Today has definitely been a day for little blessings, and one in particular.

For some reason, as I struggled out of bed this morning, it felt like I had been beat with a rubber hose. Ouchies. All I can think is that I just slept wrong, because I managed to mess up my back. This isn't terribly new to me though, as I have a finicky back anyway. My knee problems actually throw my pelvis out of alignment, and it messes up my lower back. Yes, yes- a real treat. *snickers*

So, this morning was slow, and I didn't do very much. Mainly, I sat myself down in my chair, and tried not to move a whole lot. As I perused the internet, I would slowly stretch from side to side, and around. I did get up and make DD something to eat, and then tried to do more stretches. Finally, I became so fed-up with sitting still that I just cultivated some resolve.

By lunch time, I was moving around in the kitchen a little, and I pulled out some instant apple & cinnamon oatmeal. Now, before anyone thinks that I'm being shady, my daughter is fanatically in love with the stuff. We almost never have it, but my sister bought us a box, as a sort of treat for DD. So, we had a fine time, sitting down together for lunch, eating our oatmeal that I didn't have to stand over the stove to cook. lol Afterwards, DD sat at the table and was drawing, and I picked up a pen myself.

For my birthday, my mom had sent me a cute locket, shaped like a bible with a cross cut-out. It opens on the side, and you write down little prayers and put it in the book. Me, I find that I have my best one-on-one time with God when I write things down. As I'm sure everyone knows by now, I am a very "word oriented" person. Writing things down keeps my thoughts focused, and it is good to have a reminder as to how the Lord works in my life. So anyway, I sat at the table and wrote on a little piece of paper, my prayer that God would grant me healing for my back..... or provide a way for me to serve my family through the pain. With a fold of the paper and a click of the clasp, I had my little prayer dangling around my neck, reminding me to talk to my heavenly Father.

I'll tell ya, He didn't waste any time. I have a very strong willed child. She just loves to do her own thing, and is very independent. At times, it has hurt my feelings that she doesn't want more to do with me. On other occassions, I've wanted to pull my hair out and holler, because of the attitudes and stubborness that the child exhibits. Hmmm... I wonder where she gets that from?? *rolls eyes at self* But, today she was beautiful. I had a little helper today who did almost all of the things that I couldn't. Instead of making excuses why she couldn't put things away, she ran off to do what I told her, and was happy to do it. What a blessing. She helped me pick up, put clothes down the chute for me, helped me make my bed, etc. Wonder of all wonders, she even cleaned her room! lol She started to stall there, but I walked over to her doorway and watched her sitting with a toy in her hand. I said," Oh! You are cleaning your room so well! What a great job! Don't forget those toys by your dresser, big girl." I had a big smile on my face, and my enthusiasm and praise was just what she needed to motivate her to finish cleaning her room. Awesome. She wasn't going to clean it, but I found a nice way to trick her into compliance. *giggles* woohoo!

Because of DD's help, we were able to have the house clean before DH came home. Not only did we get the work done that needed to be done, we had time to spend together, doing things that we wanted to do. DD and I sat on the floor today and played with her alphabet flashcards. She is doing so well, and this is helping her with her letter sounds also. The only letter that she has a real hard time with is "N". I think that it is because it gets stuck in the "lminnowp". *laughs* We're working on it though.

Speaking of blessings, there was a card for DD when I checked the mail today. My grandparents in Florida had sent her a late birthday card. They had been quite sick, and hadn't been able to bother with such small things. (I am SO glad that they are both doing better now) Inside the card, grandma and papa had sent DD $30 to "go shopping" for things that she wanted. Now, DD is such a simple little girl that she is wonderfully excited when I give her paper tubes to decorate and use as telescopes. *laughs* So, we were having a hard time thinking of what she might need or want. She has enough clothes right now, so what else is left? Well, as I picked through the sales adds, I found my newest Timberdoodle catalog. So, DD and I thumbed through it, and we talked about what she might want. She said that she wanted to learn how to read, and then she put her finger on some books that she said that she wanted. After reading through the descriptions of the materials, I figured that we would give it a try. So, we utilized DD's birthday money to buy her "Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons" and the Rod and Staff Preschool Curriculum. Doesn't my little girl make interesting choices? lol I was looking at a different workbook set, trying to decide what would be the wisest choice, and she decided that it should be the books by R&S. I hope that she will enjoy them.

Now, I know that many people believe that children should not be given workbooks and that sort of things at a young age. For many children, I definitely agree. DD is interesting though, and she loves workbooks. She loves her leap pad, and is very happy to have activity books. I am just amazed at how much coordination she is learning as she writes and draws. I give her sheets of blank paper, in addition to her normal coloring books, and she draws me the prettiest pictures. She is trying very hard to write words, but the only word that she solidly knows is her own name. lol So, she writes her name a great deal, and squiggles the rest. She'll learn though. I am going to teach her some more real simple words, so she can have more to write. She just enjoys it so much.

Tonight, DD is going to get a "long story", rather than her shorter bedtime stories that I normally read to her. When we went shopping the other day, we stopped off at the dollar store. I just love that place. She and I took a walk down the craft/book isle, and we found a Veggie Tales book. It was the Jonah tale, from Kahlil's (sp?) point of view (he was the worm/caterpillar guy. lol) I just love that our dollar store is always full of bible story books, both older children's books and pop-up books for the little ones. DD just loves going through the books, and finding stories of bible characters that she hasn't read about yet. It makes for interesting reading at night, I'll let you know. Some of the books that we have try to stick real close to the story, while paraphrasing for children. So, they aren't as "friendly" as some of the other story books that I've seen. I do like it more though, when DD gets a more rounded view of God. I don't mind spending a couple nights, trying to explain why God would flood the earth, killing the people and animals. I also don't mind taking extra time to explain the wonder of God taking on flesh, and dying on the cross for us. DD's a sponge though, and she loves to talk about the stories at other times during the day.

Well, I had better get on to that story. Since it is Monday, DH is going to want to watch "24" tonight. So, I guess I had better make hay...........   :o )