birthday happiness

For my birthday present, Grace gave me a bag of artwork and said, "all I want to do is make you happy." I was very happy!

"I'm moving out of this house."

Yesterday afternoon, Grace walked into my office upset and said, "You know what? I'm moving out of this house." Then, she stormed out. Upon finding her downstairs, I found out that she wanted to move because she thought Paige had told on her for "pretending to act mean." After inquiring into where she would move, she said, "really far away, New York or something." I then asked her where she would live..."look for a big house." I asked how she would pay for it..."borrow some money from you...100 or something...a lot of dollars." She concluded by explaining that if she wasn't able to borrow enough money from me, she would just "live in a hotel." I then told her that I would give her 100 dollars and help her get packed up...she said, "you're just kidding" and gave me a big smile. Yes, I was certainly just kidding...not looking forward to the day Paige and Grace move out. Apparently, our pending moving is impacting Grace a bit!

Angi used to say she would move to California...guess we might be visiting New York more in the future...at least Grace didn't say Turkey!

"I would die for you God."

After dinner last night, Angi and me told our daughters Paige (8) and Grace (5) about the love of Holy Thurs (Last Supper, washing feet), the sorrow of Good Friday (the Passion of Christ) and the joy of Easter morning (empty tomb). My daughters knew the story...but hearing the entire story from their parents was apparently different...because by the end they were both in tears. We told them that we too have cried when contemplating God's greatest love for us on the cross. We assured them that Christ had risen and was now with us always. About an hour later, I discovered a note that Grace left on the kitchen counter..."I would die for you God." I then found her gathering up two piles in her room...one pile of her "God things" (prayer plaque, stuffed bear with a cross, etc) and another pile of things "for the poor children" (a book, chapstick, a toy, etc). Like Grace, may God's love for us on the cross (Father sacrificing His only Son and Son accepting his cup)...inspire us to love and serve God and neighbor.

Bed clothes

This is what Grace looked like when she got out of bed this morning!