Ode to Ellie

Reader Beware: This post contains boring material that may not make sense and will probably only be worthwhile to my daughter one day.


Sweet Ellie-girl,
How I enjoyed our time together today! There was really nothing fancy about our day other than the fact that you were such a delight to me. You had a great day at school today and promptly reported that not only did you not "lose any bears" or have to miss recess, you also didn't have to be sent to your seat during carpet time!. I am so proud. And you were proud as well...it showed in the way you walked-head held high, deliberate steps, and a sweet contentment swept across your face. I love the greeting you give baby Jud as soon as you're picked up from school! You immediately stop to tickle, kiss, or in a silly voice tell him that "his Ellie girl is back" not minding one bit that the carpool line is piling up as you entertain our little guy. I love how you shared your "pilgrim and Indian" puppets with Saddler today...your highly fashionable Pilgrim girl complete with "beautiful pink shoes" :) I love your attention to details, Ellie. I loved how you volunteered to teach Saddler everything you've learned in school and ballet. You're a natural at both.

Today after school we went to Wendys for an afternoon snack and set out to get flowers to plant for our thanksgiving guests. Upon realizing that your sister managed to get to the car with no shoes, you gladly volunteered to go back inside the house to retrieve her red clogs while she filled her little belly with chocolate frosty. At the nursery, You were so eager to help-and even collected acorns off the ground for no other reason than "that they would be a wonderful centerpiece!" You pulled the wagon around filling it with pansies, and patiently allowed Saddler to think she was "helping" as she assisted you in pushing. Once we were back at home, you sat right by me as I fed Judson his bottle, all the while rubbing and kissing his head telling me yet again how much you love our baby and how glad you are that God gave us THIS baby brother. It melts my heart to see you dote over him. As you took a turn holding him, I took the chance to tell you what a wonderful little mommy you will be one day. You were born to "mother"....dragging around a naked babydoll from the time you could tote something. It's much more fun now, to drag around Judson...your own real life doll. After putting him to bed for a nap, it was time to plant. What a little cheerleader you were....even slipping on your jeans so you could be like me! (only you added a sparkle shirt and fuchsia boots of course.) Will you always want to be like me? Sometimes I shudder at the thought of what I'm passing down to you...my harsh tone, my impatience, my mountain dew habit?? Oh how my heart longs for you to be like Jesus! And for me to be a mother that reflects Him more clearly.

You were a trooper today...Dora gardening gloves and all. :) We managed to get our little flowers into their respective pots and you loved it! Especially creating a pattern as you laid out the plants. The sun set far too soon on our afternoon and the baby cried (thanks to Jeremiah hitting a ball into his window) and supper beckoned. Off to Publix for a chicken. You wanted to go so bad, yet i needed you to stay and play with Judson while daddy talked to Uncle Big O. You clung to my legs begging to go with me and I protested. You're the best at keeping watch over your brother and secretly, I feel much better when you're around. Anyway, after tucking him in Dad's arms, I decided to jump on the opportunity to run a quick errand with you. And I am so glad I did. "Turn on Taylor Swift, Momma. I like the princess song." (You and I are closet Taylor Swift fans and we love to jam out in the van!) Over and over we listened to "Lovestory" and I watched your pretty little profile in the rear view mirror. Your so little. So very petite. Yet so grown up at the same time. We breezed through the grocery store and came home with a chicken and your favorite-blueberry Eggo's. On the way home, it was Taylor Swift again and the last song gripped my heart. Its called the Best DAy and I think it was made for us. You liked this part best so I'll write it here for you the 2 of us to remember. I love you, Ellie girl. I had the best day with you today....You have my heart! I'm so proud of you. Love, Momma.

I'm 5years old its getting cold I've got my big coat on
I hear your laugh and look up smiling at you I run and run
past the pumpkin patch and the tractor rides look now the sky is gold
I hug your legs and fall asleep on the way home

I don't know why all the trees change in the fall
I know you're not scared of anything at all
don't know if snow white's house is near or far away
but i know I had the best day with you today

******
there is a video I found from way back when I was three
you set up a paint set in the kitchen and you're talking to me
its the age of princesses and pirate ships and the seven dwarfs
daddy's smart and you're the prettiest lady in the whole wide world

now i know why all the leaves change in fall
i know you were on my side even when i was wrong
and i love you for giving me your eyes
staying back and watching me shine and i didn't know if you knew
so i'm taking this chance to say that i had the best day with you today.

