The Uninvited Guest

Paige's friend has developed a magazine that comes out bimonthly and Paige is one of the staff writers.  Here is her story from the last issue that came out the end of last week.  It is a true story.  Enjoy!

 

The Uninvited Guest

One day my mom, Clay, Drew, MacKenzie and I were sitting on a blanket in the middle of the family room floor reading our geography book. We heard Tigerlily playing with something in the other room. I just guessed it was a bouncy ball. When I got up to get a globe and colored pencils, I saw what Tigerlily was playing with was not a bouncy ball. It was something scurrying. "It’s a mouse!" I cried. Tigerlily, our cat, was playing with a mouse. Then to add more to the problem, she had no intention to just get it, she was just daintily playing with it. So we stepped in.

Mom plopped an empty ice cream bucket over the mouse. Then we scooted the bucket, with the mouse under it, along the floor towards the front door. Carefully, we slid it over the ridges of the doorway to the front walk. We got Tigerlily so we could give her another chance to get rid of the mouse. Quickly, I lifted the ice cream bucket, but Tigerlily wasn’t interested anymore. She wanted nothing to do with it. Tigerlily ran, but not towards the mouse, she ran the other way. Now the mouse was loose in the front yard. "Tigerlily!" we half groaned, half shouted. Well now I had the ice cream bucket. I tried to get the mouse. I threw the ice cream bucket, hoping it would land on the mouse, but I missed. The mouse ran up into a bush. We tried to spot it. I especially tried hard since I had not caught the mouse. I found it on a branch in the bush. Mom hit the bush with a little pvc pipe about three feet long and one inch diameter which Clay had been carrying around and the mouse fell down to the ground.

The mouse sprinted under the van which was parked in the driveway. We chased it back and forth, this way and that way. At this point we were laughing. One of my brothers said, "We could all get in the van and run over it." We decided not to. The mouse darted into the flowerbed by the mailbox. My mom had the pipe. Hastily, she plunked it down on the mouse’s tail so it couldn’t get free and I held it there while mom fetched the shovel. We said goodbye to the mouse, then disposed of it in the trash can where it rested in peace. That is until trash day.

The end

 

Happy 9th Birthday Paige!!!!

So this is a little late. But I still feel it is post worthy. My baby girl turned 9 this week! She use to be so little! I hated it when people would say "It will go by quick" "They grow up so fast". When we were going through sleepless nights, that didn't sound too bad, but now, I realize it is true. It is hard to think that the tiny red head we brought home from the hospital is the same person as this strawberry blond that loves football! I do sometimes miss that little stage, but I am finding that I love this one even more. I love knowing her dreams and see her pursue things that interest her. It is a fun time and I look forward to seeing her, Lord-willing, grow more and more.

Here is Paige 4 years ago.

Here she is opening her presents on her birthday. She got 2 backpacks from her grandparents. She wanted a small one to carry a few things when we hike up in the Sequoias. She also got a little one for our travels, I thought her Dora the Explorer backpack from preschool was a little outdated.

Yes, my daughter is a Steelers fan. Paige has liked the Steelers ever since she got into football. She says the Colts are her second favorite. But to her, the Steelers are #1. She has several Colts items, but I felt it was time that she had something with "her" team on it. And Jathan didn't argue. So she received a Steelers pillow, earrings and alarm clock. She was pretty happy.

Since it is an odd year birthday for Paige, she got to have a party. The parties have definitely changed a bit since the first ones I did for her. She has her own ideas now. This year she wanted a few families to come for dinner. She wanted a few games and knew exactly which ones she wanted. One was a version of Pin the Tail on the Donkey. We have had that game at about every birthday party we have done. Usually with a little twist to fit the theme like pin the license plate on Lightning McQueen for the Cars party and pin the sombrero on the vaquero for the Mexican birthday. So Paige wanted pin the tail on the whale. I have to say that I thought this to be a little under her age and wondered what the other kids her age would think, but when it came time to do it at the party the kids threw in a new twist and had the parents do it.

They had great fun blindfolding us, spinning us around and directing us to the actual game. Paige had a great time at her party. She was with family and friends, so she was happy.

A Theology Question to Ponder

Paige asked me tonight...

"If Adam and Eve hadn't sinned, would we still have to brush our teeth?"

Humm???

Would our teeth still be dirty?

What do you think?

Museum Grand Opening

Paige and Clay opened a museum yesterday. The museum has a collection of gems, a seagull bone from the coast, an artifact from South Korea (circa 2008) and various other things. There is even a children's play area where the kids can play while their parents do research. (They have thought of everything.) Each of the collections are displayed in a way visitors can get a good look at them, the gems even have a magnifying glass to view at a closer level. There were several visitors yesterday and they are hoping there will be more today, so if you are in the area, stop by.

Happy Birthday Paige!

My first born turned 8 yesterday. Wow! I know I was told it goes fast, but seriously, 8 already!!! I remember lying in the delivery room with Jathan holding Paige in a chair next me. I can still hear him talking to her saying "Hi Paige, I'm your daddy" over and over. She was so tiny and we had no idea what we were doing. And still 8 years later I still feel like we aren't quit sure what we are doing. But by God's grace Paige is growing into a beautiful young lady both inside and out. She has such a tender heart and patience that far exceeds mine. She is constantly putting her brothers' needs and wants before her own. She has a hunger for God's Word studying it and asking great questions that I have to call in Daddy to answer. She is truly a joy to be around. I love her diverse interests. On any given day you will see her playing dress up or dolls, Bionicles or Transformers, making up plays or riding her bike, shooting baskets or organizing her football cards, watching Anne of Green Gables or watching something on ESPN. I love it! Time is going fast, but I am so excited as I am seeing a beautiful young lady God is working in. I am blessed to be her mother.

