Fear of Rejection...

*I have tried to fix this post...to make it not one huge paragraph...but blogworld is not cooperating...so I apologize for the very long stream of thought...do you still love me?? (that will be funnier after you read this post...) :) Sitting at the lunch table with Eli today, I started asking him questions. "What is your very favorite thing to play" Hand on his chin, eyes gazing left... "Ummmm...cars." "What is your very favorite song?" "Ummmmm. I think Jesus." "Yes, we love to sing songs to Jesus." "Ummmm... the one you sing to me at bedtime. Nada se, da na a se... I love that one." swoon. I transition into a question about his day at church yesterday. "So, yesterday in class, you did not want to do the craft. What did you do while the rest of your class did the craft?" "I played by myself." "What did you play?" "Cars. I played cars by myself. I did not ask anyone to play with me." (we had encouraged him to find one little boy and ask him if he wanted to play with him on the way to church.) "Why didn't you ask someone to play?" "Well...they were girls. and I am shy around girls." (so. sweet.) "There weren't any boys in your class?" "Yes...but, ummmmm, I was afraid they would say no." "You were afraid they would say no?" "Yes." "You are a very nice person and you are a good sharer. I am sure they would say yes!" "But what if they didn't?" "You would say, 'Okay!' And go ask another person to play." "Hm." It was a very grown up conversation for us...and it gave me a peek into my little man's heart and mind as he learns to navigate friendships and social networks (a.k.a. Sunday School)...at the age of 3. His honesty shows me that our fears of rejection start very young. It makes my heart sad for him. I look at him and think: 'YOU ARE AMAZING!' 'YOU ARE SO FUN!' 'OF COURSE, EVERYONE WANTS TO PLAY WITH YOU! 'CAUSE YOU ARE THE COOLEST KID EVER!!' 'You SHARE, you have GREAT IDEAS, you are TENDER and COMPASSIONATE.' 'You are a best friend waiting to happen!' And God feels the same way about him, and me and you... But the enemy wants to sneak himself into our minds and cause us to fear man...to fear rejection...to stay to ourselves and not reach out to others...

So...today, I am praying for my son. I am praying that this little seed called fear of rejection will be smothered and snuffed out...and that he will walk in CONFIDENCE and COURAGE, knowing that he is LOVED and ACCEPTED by his Savior, his family and his friends.

Sick Littles

C and E both got the crud...

What was meant to be a fun weekend for them with Granna and Zeke turned into a fever and puking fest...bum. er.

Kevin and I used their weekend away as a time to work on the house...no fun for us or them.

I headed down to G and Z's on Sunday night to find my sweets floppy and dazed on the couch...thank you, Lord, for sweet grandparents and 24/7 Nick Jr.

Fever persisted for C until mid-day on Monday and came back late evening...

E is still suffering. He keeps telling me which body part is hurting..."Mama, my chin hurts...Mama, my armpit hurts...my leg, hand, head, tummy, elbow"....it ALL hurts. Poor. Him.

Today Chloe is feeling mucho better...her NON-STOP talking is indisputable evidence.
Eli has even noticed her chattiness...he asked her to "stop talking" on the way home this afternoon. (That hurt her feelings...which is unfortunate, but I did have a little chuckle in my head when he said it.)

Granna put these on Chloe's fingers in attempt to keep her quiet while E and I rested.

OH! DO WE FEEL BIG!!!

A few things she has concluded about these nails:

- They will help her stop a couple of her "bad habits."

- Picking her nose is nearly impossible...unless she uses her 'flexibility' to flare her nostrils...then her pinkie nail fits inside her nose. (trial and error in full effect I am sure.)

- Eating her 'treasures' = undesirable. The glue tastes bad.

- chewing her nails is impossible...so if she leaves them alone...when the fake ones fall off she will have long nails underneath. (Brilliant.)

Other things I learned on the 1.5 hour drive from my parent's house to ours:

"Air 'monicules' are what keep a tissue from falling quickly. If you leave the tissue unscrunched, it falls more slowly, because the air 'monicules' have more space on the tissue to slow it down. but when you scrunch the tissue up, it falls more quickly because there is less space on the tissue for the air 'monicules' to touch...and therefore slow it down. Gravity...no, wait....yes, gravity is what pulls the tissue down...and GRAVITY ALWAYS WINS!"

Whoa. Guess who was paying attention in Science class??

*it should be noted that as soon as I took the picture of her nails and Daddy was able to see them, she wanted them off. Very short lived benefits of said nails.

Didn't Mean To Leave You Hanging...

Didn't mean to leave you hanging about the leprechaun trap...(Barbara...) :)

We had a visit...seems that Wee Bit sent a couple friends in his stead this year...

Lucky the Leprechaun and Shammy Shamrock.

They trashed the place...bed and couch all turned topsy-turvy....gold dust in the swimming pool...trap all upside down... and they left glitter, I mean magical leprechaun dust trails behind their naughty little selves...sparkled so pretty in the night/dawn of 'it's time to go to school.'

