Wise Solomon or Foolish Mother?

Yesterday the girls were playing when a fight broke out over a doll. A year or two ago Joel picked up a couple sets of rag-style dolls cheap at K Mart for the girls. Katie and Abby adore these dolls and divided them up between themselves based on favorite color of dresses, hair, etc...ownership had never come into dispute before. The source of their argument when I intervened before they woke up the napping Erik was this: they couldn't remember whose dolly this was since her dress was a redish kind of purple. Katie was sure it was hers because the dress was almost red but Abby insisted it was her dolly because it had been from the beginning when Daddy had bought them.

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I was about to take the dolly away and put it up somewhere for awhile which is usually what I do in such cases, when Katie said she had an idea that would solve the problem and I quote, "Abby, we could have mommy cut the dolly in half and I could have one half and you could have the other! Then we could fix them up and sew on NEW halfs with buttons and things! See Abby?! That would fix it!"

My internal thoughts thought, "Weird. Did Katie hear about that Solomon account where the two mothers brought the baby before him because both claimed to be the mother? It wasn't on any of her Sunday School papers, hmmm...."

I turned to Abby to tell her we weren't going to cut up the dolly but paused when I saw her. She was cuddling the dolly to her chest and her eyes were sad. As I watched she gave it a hard hug, kissed it, and then held it out to Katie. Her voice was soft and sad as she said "Here Katie. You may have my dolly. I do not want her to be cut up!".

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That gave me a "wow" moment as you can imagine! It was like the Bible story was unfolding before me and the "mommies" had given me the answer I did not know ,exactly as they were supposed too! Abby the true "mommy" would rather her baby go with Katie and be whole and well then for her to be cut in half and ruined. Amazing!

Katie was about to take the dolly when I swooped in and scooped up Abby in my arms for a big hug. As my roll had turned into Solomon's I declared that Abby may have the dolly since she proved she was the true owner by her response to Katie's suggestion. Katie looked confused for a moment then shrugged and went off to play with something else. Abby hugged her dolly tightly and said quietly, "Thank you mommy! I did not want her to be cut up because I do love my dolly so much!"

I had to blink back tears (as I am now) as I gave her another hug and put her down to go play. I am always amazed by the things my girls do and this small moment in their lives that reflected the Bible account of the wise Solomon made me smile. Did Katie hear the story and decide to put it to good use thinking somehow she would get the doll in the end or did she truly think that her suggestion was a fair one that would solve the problem? All I know is that Abby's tender little heart wouldn't allow her to hurt someone else (okay the dolly isn't a real person but still...) when a little self sacrifice could save them!

I'm not sure what this story says about Katie though...wise as Solomon...foolish as the mother? Good manipulator or good problem solver? Hmmmmm...Well, then again they are only 5 and 3, maybe it doesn't mean much at all except to say that little people can surprise us at every turn with their funny ideas and unexpected maturity!

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I have to go hug Abby again!

PJ Party!

This morning I decided to try and get a picture of the kiddos in their footy pj's because they are just so cute in them! It's really hard to get three children to sit still and smile at the camera! I didn't get any "perfect" pictures but here are some that were cute!

I love this picture! Erik sticking out his tongue makes me laugh!

This picture would have been perfect if Katie DIDN'T HAVE HER HAND IN HER FACE!!!

This one is pretty nice though the girls have crazy hair!

Abby and Erik looked so nice in that picture where Katie put her hand over her face that I just photo shopped her out! :) So there are my cuties all warm and comfy in their pj's!

A Touch of Love

Today (October 16) as I went around making the beds I got thoughtful. I've pulled out the quilts since the weather has turned cold and looking at them (besides making me feel like taking a nap) made feel all cozy, warm, and sentimental. One time when I was teaching a friend of mine how to quilt a gal came in, looked at all the stuff spread everywhere and said, "I just don't get quilting! Why would you take a perfectly good piece of fabric, cut it up only to sew it back together again?" I've thought about that question since, I mean really, why would you do that? The time of women saving the not-so-worn bits from worn out shirts and dresses to piece together a quilt so as not to waste a single scrap of anything has past. Most of us can go to Wal Mart and pick up a blanket cheap (I won't go into my rant about the quality of said Wal Mart "Quilts" though I must say the workmanship stinks!) and aren't stuck out in the middle of no where with no stores or money.

After much pondering I think I've finally come up with an answer. Sure it might seem pointless to cut up fabric and put it back together even if it does make pretty patterns but that's not really what quilting is; at least not to me.

I quilt sure, because like most people who do I enjoy the beauty of the fabric, the orderliness of the pattern, the pleasure of creating but that's not really why I do it. The reason, I've come to realize is Love.

I can't always be with the ones I love. I would love nothing more than to hold my little ones all night long but I can't. So in place of me I put a quilt I made especially for them, a touch of my love to warm them through the night, to comfort them when they don't feel good, to remind them of the person who loves them more than words can express.

This is also why I don't like making quilts for money, I'll do it but its not the same when its going to a stranger, I find I don't even enjoy the process as much because it doesn't have the same meaning.

I like to consider the personality of the person I'm making the quilt for. For Joel I made it as manly as possible and Incorporated lots of moose. For Katie of course there's always a lady bug somewhere and for Abby something round and happy.

I also like designing quilts and for each child I made a special block just for them. I tried to incorporate their personalities, something that would make me smile and think, "Yes, that's definitely that child!" I haven't made any for our kids yet, save one, I plan to wait until they are in their "big kid" beds before I do (SO Katie and Abby will be getting theirs in the near future). I did design and make my lovely niece one when she was born which was very, very fun!

The one I have made is just a block but then my baby will never have "big kid" bed so there is no reason to wait. After we lost our baby I felt so much sorrow; more than I thought I could ever bear. But that pain could never diminish the love I felt for our tiny baby who I could never hold or wrap up in a quilt during a cold winter's night. I wanted to design a block to express the joy of having our baby no matter what the circumstances, to try and bring across to the viewer the splendour of God's love and the glory of the place where my little one went. I call it "Joy and Glory" and I made it with all the love in my heart. Though it will never touch my baby I can hold it and somehow it comforts me and I feel God's love for me and for my baby.

So just a peak into my thoughts today and if you happen to have a quilt made by me, little, big, or in between what I'm really trying to say is ... I love you!