I have found I have a love for scarves. They make so much sense. I can only wear a turtleneck in extreme cold temperatures because I can't stand the "strangling" feeling around my neck. Quirky? Yep. With a scarf, I can wear it when I am cold and take it off before I overheat. And...what a perfect way to accessorize!

As I was looking for a particular scarf, a memory came to me and left me smiling. When I was a little girl, my brother and I would visit my grandparents in their apartment. There weren't many toys so we would get creative with our play. One simple item became great fun...my grandma's scarves. She kept them in an old hatbox. We discovered them and had countless hours of dressing up, dancing around and using our imaginations. I thought about how funny it was that after all these years, I still had a love for scarves.

As I was quietly laughing about it, I thought about how I couldn't wait to tell dad because he would also find it funny. Then it hit me. He is not here. Grief seized me.

I meant to post this devotional when I read it back in November. It was just too hard at the time. The words written spoke to my heart and gave me comfort.

Jesus Stands for You
by James MacDonald
Walk in the Word Ministries

"Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him." - Acts 7:54-58

Get your arms around a really, really important truth. God is never more present in your life than when you are suffering. The harder the trial, the closer He moves toward you. Are you feeling crushed today? He is rushing toward you to stand beside you and help you.

Jesus Christ is an experienced sufferer. Lest you hold in your mind a picture of an anemic, weak Jesus, replace it with this: Jesus has His PhD in suffering. He has suffered like no other for your sin and mine. Not only does He identify with your suffering, but He is present with you in your suffering. First Peter 4:14 says, "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."

There's a unique intimacy with Christ when you’re suffering for Him. It's unlike anything else. Think of Stephen in Acts 7 when he was giving up his life for Christ. As the crowd began to stone him, Stephen "gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (v.55)." If you're a careful Bible student, you'd question, Why was Jesus standing? Hebrews makes such a big deal about how "he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (1:3)." Yet in this glimpse into glory, Stephen, at the moment of his greatest suffering, saw Jesus standing for him.

And it's not just emotional support. As we've already seen, this new intimacy with Christ Paul describes as "the fellowship of His sufferings" (Philippians 3:10, NASB). Believe by faith that in the middle of your trials you are experiencing the fellowship of God's presence that gives you new courage to not give up. I'm not going to lose my faith, God help me. I'm going to keep on. I hate this world, but I'm longing for heaven. I'm going to serve Him until I get there. I'm telling you—in those moments of faith, there's a wave of grace that God rushes upon you. Sometimes I think I can feel His breath.

How do you keep this wave in motion? Keep your communication open with the Lord. I'm not talking casual prayers over the shoulder. I mean on your face before God - a posture that we've had too little of in our lives. And in that place, the Lord will meet you. If you will humble yourself, the Lord will be present with you. He is an experienced sufferer, fellow-shipping with you.

God is never more present than when His children are suffering. Draw near.

Last night, the Pip informed me that she had "long lash eyes." She said, "Mine are furry and they tickle."

When she was two, she went through a moon-crazy phase. She loved looking for the moon and pointing it out. She loved watching it "follow" us home in the car at night. One night, as we were heading to dinner in the car, she looked up at the sky through her window and said, "Look, there is the moon. I can reach it." She paused for a moment and was quiet. She then finished her thought by saying, "I think maybe I need a ladder."

Oh, those wheels in her little brain are always turning.

Gray's Anatomy According to the Pip

I inhaled at the wrong time.

I asked the Pip, who was sitting by me, if she passed gas.

This was her response, said with a sly smile on her face:

"My food goes in through my mouth. It goes all the way through my body down to my bottom. Then I pass gas."

Two more Pip-isms

More Pip-isms courtesy of Aunt Donna's memory... :)

The Pip says...

hippo miss potamus instead of hippopotamus

and

Peor eor ria instead of Peoria

Pip-isms

The Pip has a very good vocabulary but sometimes she gets mixed up with her words.

When she does not like what we are doing or where we are going, she says, "I want to go where some else." She won't stand for correction because she is certain she is right.

When singing Jingle Bells, she sings, "In a reindeer open sleigh." It is not, "In a one-horse open sleigh." She will most certainly tell you that you are singing it all wrong.

Leaving from anywhere can be difficult for her. We usually give her a timed countdown to departure to make the transition go more smoothly. It is typical for her to say, "I want to stay and stay and stay."

This morning she told us that we were not allowed to get her "poppies," another word for pacifiers. We started laughing when she calmly said, "Do you understand that folks?"

Officially Potty Trained

Warning: Sensitive eyes may want to skip this post.

Potty training the Pip was not easy.

I taped a potty chart and an attractive prize to earn on the window by the toilet.

I encouraged her and built up our Pee Pee on the Potty campaign.

We used a timer to send her to the bathroom.

We read to her while she sat on the potty.

Nate's parents bought a potty seat for their house.

We bribed with jelly beans, chocolate and Halloween candy.

My mom and Aunt Donna tried to use a song to get the message into her brain.

