Lord Jesus in in Heaven, but if you love Him he can be inside your heart at the same time.
Dolly: Where is Heaven?
Me: Way up in the sky.

So, Dolly was wondering if she was going to need to have her clothes on or off for the Lord Jesus to fix her arm - at His home in Heaven up in the sky. I guess it does all make sense. I said to Dolly, "The Lord Jesus is already fixing your arm. Sometimes he does it when you're sleeping. Tomorrow we'll go see the doctor, and he'll take a picture of your bones and see if the Lord Jesus is done fixing your arm. If it's all fixed, he'll let you take your bandage off!" Dolly seemed satisfied with my answer, and let her attention be drawn elsewhere.

One day shortly after Tina and her boys had stayed with us for a visit, Dolly came to me while I was working in the kitchen, "Mommy, Thanks you for helping me." Not sure of why or for what this sudden gratitude was for, I replied, "Thank you for being thankful, Dolly..." As I had hoped, she clarified with "Thank you for letting me live with you." My only explanation for this would be when Tina prompted her first born to thank us for the hospitality after a week stay with us. She said to him, "A, you need to tell Aunt ioi 'Thank you for letting us live with them." And he did. As they left, Dolly had asked me why he thanked us for living with us, and I had told her that her cousin still didn't have his own house, so he wasn't just visiting us, but living with us that week. And Dolly thought about that for a few days.

One January evening Dolly came to me after a busy scurrying about and listed off her accomplishments. "I gave EVERYbody blankets. I gave everybody blankets,. I so much love Daddy and Emma. And I love you,... and PC,... and... the coffee table."

One regular weekday morning Dolly met me dressed in her frilliest, pink dress. Before I said anything, she explained, "I was trying to get dressed,(at this point she shrugged helplessly and picked up the topmost layer of her skirt) but I turned into a princess."


Trivia: Dolly's nicknames for PC. Gouda-Gouda, Youda, Dribus, Jubigs


The End

How Captain Coutts Got Saved!

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Romans 10:13

An ungodly sea captain lay in his cabin in mid-ocean, death staring him in the face. He shrank back in the presence of “the king of terrors,” and the dread of eternity took fast hold upon him.

Captain Coutts sent for his first mate, and said, “Williams, get down on your knees and pray for a fellow. I have been very wicked, as you know, and I expect I shall go this time.”

“I am not a praying man, you know, Captain, so I can’t pray. I would if I could.”

“Well, then, bring a Bible and read me a bit, for my rope is about run out.”

“I have no Bible, Captain; you know I am not a religious man.”

“Then send for Thomas, the second mate; perhaps he can pray a bit.”

The second mate was soon in the presence of the dying captain, when he said to him, “I say, Thomas, I am afraid I am bound for eternity this trip. Get down and pray for me. Ask God to have mercy upon my poor soul.”

“I’d gladly do it to oblige you, Captain, if I could; but I have not prayed since I was a boy.”

“Have you a Bible, then, to read to me?”

“No, Captain, I have no Bible.”

Alas for the dying sinner! How awful his condition. On the brink of eternity, and without Christ!

They searched the ship over for a man who could pray, but they searched in vain: and for a Bible, but none could be found, until one of the sailors told the captain he had seen a book that looked like a Bible in the hands of the cook’s boy, a little fellow named Willie Platt.

“Send at once,” said Captain Coutts, “and see if the boy has a Bible.”

The sailor hurried off to the boy and said to him, “Sonny, have you a Bible?”

“Yes, sir, but I only read it in my own time.”

“Oh, that is all right, my boy; take the Bible and go to the captain’s cabin. He is very sick and wants a Bible. He thinks he is going to die.”

Away went Willie Platt with his Bible to the captain’s cabin.

“Have you a Bible, my boy?”

“Yes, Captain.”

“Then sit down, and find something in it that will help me, for I am afraid I am going to die. Find something about God having mercy on a sinner like me, and read it to me.”

Poor boy! He did not know where to read, but he remembered that his mother had him read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah just before he left home for that voyage.

Willie turned to that blessed chapter that so fully sets forth the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ in dying for poor sinners such as John Coutts, and commenced to read. When Willie got to the fifth verse — “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed,” — the captain, who was listening for his very life, realizing that he was surely having his last chance of being saved, said, “Stop, my boy! That sounds like it! Read it again.”

Once more the boy read over the blessed words.

“Aye, my boy, that’s good — that’s it, sure.”

