Vacation Begins

Our family has traveled to North Myrtle Beach today for a week of vacation. Since being a part of Nick's family, I have been on this trip for a few years now and it is always full of lots of memories.

I fondly remember the first year I attended this trip as a Rosenfeldt. Nick and I had been married for six months and stayed in this little (a place for a bed and shower little) room while we really visited and dined with everyone else. It was perfect for us. We just went along with the flow and enjoyed every moment.

Then we had Abby. Suddenly, we needed more room and started to have opinions on where we went and at what time. Our time was not our own. Our happiness was no longer about things we wanted to do, but about the joy of watching our daughter experience the ocean for the first time. Somehow, though, it was as great a trip as any others.

Now we have Caleb. This is his first trip to the ocean (even though I was always aware of him during our trip when I was pregnant). We were worried about the long trip, but he has been amazing. He is so flexible and loving every minute of being somewhere new. The biggest challenge so far was having the kids sleep in the same room and even that is going well (so far). I am amazed.

I know I will have many fun stories of what these kids come up with this week, but so far, here are a couple of funny lines...

Abby talking to my friend Jodie (who I will write about later): She was telling a story and then said in the middle, "And the funny part was..." and then later said, "But the sad part was..." I just found it humorous.

Everything we ask of Caleb, his answer is, "Okay!" And he repeats absolutely everything his big sister says. For example, while sleeping in the same room last night, Abby said, "Mommy, I have to go potty!" and immediately Caleb yelled, "Baba, I have to potty!"

I look forward to this week of memories and sharing them all soon!

Story Time

While eating dinner tonight, Abby decided to tell me stories. One story was her version of Little Red Riding Hood, in which the wolf is nice in the end and everyone lives happily ever after. She also told me the following story that she made up...

"There once was a little girl named Abby. She was sleeping and then woke up. She went outside and then she got scared because she saw a dragon. But, then the dragon was nice and they became friends and she wasn't scared anymore. And they lived happily ever after. The end."

I love that she is making up stories. She loves to "write" in her princess journal (thank you Miss Jessica W for that gift!) and is always coming up with creative things to do. I am amazed at the energy that she wakes up with each morning. At what age do we start to lose that passion for life?

Another thing I enjoy about Abby's stories is that they end "happily ever after." I guess this is because every show she watches and every story that she reads ends in this manner. And in her mind, why would anything have a sad ending?

I love being the parent of a toddler who sees the world in this way. I know someday (not too far in the future) she will start to see the world in a different way and it breaks my heart. If only I could protect her from all the pain and hurt she will experience someday. It makes me sad to know not everyone will turn out like her wolf and dragon and not turn "good." But, I know she will go through these difficult times for a reason, just like we do as adults. I pray in the midst of anything that she faces, that she will always know God is faithful.

My Own Way

Recently the kids and I were playing tea party. It was obviously Abby's idea, but her tough brother went along with it. While Abby poured "tea" and mixed in "sugar and honey," Caleb went about trying to use another kettle to pour his own version of tea. This particular kettle had a lid on it that would fall off every time he tried to pour his imaginary beverage. For about ten minutes, I watched this cycle happen...

Caleb would try to pour the drink, the lid would fall off, crashing onto the table, he would pick it up, attempt to put it back together, then walk over to me and say, "Put on?" After I fixed it, he would walk back to the other side of the table and start the entire process again. It did not matter that I said, "Caleb, do not pour with the lid on-it will fall off." His response was "No!" and he kept trying it his way instead. Eventually, a miracle happened and he finally learned how to replace the lid on his own. After that was accomplished, he got bored and found something else to do.

How often do I do that with God? I work and work at something that clearly is not going to turn out right by my own ways, yet I still continue to ignore God's advice. I have a problem, try to fix it my own way, then run to Him when it does not work. After He gently helps me, I then continue on in my own way of doing things. All the signs could be there as to why I am wrong, but my stubborn self still keeps going. And, if by some miracle, things work out, I run off to my next situation without even taking time to thank Him.

Every time I see my kids being stubborn in thinking they are right (which happens at least ten times a day-each), may it be a reminder of my own sinful self and my need for God's patience and grace.

Too Much Information

While walking along with a friend of ours who was helping her nephew ride his bike, Abby decided to make a comment that still has us laughing. Our friend, Angie, was saying, "Go Micah! Push! Push!" to encourage him on pushing the pedals. Abby joined in and said how strong she is and that she pushes all the time. She finished this thought with, "I even push my poop out!"

