Charlotte's Journey: April 2011

Monday, April 4, 2011

Spring Break

This week has been a little out of the ordinary for our family. The girls have been on spring break and we have kept the road hot the whole week. Originally, we had planned to go to the beach, but after looking at the weather for the week....... well, we decided to bail out on the beach. Try staying couped up in a house with 5 girls wanting to play in the sand and water and with the temperature being in the 50's and raining, not a pretty picture. I would have been committed to the insane asylum. We ended up in Columbia on Tuesday at the Riverbank Zoo. The weather ended up being great for the zoo and the girls LOOOVVVEEDD all the animals. Could you guess which animal Charlotte liked the best....... the monkeys! The monkeys were swinging around and they caught her eyes. It was sweet watching her, she would sway back and forth and squeal and point at them. Other than the monkeys, she just sat back and took it easy. On the other hand, the rest of the crowd never slowed down til we were back in the van. I thought we were headed home til Brian mentioned staying in a hotel and then the girls went wild. I don't know what it is about a hotel, but give my girls a hotel with an indoor pool and you would think they had won the lottery. We stayed in Columbia because we wanted to hit the Ed Venture museum on Wednesday and didn't want that 1.5 hr drive to travel again. Being in Columbia made it easy getting up and to breakfast, then to the museum. Ed Venture is awesome, and definitely keeps your children busy. If you have never been, I suggest you visit. Thursday, Brian tried to get the girls to go to Charlotte for Discovery Place, but can you believe they wanted to go to Hearts of Clay instead??? Let's just say that was an experience all of it's own:) That place was a mad house to begin with, then add our crowd to it and it just was CRAZY. After about two hours and four beautiful creations later, we headed to Chuckie Cheese:\. Brian said that Emma's little sea horse looked like a shark had drooled all over it. I will post a pic of the art work when we get it all back and you be the judge. Friday ended up being a day at home, THANK GOD! I was exhausted from being in the car so much, and Charlotte gets so whinny being strapped in so much. Charlotte likes being home, where she can rome and be nosy and just do what ever she pleases. Brian had all the girls outside on Friday and Charlotte started CRAWLING!!!! Charlotte has been doing "something" to get around, but she actually figured out the one knee in front of the other!!!!! I am so happy, but o my goodness am I in trouble. I had a great time with Brian and the girls this week. It makes me look forward to summer when we all are together. The only thing about the summer I hate is Brian having to work and not be with us, it stinks:( Brian always says, "somebody has to finance this trip". Well, maybe so, but I still don't like the fact that he misses out on so much. Here are some pictures from our week, I hope you enjoy them.

Here are the girls at the Zoo

This is Emma at Ed Venture

This is Lily, Maggie and Anna in Ed's Chair!

Anna has a Parrot on her arm:)

Lily, my little Cow Girl.

This is Hollywood.....need I say more:)

Heart Poem

It's a beautiful day up in heaven. Jesus is rounding up his tiniest angels, to go live on earth, and be born. One of the sweetest angels says to Jesus "I don't want to leave, I like it here, and I will miss you". He reassures the scared little angel that everything will be okay, and that he is just going for a visit. He is still not swayed on this idea. So Jesus kneels down, and says, "How about if you leave half of your heart here with me and take the other half with you, will that be okay?" The angel smiles and says, "I guess that will work". But the little angel is still a little scared. He asks,"Will I be okay with only half of my heart?" Jesus replies,"Of course you will, I have other angels there that will help out, and you will be fine." Then Jesus gives the angel more details about his plan. He says "When you are born, your mommy will be scared, so you have to be strong, and when you feel weak just remember that I have the other half of your heart". "Enjoy your time with your family, play and laugh everyday." "And when its time to come back to heaven, I will make your heart whole again. Always remember that you are not broken, just torn between two loves."

THE CHOSEN MOTHERS BY ERMA BOMBECK

Most women become mothers by accident, some by choice, a few by social pressure, and a couple by habit. Did you ever wonder how mothes of children with life threatening illnesses are chosen?

Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth selecting His instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation. As He observes, He instructs His angels to make notes in a giant ledger. "Armstrog, Beth, son, patron saint Matthew. Forrest, Marjorie, daughter, patron saint Cecilia. Rutledge, Carrie, twins, patron saint Gerard."

Finally, He passes a name to an angel and says, "Give her a child with cancer." The angel is curious. "Why this one God? She's so happy." "Exactly" smiles God, "Could I give a child with cancer a mother who does not know laughter? That would be cruel."

"But, does she have patience?" asks the angel. "I don't want her to have too much patience or she will drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wears off, she will handle it." "I watched her today. She has that feeling of self and independence that is so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has it's own world. She has to make it live in her world and that's not going to be easy."

"But, Lord, I don't think she believes in you. "No matter, I can fix that. This one is perfect. She has just enough selfishness." The angel gasps- "Selfishness? is that a virtue?"

God nods. "If she can't seperate herself from the child occasionally. she'll never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't realize it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take anything her child does for granted, She will never consider a single step ordinary. I will permit her to see clearly the things I see.... ignorance, cruelty, prejudice... and allow her to rise above them. "She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life, because she is doing My work as surely as if she is here by My side." "And what about her patron saint?" asks the angel. His pen poised in mid-air. God smiles, "A mirror will suffice."