I Have a Caterpillar Farm in my Kitchen.

We discovered them when we mowed the grass last week. One of my sons just had to keep them. So we did.

A close up - there's actually three residents, but you can only see two of them here.


The farmer boy himself.

I'm not sure how I can convince him that we probably should let them go. I'm pretty sure we're not putting in the right kinds of food into the vase they live in. At least one has been getting smaller and smaller and less active as time goes by.

For now, I'm just enjoying a happy young man who couldn't be prouder of his collection.

Quotes from today...

So while I'm planting the rest of the tomato plants in the garden, I wonder where the kids are. I'd been hearing something rubbing on the cardboard house that sounded suspiciously like a steak knife. After a quick scan across the yard, I spotted PC in the Little Tykes car (which he was driving while it was tipped on its side "so he could have a side window" or something along those lines).

"PC, where are the other kids?" I called from the back fence.
"They're in the house." he answered without even looking up from what he was doing.
"Both of them?" I asked, wondering if he meant our real house, or the cardboard one on the deck. "Who's in the cardboard house?"
"Emma." PC replied
"What, PC? Emma joined the conversation.
"Emma's in the house with Butler." PC clarified.
"Yeah, Mama, I is in the house with Butler!" Emma called out to me.
"What are you doing? What is that sound?" I asked her.
"Butler and me is coloring the window with our crayons. And he's not crying. He's happy. And he want to throw someting at me, but he didnent. And he didnent pull my hair eider! And I lub you."
"Ok, I'm glad you're being good." I said and went on with my planting.

Then a few seconds later Emma called out to me, "I lub you and I gonna gib you a hug - in just a minute."

I love you too, Emma. :)

My Little Lady

"But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."
2 Peter 3:18

Dolly is growing up so fast. This was her birthday picture that we had taken almost two weeks after she turned 6 earlier this year. I brought the tulip and as the photographer and I reviewed a posed picture, we looked up to see her just daydreaming into her flower. Quick as a wink, the photographer snapped this picture and it turned out better than all the rest that we tried so hard to make 'look natural'.

She loves to write letters and notes, and every day I find a new one that she's carefully written. I think it's almost time to start introducing spelling rules though. So far everything is phonetic, but pretty soon some of those phonetic spellings might become a habit that will be hard to overcome later. She reads everything she sees now and is only a couple books away from being halfway to our goal of 100 read-aloud books. Since she started going away to school, I've had her read aloud to me so her reading skills stay challenged.

I think what comes most naturally for her do is to nurture. Sometimes it seems like she can't wait for someone else in the family to be sick so she can take care of them. But I can say from experience, that she does a wonderful job - it's such a luxury to have someone wait on you hand and foot. I'm not entirely surprised though, nursing runs in the family. She looks out for her siblings almost to a fault though. Some days all her intervening causes quite the uproar of chaos around here, but her intentions are good.

Dolly is very generous and selfless although she has lost a lot of patience for her siblings since she's been in school. At least some of her reactions to them are far less gracious than they used to be. This has been hard for me to watch, but hopefully it's just a phase she's passing through and everything will be normal again when she's home again in the summer.

She has a tender conscience and is always eager to please. These attributes make her a delight to have as part of the family and I'll always be thankful that I have been blessed to be her mother.

And Someday... I'll miss this.

Saturday (Family Project Day):
11am.
Of course, I try to do what any non-pregnant person would do and after a couple hours, my body is screaming at me to remember that I'm actually six months pregnant and not made to do normal activities for the time being.
1pm.
I finally get lunch made, and everyone called. Sitting down for half an hour causes amnesia to set in, and after lunch we get back to work. Then it's time to start putting kids down for naps. They have to go down in phases or else they keep each other awake all afternoon.
3:30.
All the kids are in bed for naps (they're not all asleep yet). Sir convinces me that I should take a nap too. My body agrees. I know it's no used trying to sleep while some kids are still awake and spend more time keeping myself awake anticipating no nap because of it. Finally, I crash.
5:30.
I wake up. At least I was smart enough to think about dinner at lunch time, and know what I'm going to make. I can't believe the kids are just starting to wake up! It's been ages since I got that good of a nap in. The kids all wake up and I finally get started on dinner.
7pm.
At last! Dinner is served. The kids love it for a change and they take forever to be done in order to stuff at much into their little tummies as possible. But it's Saturday night - they need baths, I need to whiz through the house on a 'tidy mission'.
8:15.
I draw the bath, order them to pick up the worst of the stuff on the floors in their bedrooms, and then plop them all into the tub. They play/fight/splash/etc. while I sweep the kids' bedrooms and the living room. Then I scrub Butler up, dress him for bed, give him his toothbrush and send him to Sir. Clean the bathroom mirror. Scrub PC up and send him out to get ready for bed. Clean the toilet. Scrub Dolly up and send her to get ready for bed. Clean the bathroom counter. Scrub Emma up, send her to get ready for bed. Drain the tub. Oversee the bedtime process.
Late.
The kids are all in bed, and are asleep. The house is presentable. My Sunday school class work is prepared, I know what I'll make for lunch on Sunday. It's been forever quite a while since Sir and I had a 'date' so I leave the next day's lunch for the morning, and I make a spicy shrimp appetizer snack and we stay up another hour watching a video.
Very late.
We go to bed.