These words from the captain encouraged Willie, and he said, “Captain, when I was reading that verse at home, Mother made me put my name in it. May I put it in now just where Mother told me?”

“Certainly, sonny; put your name in just where your mother told you, and read it again.

Reverently and slowly the boy read the verse: He — Jesus — was wounded for Willie Platt’s transgressions. He was bruised for Willie Platt’s iniquities; the chastisement of Willie Platt’s peace was upon Him, and with His stripes Willie Platt is healed.”

When Willie had finished, the captain was halfway over the side of his bed, reaching toward the boy, and said, “My boy, put your captain’s name in the verse and read it again — John Coutts, John Coutts.”

Then Willie slowly read the verse again:

“He was wounded for John Coutts’ transgressions. He was bruised for John Coutts’ iniquities, the chastisement of John Coutts’ peace was upon Him, and with His stripes John Coutts is healed.”

When the boy had finished, the captain said, “That will do, my boy; you may go now.”

Then the captain lay back upon his pillow and repeated over and over again those precious words of Isaiah 53:5, putting in his own name each time, and as he did so, the joy of heaven filled his soul. He was saved? Yes, praise the Lord! Reader, he was saved! Another poor sinner for whom Christ died “had received Him” (John 1:12).

Before John Coutts fell asleep in Jesus, he had witnessed to everyone on his vessel that the Christ of God—the man of Calvary—was wounded for his transgressions, bruised for his iniquities, that the chastisement that he rightfully deserved had fallen on his blessed Substitute, and with His stripes — the stripes that fell on Jesus —he had been healed!

Beloved reader, do you know anything about this salvation? Have you taken your true place as a poor “ungodly sinner” before God and trusted in Christ for pardon ?

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Romans 10:9

(BTP #2087)

The Wonder of Antibiotics

This week has been quite the whirl. Sir had a PHP conference to attend in downtown Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday so the kids and I dropped him off at the skytrain both mornings.

On Monday, we left Sir at the skytrain at 8:30 and then we headed down the street to McDonald's for breakfast. We had to kill half an hour somehow since Toys R Us opened at 9. After breakfast we drove across the street to the toy store and wandered it's aisles for a good length of time (I really don't know how long we were there). I wanted to get some toy cars for PC. Then it didn't really seem fair to walk out with a $5 toy for PC and nothing for Dolly, so we re-wandered the store in search of a $5 item for her. We settled on a puzzle that has proved to be well worth it's cost.

Then it was off to Staples. I wanted to get some reading supplies for the kids. Since Staples didn't have everything I wanted in the right size packaging, we just got our poster boards there. Next stop was Wal-Mart to get the rest of the reading materials. Then the grocery store for the last ingredients for supper (that actually ended up being a mini shopping trip because we definitely walked out with more than our missing ingredients for supper). Finally we swung by the library on the way home to pick up a book that I wanted. By the time we got home, it was already naptime and we still hadn't eaten lunch. The kids were good though, everyone ate promptly and went down for naps just barely more than half an hour late.

While the kids slept, I got some work done around the house and then it was time to go pick Sir up from the skytrain. I'd like to say Monday ended there... but it didn't. We were home from the skytrain at 6:15ish, I threw supper together by 7, we ate and then headed over to Chasm and HisLady's for our Monday-night reading. Of course we tossed responsibility to the wind after the reading, and ended up staying late - as in getting home at midnight, but it was fun. And I was exhausted.

Tuesday started even earlier than Monday because Sir had to be at the skytrain at 8. After we dropped him off, the kids and I drove through Timmy's and picked up some TimBits, put some gas in the car and went home again to eat our doughnut breakfast and to finish our morning. Once the garbage out was out on the street, the kids were dressed and fed, and our lunch packed, we grabbed Emma's exersaucer and headed off to the meeting room to clean. We got there at 11, worked for an hour before stopping for lunch. After lunch we worked for another hour and a bit before the kids went down for naps and then while they slept, I finished up. We left at 5.

I thought I'd have plenty of time to get home and get supper started before it was time to pick Sir up from the skytrain. Until the van stalled as I tried turning out of the meeting room driveway. So, we sat stalled half in the right lane, half in the driveway for a good 10 or 15 minutes before our vehicle recanted and decided to operate again. Just being stalled sideways in one of two lanes is stressful enough, but having a gazillion other drivers drive right up to you, stop, wait for you to go, wait some more, wave you on, honk at you, shake their heads and finally drive around you doesn't help matters. After all, it wasn't like I wanted to be stalled there or stalled at all for that matter.

