Beautiful Rhode Island

It is always amazing to me how beautiful Rhode Island is and how blessed I am to live here surrounded by such beauty.

I took Dori with me on Monday to get Micah's birthday presents. We had a nice time out just the two of us and it was an absolutely perfect day. These pictures are taken at the marina in Wickford, a quaint little town about 15 minutes from us. They have a wonderful toy store in Wickford that had just what we needed. ;) The last picture Dori took herself--she wanted to get the swan.

American Girl Spa Day

I have very mixed feelings about American Girl dolls. We first encountered this high quality, super expensive doll in NY, when a catalog mysteriously arrived at our doorstep. I had never heard of this company and I confess the price tag immediately gave me a negative impression. Dori was fascinated and looked at the catalog until the papers thinned and finally tore. I put off buying one of these dolls for as long as I could, mainly because they are $100 each and out of principal (not sure which one--maybe many!) I felt that was just too much for a doll.

Dori eventually forgot about it and that was that. Then we moved to Rhode Island and several of her friends here had American Girl dolls. One sweet girl felt so badly that Dori didn't have one, that she saved up her own money to buy a "mini" American Girl doll ($20). So at Dori's 6th birthday, she received her first ever Mini American Girl doll, Kaya--and she was truly treasured.

Let me stop right here and say that these dolls are very well made, and have wonderful historical story lines. For example, there is Samantha, from the Victorian era; Molly, from World War II; Julie, from the 70's; and so on. Each doll has a series of fictional books that are interesting and share the history of the era with the reader. Dori has read many of the books, and they are wonderful!

Christmas of 2006, Papa Neal heard of the travesty that Dori had no American Girl Doll. He heard how that was what she *really* wanted for Christmas. I'm sure you can figure out what happened next! Papa Neal sent the $100 so Dori could pick out a doll--making her beyond excited. It took her almost 5 weeks to decide which doll she wanted (this is primarily because her crazy mama wanted her to be absolutely certain she just LOVED the doll she chose, since she most likely would not be getting another one). She settled on "Elizabeth"--a girl from 1774. The rest is history.

Most things American Girl are pricey. You can find outfits for the dolls at Target for $10 a piece, which is great, and sometimes the local craft stores will sell similar style accessories and furniture for a third of the price of "real" American Girl stuff. This helps the pocket book and I'm so glad I only have one girly girl. :)

This brings me to last Saturday. I had to take Dori to get a hair cut at the mall, and I noticed a poster about a FREE American Girl Doll Spa Day. Hmmm. I know of virtually nothing free that is American Girl! As soon as the poster caught Dori's eye she was hooked and I told her that we would bring Elizabeth and get her hair done and hey, possibly win "Addy"--the American Girl doll that is from the Civil War era.

Dori was ecstatic and had a great time. I had to drag all the boys along because Jason had a meeting, but they survived. Micah was even a little excited for his sister, since he knows how much she loves American Girl. It was a great adventure and best of all, FREE. We didn't win any of the give-aways, but had lots of fun none-the-less!

Elizabeth in the "salon chair"

This is what James was doing while Elizabeth got her hair done.

The boys looking at the water fountain. At least they weren't fighting.

This is Micah's mischievous look. I get it 987,830 times a day.

This picture was taken by the lady who sponsored the whole event. It will be featured in the Providence Performing Arts Center-Journal. One of the give-aways were 4 tickets to see the play "Addy." We didn't win.

This is the finished product!

This is during the drawings and all the girls who had their dolly spa day.

Lessons

Here is a sampling of what typically goes on in the Hardage home (Hardage High as Pappaw likes to call it!). Oh yes, we have lessons for all ages here--including Mom and Dad, although no pictures of that yet.

This is a typical morning at the kitchen table. James has only recently been joining us. He is getting into coloring and drawing circles. Dori is working on phonics/reading in this picture and Micah is coloring.