2:36am.
"Mama!" I struggle to consciousness and follow the summons. It's PC.
PC: Mama, Butler was calling you.
He was? I didn't hear anything. And I know the monitor is on. I check on Butler. He'd lost his soother. I tuck him in, and tuck PC in too. I go back to bed.
3am.
"Mama!" It's PC again.
Me: What's wrong, PC?
PC: I'm scared. I need my promise.
I go find an old car key, loop a ribbon through it and give it to him since I'm not about to go looking for his other key at this time of night. Then I tuck him in, re-tuck Butler and stagger back to bed.
3:38am.
"Mama!" Again - PC. I stay in bed hoping he'll settle down on his own. Instead, 50 seconds later, he's standing next to my bed tapping my shoulder.
PC: Mommy, I's scared.
Me: You're scared of what, PC?
PC: I don't know.
I'm about to lose all semblance of sanity. The spicy appetizer is not agreeing with my getting up and down so many times and I'm considering the whole bottle of Tums as an option.
Me: PC. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong!
He starts to cry. Sir realizes I'm past the 'I need some help' stage, and takes over.
Sir: What's wrong, PC?
PC: I'm scared.
Sir: Of what?
PC: I don't know. And my mouth hurts... a lot.
At this point I realize he probably has a sore throat. I'd been battling one for the last couple days. I mention it to Sir as they head back to the boys room. Sir tucks the boys into bed again and comes back to bed. I'm so tired that I'm in tears. I don't believe we've seen the end of our nocturnal visitors.
4am.
Emma stands at my bedside, taps my shoulder and cheerfully asks, "Mommy, can I get up?!
Me: No. Go back to bed, it's still night time.
She bursts into tears and I follow her back to the girls room. As she crawls back into bed, PC pops his head out of the boys room.
Me: Why are you out of bed again?
PC: I heard somebody was up.
Me: Nobody's staying up. Go back to bed.
I tuck Emma in and head to the boys room to re-tuck PC. Butler is standing up in his crib as if he expects to get up for the day too. I tuck the boys into bed and go back to bed nearly sobbing because there's only a little over 3 hours left until the alarm goes off. Sir spends the next 20 minutes calming me down.
4:30ish.
I looked at the clock one last time. If the kids called after that, I never heard them. At least none of them came tapping on my shoulder that I know of.

Epilogue:
It's hard to believe that someday I could miss nights like this. Maybe I won't remember them. Right now, I'm just going to go to sleep. Only Butler took a good nap today, so hopefully the kids will be too tired themselves, to come visiting tonight!

THE END

The Loyal, the Contrary and the Whimsical

Well, one thing is certain - my children are growing up properly Canadianized. At least when it comes to the national a very popular sport around here. (Apparently, it is La Cross and not Hockey that takes the title of Canada's 'national' sport).

You see, Sir watches some of the NHL games, that the local team plays, on his laptop, and occasionally our little people get to join him on the couch. Usually that's if the evening has progressed in a timely fashion, and there's some time to watch a game after dinner and before bed. The kids rarely get to stay up for a whole game, but they love every minute of what they do get to stay up for. I think it's a combination of special time with Daddy and a genuine love of the game.

Anyway, last night they watched part of the latest game that the Canucks played. By the time all the kids were settled in bed, we'd come to the conclusion that we had three types of hockey fans:
- There's Dolly, who fits squarely into the 'loyal fan' category. She cheers the home team on, and hopes fervently for them to win. Should they happen to lose, she is disappointed, but is sure they'll do better the next time.
- Next there's PC, who falls into the 'contrary fan' category. He cheers for the team playing against the home team. I think he loves the feel of living dangerously (as in sitting amongst loyal fans who vehemently decree that the home team should win). Should the opposing team win, PC parades around like a little peacock with the most contageous grin on his face more so because his sister is unhappy with the result than anything else.
- Finally there's Emma. She falls into the 'whimsical fan' category which means that she cheers for whichever team catches her fancy by the mere sound of their name. Kings vs. Canucks? That's easy - it sounds much better to be a 'king', so she'll be cheering against the local team. Canucks vs. Senators? Since she has no idea what a senator is, she chooses the Canucks.

Last night, Vancouver played the Detroit Red Wings. Dolly rooted for the home team while PC and Emma cheered on the opposition. When PC and Dolly came to say good night to me, Dolly excitedly announced, "Mommy, we got to watch two periods!" "Really?!" I said as I gave her a goodnight hug, "who was winning?" PC, who was standing at my elbow waiting his turn to say goodnight answered, "Nobody!" at the same time that Dolly declared the Canucks to be in the lead. Of course, that had to be clarified, and so we double checked the score just to be sure.

Brilliant in Blue (aka: 2011 - Family Picture)

"Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus."
Hebrews 6:19-20


"The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever."
Deuteronomy 29:29