Then there was rush hour traffic. So, when we finally got home, there was a message waiting on the phone from Sir saying he was earlier than he'd expected, and that he should be ready to be picked up at 5:30ish. Ha! It was 5:42, but at least I was wise enough to leave the kids in the car and run in to check the messages instead of unpacking everyone just to turn around and pack up again. I called Sir, told him we'd be a bit late and ran back out to the car. Of course, in my rushing about, I hadn't been watching the temperature gauge and the first thing Sir noticed when he got in the car was that the dial was pointing to the 'L' in NORMAL. So, we stopped at a few gas stations until we found one that had a water hose as well as air and poured some liquid into our gasping radiator (yes, we have a radiator leak, but at least we already knew about it). We stopped at Canadian Tire on the way home to get some graphite powder for the ignition, and then took the easy way out and picked up some pizza for supper. And I think that's all that happened on Tuesday! I wasn't feeling so well, and went to bed early.

Wednesday I woke up sick. I'd been in pain most of the night and had hardly slept because of it. I was sore, had achy joints and muscles, a splitting headache and absolutely no energy. And it didn't get better as the day wore on, though I did manage to struggle through all the laundry. Even after I'd had a two and a half hour nap that afternoon, I still felt like I'd been run over by a truck. By the middle of prayer meeting that night, I knew I needed to make a doctor's appointment for Thursday. After meeting, HisLady offered to babysit for me if I needed it Thursday and I told her I'd call her the next morning. I put the kids in the pajamas, and we went home. I went to bed as soon as the kids were in bed, and even under five layers of covers I was still shivering. By the time Sir came to bed, I'd warmed up enough to allow the extra blankets to retire and the window to be opened a tiny bit for fresh air.

Thursday morning, I called the doctor's office and got an appointment for 11. Then we took Sir to work, stopped and had breakfast, I dropped the kids off at HisLady's house and went to the doctor's office. Within half an hour, I'd seen the doctor for 10 minutes, was given an antibiotic prescription, and was on my way. I dropped my prescription off at the pharmacy and then crossed the border for gas and groceries. Of course since I was crossing close to noon, I got to sit in a nice long lineup, but it's still worth it when you save 50% on your dairy products and you pay more than a dollar less per gallon of gas. Anyway, the border lineup back into Canada was almost nothing, and I was able to pick my prescription up, drop the cell phone off with Sir, and still pick my kids up from HisLady's by 2pm. By bedtime (two doses of antibiotics and an afternoon nap later) I was definitely starting to feel better. I slept much better than the night before, and this morning I woke up feeling almost as good as new. Almost.

And now my desk is being overtaken by little 'Hot Wheels' cars (sixteen of them to be exact) and my son, so I should wrap this up. Besides, I have diapers to change, a little boy to dress and plenty of work to do, but at least we don't have to be anywhere today! Just being home is almost relaxing!

3 year Pictures of Dolly

"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye."
Psalm 32:8

Way back at the end of January, Dolly turned three. On the first of February, I took her in to have her picture taken, and sometime in the middle of February we got the picture package. A few fortunate people have received a picture, but for the most part everyone has been waiting for me to get to that project of sorting and sending pictures out. In the meantime, I could have posted the pictures for people to see, and I have no exceptionally good reason for the delay. Anyway, below, is the extra shot that I chose as a free picture. Sometimes I like the freebie better than the package picture, but I couldn't decide this time around. I think they're both pretty good.

It's so hard to believe she's three years old - except when she chatters non-stop for 12 hours of the day! She truly is a gift, and we're so thankful to have this bright little girl as part of our family!

And now I have diapers to change and children to dress, so I should post this before it gets put off for another few days.

Pretty in Pink

I thought these flowers were pretty. They were between Lily's house and ours and I noticed them on my walk home from picking Dolly up.

Dolly had her first sleepover Sunday night, and of course I worried about her a lot of the time she was gone, but managed to refrain from calling to check on her. I thought about it probably half a dozen times though.

Monday was Chiquita's 4th birthday, and Sunday afternoon, Lily invited Dolly to the birthday party to be held Monday morning. Later before everyone headed home, she suggested the girls have a sleepover that night. So, on our way home from meeting we made a quick stop at home to grab Dolly's mostly packed suitcase (she still had it packed from the sleepover at her cousin's house that got cancelled in February).