A close-up of Dori. She's always happy to do her work. Boy am I ever grateful for that!

James wanted a close-up of his "school."

This is Micah's new Arthur coloring book.

And the youngest student. Piano lessons.

Building Lessons. Heh.

Reading Lessons

More reading Lessons.

Why "Drop of Grace?"

This is just a quick post about why I named my blog "Drop of Grace."
It comes from a song I wrote in 2004. Here are the lyrics:

A drop of grace rolls down my head

The holiness of God burns me, instead

of giving liberty to do as I please--

one drop

cures my disease

A drop of grace rolls down my head

The holiness of God burns me, instead

of giving liberty to do as I please--

one drop

cures my disease


And I lay down

at His wounded feet

I lay down

at His

wounded feet

I lay down

at His wounded feet


Change me
Change me
Change me

Change me
Change me
Change me

More Chicken Pox!

I'm not exactly sure why all four of my children didn't come down with the Chicken Pox at the same time. If I remember correctly, this is how it used to happen. You know, back in the "old days" before there was a vaccine for every imaginable thing. Somehow, we have managed to spread out the chicken pox virus over the course of a month. Maybe it's even been longer....the days/weeks sort of blur together after a while!

Anyway, it started with Micah. I watched the others every moment of the day for the spots, but none were found. He went through the ordeal, gained a playstation 2 out of it, itched and drank lots of juice and then it was over. The doctor said the baby most likely wouldn't get it, but James would unless I vaccinated him. So off I went to get the shot and hope he wouldn't come down with the spots.

Nope. He got them. Then the baby got them.

And now, after I thought we were home free, sweet Dori has it. We were just getting out of the van at church yesterday when she showed me her tummy....and I knew what it was right away. Dori was vaccinated, but yet, she came down with them, too. Also that morning we learned that two other vaccinated children from our church have caught them. One a fairly bad case.

Interesting stuff, eh?

God has used this whole experience to help me learn about life and about resting in Him. We are just not in control, are we? He is sovereign and we are not. How often we think we are able to manipulate this or that....or if we just do this for our children or that for our children then we will guarantee that xyz won't happen to them. It happens all the time, doesn't it? The reality, again, is that He is sovereign, and we simply are not.

So when these things happen, that we try to prevent or control or whatever, God is showing me to just rest in Him. I don't have to respond with alarm and fretting, or fear. He knows. He's with me. And He's with my children. Their protection is ultimately in His hands. Truthfully, this is very hard for me. But it's something I'm working on. I guess I can thank the chickenpox for helping me with this lesson.

Dori is doing just fine, by the way. After she recovers, I think I'll be more careful about saying we are "finally done" with the chicken pox. Who knows, maybe me or Jason will catch it again!

Purrrrrrrrrrrovidence Bruins

Yesterday night our church family went to see the Providence Bruins vs. Portland Pirates. That's hockey for those of you who don't know. This was only my second hockey game EVER, and boy was it fun! My first experience with hockey was a Memphis game J took me to when Dori was a wee babe. I absolutely loved every minute of it until the first fight broke out. If you haven't ever been to a hockey game, let me just tell you that it is fast-paced, loud, and brutal. There's lots of "roughing," "instigating," and "fighting" going on. And it's all a legal part of the game. I wasn't prepared for that and I'll admit it disturbed me a bit. Yes, I am publicly admitting I am a total wimp. Yes, my husband is thoroughly embarrassed I am admitting this! I think some people go to the games just for the fightin'. Personally, I could do without it, but it is intriguing to watch grown men pound each other without risk of going to jail for assault and battery. Heh.