Apparently, one took off into the ivy, the other into the neighbors fenced in area...hoping that Lucky is indeed lucky as there is a not so nice dog inside that fenced in area...we wish him well.

Even though they trashed the place they did leave notes behind with 2 gold pieces each for Chloe and Eli.

Generous.

However, it won't nearly cover the damages and Chloe was hoping for a pair of Leprechaun pants. (??) I figure he grabbed 'em real quick after skinny dipping in the pool...

Maybe next year.

The Trap is Set...

You may remember this from last year. And this. And this.
I assure you, Chloe did not forget. On March 1, she reminded me that this was Leprechaun month and we needed to get started on the trap.

I held her off for several days, but Sunday was a beautiful Spring day and she was itching to create something outside. Enter 4 hours of planning and creating.

Something about her creative process is quite contagious...

everyone wants to join in.

The rainbow, the pot of gold, the sink, the couch, the blanket, the pillow...

All her ideas.

As with all of her art projects, they are always a work in progress.

Since this picture was taken, a trail with signs made of leaves, a felt hammock strung by dental floss, and a swimming pool have been added.

The entire family did a scan of the premises this evening after dinner...

Tip-toeing and whispering were mandatory.

We think we saw footprints, and Sammy seemed to be tracking a scent.

We are onto him. (or her, respectively.)

How Do You Eat An Elephant?

One bite at a time, right?

Well, I'm eating mine with a plastic spork.

Progress is SLOW.

Friends, Forever Family and the Frosted Orange

Saturday was a BIG day for some friend's of ours. They welcomed home their daughter from Ethiopia...they had been waiting for her for over 14 months and Saturday was THE DAY she was welcomed into the arms of her forever family. It was too precious for words, really, and unfortunately I do not have one picture to show for it as I was snapping pictures with their camera as they all met for the first time at the airport...but take my word for it...MOVING.

So moving, that I cried tears of joy and sadness for the majority of the evening. Joy, for God's miraculous ways of placing a little girl from another part of the world in a family that loves her and will protect her and provide for her. Sadness for the orphan crisis...and all the loss that is necessary for the happy moments of being placed in a family. And this little girl...so. precious. So open to love. So willing to embark on her 'new life.' Tears well up just thinking about it.

It happened very quickly, and before you know it, the family was loading the Marta to head home. My friend, Steph and I had piled 5 kids in the van to drive to the airport for the welcoming and we were going to capitalize on the effort invested if you know what I mean!

We decided on a stop at The Varsity. An Atlanta establishment that claims to be the largest drive-in in the world...We got a little lost...sat in A LOT of traffic...and praised ourselves over and over for being awesome Moms attempting this downtown driving ALL BY OURSELVES! Needless to say, there are not too many mini-vans weaving through traffic in the BIG CITY. :) But we were there and we were making it happen!

After a few 'WHAT'LL YA HAVEs?!?!?!', we ordered a naked dog, a slaw dog, onion rings, and a Frosted Orange. (and a sure case of heartburn...)
The Frosted Orange is our favorite, it is kinda like an orange-cicle all blended up...YUM!

Eli enjoying the ONLY thing he would EVER eat at The Varsity,

The Frosted Orange

The Girls in front of a small portion of the HUGE restaurant.
(Look how cute Chloe and Abi's legs are!)

Half the fun is the 'getting there.'

Only this time it was the 'getting OUT of there!'

Girls' Morning Out

Old Navy lured us in with adds for $6 dresses...

of which we found none to our liking.

But we still managed to spend money (more than $6, unfortunately)...

walked out with some uber cute Spring attire.

We drank hot beverages and shared an Apple Fritter.

We chit chatted...caught up on each other's lives a bit...

Enjoyed one another's company.

Love time with my Girl.

Peter Pan takes the ATL

Last Sunday, the Hooper clan loaded the minivans and headed to Atlanta to see Peter Pan 360.

It was a WONDERFUL show! All enjoyed it very much and even sat still for the entire thing...mesmorized by the flying and pirates.

The Williamses agreed that the crocodile was our favorite...on wheels and made out of wooden hangers and mens neckties...so. creative!

No cameras allowed during the show, so this is our one and only photo of the day...

Thank you, again, Granna and Zeke for the fun memory!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

Today was Dr. Seuss's (that's a lot of 'S's) birthday!

Chloe's school celebrated by inviting students to come to school dressed up

as their favorite Dr. Seuss character.

We chose Cindy Lou-Who

from How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Cat in the Hat also showed up along with Daisy Maisey

And look at that...the Grinch showed up too! :)

Mommy Spa Day

I'm not sure how she knew it, but she did.
C knew that Mommy had a somewhat rough day at work and could use some pampering...

I arrived home to find the fort transformed into a Spa...
There was a towel for me to lay on for a massage...
A bowl of warm water to soak my feet...
A large selection of finger nail polish to choose from...
Snacks and a drink.

Kevin said it took her a full 45 minutes to haul everything out of the house into the fort.

She loves me. sigh...
I have pink with blue polka-dots fingernails and toenails to prove it...

Eli enjoyed supervising

Us.

She washed my feet and massaged my legs and arms.

So. Sweet.