Paige had an enjoyable birthday yesterday. After school, she played with some friends, then the family went swimming, then we opened presents and watched the NCAA championship basketball game. She was so excited that the game was going to be on her birthday.

Basketball

The basketball season is almost over at our house. Paige has one more game on next Saturday. Jathan got to coach again this year. He was actually hoping for a season off, but they needed coaches, so he was asked and couldn't say no since there was a need. So that has been part of our Saturdays for the last two months.

Here is a video of her scoring one of her goals from last week's game.

Sowing Seeds

The end of January the kids helped our dear friends, Joe and Gloria, sow seeds. Joe had surgery for a blocked artery and needed to take it easy, so the kids helped with some of the beginning garden preparations.



I know that the kids had a fun time and I think Joe and Gloria did too.

After all of the work, popsicles were handed out to the workers. And then we enjoyed the nice afternoon.

Below: Clay climbing in the olive tree

Below: Paige made friends with an earthworm

Bike Maniacs

One the things on my long "to do" list, was to teach the kids to ride their bikes. We tried a while back with no success and since then, it has been pushed to the back of my mind. They really had no desire. Paige had a scooter that she loved riding and Clay would ride his big wheels that he was way too big for. They didn't have any reason to learn. Thankfully that changed a couple of weeks ago. Clay decided it was time to learn, so he began practicing and of course you can't let your little brother learn before you do, so Paige was on her bike without training wheels trying herself. Within a few tries, Paige was riding as if she had been at for years.



And a few days later with some practice times at a nearby parking lot, Clay got the hang of it too.



So now what do we do in our free time? Ride our bikes, of course. Drew has his bike with training wheels and the other two will be on theirs going up and down the sidewalk. Over and over again. Clay is still learning a bit of control.

We have even taken Paige on the river trail by our house and if my calculations are correct she rode over 7 miles that day.

So the scooter and big wheel are now beginning to collect dust in the corner of the garage, because they kids have learned that you can go way faster on the bikes.

So I am happily checking another thing off my "to do" list. I have a little time before I am ready for Drew to take off his training wheels. I would like him to begin looking ahead instead of down at the ground as he rides. A little dangerous, he is. :)

Time to Train

When my kids were little (like when they were 3, 2 and a baby) I wondered how on earth people could have more than three. I even wondered how I was going to survive with three. When you are in the middle of babies and toddlers, it is hard to look past the diapers, bottles, carseats, pack-n-plays, naptime, high chairs, having to tote anything and everything with you when you go anywhere, and having to do everything for your kids, like putting on clothes, shoes, coats, etc. But then little by little, things change, suddenly you aren't putting on 4 pairs of shoes (counting your own) whenever you need to run to the store. You can say "get your coat on" and it happens. And my all time favorite was when I could tell them to get in the car and get buckled. I wasn't having to buckle 3 different carseats anymore! You realize that your job (in addition to the most important job of teaching them the things of the Lord) is to help them become more and more independent. We are training them to become adults! I am learning more each day of what my kids are capable of if I would just take the time to train them. But the time is well invested. Even though it is so much faster (and might look a whole lot better) to clean the bathroom counter myself, Clay will never learn if I don't take the time to teach him. Baking a cake is a whole lot easier when it is just me measuring, adding and mixing. But they are learning when they are reading the recipe, measuring out the ingredients and turning on the mixer. And then you have days when you see the fruit of your labor.

Normally, we have company in our home once a week for dinner. We have gotten to the point where I can say we are having company tonight, lets get the house straightened up. Now, I can put the leaf in the table and they will put the pad and tablecloth on. I can get the dishes from the high shelf and they will set the table. And I can even tell Paige what I would like help with in the cooking or baking and she will (for the most part) take care of it herself. It is a huge help to me, but it is also reminding them that we are serving as a family.

I am writing this more to myself, to remind myself, that training takes time and energy. But in time we can have confidence that our children will grow. I want my kids to be prepared adults. Unfortunately, they aren't always wanting to be trained, but we are working through that too. Teaching to work hard is another lesson in itself.

The best reward is seeing their face when the cookies turn out just right, the table looks great when the company comes or when you say to them "you have been a big help to Mommy!"

Below is a picture of Paige a few weeks ago, baking cookies for company coming. (Paige has found that an added benefit of mixing the cookies herself, is that she can add as many chocolate chips as she would like!)

Soccer

Soccer season is officially over. The awards were on Thursday and we had our first Saturday with no game. I will miss it though. Paige and Clay were on the Aztecs this year. Jathan and a friend of ours coached the kids. Even though it is a league where score is not kept and is suppose to be noncompetitive, we know that we ended the season with one loss, one tie and the rest wins. So we were very happy. (I would say that it was the kids that kept the record, but I think it was mostly dad!)

Jathan before the game with all of the gear for the sidelines.

Paige is right in the middle running after the ball.

Clay is the one with the ball right in front of him.


Some might say that the post game snacks are the best part of the game.

(Thank you John for sharing your pictures with me!)