The Mystery of "Horton Hears a Who"

Most people know that "Horton Hears a Who" is not a mystery. We had our own mystery surrounding the copy of the famed Dr. Seuss book checked out from the school library by Big Girl.

She checked it out in December, and it was due January 5th.

Ever since Big Girl started Kindergarten, and has had somewhat independent library privileges, I have been nervous about her ability to keep track of, take care of and return library books. I know that at the end of the year, if there are overdue books, we'll be on the hook for the money to replace them. While it may not really be expensive, it's also the principle of taking care of things that concerns me. Big Girl has not really demonstrated conscientiousness in keeping her things protected, put away, etc.

This week an overdue notice came home in Big Girl's take-home folder for "Horton Hears a Who." I scoured the upstairs, looking through Big Girl's room and her vast collection of books. I looked everywhere downstairs, hoping that it slipped behind the couch or something. No luck. I asked Big Girl, and she said she took it back to the library.

What am I to believe?

Thursday, on their way to school, as Hubby walked Big Girl to school, he probed her about the book situation. She continued to say that she returned it to the library. When he asked her where she put it, she said she put it back on the shelf with the other Dr. Seuss books.

Today I had my mother verify her story (it's a teacher work day, and my mom teaches at Big Girl's school). Sure enough, it was there! The book has now been returned in the computer, and we're no longer on the hook for the overdue book!

Now I just need to take Big Girl to the library on Tuesday and show her to use the slot!

In Memoriam

What would I want said about me after I have died? I think I'd want people to remember fun times, funny things I had said, meaningful conversations and love. Mostly love. So that's what I want today's blog entry to be about. Today marks the anniversary of my father-in-law's passing.

He was a dear man, very quiet usually. He had a way of saying things, important things, in a gentle way that still carried weight. He was devoted to his family. His love for his wife, two kids, their spouses and his granddaughters was surpassed only by his love for God.

My most cherished memory of his last days was when we went to visit him in the hospital, and his two sisters were there. They told him I had come (along with Hubby), and he immediately asked me to sing something for him. I sang a hymn to him, I think it was "How Great Thou Art," and his whole countenance changed as he did his best to sing with me. He was not a singer by any means, but he was singing with his whole heart to God, and it was such a sweet thing to witness.

His presence added a steadiness to everything. He is sorely missed.

The Music Box

I'm glad for Little Girl's interest in her music box that she got for Christmas. That's fine with me. What's not so fine is that it plays the main theme from Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky, and it doesn't play enough of the song for it to resolve. In my head, the next phrase is going, but the dumb music box just plays that little snippet OVER and OVER. Four measures is not enough of a great work like Swan Lake.

So of course, Swan Lake is what's playing in my head. My ears are desperate for the second phrase, the ascending melody... oh, THANK YOU, YOUTUBE!

"I WANT CANDY!!!"

Every now and then, Little Girl comes to me with this request. She's very charming when she wants something. This is the when she bats her eyelashes, and smiles wide, and usually clasps her hands in front of her chest. She is nearly irresistible.

But I have an iron will. I resist. I take these moments of her willingness to do almost anything for candy to send her to the potty. She knows what she can do to get some candy. All it takes is... you know. Do I really have to spell it out?

She hasn't pooped at all (that I know) since Sunday. Considering that it's Friday now, I can't imagine she can hold out much longer. Maybe there will be some candy in her near future after all.

In my head this morning, for no reason I can perceive, is the song, "Wheels," by Cake.

Chicken Pot Pie and the Big Lie

Last night for dinner I quickly threw together a Chicken Pot Pie. The girls both like it, and it's easy to throw together when I fail to plan ahead, as I did yesterday. When Big Girl was little, she used to call it, "chicken pie pie," so it will forever be one of those special things to Hubby and me.

To literally spice things up just a little, I tossed in some Italian herbs along with the cream of chicken soup, canned chicken and frozen vegetables before topping it with the bisquick crust and tossing it into the oven. It adds a nice flavor.

