December 29, 1994: We went to a restaurant tonight, and
Sarah had some ice cream. She was complaining that it was too cold. The waitress
came and asked if everything was okay. We said yes, butSarah said, "Not
this ice cream; it's cold."
December 31, 1994: It snowed this morning, and although
we had snow in Arkansas and Alabama, it's the first time the kids could really appreciate
it. Rebecca said as she ran back and forth between windows, "It's really
snowing, it's very great! It's snowing so muchI can't see the sky!" (We
lived in Kansas at this point, much more snow.)
January 2, 1995: The kids were in bed in the living room
tonight andRebecca said to Caleb, "Caleb, if you lay still and be so
quiet, youreyes will close all by themselves, and you'll be asleep."
January 3, 1995: This morning Sarah told me that her
heart was beeping while shewas asleep.
January 4, 1995: Yesterday for her birthday, Sarah got a
new baby doll from Morgan. (Murray’s brother, who was living with us.) Just now
she said, "I want to take my baby doll to Heaven."
Caleb had a picnic at school today, inside, since it was
about15 degrees outside at the most. I asked what they had, and he said hotdogs,
and juice, and then he said, "Those little square things,they were goofy,
they were s'mores."
January 6, 1995: This afternoon I was trying to lay the
kids down for a nap. I gave Sarah her new quilt from Grandma Brinkmann, and
asked if she liked it, and she said yes. I asked if she wanted me to cover her
up. She doesn't like to be covered up much. She said, "If I say no, will
that hurt herfeelings?" (Referring to Grandma)
Sarah got a bucket full of dinosaurs for her birthday. Also
in the bucket are some cave-men or something with clubs. The kids take those
out of the bucket and put them somewhere else when they play. They don't like
them, because, as Rebecca says, "They have bad faces."
The other day I told Sarah that she used to tell me
secrets like this. Then I whispered in her ear, "I love you." Then I
asked if she would tell me a secret. She whispered, "Tomorrow we're gonnahave
doughnuts."
Yesterday Rebecca said Sarah could wear some of her
stick-onearrings to church today. Sarah said it was because "I'm growing
uplike Rebecca."
January 13, 1995: This afternoon Rebecca put Rhoda (our
cat) out the deck door, then she said to me, "Mommy, Rhoda chased a
squirrel!" She sounded really disturbed. I tried to explain that that was
just what animals did, but she said, "That wasn't nice. The squirrel
didn'tlike it. The squirrel was littler than Rhoda."
January 14, 1995: Last night Renato (our exchange student
from Brazil) and Morgan cooked supper, and they made mashed potatoes the way
Renato's Mom makes them, with heavy cream. At supper, Rebecca asked,
"Mommy, why do the mashed potatoes taste so good today?" I guess I
won't be making any mashed potatoesfor a while.
January 15, 1995: Tonight there was a party at church. Rebecca
said she wanted to get a cookie to take home. Murray got one for her, and she
took a bite. Then he got two more. She asked if he was gettingmore for her, and
he said, no, one for each of the kids. She thoughtabout it, then said, "I
took a bite out of Sarah's."
January 17, 1995: Sarah and I were talking about
something this afternoon, and I said, "Don't you have a goofy Mommy?"
She said, "FunMommy. We can play with her."
January 19, 1995: The other day Rebecca wanted Murray to
do something, and he said, "What's the magic word?" She said,
"Monkeys," so of course, that's the new magic word in our home.
January 29, 1995: Tonight in church we were singing
something, probably some kind of praise song to Jesus, and Rebecca said to me,"Mom,
Jesus is the bestest."
February 5, 1995: This afternoon Caleb told me, "Mommy,
I need to do you a favor." I asked what he needed to do for me. He said,
"Snapmy pants and tuck in my shirt."
February 18, 1995: Wow! It's not even eight-thirty in the
morning yet, and the kids are already really sharp. They were talking abouta man
at church who has a wheelchair. I told Caleb that the chair was a tool the man
uses to get around, just like Caleb's cane is atool to help him. Sarah asked
what Grandma used to get around, andRebecca said a tractor. One of the girls
asked if that was a tool, and I said yes. Caleb said, "Weelll, that's a
vehicle."
February 23, 1995: We sing a song that goes, "Some
of them were singing, and some of them were dancing, but all of them were worshiping
the Lord." Yesterday Rebecca sang, "Some of them were singing, and
some of them were dancing, and some of them were reading the Bible, and some of
them were praying, but all of them wereworshiping the Lord."