Confessions of a Rookie Toothfairy!!

It's been a big week at the Sachs' house! Jeremiah lost his first tooth!!!!! Woooo whoooo!! This was cause for much celebration because the poor child has been fretting for the last two years as to when he would actually lose a tooth! He even prayed on the night before he turned 7 that for his birthday, God would let him lose his tooth. Sweet boy! Well, he finally did....he might be the last one in his class to have a vacancy in his mouth, but not anymore! AND, I didn't even know what was going on. In the midst of me helping Ellie with homework, he walks out with the prize in his hands! "Mom! MOm! MOOMM! You'll never believe this. Look.!!!!" (I think he was as shocked as I was.)
Homework was paused for a moment as we jumped up and down and called everyone we thought might remotely care to know a tooth was gone and then it hit me.... That was the same little tooth that I saw poking through his swollen gums just before his 1st birthday. That tiny pearl colored nub-the one that came in as crooked as you could imagine-was now in my hands. I was surprised that I was sad! Well, sentimental. It just marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Until this week, all my little chicks had mouths full of baby teeth...even Judson is proudly sporting some of his own! Now, its different. My man is growing up and proud to finally have an empty spot in his mouth to prove it! (Nobody warned me about these funny emotions!)

Anyway, Cord and I discussed what we were gonna do - you know, for the "tooth fairy"! (You'd think we'd be more prepared than this, I mean, Gosh! Jeremiah's only lamented it for the last 24 months!) But, of course, no plan was in place. Can I just say that I love the fact that when Cord does something, he really goes all out! No detail left overlooked! :) It's always really special. I tried to keep that wonderful trait in mind when he began suggesting things we should do. (Let me give you a clear picture here, it's like 7:00, no one's eaten diner, homework and baths are still awaiting and I've just left for the grocery store.) Our dialogue went something like this:

Me: "How much do you want to do? How much money should we give him? (we both used to get the occasional silver dollar..."occasional" referring to my childhood-I'll explain in a minute)
Cord: "Oh, I don't know, a dollar maybe?
Me: "A dollar? Noooo, he's waited forever. It's his first, our first - we gotta do a little more."
Cord: "OK. Like 5 or 10?"
Me: "Well, just remember he's got lots more to come! Lets not do something we can't keep up! How about like $3?"
Cord: "Sounds good. But I want to do something special like get him a shiny pebble to trade in for a big prize or put something really different under his pillow, you know. Something special not just boring money."
Me: (God love him.) "Well, at this point, lets just not get complicated! Where on earth will I find a shiny pebble at this time of night and a "prize"???!!
Cord: "That's true. Ok. (sigh) I guess we'll just do money."

As usual, the nightly routine got into a frenzy! Amongst the chaos, there is lots of talk about the nebulous tooth fairy. Uh oh. Here comes the questions!
"What does the tooth fairy look like? Is it a boy or a girl? What do they do with all the teeth they collect in the world? Is she big like Mrs. Claus or little like tinkerbell? What do you think I'll get? Once, Nate got $5 and Carter got money and candy!!"

Uhhh, my brain was just too tired to think on my feet. I decided to comment on his last statement and avoid the questions. I think I went on and on saying how interesting it is to have the tooth fairy give you candy since candy rots your teeth out. A feeble attempt to distract his mind. Long story short, we finally got him to sleep...little tooth in a ziploc tucked safely under his pillow. Ahhh, all was f-i-n-a-l-l-y quiet in the house.
************************************************************************************
4:00 a.m.
Thankfully, my eyes opened out of a dead sleep. By the grace of God, I remembered the tooth fairy hadn't come yet!
"CORD! Hurry! You gotta go do the tooth fairy! Oh my Gosh! It would be so sad if we would have forgotten!" I mean, can you imagine?!!

My really groggy husband pulled himself up and sat on the edge of the bed to get his bearings."Do you have some money for him?"

Money. SHOOT! What in the world was I thinking? I forgot to get cash back at Publix! AGHH!
"I think there's some one dollar bills in the fruit basket." (thank you, papa! you left those on your last visit! Maybe they won't notice they're gone :) !)