I listened to other "champion" moms offering advice about how perfectly their child potty trained and what I could do to spur the Pip along. I don't think they have a child like the Pip. :)

I always believed that in her own way and in her own time, we would arrive. I was thankful for my friends who were understanding and laughed with me about this phase.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One smart little girl...

One day we were on a roll. I told her that she had to earn 2 more squares and that I bet she could do it before bedtime. She replied, "I don't want my prize today. I want it tomorrow."

Last summer, we put her in her swimsuit without a diaper. After playing for a while, I watched her go get her watering can, dunk it in Vader's water dish, and wash herself off. I asked her what she was doing. She said, "I am cleaning the pee pee off."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After much practice but no progress, I had had enough. Christmas break came and I was going hard core.

On Monday, December 14, 2009, I started the first day of potty boot camp. If I hadn't been so determined, I would have reconsidered. It was a good thing I was not able to see into the future.

It is important to remember that the Pip is clever and strong-willed. She can be very determined to stand her ground. One also needs to remember that there is truth in the saying, "Like mother, like daughter." "What the daughter does, the mother did." ~Jewish Proverb

Bring on the war.

The Pip got up in the morning and I shared with her that she wouldn't be wearing pull-ups except for nap and bedtime. From now on, she was going to wear underwear. I was not surprised to receive opposition because she is the Pip after all. However, I was not prepared for the events that followed.

For about a month, she had been doing poopy on the potty with 100% success. We congratulated her, praised her and oohed and ahhed over her thinking she would get the hint to do the other. I thought this was supposed to be the harder one to get them to do. It figures.

Later that morning, she had routinely taken herself away to the bathroom to go about her business. It didn't bother me that she hadn't come back into the living room right away because sometimes she detours to the playroom. So it was to my surprise when I started hearing horrific screams.

When I finally got to the bottom of it, this is what she said, "It won't flush." I got to discover a huge mess in the toilet made by those flushable wipes. Apparently, she had taken a LARGE handful and put them into the bowl. I will spare you the details that followed except I will say that removing those wipes wasn't the only problem. Fast forward. Water is flooding the floor quickly and there are various other things floating off to sea as well. Nate and I then performed our own drama in the bathroom trying to get the disaster to end. Details spared, it was finally over.

About an hour later, the Pip decided to wet her pants. I was given a one-up in this war...fleece jammies. They absorb so well. Observing her obvious displeasure for wet fleece jammies, she was required to stay in them for 15 minutes. I knew my precious daughter had a strong-will but was amazed by the temper that joined her will. She screamed, threw herself on the floor and kicked for almost all of the 15 minutes.

Tuesday was calmer until the accident. Again, she was made to stay in her fleece jammies for 15 minutes. She stomped off to her playroom and we heard her say, "I hate everything of mommy and daddy. I hate mommy and daddy." It was the first time we heard those words but I'm sure it won't be the last.

For those who are feeling sympathetic toward the Pip, your hearts may rest easy. Having served her 15 minutes, she was properly cleaned up.

This tactic worked for a while but clearly it was only temporary. The discomfort seemed to wear off quickly. The final transition was at my mom's. She had an accident one evening while playing. I decided to make her go bare-bottomed and she was not allowed to sit down. She responded differently. Oh she was still unhappy but I could tell that she finally got it.

In fact, in an e-mail to Aunt Donna, the Pip wanted me to say, "Tell her that I keep my pants dry."

Hallelujah! It worked. What a journey! At 3 1/2 years old, we finally made it! We are so proud of our little stubborn miss.

Time to move on to the next battle or war. ha ha

The beginning of potty training in the summer
She was not ready to be finished on the potty because she said she wanted to be like daddy. She needed to read from front to back. She was reading Nate's fence and yard book. ha ha ha

So proud but so stubborn

The first potty chart

For the second chart, I got more creative, making one on the computer and adding her favorite princesses to the chart, Cinderella and Belle.

All on her own for the first time. Yippee!

Vader Part 3

His perception of his size is a little skewed. He happens to think 11 lb. Stuart's bed is the right size for him.



According to his breeder and a vet, Vader was supposed to be around 75 lbs. Well, Vader is 90 lbs. and still growing!

Vader Part 2

Vader came to live with us in the middle of November 2008. It wasn't ideal and we weren't planning on having a dog anytime soon but I couldn't get past the idea of dad giving Vader away after he had waited years for him. It broke my heart and so along came Vader.

I was almost 6 months pregnant with Eli and Emmelia was 2 1/2. Adding Vader to our home was like adding a toddler. Whew! He had boundless energy but also had an incredibly gentle personality. I remember a man once said we had the All American family...2 kids and a dog. I silently snorted as I thought about the following stories and many more that have still left us laughing and shaking our heads...

