Hair buddies

When did their hair become such differing colors?
And when did that 2-inch height difference turn into a 4-inch height difference?

Great grandparents from California

Chad's grandparents from California stopped at our house Monday on their way through Iowa. They got to spend a few hours with the girls before Evan got home from school.

But Evan wasn't feeling well when he got home from school. I had been holding him, but I wanted to take a picture of Great Grandma reading to the girls, so I asked Evan if I could set him on Great Grandpa's lap. His response was the curl up in a ball.

Chad's grandpa's response was to grab Evan's foot so he was still technically "holding" Evan for the picture. 

I think my favorite part of the day was that picture.

I think Chad's grandpa's favorite part of the day was when they pulled in our driveway, and Laura went running out of the house to see them. She was up in his arms before I ever made it to the door.

I think they felt pretty special that she remembered them even though she hadn't seen them for almost a year!

Thank you for stopping to visit, Grandpa and Grandma!

Reading spot

Answer to the hair guessing game

The answer to the guessing game about whose hair was whose is:
Laura was on top.
Kendra was on bottom.

Good job, Angie and Meggan, who both guessed correctly!

There may be another round of this game later this week. Kendra's getting her hair cut today, and her plan right now is to get it cut like Laura's.

The body, the "box", heaven, and Grandma

Last Tuesday, my grandma (my dad's mom) passed away.

Since my grandpa had already died several years ago,

it's the end of that generation for our family.

Her death wasn't a surprise though. We'd all had time to prepare for it.

So, keeping in the light-hearted spirit of my blog,

here are some of the more memorable moments from explaining

death and funerals to a 6-, 5-, and 3-year-old.

--I talked to the kids often about that Grandma wouldn't hurt anymore once she died and was in heaven. Kendra had been praying for the last 2 1/2 months that Grandma would be able to go back to her house one more time before she died. When I told the kids that she had died and now had a new body in heaven (let's not get too technical about if the new body comes right away or not until after the rapture), Kendra asked if Grandma could go back to her house now that her body was all better.

--I told the kids that they'd see Grandma's body one more time, but that that body was dead; her soul had already gone to heaven. Evan asked in a rather excited, awestruck tone, "You mean I'll get to see a head bone?" "No, sweetie. There will still be skin; it will still look like Great Grandma. It won't be a skeleton."

--When we got to the funeral home for the visitation, I tried to explain to the kids what a casket is. I mistakenly used the word "box" to describe it.

--Evan, to my mom's sister during the visitation: "Did you see my grandma in the box?"

--Kendra: "Do you still get birthday presents after you're in the box?" (She was very concerned by this. I explained to her again that the body in the box wasn't alive anymore, that it was like a statue now, and that Grandma's soul was in heaven already and everyday in heaven is happy like your birthday.)

--Laura didn't say much about the "box", but she did find it to be the perfect height to grab onto to practice her jumping skills. I'll give you a moment to ponder what thoughts and emotions you'd go through, in less than a second, when your husband comes to tell you that your 3-year-old almost pulled the casket over on herself.

--Evan asked a couple of times if someone would take her watch and glasses off of her or if they would stay on.

--During the funeral itself, I heard, "They're closing the box now." "Can I have a snack?" "Now what are we doing?" "Can I have a snack?" "Is this part almost over yet?" "You wrinkled my paper!" and "Can I have a snack?"

--Evan used the white chain fence around the tent at the cemetery to practice his hurdle-jumping.

--Just yesterday (a week after Grandma had died), Laura (or maybe it was Kendra) asks me in a rather impatient or frustrated tone, "Now that Grandma's body is all better, can she be done dying now?"

--And, the command I gave most often, other than "sit down" and "be quiet", was "quit using your flower as a sword" at the cemetery. When the funeral director, grinning from ear to ear, mouthed to me, "Aw, c'mom, Mom", I whispered back to him, "it's fine once we're in the van, but not out here."

Guessing game

On the post below, I showed two pictures. One of Kendra and one of Laura, each after their first big haircuts. Chad guessed which was which ... and was wrong.
What's your guess?
Who's the top picture, and who's the bottom picture?

[For the record, I'm not criticizing Chad for guessing incorrectly. It's possible that I would have been wrong also, but I posted the pictures so I know which is which.]

Twins?

I get asked often if the girls are twins.

They're not, of course.

Nor do I think they look like it.

But they are very close in height.

Last week, Laura got her first big haircut.

Last fall, Kendra got her first big haircut.

Kendra wants hers cut again.

Like she had it cut last time.

Which is also similar to how Laura just had hers cut.

Very, very similar...

I'm guessing matching haircuts won't reduce the number of times I hear "Are they twins?"

[Yes, those are two different pictures of two different girls after two different haircuts during two different seasons. They must have more "hair genes" in common than I realized.]

Stuck like glue

I used to be very heavy-handed (is that the right term?) with markers and scissors and glue and all those messy/dangerous things. Then I lightened up a lot. Then Laura started coloring everything with markers (and crayons), so they got put up again. But if the kids ask for markers/glue/scissors, they can use them. I generally keep the stapler as something for me to help them with. And I don't really want them using a whole roll of tape to attach every little scrap of paper to our walls. But I try to be reasonable with what I do and don't allow.

Tonight, I found a scrap of paper glued to the wall.

I obviously need to tighten my control over the gluesticks or loosen my control of the tape dispenser...