Funny Fall

"I'd like to try a worm sandwich," Carie said seriously as she stared down at the worm we discovered while sweeping the patio. Instead of eating it, we showed the almost dead worm some compassion by moving it to the dirt and grass and enriching its life with some water. A few minutes later it was gone. I assume it found a comfy spot in the soil.

Later that brisk Friday night as we sat around the fire pit warming ourselves and looking up at the stars, Carie said, "I think I prefer chicken from something bigger than a worm." She won't be trying worm sandwiches anytime soon. She'd rather have pork chicken or beef chicken or even chicken chicken.

That night Carie also kept us updated on the approach of a dark bank of clouds in the twilight of the western sky. "The snow clouds are coming. They are higher now," she'd say every few minutes.

Sure enough, a little after 10:00 PM the winds started blowing and when Bob and I peaked out, it was snowing. We awoke Saturday morning to a dusting of snow and a few inches of leaves in our back yard. Our ash tree was stripped nearly bare of its pale green leaves. So much for the nicely swept patio.

First thing in the morning the kids suited up for serious snow play -- snow pants, boots, extremity coverings. They poked around in the snow for a while. Later in the afternoon they used rakes to make a pile of leaves to jump into, but by the time I was ready to go out and join them, one flip flop clad youngster was done with the cold (I didn't check attire before they went out). Carie supervised and occasionally helped as Maggie and I built up the pile. Carie jumped with Maggie once into the pile of wet leaves and decided she had had enough. Maggie was sad that no one wanted to jump with her, so I offered my companionship. We flopped and twirled and jumped and fell into the great pile of leaves. I have green stains on my pants to prove it.

2-4 inches of snow is in the forecast for tonight, so Bob and I (mostly Bob) collected the leaves and disposed of them at the city compost pile. Maggie and I pulled up all the plants from the garden. Fall is here. Summer is gone. We enjoyed the last of it as we finished our homegrown watermelon today.

Just like you

"I want to grow up just like you," Carie said while we sat across from one another at the kitchen table.

"Do you mean you want to be grown up just like Mommy?" I queried.

"No, I mean I want to be just like Mommy when I grow up." What a great thing that was to hear when I was feeling sick, unkempt, and exhausted.

"Oh, you want to have three great children and a wonderful husband. And you want to take care of them and fix good meals for them."

"Hee, hee. I want to fix things they don't like like tomato sauce. All the time I want to fix things they don't like" responded Carie with a goofy grin. I was hoping for a more positive follow up statement.

Yesterday Carie's actions demonstrated beautifully her desire to be like Mommy. In the morning I was in the living room with my Bible on my lap. Carie pranced in and sat down for a minute. After exchanging greetings she said, "I need to go get my Bible." She ran out of the room, retrieved her Bible, plopped herself down on the love seat, and commenced a retelling of several Old Testament stories. I soon left the room to get breakfast for some hungry family members, but Carie remained "reading" her Bible for quite a while longer.

I hope that as Carie looks at me and desires to grow up to be like me, she will see me as one who abides in God, who relies on His mercy and grace, who walks by faith, who is filled with the Holy Spirit, and who loves others deeply from the heart. I pray that she will be an imitator of God.

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children

and live a life of love,

just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us

as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

Ephesians 5:1 (NIV)

Caretaker Carie

Carie was also an outside helper today. She watered our new grass which really needed it as our temperatures soared into the 90's.

For a learning activity she, David and Maggie collected seeds from trees and flowers (the dandelions and violets we are happy to have in our yard). She tore into a yellow dandelion and showed me wear the fuzzy seeds would come from. When I took her to inspect our packaged birdseed she selected a sunflower seed that she wanted to plant. We found a bare spot from last year's garden and planted the seed. She watered it and told me it has all that it needs to grow -- sunshine and water.

Later in the day we read about the life cycle of a sugar maple tree and it echoed her words about the need for sunshine and water. As I read the book time she interrupted me numerous times to ask questions and share her knowledge, particularly about pollination and the role that butterflies play. She finished up her year at preschool with a unit on butterflies that included watching dozens of caterpillar in the classroom change into butterflies. She also got to take a trip to the Sertoma Butterfly house in Sioux Falls. We visited a couple of weeks later with our whole family and Grandma and Grandpop.

Tulip time

After hearing the Christiain school marching band pass by at the end of our street, we went on an excursion uptown today to visit the library, the post office, and the bank. But the real reason we wandered up there was to see the rides. The town was bustling with acitivity. A few food stands were open, including Woudstras's Meat Market, home of some very fine bratwurst. The children wanted to pose in the large wooden shoe that made its first appearance at last year's tulip festival.

David's Deeds

"There's a big fly!" Carie pointed with concern.
"We need to get the fly swapper," David seriously intoned.
I smiled. I love that they David and Carie call the fly swatter a fly "swapper."

David enjoyed wrestling with Daddy and reading in bed.

Carie's creativity

Carie waited patiently today for me to paint her nails. Finally after lunch, when David took a nap and Maggie drifted off to sleep, we had our chance. I asked her if she wanted me to use my nail polish (I have one color) on all of her nails. She declined because she wanted to be "more beautifuller." Translation: she wanted to have an assortment of colors on her nails rather than be so plain as to have only one color on all of her nails. : )




After having her nails done Carie assisted me with laundry and then got busy with some paint brushes. Excitedly she announced that she had sorted the paint brushes and showed me her sorting criteria. I was quite impressed.








Later Carie dressed as a princess and David dressed as a firefighter. I think the plan was for firefighter David to rescue princess Carie.