Big Girl doesn't really care for the herbs, so I made a little section of the dish that didn't have any and marked it with a toothpick.

When dinner was served, the girls, Hubby and I dived in to the chicken pie pie. Both girls finished their servings quickly (which is quite remarkable for Little Girl, the slowest eater I've ever witnessed) and requested seconds. Hubby gladly served the seconds to both of them. After just a moment, Big Girl started to wander away from the table, claiming to be full. To give her a chance to be honest, Hubby asked her if she was really full, or if she just didn't want to eat the part with the herbs. She said she was full, and was excused from the table.

Little Girl continued eating. When LG finished, she asked for a banana, and we happily gave her one.

Upon hearing the talk of bananas from the other room, Big Girl came running, asking for a banana. Hubby asked her again if she was full, as she had said earlier, and she now claimed she wasn't. We don't often call such seemingly innocent little inconsistencies to the carpet, but this time, since he had made a point of letting her come clean earlier, he dug in. When she realized she was cornered, she had a visceral reaction. She melted into a pool of tears right there on the chair. That quickly changed into her yelling at him "I'm really mad at you right now," in a very disrespectful and ugly tone of voice. We don't let that sort of thing go, not ever. He even asked her at that point, "Are you being disrespectful to me?" She said, "YES!" At that point she was sent upstairs to her room.

A little while later, maybe 5 minutes or so, Hubby went up to her room to have a little talk with her. He asked her, "Why did you cry when I caught you lying to me?" Her answer broke his heart: "I was afraid you wouldn't love me anymore." He had a loving, reassuring talk with her about unconditional love, and sin. It was an important talk that needed to happen. All that led right up to bed time, and I came in and reinforced the concept of unconditional love just before prayers and bed.

Hubby and I talked about it after the girls had gone to bed, and we think Big Girl has been playing us with little inconsistencies like this for a while. She has such a sweet demeanor that it's easy behavior to overlook. We both hope this experience will lead to more opportunities for bigger talks, all building her understanding of Jesus and the sacrifice he made for her sin. Hubby was convinced that she saw her sin in this instance, maybe for the first time. That's a big first step. One has to be convinced of one's depravity in order to seek a savior.

The song in my head is "Love Songs," by Fleming & John, my favorite band of all time. It's one of the 2 songs that are "our songs". Hearing it always brings back memories of sitting in my college dorm room after spending time with my then future husband, missing him like crazy, being convinced that he loved me even though he hadn't yet told me so. *Sigh* Ah... memories!

Post-Christmas Project Day

December 26th was project day.

Before:
After:

What you don't see in the "after" picture is the surround sound wires that went to the sub woofer and rear speakers under the carpet and around the room. The drapes I made now have a function besides adding much needed color to that side of the room. See below:I got a light fixture for Christmas which I picked out online. It was installed that day too. I wish I had a picture of the old one just so the new one could be appreciated that much more. It was so horrible that we managed to never get a picture of it. Here's the new one which now hangs beautifully over the table that ate my summer: While the work was being done by my dad, brother and husband (TV installation and light fixture), my mother, sister-in-law, grandmother and I all went to the outlet mall and did some shopping. Hubby and I did the surround sound installation after everyone else left. I got a blister on my thumb working the fishtape under the carpet. It was a very satisfying day, as if any day full of projects could be anything but satisfying for me.

Happy Holidays, etc...

Whoa...

I'm still catching my breath from the busiest 2 "vacation" weeks I've had maybe ever, or at least in recent memory.

We had a great Christmas, and got to see lots of family we don't always get to see. On the 22nd and 23rd, we traveled to West Texas to see Hubby's side of the family and do "Fincher Christmas". We do a gift exchange, drawing numbers from a hat, and then stealing and what-not, like white elephant, only good stuff, with a $10 limit. There are usually flashlights, and tools among other things. This year the gift I brought was stolen a couple times. That means I did good!

