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 )

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Today has been a day of questions.

For the first part of the day, we did nothing. Yup. I'm not joking. It was well after noon by the time that the three of us got dressed, and you know what? I don't feel the slightest bit bad about it. I'll tell you, for as long and hard as we've all been working, we deserved some pure "lazy time". We ate cereal and watched cartoons. DH took out an automotive book and searched out information. DD had fun writing and drawing, and then took it upon herself to put in a video. Me, I crawled back into bed and nursed a headache. When I woke up though, I felt so much better. The rain was finally coming to a stop, and I was ready to just attack the day with joy.

Somehow, we managed to completely skip lunch. DH had decided to become ambitious, and he scrambled us some eggs in the morning, while I made toast. DD wanted cereal instead, so at least we all ate something. We didn't even think about eating until we were in Kmart. lol

Shoe shopping was interesting. You know, I think that I have one of those odd men, the kind that like to shop. More than once, I felt a very girlish urge to just sit down and giggle while watching DH walk around with one shoe on. He shoe shops like a right fine lady. *chuckles* He's too cute. In the end, he did finally find a pair of steel-toed shoes that would fit him, and that also look alright. He chooses not to buy regular work boots because he is constantly having to kick off his shoes before walking into people's homes.

If there is one thing that I hate about shopping at Kmart, it is the checkout line. We had run over to the dairy section to see if they had milk on sale, and were in luck. Not only that, but DH is such a softy, and he bought a gallon of chocolate milk because DD was asking so prettily. So, we are standing in the never-ending line, trying to hold on to a squirmy 4 year old, 3 gallons of milk, and a box of heavy shoes. Don't your shoulders ache, just thinking about it? lol Since we were there for so long, DH spotted some little pies, and picked one up for each of us, and that was what we had for lunch. *laughs* I know, SO nutritious. Hey, food is food. lol

After leaving Kmart, we went over to the grocery store, armed with my list. Ok, I might as well have eaten my shopping list instead of the pie. I would have done better on calories, and wouldn't have missed it. lol I'm going to have to figure something out, because it is terrible to try and grocery shop with DH. *chuckles* That man loves to shop. Did I mention that earlier? The funniest part is that he would keep coming back to me asking "is it alright if I get ______?". It just about drove me nutty to keep having to say "you don't have to ask me, silly. If you really want it, then get it." I wonder why he does that. It makes it seem as though I have the guy whipped, but I don't. He's always been like that. When he was visiting me at my parents' house, my mom just about beat him because he'd always ask to use the bathroom. Heeheehee.... He's cute. I love him.

Well, there was one more stop of the day, which was the dollar store. This is the point where I have to 'fess up to killing almost all of our glasses. I swear, I haven't been doing it on purpose. DH gives me funny looks every time I tell him that another glass broke. I did accidentally knock one off the counter though. The rest were all killed in the dishwasher. See, that is why I don't like to use the thing. Sometimes my hands need a break from the dish-water though, or the skin wants to melt right off. I haven't mastered cooking a meal all in one dish, and we always seem to have unexpected dinner guests. Anywho, DH and I bought some cups at the dollar store. I was looking at some pretty glasses, but we eventually agreed that it was best just to invest in plastic. After all, I can't break them, and neither can DD. lol At least I still have decent sized tumblers to use if company comes over, and I don't want to serve them in plastic. *laughs*

So, on to the questions. Dinner was really........interesting (yes, again. lol). I used leftovers, and we made steak fajitas for dinner, with DD keeping the small talk going. She wanted to know what everything was made of.

"Mommy, where did this meat come from?"
"That meat came from a cow, honey."
"But I thought milk comes from cows?"
"It does. So does the meat."
"Oh."

"Mommy, what is that made from?"
"I don't know, what are you pointing at?"
"That, there."
"Oh, the cabinets are made from wood."
"Trees are made out of wood too, right Mommy?"
"Um.....well.......yeah, sort of."  *laughing*

"Mommy, are plants made out of wood too?"
"No, honey."
"Then what are plants made out of?"
"Oh dear, I'm not sure that you'll understand." *turns to daddy for help*

Later....

Oh goodness. I guess you could say that we had a lesson in human anatomy today, though I'm sure my terminology is not to be found in any text book. *groans, shaking head* DD is having bathroom problems. For those who are funny about poo, you'd better just stop reading. lol

The long and short of it is that DD doesn't want to go poo. Nope. She has somehow equated the belly ache from needing to go poo, with the act of ridding herself of the stuff. So, she just cries whenever her tummy hurts, but she doesn't want to actually push the stuff out. This leads to a long bathroom experience, where I have to coach the poor kid into going poo. I guess that when she tightens her stomach, it hurts more, which I'm not surprised at. Still, I keep trying to tell her that she can't just hang onto the stuff. This lead to our weird talk. I was explaining to DD how she gets poo in the first place. So, I explained her stomach in a passable way. However, how to do describe your intestines to a 4 year old? I just told her that it was her tube. *chuckles* Is that bad? I told her that she had to keep going poo, or her tube would get full, and it could break. If her tube broke, then she would have to go to the hospital to have it fixed. She remembers getting her stitches, so she knows that it wouldn't be a fun experience.

I'm still wondering what the whole deal is the the poo though. She tries to save that stuff up, so I have to write on my calendar, every time that she goes. That way, I will remember to MAKE her, at least every other day. When she is done, she even says "goodbye" to her poo. Today I had to roll my eyes at her because she told her "worm poopie" that she would miss it, and she blew it a kiss. That poor kid. I wonder if I should stop her from doing that. *chuckles* I hope she doesn't grow up weird. lol This isn't the first time that I've heard about this though. A woman once shared with me the story of her young boy who refused to poo. He was afraid to have something leaving his body, like part of him was missing. I wonder if that isn't part of DD's problem. It's hard to figure out though, being that she doesn't want to talk about these things very well.

Ok, that's enough of that. SNL is on, and DH wants me to go and watch with him. Oy. lol

Hey! We're having a "house-warming" party over at Choosing Home! Do you have something cute, interesting, or informative to share? I sure bet that you do! Don't have children?? That's ok too!! There are plenty of wonderful women who choose to be keepers of the home, taking care of their husbands. Your input could be a particularly useful addition, showing another point of view, and useful helps for other women!

Men, feeling left out? Come and write! Share with us how important it is for you that your wife is the keeper of your home. Want to share what a blessing she has been? Come and contribute!

For more information about the Choosing Home house-warming party, please click THIS LINK for further details.