Cord stumbles out to the kitchen...he's so loud! I hear his feet shuffling on the hard woods back to our room. He's rambling around in the change tray. What in the world??
"I can't just give him dollars. I gotta give him something more. Three dollars is just not special enough...I'll give him some change too."

"Thanks, babe!" I say as I roll back over -thanking the Lord for waking us up! I couldn't wait to hear how it went! I waited and waited and waited. Then I started to worry. What could be taking so long??? Finally, I hear his feet shuffling back down the stairs and into our room.

"What took you so long? Did it go OK?"" I was dying to know. I should have known by his response as he crawled in bed!
"Whoever invented the d@*% tooth fairy ought to be shot!" he said throwing himself back into bed and yanking up the covers.
"AND no. It didn't go OK!!!"

I gasped and sat straight up in bed. "What happened?"

"Let's just say I fumbled on the delivery. The switch didn't go so well. My gosh, he sleeps with his arm under his pillow! I retrieved the tooth, but then I dropped the money and he woke up. The last minute decision to use change gave me away. Stupid tooth fairy!"

"NOOOOO! Unbelievable. Did he go on back to sleep or did he talk to you?"

"Oh he really woke up!" He said, "what are you doing dad?" I told him I thought I heard a noise and was just checking on him. He felt around under his pillow and got really sad. "Dad, she didn't come! My tooth is gone but she didn't leave me anything!" I just told him to go back to sleep and we'd look in the morning, so he did! The bag of money fell somewhere by the bed and I couldn't get it cause my cover would be blown. Somebody should have told us how complicated this tooth fairy thing was.!"

"All we have to do is put money -or a shiny pebble- under a pillow! How complicated is that? Oh. No. Poor kid! He probably thinks he got the ghetto tooth fairy...stealing his tooth and leaving him with nothing! Pitiful. Once, my tooth fairy left me an I.O.U.! (thanks mom!) Remember that Christmas we got envelopes with our presents written on fluorescent sticky notes tucked inside?! In case you ever wondered, it's a little trick she learned from the tooth fairy!"(love you mom!:))

Cord was laughing so hard, I almost couldn't understand him, but I managed to hear him say what a stupid thing the tooth fairy was. Again! "I mean, think about it! You either picture some grown up old lady in fairy wings sneaking in your room and collecting your teeth or a little fly buzzing around carrying money! What the heck?! It's crazy! AND- we have 4 freakin' kids with at least 30 teeth in each mouth....! Plus, we're supposed to remember to give them money every time someone loses one!? That's crazy! This dumb tooth fairy is gonna get real expensive!" Stupid tooth fairy. This is the dumbest thing ever invented. I'm going to bed. I can't believe I fumbled the delivery."

The next morning, the tooth fairy was grumpy from his first time run, so I let him sleep. I went upstairs to wake up a sad little boy who thought he'd gotten jipped! I suggested he look around in case it fell off the bed in his sleep. Low and behold, the prize was found hidden by the pillows on the floor. I couldn't help but laugh as he proudly took inventory of his loot! "I got 3 whole dollars, 4 quarters and a dime and 2 really dark coins I'm thinking are pennies!! Wow! And there's even some little pieces of tissue and some plastic things in here too! Neat! Ellie, Saddler! Hurry! Come look what the tooth fairy left me!" *************

Bless his heart. A total of $4.12, some tissue scraps and the remnants of an old price tag all dug out of the change tray, no doubt. And he couldn't have been happier. To borrow the MasterCard commercial slogan: 2 tired forgetful parents. 1 rookie tooth fairy. A less than smooth delivery. Some random change and an exuberant little boy believing it all.........PRICELESS!

