The Little Things

Sometime I get so caught up in the big picture that I really don't see the little things in the day hustle of having four kids. So, I have been paying attention today so I just wanted to share a few that I paused to notice, mainly because I was trying to rush someone along and they made me wait, because they were caught up in a little thing.

This morning Abby was taking a shower, around 10am, for some reason. I had gone in a few times to check on her and she was just about ready to get out but was looking at the soap bubbles on the shower door. My "hurry up" mode was to just get in, get out and be done, but we waited, looking at the bubbles. To me, they were bubbles that would then dry there and have to be cleaned off later, to Abby it was a road runner that morphed into a quail, with a poofy cloud over it and a flower beside it.

Rudy barks, all the time. We have a kids book called "Why Benny Barks" and it sums up Rudy. No one knows why Rudy barks, perhaps because the sky is blue? Who knows. Most of the time it is horribly annoying. We can't put him outside for any amount of time beyond a potty break, because he barks. We bring him inside and he barks out the front door, barks at the cats, barks at the other dogs. We put him back in our bedroom when the kids are eating something or whatever, and he barks. Lately he hasn't been feeling well though. He has cancer and it is catching up with him. I have had him for almost 11 years now, longer than I have had Tom ;) So, even though his barking often is the straw that breaks this camels back, Rudy's barking is a reminder that he is here still.

Today Harrison had a half day of school, so he is off in the afternoon while the twins are in preschool. Sometimes we go do something fun, today we just came home for the few hours. I can't even count the number of times I heard "I'm bored..." "Can I...." "Will you...." "Can we..." Although it was, and is, annoying, it means he is still little enough to think Mommy is cool and Mommy is fun to do things with. He still wants me to peel his orange, check his homework, explain his book report and scratch his back.

Millie has horrible 'fire butt' from her 'stealth poops' that l ive up to their name: the poops that you just don't notice immediately because they are low and not stinky, but they are so acidic her butt just gets eaten up! We have learned over the course of four kids, that these are almost always related to teething. Sure enough, today as she layed on the diaper changer, before I decided to just put her in the tub instead of torture her with the wipes, I noticed all four incisors are coming in at the same time, One has broken through, the others are right there. The little thing? She is still my little thing! She is still the baby, still in diapers and still needs Mommy! Nursing makes the pain all better, or atleast makes her not so all alone in it. Although at times I feel sad that we will never have another 'baby' in the house, Millie will never get to adore a baby sibling as hers adore her, she is still little enough to have a diaper rash!

Nick, the goofball. He is trying very hard to hide behind Abby in his big adventure of preschool, yet trying hard to step out and be his own little man. Today on the way home, I asked *Nick* about one thing he did at school today, so naturally Abigail jumps in and starts with her story of what *they* did. I had to shush her for a second so I could get Nicks side of the story. He jumped right in and said "Abby, Mommy said NICK! It is my turn to tell about MY day!" Although yes, that is rude and we shouldn't talk to others like that, Nick is normally so content to be in the shadows and fly under the radar! It made my heart happy to hear him speak up!

Ok, there you go, a "little thing" from each of the kids who hold on to my heart each day!