Goodbye

Today I received the worst news. Our sweet neighbor, Sally, passed away Monday morning.
Last night I walked across the street to her house to give her some pictures of the kids. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I could hear her two little dogs barking inside. Her sister, Peggy, lived next door, so I assumed she was over there.
And then this morning the phone rang. I answered and a cracked voice filled my ear. Struggling to get the words out, "Sally died." I just can't believe it. I look out across the street and I expect to see her standing in her living room window.
Whenever the weather was warm, I would let the kids play in the front yard. She told me how much she loved to watch them play. It was the highlight of her day. One day, she walked slowly across the street, cocktail in one hand, cigarette in the other. She went on and on about how well behaved the kids were, how they had such big cheeks. And then she glanced over at our driveway. The kids had taken off their shoes and lined them up on the cement. They were running barefoot through the grass. She looked at me and said, "Isn't that a beautiful site. How I wish I could see that in my driveway."
She taught me to recognize and appreciate the little things in life. Neither sister had any children, all they had was each other. And they reminded us often how blessed we were to have such a big family.
I will miss my friend.

Favorite

Complete

When I was a little girl, my mom had my room decorated in purple. My favorite color. Purple and white eyelet curtains hung on my window, purple flowers flowed on my bedspread. I thought of names for the gingerbread family holding hands across my wall. I would trace my finger along the stenciled flowers on the side of my dresser. I loved that room. But my favorite thing was a cross stitch picture that hung on the wall. There was an angel on it and below it read, "My day is complete; I heard a child laugh." I would sit and look at that cross stitch angel and pretend like I had my very own angel watching over me and waiting to hear my laughter.

As I got older, I took down my purple decorations and changed the color on the walls. I forgot about my cross stitch angel. Until recently when I was cleaning out the attic. I came across a box my mom had given me a few years ago; in it was some childhood memorabilia. I sat and sorted through old diaries and letters. Silly pictures I took with friends. At the bottom of the box was my old friend staring right up at me. My cross stich angel and the words, "My day is complete; I heard a child laugh."

And it occured to me. As a child, I was hopeful that my angel would hear my laughter. But now my days are filled with the laughter of my own children. Giggles when I tickle their bellies, hysterical laughter as I'm chasing them around the room, pure merriment as they splash in the bathtub. I'm so blessed to have each and every day be complete through the laughter of my children. And I can only imagine that somewhere there's an angel delighting in that laughter!

Blind Man's Bluff

During the winter, the kids are cooped up in the house all day. So in an attempt to keep them all from going crazy, we play games. Endlessly. The irony is that the never ending games drives me crazy! :)

They each have their favorite game. Malachi is the Operation champion, Aylah beats everyone at Memory and Gabs is a whiz at Blind Man's Bluff. Nathan places a little stuffed swan in Ezekiel's swing, blind folds Gabs and spins her around. He then puts her in the kitchen, and somehow, she can run straight to that little swan. It's the funniest thing ever.

Here's a video of Gabs playing her favorite game!