Oh I love that we are making memories every single day!!! I love that I have these moments to laugh about! And I love that Cord and I both have such loving parents who made our childhood magical and we have the opportunity to pass it on.!! I Love you all!
Now that our tooth fairy has been around the block once, maybe it will go better next time. Would love to hear stories from how your family does it or funny memories from your childhood!
Blessed!
Heather

Take 2- The Flip side

Wow. I really struggle with computers. Don't know what just happened, but managed to post a random grouping of letters. I was trying to type and nothing was showing up so as I banged on the keys in no particular order, hehe he was what came out! Almost like this stupid machine was mocking me...oh well, at least it wasn't an explicative! Jokes on me!
Anywho. I've decided something about myself. My blogging is in direct correlation to my lifestyle or habits....If bloggers had sub-types, I would fall into the "binge blogger" group!! It's feast or famine with me! Maybe this will serve as a warning that my posts may be few and far between, but sit down with some no-doze when it comes because it's gonna be a long one! :)

I so want to be a disciplined person....feet on the floor 6:00 a.m., showered and fixed hair complete with make-up and a fashionable outfit,wonderful time of prayer and bible reading, hot breakfasts for the family,no tardies for my orderly children, never miss a work out, a spotless house, perfectly manicured yard, a clean shiny mini-van Ha! 4 course meal on table each night, followed by bathed kids hopping in bed at 7:30 sharp! Wa-la!
***********************************Yeah, right.

My life is more like this: feet on the floor at 6:55 (b/c that's the absolute latest I can get up and be on-time) who cares about a shower! Hair in pony-tail, whatever make up I find is fished out after the girls have played in it and a fashionable outfit-unless a stain of orange carrots on my boob is an accessory, why ruin something cute? As for prayer-it consists mostly of Dear Lord, help us! There are melt downs happening all around, Jud is having breakfast off the floor where the kids dropped their fruity cheerios (and please don't let him choke, Lord) scramble out of the door running for the car while cramming a bow in Ellie's hair and smoothing Jeremiah's duck tail down in back....Bruiser is lost in the rapidly growing weeds on the way to the car and my daily workout consists of dragging her and her "treasures" ( -today its rocks. Not pebbles. Rocks-small boulders.) to and from all the places we go in between. If french fries, coke, cheeseburger and apple pie is a 4 course meal, then I've got that covered, but as for the rest....it's just a joke. I think you get the point.
I'm learning, though, that there is a flip side to not being so disciplined and scheduled that's rather blissful. Well, maybe not blissful but comical and never dull-nonetheless.
Case in point:
1.If I were disciplined and awoke early, I'd miss the opportunity to hear my 3 year old pitter-pat down the hall, proudly waking us up in the a.m. and proclaiming that my husband has "horse-breath"!
2.While fishing the rocks from the gas fire-place out of the baby's mouth, i might not have noticed those FOUR big new teeth he seemed to have acquired over-night.
3. My clean house that gets messy in 2.2minutes provides a never-ending source of joy for finding new treasures that had once thought to be gone forever! The barbie stiletto, the brown hair polly pocket, a leapster game hidden under the couch, and hallelujah! A passie!!! It's fun to see little faces light up like Christmas in September!
4. If my yard were manicured, that would be boring....after all, a highlight of last week was my sister-in-law killing a real live rattlesnake!!!! in the yard complete with chicken little (me) on back up with the rake in case she missed with the shovel. Big fun! We were heroes for the day and our status even carried on to school as kindergarten and 1st grade heard all about the adventure.
5.If my children were orderly and disciplined as well, then the house would be quiet in the afternoons as little ones napped and older ones had room time. Instead, the baby, (who thankfully can sleep through a hurricane) does nap while all around him a transformation is going on. Peter Pevensie makes a visit and fights the white witch complete with costume and sword. I hear a loud thud and assume the white witch was dealt her fatal blow. Meanwhile down the hall, the princesses are having a party. Belle and Cinderella are having tea -that quickly turns into a cat fight-the remedy; a change of clothes. Next, enters Tinkerbell as she attempts to "fly" by jumping from bed to bed. (I wondered how long it would take them to realize their beds were within jumping distance). If we were disciplined, things would be quiet alright, but we might miss the celebrities that visit our house at unexpected times!
6. And, last, I'd miss the opportunity to have my very own Picasso Painting. Yes. Picasso. With a touch of Van Gough. After Tinkerbell and "Genevieve" -from the 12 dancing princesses-were separated for their antics, Tink (aka Saddler) was sent to the spare bedroom to rest and have a time out. Unbeknownst to me, the Benjamin Moore paint samples we'd been trying out were stored in there...at eye level for a 3 year old. Suddenly, the walls were a blank canvas just waiting to be transformed! And transformed they were....along with the carpet and baseboards and purple tutu that she happened to be wearing. Nice. Dill Pickle green everywhere. Our very own art. (I'll try to download pictures later) Quite comical. All I could do was take a picture and start scrubbing. What more can you say? One day, I'll miss those little hand prints that are displayed so proudly in lime green.

