Our little Artist

For the past eight months or so Miriam has been writing notes and drawing pictures. She presently can write the words: Mom, Dad, CJ, Miriam, E (for Eliza), Pop Pop, Opa, God, Grandmom which is a new and very difficult name she wanted to learn how to write. Anyhow, Miriam is DAILY, literally DAILY, writing notes to our family. They usually include a stick picture of her and whomever she is writing to and the names of those in the picture. Lately she has been writing the words "I love (heart symbol for the word 'love') _________ (insert name)."

As many of you know, my mother was recently diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and has begun treatment. It has been a difficult time for her, and as a family, we have been daily praying for her. Well one day as I was walking past Miriam as she wrote on her white board, I saw this...

I said, "Oh, Miriam. That is so cute. It's a picture of you saying, 'Grandmom'." She said, "No! Mom, those are thought bubbles. I'm thinking about Grandmom." I thought it was such a great representation of what is going on in her heart.

That picture was from about a week ago. Then yesterday I saw another original by Miriam. Do you know what it is?



It is a picture of Mary (on the left), Joseph (on the right- can you see the shepherds staff in his hand?) and baby Jesus (with all the hay sticking out all around him). There are two stars in the sky and Mary & Joseph are holding hands. I LOVE it! Especially because lately, for the girl's devotions, we have been reading through a children's Bible and this week we have been reading about Jesus' birth. I was so glad to know that she is really HEARING what we are saying. For the longest time she was in the room but not hearing. If you asked questions about what we read you would get the typical SS answers, "God!" or "Jesus" without an apparent understanding of what we just read. Well, I guess she is maturing past that stage and is now actually catching what is going on & hopefully is hiding it in her heart.

When you grow up...

When Chris was putting CJ to bed last night he was praying for his future. In specific he was praying for his future wife. When he finished CJ turned and asked, "Hey, Dad. How much does a marriage (wedding) cost?" Chris answered with a question, "Why do you ask?" "Well, I don't want to spend all the money that I save for a marriage." "Well, CJ, it's pretty expensive but usually Mommy's and Daddy's help pay for that." CJ's response, "Oh, Ok".

I love to hear my kiddos talk about the future. I love to hear about their desired occupations and schooling. But my favorite is their relationships. On a handful of occasions CJ has talked about getting married and a couple of times he has even pointed out to me who he wants to marry. He'll also talk about the number of children he would like to have and what sex they should be.

Sometimes I'll also inquire of Miriam about her future and boy her story of family is much different. A few months ago CJ shared with her some of the facts he learned about child birth (some from us and some from the home school books that we have lying around the house- they have LOTS of pictures). Well, Miriam was SCARED to death after her little biology lesson. She has said many times- "Mom, I'm NEVER having babies. That hurts WAY too much." Another time she said, "I really don't want any children. Daddy said it was Ok for me to JUST have a husband and no children." Poor thing. I usually just respond with, "Miriam, it's ok! You don't HAVE to have children." This usually calms her and you can see her physically relax after a stressful few moments of thinking about child birth.

Giggle, giggle. I'm curious what Eliza will say when we ask about her future?! I never tire of the answers!