*While visiting at my parent's home in STL, Emmelia was playing in a nylon tunnel, crawling in and out. Vader decided to join in on the fun. Somehow one end of the tunnel got cut off as Emmelia went in and Vader followed. Soon we heard an angry shriek and saw Vader backing out with Emmelia's pants in his mouth, ready to play. The pantsless Emmelia didn't find it quite as funny. The funniest part was that Vader did it again...several times. Emmelia was furious.

*Bailey, Stuart, and Vader LOVE stuffed toys. Emmelia was holding tight to her stuffed duck as the dogs chased her around my parent's living room. She managed to get herself caught between a chair and a couch and fell to the floor in frustration. The dogs came after her for the toy but she refused to give it up. Vader lost focus and began to pull her hair bow out of her hair. After he had success, he went after her pacifier and got that too. Then he spent the remainder of the time before Emmelia was rescued licking her face. Emmelia HATES having her face licked. Oh, the squealing and shrieking that followed!

*One morning we caught Emmelia sitting on Vader's head while he was laying down, chewing on his bone. Right away we scolded Emmelia and told her to get off, concerned about how Vader might react. Vader lifted his head and looked around with an expression as if to say, "Where is the party?," and then went back to chewing his bone. Instead of obeying, she backed up to his shoulder blades and started jumping up and down like she was riding a bucking horse. Again we told her to get off. Vader responded the same way as before. So she backed up to his rump and tried to ride him again. Vader could have cared less and thus began the friendship between the Pip and Big V.

*Emmelia has always had a hot and cold relationship, mainly cold, with Vader. She could never seem get past his great love for her. Even still, she gets so angry when he follows her around and licks her in the face. I was losing hope that the two of them would find a truce when Emmelia and Vader found common ground. They love to play chase. She grabs his tail and they go round and round our dining room table or coffee table. Sometimes, she gets Vader to grab a toy and drags him around by it. Once, she managed to pull his big lug of a body over. He fell on the floor and she fell on his bed. She got up, blaming him for pulling her over. Anger disappeared and the game started over. Strange, but the two of them couldn't be happier.

*Vader has this impulsive urge to steal our things with our scent on it and chew, chew, chew! As he has grown older, it has gotten better but sometimes he will have a relapse of this habit. Many pacifiers have met their fate by Vader's slobbery mouth, much to Emmelia's infuriation. She loves her "poppies", as she calls them, above anything else. He loves to sneak in and steal her things, thus leading us to call him, Vader the Alligator. Instead of going after him to take it away, she freezes, goes stiff, starts shaking with anger and screams. It is a funny thing to watch until it is your possession he makes off with.

Love

He loves her so.

The love/hate friendship in action. This is how it typically ends.

Eli loves it when Vader walks by. He reaches out his little hands and tries so hard to grab his tail. One of these days, he is going to get it.

Vader Part 1

After years of researching hunting breeds and waiting on several litters to get the perfect "dog", dad finally got Vader, a Deutsch Drahthaar, in October 2008.

Vader was born in July of 2008. These pictures were sent to dad from the breeder in Nebraska.

A little bit about Vader's breed from www.vdd-gna.org/:

The Drahthaar is a passionate hunting dog with industry and endurance, calm by nature, friendly in relations. As with every genuine working dog, however, he needs legitimate specialty training and guidance. Only when given sufficient activity does he feel content.

Today, it is also important that the Drahthaar be a pleasant companion for other aspects of life. He is friendly and self-aware with regard to people and other breeds. The Drahthaar is gentle with children and a suitable family dog. He is no problem to keep in the kennel or the house.

The Drahthaar is the most frequently used hunting dog by the hunting establishment in Germany, and that is not without reason: The versatile work range of the all-around dog demands an intelligent, mentally flexible dog. Endurance and a will to obey, as well as the ability to concentrate on work, characterize this robust fellow in the coarse jacket. When others quit, work is just beginning for him. As a dog that can be used universally for a full range of tasks and as a dog for the work after the shot, the Drahthaar is unsurpassed. He brings to the hunt many specialties.

We picked Vader up at the STL airport.

Dad meeting his dog for the first time.

This is my favorite picture. I love the expression on dad's face. He is so proud of Vader.

Meeting Stuart and Bailey
Vader's best friend is Stuart, the 11 pound minature Schnauzer.

Man's best friend

Little did we know what the future would hold. We knew there was something wrong with dad's health in November 2008 and by December 1, 2008, dad was officially diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Vader came to live with us in November 2008.

Christmas 2009 pictures

Buddies

At the beginning of December, we went to Nate's madrigal dinner. The theme this year was French. The singers did a great job entertaining and the food was excellent.

Grandpa and Grandma cuddle Eli during dinner.

Getting cuddles from Aunt Teresa

Grandma Sue and Janice


Emmelia loves Miss Paige, one of Nate's students. I am so thankful that Emmelia has a good role model, even at this young age.

She loves lumps of sugar and chocolate cake.

She did this "dreamy" look all on her own...so very Pip-like...

Look who wants to be queen...

In case you needed a close up...

Too much of a good thing...

A Daddy's girl through and through

In the beginning was the Pip...

and then came our Little Mister.