It was so different not having Dolly around though. With only PC to make breakfast and lunch for, it was almost like I had just ONE kid. Emma was her usual self and was happy to be left in search of any sort of paper*, and PC was thrilled to drive his bucket of cars around on the carpet all morning (he took a break to show Emma the rhinoceros that was driving his dump truck). So, I cleaned the house and it stayed clean. And that in itself was a marvelous thing!

Anyway, after lunch I woke Emma up from her morning nap and we hopped in the stroller and walked to Lily's house. Normally it's about a 15-20 minute walk, but I think it took me longer. My socks kept bunching up under the arches of my feet and I had to stop every few steps to pull them back on. Grumble grumble... Dolly was very happy to see us, but she also was very concerned that Lily affirm that she'd been "weary good and obeyed like (she) was ap-posed to". I'm guessing that Sir had a little talk with Dolly about being good for Microchip and Lily while she was at the sleepover.

On our way home I took pictures of some of the scenery. I figured I might as well since we were already late for naps, and I was going to have to stop a gazillion times anyway to pull up my socks. But when we got home, even I got to take a nap right away since the morning had been so profitable and all of my chores were done. Even dinner was taken care of! Later that evening we learned of little Bee's arrival (Salad and Grace's little girl), and so the day even ended on a happy note!

*note: Emma loves paper, and will shred, eat, crumple and/or gag on any paper she can get her little hands on. I really hope she didn't get a hold of the piece of paper that I've been missing for a few days now - it would be nice to find that I just misplaced it. Doesn't she look mischievous? But she is pretty in pink...

Please Pray for Grace

Salad and Grace are in labour and could definitely use some prayer. Grace is Sir's littlest sister and from what I understand, she went into labour yesterday before noon. This morning they checked into the hospital, already exhausted from a long night of labour, but still a long way from delivery. When I talked to Grandma C. this afternoon, Grace was in transition, but didn't seem to be making a lot of progress. For those who don't know, transition is the hardest part of labour. Please pray for Salad and Grace; that Grace has the strength to get through this. If her body starts giving up now, she could end up having a C-section and that would be frustrating after all the work she's gone through so far!

Playing Hooky... Sortof

Last night Dolly woke up crying because her "ears hurt". So, I decided I'd try to get an appointment with our doctor. Since the doctor's office opens at the same time Sir is supposed to be at work, I chose to take him to work and have the car for the day. That way if I couldn't see our family doctor, I could swing by a clinic. Then, just because I felt like it, I decided we'd play hooky. As in throwing housework to the wind and making a day of having the car. So, I tossed the stroller, some beach toys, and a couple empty book bags into the van as I got everyone ready to rush out the door.

Thankfully, I got an 11:15 slot at the doctor's office - and that was perfect timing for fitting everything in just so. First we dropped Sir off at work and then headed to a grocery store. You can't have a fun day without a picnic lunch and I didn't have time to pack lunches for all of us before we left. Once the lunch shopping was done, the library was finally open and we made that our next stop. The kids bee-lined for the cardboard book section that we get our selections from, and with plenty of time to spare, we'd narrowed our mountain of books down to a five books per kid selection. Then we checked out, and PC got his own library card (so now he's just like Dolly) which is a big thing in the life of an almost two-year old.

Next stop was the Dr.'s office and after that was the highly anticipated 'Picnic on the Beach'! Which means that by the time we were halfway between the library and the doctor's office, Dolly announced she was in perfect health and that her "ears don't hurt anymore - and we can go to the beach now?". We found a parking spot between the waterfront and the little house that is the doctor's office and first walked (away from the beach) to go see the doctor. Dolly insisted that she was fine the whole way as well as when the doctor looked into her ears. And since Dolly's ears were so full of dried, crusty ear wax, the Doctor couldn't tell me if there was something to worry about or not. So, we got instructions on getting rid of the ear wax (which I forgot to do before I put the kids to bed... sigh) and we could go on our way.

By this time, it was Emma's brunch time, and much to Dolly and PC's frustration, we went back to the waiting room so I could feed Emma without losing the other two kids. When Emma was finished we piled up the stroller and headed back to the car where we grabbed our lunch and the beach toys. We found a nice little picnic spot overlooking the water and tide pools and spread our blanket for lunch.