In the meantime though, maybe a little discipline on our lives wouldn't be so bad after all! (said with a wink and a smile) !
I want to close with a favorite poem of mine. It comes from the book A Mother's Heart by Jean Flemming.
"Now is the time to get things done....
wade in the water,
sit in the sun,
squish my toes
in the mud by the door,
explore the world in a boy just four.

Now is the time to study books,
flowers,
snails,
how a cloud looks;
to ponder "up",
where God sleeps nights,
why mosquitoes take such big bites.

Later there'll be time
to sew and clean,
paint the hall
that soft new green,
to make new drapes,
refinish the floor--
Later on....when he's not just four.
Irene Foster

Pulls those heart-strings, huh? This has been a comfort to me-the disciplined wanna-be-on days like I've had recently. Hope it gives you "hope" as well!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."
Romans 15:13

unnamed

heHhe

A Lesson In Lice. and warning:May contain TMI (too much information, mom)

So, as I stated in my last blog, pride really does come before the fall. In case you are wondering what I mean, let me give you a recent example from a day in the life of the Sachs. Rewind to Tuesday 1 week ago, and I shall explain how it all began.

   So, Cord is in Tampa on a rather impromptu business trip and I am manning the fort myself.

 "I can do this! It's only a 48 hour trip...I CAN get the girls to their first ballet lessons, handle homework, organize a mom's breakfast for the kindergarten class, prepare our 3rd child for her first day at a new "school", remember to nurse the baby, feed healthy fast food to my little chicks, get them bathed, read a devotion and get them into bed, pack backpacks, lunch boxes, lay out clothes and find that ridiculous blue sheet immunization form tonight in order for Saddler to be legal at Mom's day out tomorrow.... Soooooo that I can get up & out of the door, take 1st day of school pics for my 3 year old, deposit kids to their classes, put the baby in the nursery AND fulfill my obligation in the ever-coveted position of Room Mother by attending a meeting at 8:00 the following morning." (deep breath). I. Can. Do. All. Things. Through. Christ. Who. Gives. Me. Strength." 

(someone told me self-talk like this really helps...I think they lied.)

TIME: SOMETIME WEDNESDAY a.m-TOO EARLY FOR NORMAL PEOPLE. (T-minus 10 hours til the moment of humbling)

   Feeling rather un-refreshed from a not-so-great night sleep (compliments of Saddler winding up in my bed), I push little feet out of my face, un-wedge- lost somewhere in the abyss of covers-the barbie that has made a nice imprint in my back, AND hop outta bed rising to the glorious calling of my day. Ha! If only I knew!! While I felt quite exhausted, I did feel pretty proud of myself and all that I had accomplished the night before. I was doing ok at this mommy thing. I even managed to wipe the dust off the family Bible and read them a devotion the night before. Awe, that's so nice. My blissful arrogance propelled me through the morning. Feed baby Jud. Check. Get children up and at'em. Check. Cereal for breakfast-quick and easy.Check. Uniforms on, lunch boxes in back packs.Check. Saddler-fix hair cute...it is first day. Check. Shave my legs and put on some makeup for my most important meeting. Check. Extra clothes, baby food, bibs, diapers and diaper bag ready. Check. Blue immunization form. Uh-oh. Forgot this one. Maybe they'll let it slide since she's not foaming at the mouth or anything! Ok. Re-group. LOAD UP!! We might just make it! Hooray! Oops. Unload. Forgot to snap a picture of Saddler's First Day. Back in van and off we go wheeling out of our drive way! This is gonna be great, I say to myself. :)

