This week…we laid to rest Eric’s Grandpa Hogue. He was 92 years old. He loved his wife of 64+ years, loved my kids, loved to pick apples. He struggled with the robotic barn Alan built, but he loved all the people who came to see it. He was a die-hard high school sports fan, long after his kids and grandkids were graduated. He was a sweet, sweet man with a happy smile and will be sorely missed, not just by the family, but by the entire community.
This week…my kids got their first taste of death in a real and personal sense. We worked hard to prepare them (Grandpa had a stroke about 2 weeks before he passed, so we had some warning). I got Nana Upstairs Nana Downstairs from the library to read with them. I read it as a child at my Aunt Kathy’s house, and I remember how sad the story made me. It was just the right amount of information for my kids and prompted good questions.
We talked about the viewing and the funeral: what they should expect, how it would look, how HE would look. I think we managed to give them enough because they just accepted the whole thing without meltdowns or fear. They were with us at one of the two sessions of calling hours, but I had things for them to do in the back so they didn’t have to sit out with the crowd the whole time. I did make them sit through the funeral, which got boring for them. In fact, Erin at one point told me, “This isn’t very fun.” “No,” I told her, “it’s not. Not at all. But sometimes we have to do things that aren’t fun and you can sit there for a little while longer.” And they did fine. Really, they did very, very well. And no one is more scared of death now than they were before…so that’s a huge success in my book!
This week…we registered the twins for Kindergarten. There was a TON of paperwork to fill out. And we’ve signed up for the evaluation day in May. They’re already showing off what they know, so I don’t think they’ll have any trouble. But, we are officially headed towards the next stage of life. Crazy!
I was a little bummed by the coming changes a couple of months ago. But I’m really okay with them going now. It’s time. They’re ready. I’m NOT homeschooling, and as hard as the adjustment to all-day-every-day Kindergarten is going to be on them, we are ready for the next phase. Well, almost all of us because…
This week…Megan figured out that the twins were going to school without her. We were driving to Walmart, talking about kindergarten, and suddenly, she was whimpering. “What’s wrong, Meg?” “But, if they go to school, my sister won’t be here to play with me anymore!” I tried to reassure her: it’s not for months, they’ll still be able to play with her after school, we’ll do fun things on our own, she’ll have me and Timmy to play with. But she wasn’t convinced. “Timmy messes my stuff up when he plays with me.” SO…I think the twins aren’t the only ones who’ll have a big adjustment to make.
This week…Eric was required to go bowling at work. Workplace “morale builders” just don’t make much sense. But c’est la vie, I guess!
This week…we caught colds. I blame the up-and-down temperatures. For some reason, that always makes the “yuck bugs” stronger. Timmy’s got a lovely snot face these days. And on Tuesday, Erin woke up with a cough and Megan with a fever. She felt so bad she actually took herself back to bed for a nap after breakfast. I couldn’t find her for a minute and there she was! Poor thing. Anyway, it was short-lived, thankfully. And no one else has had one. But she was pretty low that day.
Actually, this week…was full of highs and lows. The weather was fan.tas.tic one day. It was downright cold the next day. On Wednesday, my kids had one of their best trips out ever. They were patient with me and each other. They didn’t whine or complain or bicker. They (mostly) obeyed. It was lovely. And then the next day they did nothing but talk over me, complain, run screaming through the house, smack or kick each other, and otherwise be cranky. In the middle of the week, I couldn’t find the floor for two days, and then today I managed to get it clean enough to vacuum (will wonders never cease)! So up and down, round and round. That’s how this week has gone.
Of course, we’ve also had lots of laughter and fun. Timmy is loving hats these days and he just grins when you put one on his head.
We received and watched Frozen, to great delight. Megan’s been earning sticker after sticker on her potty chart (I think in the last two weeks she’s had 2 accidents, total!) and has earned a My Little Pony doll, a Bubble Guppies dvd, and is 3 days from earning her new Barbie doll. All three kids ran up the hill today to see the new baby lamb, chicks, and ducklings at our neighbors house. And we have colored, painted, collected pinecones among other craziness.
So yes, a good week, a hard week, an up-n-down week. Overall, a pretty good microcosm of life, really. And all of it covered by the grace and presence of a God who loves us, saves us, and makes us holy.
Really, it doesn’t get much better than that.