Specific Prayers

Abby tends to say the same prayer each time it is "her turn" to pray. We could be sitting down for dinner or praying before bedtime, but her prayer will always go something along these lines:

"Thank you God for this day. Thank you for this day. Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Caleb. Thank you for Grandma and Grandpa and Amy and Kevin. Thank you for Grammie (she stresses it to show the difference in grandmas) and Grandpa and Uncle Billy. Thank you for all my friends and family. Thank you for everything. Amen."

The last couple of days she has been throwing in new lines, which always surprises us. Last night, while eating dinner with friends, she made sure she thanked God "for Mike and Mrs. Woods." Tonight, while praying at bedtime, she decided to express her deep appreciation for Grandpa's cows (even though she thinks they are quite large and smelly when she is actually around them). My favorite was earlier this week when she prayed for God to heal my eye (which felt better by the next morning).

Even though these are just small sentences, they mean the world to me. It shows me she is starting to understand prayer. Instead of sticking with her normal routine of what to thank God for, she is actually thinking about specific things and people while talking with God. It is a nice reminder to me, who as an adult, easily gets caught up in the routine of my daily faith. May I remember to thank God for all the details and not just the big things I always speak of.

Attack of the Cicadas

I believe cicadas only come out of the ground in various areas every 13 or 17 years, depending on their type. So, you would think the odds of actually having to deal with them is every 13 or 17 years. Unless you are like me and just happen to move every few years exactly where they are popping up next. I have had to deal with them in Pennsylvania and Ohio. This year they decided to come out of the ground in our backyard.

If you have not had to deal with them, lucky you. They are so loud you can hear them all through the house, even with the windows shut, the air conditioner running, and two loud toddlers running around the house. I can even deal with the sounds-one just gets used to them. After awhile, however, they become brave and start creeping closer and closer to the house so that while we are playing in the backyard, we start getting attacked. They are not harmful, but it is quite annoying to have them get stuck in your hair and start buzzing.

So, you can understand Abby's frustration yesterday when they decided to take over her favorite park. I ran on the bike trail while pushing them in the stroller yesterday and thought, "Wow, they aren't too bad today." Then we approached the park and the festation began. The kids tried to climb up the playground, pushing cicadas out of the way. They attempted to go down the slides while moms used sticks to clean them out of the way. Finally, my daughter, who absolutely loves the park, said to me, "It's time to go home, mommy."

While walking back to the car, we passed a memorial that is dedicated to firefighters. I told her what is was, so I can see why within a few minutes of walking all over the dead cicadas on the bike trail, she said to me, "Those brave firefighters have to get to work and kill the rest of the cicadas."

I usually try not to talk about the subject of killing in front of my daughter, but in this case, I had to agree with her.

Through Sickness and Health

For the last few weeks, I have felt like there was something in my left eye, like an eyelash caught in my eyelid. It finally became really painful Sunday night and unbearable Monday morning. I found out from the doctor that I have a Recurrent Corneal Erosion. At the time, all I could think was how glad I did not have pinkeye with two kids in the house.

So, the doctor taped up my eye, leaving me to drive home with one eye. It was not too bad at first-I stumbled out of the doctor's office (receiving many sympathy nods from strangers who I know were laughing at me afterwards), somehow found my car and managed to start driving home. Have you ever tried to drive with one eye? I do not recommend trying it for fear of being responsible for an accident. I only came close to an accident twice and the worst thing to happen was missing an exit to the highway-I did not see the signs since they were on the left side of the road.

The second I parked the car in the driveway, the pain started. It was like God spared me the agony of driving home feeling like that (funny enough, He let me drive home from work in labor three and a half years ago, but that's for another post). For the rest of the day and most of today, the only time my eye was not in constant pain was when I was sleeping or watching tv (honestly, it was the doctor's orders to watch tv).

My husband is amazing. He never complained, but just worked really hard at keeping me from working. I had full possession of the remote control, made myself at home in the comfortable chair with the ottoman, and was not allowed to help with anything. He cooked dinner (and I mean made chicken with all the sides-no ordering out), took Abby and raced off to his softball game, came home and immediately cleaned up the toys that I did not finish picking up, gave our dirt-covered daughter a bath, put her to bed, and then asked if I needed anything. This morning, he helped with the kids, left to tutor high school students, came home and went right back to helping.

My favorite thing about all of this was that he never complained. He kept a great attitude with the kids and never mentioned that he was tired. It made me realize how much I complain on a daily basis because these are my normal days, but complaining does not make anything better. Maybe if I try and keep a better attitude, my kids and my husband will notice and most likely be in a better mood as well.

So, here I am, patch free and full of drugs on my eye, finally able to look at the computer without crying in pain. I am not sure why this infection had to happen (just one of those things, according to the doctor), but perhaps part of it was for this lesson to be learned.

And for the reminder of the wonderful husband I have that still holds true to his marriage vows.