  We arrive at school on time-barely- and with a little shooing along, we manage to have everyone deposited in their respective class rooms, baby in the nursery and  me-off I go with head held high to my room mom meeting all ON TiME. A modern day miracle. Ahhh, it's great to be a mommy! As I approach the meeting room, I could almost hear the "hallelujahs" from Heaven as this "elite" group mothers was mingling. (Did I ever mention that all I wanted to be when I grew up was a Room Mom for my kids classes?) Things went great, we got our job description and off we were...  to be heroes for the teachers. Since I did already have a spot for Judson in the nursery, and all other children were supervised by qualified individuals, I decided to reward myself and drive to my favorite breakfast place for coffee and a bagel. Oh! And look! I even had a grown up book to read...I discovered it by default as I slammed on the brakes at a light...haha! Out it flew from under a seat! (one day I'll blog on the condition of my mini-van)

  You always hear that Hindsight is 20/20. Shoulda paid attention. Clue #1-thinking rather highly of myself for doing what normal parents do without a glitch on a daily basis. Clue#2- considering myself one of the privileged few to be mother of 4-no nanny/maid/cook AND ever-eager room mom. Here comes Clue #3- found in book which I am now certain the Lord sovereignly delivered out of the rubble of my car in order to prepare me for the impending doom that lie ahead.

exhibit A: a summary of my reading at the coffee shop.

  "All day every day we are being re-shaped into the image of Christ. Everything that happens to us is designed to this end....nothing is wasted, nothing is missing. There is never a moment that does not carry eternal significance-no action that is sterile, no love that lacks fruition and no prayer that is unheard.... The apparent frustrations of circumstances, seen or unforeseen, of illness, of misunderstandings, even of our own sins, do not thwart the final fulfillment of our lives hidden with Christ in God."  -Brennan Manning Abba's Child 

  Humm. How encouraging and un-nerving all at once. The enemy whispers at this time "You know, your husband is flying back today...something may go terribly wrong with the plane". Dear God how aweful! Isn't my lack of faith and fear of the unknown sad!! Anyhow, along I go with my day. Feeling a smidge less confident of myself and more aware of my Savior who is before all things and holding -even at this moment-all things together. The time arrives to rescue the school from my children and I am on the home stretch now. Cord will be home at 9:00. Kid's eat free at a local restaurant so I am meeting Misty at 5:00. All I have to do now is coast!!! Work on a little homework, put younger ones down to nap and it's all good. Or so I thought. It's 1p.m. T-minus 2.5 hours. The afternoon is peaceful....I even sprawl across my bed as the kids have room time. Homework time. T-minus 1 minute....Ellie is getting her notebook out, finding her jumbo pencil, and 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, TWO. ONE.  BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!! HERE IT COMES.

  "Mommy, my head is just itching soo very bad!" It's driving me crazy and it just won't stop"! Says my beautiful little blond head. 

  "Ellie, just try not to think about it and lets get busy" I say as I begin to move on. Wait. What was that email last week about checking your kid for lice.?! NO. Surely not. Can't be. Deep Breath. Ok, several deep breaths.

  "Ellie. Come here and let me see." Since this is my first experience with this loathed event, i tried to recall what to do. I went back to my days when the teachers would call us up one by one and using 2 ink pens, they would fish through our hair looking for the little creatures. Yuck! So, not real sure what I was looking for, I began to see little gray dots in her hair. They were hard as anything to pull out! My heart began to beat a little faster. Quick. Call somebody, Milma!(My mother-in-law) She'll know. Tegan once had it. (Sorry teg!) As I described my situation, Milma it became evident that I was now living out one of my deepest motherhood fears. LICE. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

   Sometimes, every once in a blue moon, you have these moments in mothering that you just want to freak out and run as far a way as you can. Or, in my case, to the nearest road with a yellow line-lay down on the stripe and pray that a Mac truck comes hard and fast! Take me now Lord! Take me!!

Well, since Cord was still on a plane, I couldn't risk leaving the kids as orphans. My family would kill me. So,  I did what every mom has to do sometimes. I reached deep deep down inside, told myself "I can do this!" Put my Big girl panties on, and decided to take on the lice. Full force. 

