The Jolly Rogers

The last few days have been a whirlwind of emotion, let me tell you. The hardest part was the funeral for Seraphima. She was so tiny and beautiful. I have always had a hard time with bodies; I've never been able to touch them, which has been frustrating to me. I really wanted to kiss Seraphima good-bye, but I didn't know if I'd be able to. I am so thankful that when I saw her, she was just the beautiful little baby I'd held a few days ago. I was able to touch her and kiss her without a second thought, which was very healing for me.

The funeral service for children is an amazing thing. I've never been so sad, yet so filled with hope, all at the same time. Seeing Danielle (her Mom) was the hardest part. Please continue to pray for this family. They have so much faith, which is pulling them through this tragedy, but they are all suffering.

Dn. John continues to plug away on the entryway. The priority now is getting the siding done before frost. It is doubly hard because 1) the pieces he has to cut to finish are complicated, time consuming, and annoying, and 2) he has about an hour and a half of daylight to work on it from the time we finish dinner until it's too dark outside to see. Last night was a sunny (but COLD!) evening, so I bundled Marina up in a snowsuit (no, I'm not joking) and plunked her in the stroller. She hung out next to Megan and I while we planted 80 tulip and daffodil bulbs around the yard. They will be so beautiful in the spring! I can't wait.

My kids continue to baffle me. Parenting is hard! Who knew? Megan waffles between being such a sweet little helper, and a screaming, whining whirlwind of madness. Today was the third day out of about the last five where she's begun the day by throwing herself on me in bed and screaming. What a way to start the day. Of course, right now, she's just playing with her baby dolls and being fine. Marina is having a massive growth spurt. For breakfast, she ate an entire banana, two eggs with diced ham, and a handful of cheerios. She's eating more than Megan these days. It's crazy. I took her to the doctor yesterday (she's been having some intestinal problems) and he's sending us to a gastro-endrochronologist for a check-up. He's not overly concerned, since she's growing and happy, but she's pooping bile salts (whatever that means) which apparently isn't a good thing.

As for me, I am sooooooo close to my savings goal for my new super-fancy sewing machine. I'm hoping to order it this weekend! I just have to get my bakery paycheck tomorrow, and I'll be there! I can't wait.