fledgling songs

King was out of town one evening and #5 decided she needed to sleep in my bed.  Y'know, to keep me company "till Daddy comes home." 

We read a bedtime story and then I got her and her toys all settled.  I snuggled under the covers with the last couple of hundred pages of a book I was trying to finish before our book club met. 

Constant chatter bubbled up from the pillow beside me. 

Knowing kids this age are a lot like mockingbirds in the evening before they settle down for the night, I patiently listened to the chatter - despite the fact that my book was getting to the good part.

Important to note that lately she has been spelling "mommy" to get my attention rather than just saying it.  I don't mind.  For one, she is loving to learn to spell.  Two, it gives my poor ears a break from hearing the word "mommy" all the time. 

"Em. Oh. Em. Em. Why?"  she said about 5 minutes into her evening song. 

I sighed. "Yes?"

Realizing that she was starting to wear me down, she smiled sweetly said, "I've just got lots of questions in my brain."

"Could you ask me some now and save some for tomorrow morning?"

"Sure."

A couple of minutes later, after all the immediate questions were answered, like how and why toys made out of plastic, my little fledgling was sound asleep.

under the eyeglasses on the bedside table

Me:
The Glass Lake by Maeve Binchy
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
A Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp

King:
Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly
Being George Washington by Glenn Beck
1776 by David McCullough

What about you? Read any good books lately?

pope quote

“Something I constantly notice is that unembarrassed joy has become rarer. Joy today is increasingly saddled with moral and ideological burdens, so to speak. When someone rejoices, he is afraid of offending against solidarity with the many people who suffer. I don't have any right to rejoice, people think, in a world where there is so much misery, so much injustice.

I can understand that. There is a moral attitude at work here. But this attitude is nonetheless wrong. The loss of joy does not make the world better - and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the impetus and courage to do good. Joy, then, does not break with solidarity. When it is the right kind of joy, when it is not egotistic, when it comes from the perception of the good, then it wants to communicate itself, and it gets passed on. In this connection, it always strikes me that in the poor neighborhoods of, say, South America, one sees many more laughing happy people than among us. Obviously, despite all their misery, they still have the perception of the good to which they cling and in which they can find encouragement and strength.


In this sense we have a new need for that primordial trust which ultimately only faith can give. That the world is basically good, that God is there and is good. That it is good to live and to be a human being. This results, then, in the courage to rejoice, which in turn becomes commitment to making sure that other people, too, can rejoice and receive good news.”


― Pope Benedict XVI

growing pains

Just had the first born sit beside me to register online for the ACT.  I am not sure what it was about the process that got her so bothered, but there was a lot of moaning and groaning and angry mutterings.

"Ughhhh, I hate writing!  I don't want to take the writing part.  Do not sign me up for THAT." 

But the college we've talked about you going to requires it. 

"Noooooooo.  I don't even want to go to *insert parental alma mater here*."

You will be fine.

"No it won't.  I won't be ready."

It's ok, if you do poorly, you can re-take it.

"No, that's stupid."

And so on.  You get the picture.

I have always tended to shelter No. 1 as she is a timid little sprout.  However, just before Christmas, during a little chat the two of us had, I lovingly broke the news that I am planning on gently nudging her over the next year or so to get her ready to leave the nest. 

I'm pretty sure putty will fill in the scratches

 ~ nailmarks of hesitancy~

But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:11-12).



we have a winner!

I love No. 5's the New Year's Resolution the most.

ps- I knew that was circus music I was hearing!

wordless wednesday

resolutions

In addition to continuing last year's resolution of having the attitude "What Can I Do That Will Make Your Life Easier?" to any and all people in my life, I want to do the following:

1. a) buy a gun b) learn to shoot it
2. learn to paint - oil on canvas
3. learn to make jewelry
4. finish quilts I've started