  Greater love hath no other friend than this...to still go eat at kids eat free night knowing the other family is infested! Thanks Misty!:) "Guess what! We have bugs in our hair! Isn't that cool?!" My kids announced. OH MY Gosh!!! People -I'm certain- discreetly moved tables or vacated the place altogether. My dear friend even offered to watch my children as she followed us from store to store to purchase artillery. (I'm thinking of calling Oprah to nominate her for friend of the year). Evidently this is a popular season for the pesky little bugs. Took several pharmacies to find enough kits to treat the entire Sachs family. At each location I felt the compulsion to detail our hygiene regimen. A feeble attempt to reassure the pharmacist that we really were clean people and not negligent parents. You have how many children?! They'd ask. Well, sorry. Only have 2 kits. Off to the organic store I went. Someone said RID could be linked to childhood cancer. Lovely. Inside, you guessed it. Fresh out- only i was mortified to discover that. The old lady stocking the shelves hollers out;

"This lady has lice infestation in her family! Can anyone help her find something? Any more in the back? She's on isle 3!"    NO. SHE. DIDN'T. NO SHE DIDN'T JUST DO THAT! I sheepishly smiled and mumbled something about how many bathes we take and that we even brush and floss daily. I then ran, not walked to the nearest exit. Won't be back there for a while!  Couldn't ask my sweet friend to follow us all over town anymore, so I relieved her of her lice watching duties. Off to Whole Foods on the other side of town. Here come the barrage of questions from J-man.

1. Momma. What are "flice"? bugs son. little gross bugs. and they are called lice not flice. 2. Momma, where did they come from? I don't know, Jeremiah.  3. Momma. What do they eat. (trying to make this as not cool as possible and paint a dismal picture so we never have this again, i began.) "Buddy, they live in your hair crawl really fast and with their little claws they hold onto your hair, climb up to your scalp and eat your blood. But you can't feel it. just itches, like mosquito's." MISTAKE. BIG MISTAKE. forgetting Saddler was bug-a-phobic, she went ballistic! Screaming crying .  I...don't...want....dese...bugs.......WHAAAAAAA! I don't have flies in my hhhh -aaaa- iii -rrrr! More wailing.  It persisted all the way to Whole Foods, inside the store complete with her hands glued to her hair as she followed me screaming, "I don't feel like I have bugs in my hair!"

   By now, all my dignity was stripped. My confidence was long gone, and I was ready to curl up in the fetal position and cry while rocking back and forth. How could this day have started so perfect and end so humbling?!!! See, told ya. Pride does come before the fall. 

   Weary from lice and exhausted from gathering our ammunition, our little crew stumbled back to the house only seconds before "DADDDY!!!" got home. Praise God his plane made it. I've never been so happy to see my knight in shining armor's face!! Honey. Bad news. We have Lice. What???!!! Lice?? Are you sure. yep . I am sure. Noooo!  So, in our denial we decided to go to bed and start the fumigating process the next morning. What's just one more night with bugs?? uhhh. I still feel crawling sensations. Don't you just feel the need to scratch thinking about it?!

   As I lay in bed (probably with a few more guests than i realized) I was humbled and brought to repentance via bugs. And, thankful for the gentle exhortation that apart from HIM I can do nothing and  grateful for the chance to trust Him again tomorrow.  I picked up that book again. You know, the one with clue #3.  This is what i read.

   "A  hard day, yes. Rattled and unglued, yes. Unable to cope, no. How does the life-giving Spirit of the risen Lord manifest Himself on days like that? In our willingness to stand fast, our refusal to run away and escape into self-destructive behavior. Resurrection power enables us to engage in the savage confrontation with untamed emotions, to accept the pain (or in my case, lice) receive it, take it on board(they are like hitch-hikers), however acute it may be. And in the process we discover that we are not alone, that we can stand fast in the awareness of present risenness and so become richer fuller deeper disciples." 

  Great is His faithfulness! How precious it is to me, that no trial great or small, goes un-noticed or un-planned by the Father. My Father is the God of the universe. Creator of every living thing and sustainer of all. Matthew 10:29 - "Are not 2 sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't don't be afraid; you are worth far more than many sparrows."  Every detail in my life is ordained and comes to me sent directly from His hand for my good and His glory. I guess you could say I've learned a "Lesson in Lice" this week in more ways than one. Imagine my disgrace when the "room mom" had to report that her children will not be at school due to bugs. That was a fun email to have sent out school wide. And, I realize, like lice, sin has to be dealt with and attacked aggressively. We could leave no room unturned, no fabric, hats, dress up clothes, ribbons, barbie, stuffed animal, clothing, bedding, mattresses, furniture or carseat un-treated. (I should be this diligent with the cleaning of my heart!) Searching and exterminating any root of bitterness, pride, contempt, fear or doubt that My Father will not faithfully be working and moving to make me look more and more like His Son, Jesus! Praise God!

