Lessons

This last weekend we all learned a lot together as a family- but let me back track just a bit.

Last October Abby came home from school with a goldfish. She had bought it from the 2nd grade "Trading Post" with her "Bug Bucks" (i.e. Being Unusually Good Bucks) she had earned during that month. Lucky for her we still had our old bowl from the previous venture into the world of fish, so this new fish had an instant home and immediately fell deep into that child's large heart. He was a traditional orange goldfish and was aptly named Pumpkin- it was almost Halloween so it seemed fitting. This fish became the pride and joy of the family- she fed it, all the girls watched over it with protective eyes and the duty of cleaning the bowl landed in my lap. Call me lazy if you must, but I don't really care for this task. Every time I had to clean that bowl terror spread through my bones as I was rocketed back to last spring when all three of the girls fish went belly up after my cleaning! I didn't want to do that to her again!! Alas, the days went by, the weeks swept past and turned into months until January reared it's dull and dreary head. I started to notice that sweet Pumpkin seemed to be slowing down, not moving as much and I swear at times he was swimming crooked. I tried to prep her with the possibility that he was getting old but Abby would hear nothing of the sort.

Then one afternoon two weeks ago she appeared from school with another fish- this one was named Ponyo (after the Disney movie they had just watched) and we added him to the bowl. I decided that with two fish that darn bowl was going to need a more frequent cleaning and I dreaded the thought- so we went out and brought home a filter tank- that would sustain itself for a much broader period of time, thus alleviating my work load! Naturally, with the added space this was providing, Eva and Liv each picked out a fish as well and a sucker fish was placed in to keep the algae at bay.

All this time poor pumpkin was looking worse and worse- his tail was falling off and we started to notice that his color wasn't looking so well- after research we concluded that he had fin rot which would spread to the others. It was time to have a deep hearted discussion with Abby- the time had come to say goodbye to an old and trusted friend.

This time the pain ran deep. Her poor heart was broken- he had been with her so long. In her infantile memory it had been a lifetime, she couldn't remember a time without him. She was distraught to say the least but understood that he had to go or he would make all the other fish sick as well. She put on a brave face as Paul did the deed of pulling the handle and she didn't watch as he swirled away into the abyss. Hand over her eyes she ran off in tears. I found her in the back corner of her closet with the door shut sobbing. I gently opened the door and lifted her out, placed her in my lap and we rocked together for a long time- no words, just understanding of hearts- hers was shattered and mine broke for her. The silence soon gave way to a loving discussion of life's plan, our purpose, and death. Each life on this earth was given by our Heavenly Father, we were all sent here with a purpose to fulfill, and death is not the end, it is the beginning of the next step, the next level of our existence. While we are sad to say goodbye, we are happy knowing that they are moving on, returning to our Father in heaven and the loved ones waiting to meet them with open arms, and we will see them again. Abby decided that Pumpkins life purpose was for her to learn how to love and care for something- I decided that he was here to teach her a life lesson about letting go and trusting in the lord.

Today we went out and purchased a new fish for her (with Louisa of course)- Star. Shining bright in the memory of a loved one. Oh, and she wouldn't leave with out a Snail too- I guess we are fish people now- who knew right?

This post dedicated
in Loving Memory
to

Pumpkin

October 15 2010- January 30th 2011

N is for...

Let me give you a slice of my everyday life for a moment. Each and every day- multiple times a day- hundreds of times a day- from the moment she opens her eyes in the morning until the second she shuts her lids in the evening- Eva will ask me if she can be my puppy. She LOVES to pretend being a puppy, but not just any puppy- MY puppy. Sometimes she will ask Paul if she can be his puppy, but mostly I have the duty of being her owner, caretaker and companion. At times it comes in handy because MY puppies must be obedient at ALL times, they go to bed when they are told, brush their teeth when asked and most importantly they eat the food given to them at meal times- without arguing or crying. That, as everyone knows, is NOT proper puppy behavior!!! I am happy that her puppy pretend has not ventured into the realm of needing to take off her clothes. It hasn't yet occurred to her innocent mind that animals don't wear clothes like little girls and for that I am truly happy.

So you can see why today, after picking her up from preschool, and starting in on her lunch I was not surprised to hear the familiar request lofting up from behind me "Mommy, can I be your puppy?" I turned around to give my usual response of "Yes Eva, you can be my puppy" when I was greeted with this:


How could we possibly have lived this long without "N" week at preschool?! Really, "Noses" have enlivened our lives and broadened our imaginative horizons!!!

She must have been asking Mrs. Sherrie if she could be her puppy too!

Satisfying

This weekend we had no plans, no work and nowhere to be. In an effort to keep ourselves from going insane, Paul and I decided to pull out our home projects wish list - dust it off and pick two things that we could accomplish in one day. It was determined that we would divide and conquer two items on the list that have been there since the day we moved in. Not huge items, but small things - finishing touches, the icing, the gravy shall we say.

Project #1 by Paul's expert hands: Crown molding on our undressed kitchen cabinets. We have pretty basic cabinetry- it serves it's purpose and we have no complaints except to say that they look a little naked. (One day we will refinish them, but that is NOT a one day project my friends)

Ahhh- now that is better!Plus this gave me an excuse to clean all my dust traps I have on display up there, bonus item on the list done!

Project #2 by me (Bree, in case you were confused!): Painting the exterior lights.

Naturally I forgot to take the before picture- the excitement was just too strong to break for such things! I will just explain that they were, in a previous life, brass but had aged and rusted to the point that there really wasn't much of a finish to be had. I didn't even have to sand them. You have that picture in your mind- OK, now the new(ish) lights:
SOOO much better! A sleek satin black. Now my eyes can relax every time I pull into the driveway or when I have to answer the door. My cornia's are very pleased!

Not to bad for one day projects right?!! I will just continue to pat myself and Paul on the back for a job well done. In fact we took ourselves out to dinner that night just to celebrate our own sense of self satisfaction!! Way to go team Braul!!

The Dress

Abby and I had a photo shoot on Sunday afternoon- what! -how else are we going to pass the hours when she has a new BEAUTIFUL white dress for her baptism, and a darling smile just begging to be preserved for generations to come! My friend Tina (who is a talented photographer herself) let me borrow one of her backdrops that went so perfectly with the dress. I find it so hard to take portraits this time of year with it being so grey, dreary, gloomy and freezing outside- so THANKS Tina! Not to mention that Lime Green just so happens to be Abby's new favorite color- PERFECTION!!

...and so I give you Abby- the pictures speak more than I can say- I just LOVE her!