A Small Faith

First, let me say that Brian made it safely to Atlanta for his business trip late yesterday afternoon. (Didn’t want to scare any of you who knew that!)

After we heard from Daddy that all was well, Mom piled the three kiddos into the van to head to Sonic for dinner. On the way there, from out of nowhere, three deer ran across the street in front of me. Thankful for my new tires, I braked as hard as I could brake safely on the wet road, but I managed to hit the third one in his back thigh as he attempted to jump over the hood. I think the deer will be bruised, but okay. He didn’t seem to have any trouble continuing into the field! A quick inspection of the hood and front of the van when we arrived at Sonic showed no damage to the van, but it did raise a few eyebrows from the lady next to me!

After all of this, I’m hopeful that I won’t need to create a “Near Miss” category! Again, I find myself thankful for the many ways that God holds us in the palm of His hand – some seen, most unseen. I just happen to be fortunate enough to be able to see more clearly for the last couple of days. Maybe one day such clarity will come without all the near misses!

Near miss #1: We discovered a worn hole in one of the tires on our van. It was obvious that it had been there for a while. Two days earlier I had driven a friend, her daughter, and A6 to Chattanooga for a field trip. (And on Wednesday I’m planning to bring the kiddos to Grandma, 2 hours away!) After 4:00 pm on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, we found that our tire shop was indeed open and could replace the tires before Monday when Brian leaves for a business trip.

Near miss #2: While I was watering the flowers last night, Brian heard a different sort of sound coming from basement. When it didn’t go away, he took a moment to investigate. He found water spraying into the basement, which is unfinished, but is used as the kid’s play area and for storage purposes. For some yet-to-be-diagnosed reason the pipe that brings water to the outside spigot had sprung a leak. I had only been watering for around 15 minutes, so even though it took a couple of hours to clean up it could have been so much worse. I think we acted fast enough to save the rugs. They are currently airing out in the garage. The only real casualty might be the Christmas tree. When it dries out completely, we’ll have to plug it in to see if the lights still work.

Near miss #3: While in the middle of the clean-up process, Brian walked outside to check on the kids, who were remarkably helpful, btw. They had been staying out of the way by playing outside. Brian steps outside and sees that they have resourcefully tied a jump rope between the two Power Wheels vehicles. He watches as one vehicle circles around the other, effectively making a noose around A8’s neck. Thankfully, no one was injured because of Dad’s quick reaction time. Needless to say, the jump rope has been banned from all future usage with Power Wheels vehicles!

Today, we are taking it easy and counting our blessings. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for!

We were downtown last weekend at one of those downtown, festivally things when out of nowhere appears a late 60s Mustang fastback – with the hood up. S3 needed no encouragement to appreciate one of the finer things in life. The girls kinda liked it too.

Hellllppp…

A8 has a tendency to embarrass easily and holds great disdain for the feeling of being in the spotlight. With that in mind, I’ve been thinking and talking with Brian about how/when to have The Talk with her. I suppose how much of The Talk is also on the table. I’m especially interested in finding some materials to use with her so that we can converse about the materials, rather than focusing on her. (Semantics, I know, but I think it might make a difference in her comfort level.) Any suggestions?

(Larger version here.)

Meant to have these up yesterday for Joe(heh heh) but the day got away from me.

I was able to spend a little time outside with the kids after work but it didn’t take long until my hands were numb. Jenn was commenting on how as kids they would play for hours, come in until their clothes were barely dry and then go back out for more. I remember doing the same thing but if I tried that now I’d need a week to recover.

But we are thankful for the snow. And I hope that Kathy and others who want it get some before the season is done.

The much played-in and tracked-up back yard

Snow – not just for breakfast anymore

Nothing like a stream in wintertime

Ain’t they sweet?