And FYI, I have a great website for organic lice shampoo and daily repellent spray in case this disaster ever befalls your family. You can save yourself the embarrassment of having to go store to store. If your really feel ashamed, have your lice shampoo sent to your address but put your old high school enemy's name on it! ;) 

  

  

  

AGHHH! The BlogStopper:(

Ok. I have to issue all of you sweet girls a HUGE apology. My sweet, chivalrous, protective husband doesn't want weirdos reading my blog...sooooo, last week he shut me down temporarily. To top it off, he went out of town with the only working family computer, so I couldn't even warn you.! I am so very sorry if any of you thought I was dis-satisfied with you or was somehow offended, etc.!!! That is the farthest from the truth. The reality is, I was so humbled and flattered that each one of you took precious time out of your day to bore yourself with my ramblings and interesting-only-to-the-grandparents kind of material. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for glancing at this and if you want to continue to keep up with the nutty Sachs family, shoot me and email or leave me a comment and I will issue you some sort of invitation kind of thing. According to my husband, a.k.a the "blogstopper", I can only let normal nice people who aren't stalkers hear all the intimate details of my children. AgHhmmm. (sigh).  Now that we got that little matter taken care of, lets get to the fun stuff. OHHHH my. How fun our week has been.Loads let me tell ya!

   But, apparently that will have to wait until tomorrow. Just to keep you guessing though, I'll give you a hint! The Lord has humbled me in ways I didn't know were possible....it is true that pride comes before the fall....and my house is as clean and de-contaminated as it ever hopefully will be. Any guesses? We had unwelcome "visitors" at our house. I obviously did not heed the warning that lice was making its way through the kindergarten at school. Yes! I did say Lice!!! How nice!........More to come later! Love to you all!!!

Weekend words

We spent Labor Day weekend here in B'ham trying to get things done around the house. With a holiday weekend and no babysitters in town, we had the kids in tow and needed to get out. We headed to a favorite Mexican restaurant that has live music on the deck on Fridays. It was a blast....if i closed my eyes it almost felt like we were in Florida with the sunset and breeze. Ahhhh. Anyway. Before I knew it Saddler had bolted. (Closely followed by big sister Ellie who doesn't want to miss out on any fun but is a bit to reserved to bust out on her own). We laughed and laughed as our uninhibited daughters danced and danced right up in the musicians face, turning the deck of the restaurant into a make-shift stage. Hysterical. Saddler completed the end of each song with a bow! They were pretty cute! The other desperate parents without babysitters were loving it as they shooed their kids out there to follow suit. As we were leaving, Saddler got "hit on" as Cord said, by another 4 yr. old. In typical kid-fashion he says, "hey. You wanna run around with me?" She blew him off the first time just and kept dancing. The sweet boy got his nerve up to ask again and she cocked her head to the side and said,"uH, No. actually, I wood weally radder just climb lite poles or something" SHot down! Bless his bones. He dropped his head and walked away! But not for long...she eventually ran with him:) 

   Tomorrow is a big day. Ballet starts for both the girls. Ellie is a great little ballerina. I'm especially anxious to see how Saddler will do. Our "Bruiser". Ballet may never be the same!!! I don't know if she can be still long enough to learn the positions. Nevertheless, she's been ready for "baw-way"  for 2 long years. She's so excited that she is in her bed asleep with Ellie's old ballet shoes on! 

   This week actually holds lots of firsts. First ballet practices, first soccer practices (with Cord as coach) and Saddler's first day of school. As I was tucking them in- urging them to go to bed good since tomorrow was such a big day-Ellie begins to console me on how I'll be "OK" with and empty house once Saddler is in mom's day out. Out of no-where she tells me. "Don't worry, mom. It will only be for a little part of the day and you can have so much fun being home! You can do your chores and clean up (yippe- skippy) and even take a nap!!! And you'll be just fine because you won't really be alone! You'll have God, Jesus and Jud!"  

  God, Jesus and Jud. My 3 amigos! Not bad companions....I'll let you know how it goes;)!!