Micah is very intense about sports. So is James, for that matter. I sometimes wonder how it is possible that I, the artsy, musical, never-played-a-sport-in-my-life-girl, have *3* rough and tumble boys--two of which are already obsessed with all things sport. It matters not the particular game. It matters not the particular team (well, Jason has pretty solidly made them Cardinals and Cowboys fans, but they are open to others). It matters not the winning and losing (yet). Micah and James are seriously serious about watching the game. They get it honest--and it ain't from me! Check James out in the background of this picture.
This was Dori and James' first hockey game and they both loved it, but for different reasons. James sat perfectly still in J's arms taking the game in, while Dori practically stood up and danced to all the loud music that periodically came on. YMCA, Sweet Caroline, and the "Hey" song--oh yeah, she totally boogied and yelled with the rest of the fans. No bashfulness in that child. Such a free spirit, that one.



All in all, we had a wonderful, fun-filled evening. It was very late when we finally got in bed, but it was worth it to create such a great memory. Since hockey is such a hit around here with the boys, my friend Linda suggested I come up with a "penalty box" at home. A place to put the boys for "roughing", "instigating", and "fighting." I love it....and I am totally going to do it.

Easter 2008

This year has been strange. As a family, we have never been more sickly and spent so much time at both the doctor's office and in bed! Starting in January, we've experienced a perpetual cycle of sickness, healing, repeat sickness with a different family member, healing, new sickness, and on it goes. I believe I have missed more church services during the past 3 months than ever in my life! It hasn't been easy, but in many ways, it's been useful to teach me patience, service, and to slow me down.

We had planned on taking a big trip South to visit family right after Easter. That trip has since been delayed due to a bout with the chickenpox. Yes, I said chickenpox! That not-so-common-anymore, spotty, itchy, uncomfortable childhood illness. I'm happy to report that everyone survived relatively unharmed, save for lack of sleep on Mom's part. :)


Easter celebrations this year, like much of the first three months of 2008, were different. Micah and Dori were able to go with Jason to church, but the baby and James were still contagious and missed out on the church festivities. Micah was kind enough to collect many candy-filled eggs in his brother's stead, and we all together enjoyed a leisurely afternoon after eating roasted chicken with veggies and resurrecting (no pun intended!) an old tradition from my childhood: the coconut cake.




This year was a time of reflection. Of remembering hope. Hope we have from the cross, hope for the coming of Spring, hope for the future. And although the children were quite a sight, and Mom was super sleepy, it turned out to be a wonderfully quiet and relaxing day.

Sometimes we get bogged down in trying to create some super-spiritual experience for our family. You know what I mean--we've all done it! Christmas Eve rolls around and we think, "Oh no! We haven't read the Christmas story yet, we're not focused on the real meaning." Or we try to somehow give only three gifts to the children to represent the wise-men (or some other symbolic mechanism that will make us feel like we have adequately given enough spiritual weight to the holiday) . Or we just *have* to bake a special scripture cake, and then we will have effectually created the right balance of focus on the birth of Christ verses the joy of giving and receiving gifts. And so we run around frazzled and sometimes even stressed trying to facilitate this "spiritual" aspect.

I was thinking about this a lot this past Christmas and talking with a dear friend about this very thing. She said something so true: waking up on Christmas morn and seeing the delight in your children and feeling the warmth and love of your family.....that is the spiritual part of Christmas. That is something that only our relationship with God can foster. That is what the birth of Christ and the redemption of man yields.

Where am I going with all this? Back to Easter.

I forgot to dye eggs or go over any symbolic meaning with the kids. I stayed up almost the entire night before with a sick and uncomfortable babe, and so I was a little fuzzy. We didn't have ham or taters, and all the family didn't make it to church. But being together and waking up to children's delight and reflecting on the hope we have in Christ....well, it was a spiritual experience indeed.

Dori's Easter treats. She loves drawing and writing so I got her this nature notebook--just in time for spring!

Dori and Micah before the church Easter egg hunt

James' Easter treats. He really wanted this Rapunzel Puzzle

Micah's Easter Treats. I got him this Usborne book to take on the trip, and in his pail is a wonderful Pirate Stories cd that we've all heard now about 9874 times!