It started off as “one of those mornings.” A Monday. Pouring rain. Wiping dogs muddy feet. Daniel left for work, and the kids were sad. Somehow the older two got downstairs without changing out of their PJs. And then Mara saw the amaryllis flowers were beginning to droop and fade. Tears filled her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she said in her ever-dramatic way, “I don’t want them to die!”
Oh, good grief, I thought. It’s going to be one of those days!
Then the dogs were barking . . .
It was the mailman with a package! We order a lot of things online so delivery trucks are always stopping.
But this time the package was for Mara from her friend Beaux in Georgia! She was thrilled beyond words! I knew I could not leave David in the highchair waiting for his breakfast while we opened the package together, so I made her wait through breakfast. That was tough!
I scrapped my plans to cook breakfast though and gave them all a bowl of cereal, which the older three inhaled, declared they were done, wanted nothing else–no toast, no fruit today, no, not even vitamins–and they raced back to the living room.
Right away Mara saw the set of 12 Clifford readers, and I think I might be as excited as she is since I’ve been looking for readers for her level (Donna, did you know?!), and I know she will enjoy these!
Next she opened the elephant, giving it a big hug and saying, “I’m going to name her Ella!. . . This is the cutest little elephant I ever saw!”
Beaux so kindly sent Valentines for each of the kids! I didn’t get pictures with all of them, but Carissa is always one who “lingers,” enjoying the details. . .
We were excited to discover that the hamburgers are erasers! The kids do a lot of erasing between school worksheets and all Mara’s writing!
And–wow! A diamond ring!!!!! Happy Valentines Day to Mara!!!! (I know this picture quality is bad, but at least you can see her excitment.) She just ripped the ring right out of the package! What a fun surprise!
When she tried it on, she decided it was really like a diamond bracelet.
Then she wore it around the rest of the day. What girl wouldn’t want a diamond for Valentines Day?
Meanwhile, Micah–or Batman–discovered the Leapster! This is an amazing gift! Thank you soooo much, Beaux!!! I know that Mara and Micah both will LOVE this and enjoy many hours of fun!
Micah doesn’t even know what it is, but he found the Batman game, and you can see in his intense expression here that he’s going to figure out whatever this is!
Micah is determined to figure this thing out with Carissa watching over his shoulder.
Once Mara settled back down a little, she stopped and read the pumpkin story that Beaux sent. It is a great little book, explaining how pumpkins begin as seeds in the dirt, then grow with sunshine and water into vines which flower and grow pumpkins. After explaining the whole process, Beaux writes, “Do you like pie? I don’t.” We all laughed. As a child I felt much the same about pie, Beaux. 🙂
Mara turned the page and continued reading: “But I like pumpkins. I miss you. {heart} Beaux”
Which made me a little teary. And a little nostalgic, thinking of pumpkin picking with our dear friends. . . And it made Mara a bit quieter for a while, as she said, “I miss Beaux too.”
Thank you, Beaux, for such a wonderful surprise package for Mara! Thank you for giving so generously and so thoughtfully!
You’re a great friend! We love you and we miss you!!
How sweet! Such precious friends! Maybe sometime you can meet in SC. 🙂