Big Jesus

Emily up. . . again. This is the common theme when there is a storm outside. Emily hates storms. She is terrified of them. And yes we had a storm. There was thunder, lightning, rain pouring down, and eventually hail (grape sized.) As soon as the rain started pouring and thunder boomed, I knew it wouldn't be long until we heard from Emily. At one point Emily, Mike, and I all were sitting on the stairs listening to the hail pound on the house. Emily was convinced the house was moving. When the hail stopped she said, "Good the house stopped moving." I think she thought the house was making noise - not the hail. She got up several times throughout the night. Mike and I took turns putting her back in bed.
On my turn to take her to bed, she started climbing up the ladder of her bunk bed and said, "I want the big Jesus mom. The big one Jesus." I was puzzled at what this meant and thought very hard about what it could mean. I finally realized she meant the children's Bible we had been reading earlier in the night. (It is a bigger book). I tossed the book up to her, laid her down, and kissed her goodnight.

Shortly thereafter, Mike and I were sitting on the couch. He told me a little story that happened earlier in the night that made the previous encounter with Emily a little clearer.

I was on the phone with my teaching partner, and sure enough Mike heard movement from upstairs. He headed towards the stairs to investigate. When he rounded the corner he saw Emily sitting at the top of the stairs holding a picture of Jesus. He went to the top of the stairs and sat next to her. "Are you scared Emily?" he asked.
"Yeah. Thunder scare me."
"Well you picked a good guy to hold on to."
Mike helped Emily up and they walked hand in hand back to her bedroom. Emily who is so in tune with everyone and everything around her remarked, "Ariana has a big Jesus on her wall, so she'll be okay." (Keep in mind that I put the "big Jesus" up in Ariana's room a little over a week ago. It was my Aunt Louise's. It had sat for a while, and there was an empty nail in Ariana's room) She continued, "I want a big Jesus on my wall."
By this point they were at Emily's door where Mike pointed out the small crucifix hanging above her door.
"No dad I want a big Jesus like Ariana. Right here. (She pointed above her bed.) As Mike tried to coax her into her bed she kept her reasoning going, "Mom has a big Jesus, Ariana has a big Jesus, I want a big Jesus."

So apparently my assumption about big Jesus being her Bible was wrong. I also now know what her next gift needs to be. A large crucifix (big Jesus). Emily amazes me everyday with how in tune she is to the world around her and to Jesus. She often talks about Mary, Jesus, and Joseph. She also is so sweet to her baby sister (usually). She is truly a blessing in my life.

Shadows

I thought shadows were cast when light hit an object in its way. Apparently not. I also thought we were stuck with one shadow that followed us around. . . Also wrong. I not only have one shadow, but two. They are not only out when it is light, but also in the middle of the night, jolting me out of bed, on the couch, at the park, inside, outside . . . pretty much anywhere I am, there they are. I never realized just how pleasant and annoying shadows could be. On the one hand, it is such an amazing feeling knowing that little shadows want to follow you around, do everything your doing, but at the same time, that 'alone' feeling is something rarely witnessed any more. Sometimes I just want to be alone without my shadows. However, if I am alone without them too long, then I start to miss them. Such a vicious cycle. For now I will try to cherish my little shadows while they are still around but also tuck them in at night and set few brief hours aside without them.

Shadow stories. . .
Emily came out of her room this morning wearing a fancy black sweater and a suede red skirt (literally looked like a Christmas outfit). I had it in her bottom drawer to grow into for next Christmas. Anyway. . . she came out and said, I have my workout clothes on. I am going to work out because I am crazy. She also said she was wearing black, so she was pretty. The only reason she said she had her workout clothes on was because I had put my workout clothes on the day before to go to Zumba. I wonder if she even knows what working out is. She is such a cutie and makes me laugh daily.

I took Emily to school with me the other day to get a few things done (non-school hours). She was pretending to type on the computer next to me. When I told her it was time to go she said, "Mom, I just have to finish checking my e-mail." That was the first time that phrase ever came out of her mouth. Such a different world she is growing up in than I did. I thought I was growing up in a technology generation, but it is only going to get more technological.

Ariana is now holding the phone up to my ear and hers pretending to 'talk' on the phone. She is also attempting to comb the few hairs she does have. It is so funny watching them pick up the things I do.

Bruises and more

So I find it ironic that as soon as I enter my two darlings into a cutest baby contest, they immediately become overly accident prone. Emily currently has a cut and a bruise above her right eye and that same right eye is black. She hit it while laughing in the shopping cart. Ariana has a bruise on her head as well. She also has a bad cold so her face is all dry and red. It looks so sore. I laugh because even if my girls were chosen as finalists, the show would probably turn us into social services. To top it off, at Walmart (right after Emily hit her eye and it immediately turned black) the lady at the checkout asked, "Is this going to be under WICK or anything?" I was mortified. I immediately answered no, but the answer isn't the point. It is the fact that she asked it in the first place. I guess my bruised girls were shooting out WICK vibes. Who knows.

New to the world of blogs!

Well this is my first official blog. . .ever! My sister Caitlin got me into it. I do have to say documenting by typing definitely seems to be easier than doing it by hand. Hopefully I will be able to stick with this. So far it has been pretty fun.