At Fincher Christmas this year was the newest member of the family, the nearly 4 month old son of Hubby's cousin. I got to do lots of holding, and even got to give him a bottle! He was so snugly and warm, and he just melted into me. As I have more of these opportunities to hold other people's tiny babies, and the further away I get from having my own (my youngest is nearing 4 years old), the more at peace I am with knowing that head of baby fluff I get to kiss and nuzzle will be passed back to other parents who get to wake up at all hours and tend to the crying while I get to sleep all night with my big kids tucked soundly in their beds. I know it's a trade off, and I'm happy with my part at this point. Considering how baby crazy I was before having my kids, this is a big deal that I seem to be immune to baby fever.

Then Christmas Eve we spent at my mother-in-law's house with Hubby's sister and her family, Grandmom (my mother-in-law's mother), Linda (sister-in-law's mother-in-law), and Harriet (Linda's mother). Besides Hubby and my sis-in-law's husband (who was rather sick that day), it was a complete estrogen fest. It was our first Christmas since my father-in-law passed away last January. Last year we had Christmas in the little apartment, and he was in the hospital, so we took turns going to the hospital to see him. That was the first time we realized how bad off he really was. It was the first time we really thought he was going to die. Thinking back on that is very hard, and sad. This Christmas we had a big meal, and had a fun time. Hubby and I had to get back for the Christmas Eve services at our church, of which there were 2. He played bass, and I sang a couple of songs with 2 different trios. My mother- and sister-in-law came to the second service and brought all 4 of the granddaughters with them. At the end of the service, Pastor had us gather with our families and have a prayer together. It was then that all 3 of us ladies (Hubby was on stage playing his bass) shed tears over the obvious absense of the patriarch. It was the right time and place to honor his memory, and acknowledge our loss together. I know we all miss him separately, and not a day goes by that we don't think of him, but we don't do that all together very much. It was cathardic.

Christmas Day, the four of us had our little family Christmas together. We read the Christmas story from Luke, and opened presents. It was nice. The girls were thrilled with their gifts. We don't do Santa Claus for the sake of our very literal-minded Big Girl, and all the presents are marked "From: Mom & Dad," which is how it really is anyway. If we want her to believe us when we tell her about Jesus, then we don't want to sour our credibility with the Santa Claus stuff. In the grand scheme, Santa isn't worth it. My husband was devastated when he learned the truth, and we don't want to do that to her. I think she still believes a little bit, but when we talk about it, I always make sure to tell her that Santa is pretend. I have also told her to keep that a secret from her friends at school, but we'll see if she can do that. They all have to learn the truth eventually anyway. I don't think it would enter Big Girl's imagination to go telling her school friends, at least not for a few years anyway. She's just not wired that way.

After we got ourselves dressed, we went to my mom and dad's house, where my brother was anxiously waiting for us. He got his wife a very nice camera, and had it delivered to our house. He was so anxious to have us come over, I thought he and his wife had an announcement of the next generation variety. But it was just that he was anxious to have his wife open her present (which I wrapped). They've been married a few months shy of 2 years, and I think the baby bug is hitting them. Anyway, we had a good time doing the Christmas thing with them, my parents, and both my grandmothers. Dad's mother was here from Iowa, where she's lived for the last 11 years. In that time we haven't seen her much. Mom's mom was here because she's had some health problems in the last month, and she's been staying in town with Mom and Mom's sister alternately. The last time my grandmothers were both in the same place was at my Pawpaw's funeral, and before that was when I got married. It doesn't happen much, and hasn't happened but a few times in my lifetime. My mom's mom is a very unhealthy individual, to put it lightly. She definitely has a hoarding disorder, and depression, and has been that way ever since my mother can remember. Considering what a drag it could have been that she was joining us for Christmas, it really was rather pleasant. She didn't dominate every conversation, and she let us all be, which was very unusual.

The girls both got scooters for Christmas from my parents, which were assembled that afternoon, and ridden around the driveway. It was lots of fun watching the girls, and my sis-in-law had fun playing with her new camera. It was also good to catch up with her, since she and my brother now live out of state, and we hadn't seen them since last Christmas.

I have so much more to say about the last couple weeks, but I'll save more for another post. This one is long enough.