While we ate, a handful of crows thought to join us and the braver ones came close enough to snatch up the offerings we tossed nearby. PC loves birds and he was thrilled to see them come so close. When he was finished with his lunch I let him go, and he ran off calling, "Burr! Burr! Burr!" but they only flew away and would wait for him to return to the blanket before coming back. He tried offering them the ball we brought, but that wasn't very popular and then the Seagulls found us. PC was terrified of them as they circled low overhead squawking and scolding at us. I got a little video of him as he ran back to the safety of our blanket.

Anyway, after lunch was over and since Emma was awake again, we grabbed some buckets and sand scoops, and carefully picked our way down the rocky bank, across the slippery seaweed and over the shallow tide pool moats to the fun sandcastle sand. There Dolly chased seagulls and crows while PC happily dug in the sand. We made one tiny sandcastle with our sandcastle bucket and then it was starting to feel cold. It was overcast with a thin layer of clouds, so although it wasn't, it almost seemed sunny, but down by the water it was much more windy. So, we retraced our steps, loaded the stroller up and headed home just in time for naps.

When we got up it was time to make supper, so the laundry still smiles at me unfolded from the couch, and the toys contentedly sprawl across the living room (and all other room) floors. Not to mention the disaster that is supposed to be the kitchen patiently waiting to be addressed, but I felt like doing something different today and I'm glad we did!

The End

Miscellaneous Odds and Ends

Well, I managed to hit a blogging record last month. I won the 'Fewest Posts Yet' award. I had lots to blog about, but that was just the problem. There was so much that was bloggable, that it took almost all the blogging time. The leftover time - not that there was any, was always when my brain was on vacation or strike because I should have been sleeping.

I managed to crack a code that I've had in my possession for 7 years (on the 7th anniversary of the day I first received it), but I have yet to encode a reply or invent a more complex code to return to my knight. Don't think I worked on C-12 for seven years or anything... in the past 5 years I've only seen it for the last month and spent a total of three days actually working on it. I did however, spend a lot of time on it the first year I had it and I'm sure I glanced at it now and then a number of times during the second year.

I barely managed to get Emma's professional 6 month picture taken (a week late) and we're supposed to be getting them back toward the end of this month. I took a few other picture throughout the month, but not very many. Emma is able to stay in a sitting position for a few minutes unassisted before losing her balance and toppling over. She still cannot (or more likely refuses to) roll over from her back onto her stomach. She does not crawl or scoot, but she inches toward where she wants to go, by going in circles. She has two teeth (has had them for more than a month now) and she likes to use them - on everything.

We survived the whirlwind of activity related to getting ready for conference. And we survived conference too. Not being pregnant makes a huge difference when it comes to staying sane while being severely sleep deprived. Last weekend seemed so strange though. We didn't have anything that we had to rush to do. And so we accepted Chasm's invitation and spent the evening down at the Mr. and Chatty's house where we had supper, played games, read books and just visited.

Last week I was very happy to discover a small Daddy long-leg spider in my pantry. This is because my poor pantry has been overtaken by Indian Meal Moths. To say I don't like Indian Meal Moths is a huge understatement and I was really looking forward to an ally in my battle against them. Except Mr. Daddy Long-legs is not helping very much. I have yet to find a moth in my carefully guarded spider's web.

Tonight Sir and I get to go out for a date! Well, we get to go out for dinner without kids. We're going to a little wharf-side restaurant that Sir took me to for my 21st birthday. At least we think that's where we're going. Neither of us could remember the name of the place we went to that day, but there aren't a lot of choices to pick from. So, if the little restaurant is still in business... we'll be going to the same place we went to five years ago. Hey! Maybe we'll even retrace our romantic stroll along the water? (maybe it was just a dyke...) I don't remember the scenery now. I just remember it being chilly, and almost windy, and wanting time to stand still so I wouldn't have to fly back to California and be away from my knight for another couple months.

Well, it's lunch time and I have two children doing their best to antagonize and torture each other while I ignore them to type. I've already broke up a few scuffles and have pried one child off of the other a number of times since I started this an hour ago. Speaking of such, here's a little of what I'm hearing right now... "Owwwww!!!! Sniff It really hurts... I really hurt a lot right here!" And she runs off to pin her brother against the coffee table until he wriggles away just to pounce on top of her again. (I think PC is winning this morning's war.) "I'm gonna break!" she declares. "Naaaaoooo!!!" he screams at her as she shoves him away "Nao! Naaaooo!" So, she kicks him from her position high on the couch and he falls down in front of her on the floor. He screams at her and she soothes, "It's ok PC. Say 'Sorry', PC." "Naoo!" - and I really need to go. Thank you for suffering through my morning ramblings. So long!