Funnies from Hannah

Our 5 (almost 6) year old daughter has quite the sense of humor. On several occasions she has made her Dad and I laugh because of her unexpected comments, a silly face, or just because of her outlook on life in general. She has, in my opinion, always lived quite happily in "Hannah Land." She is by far the roughest and toughest of the Jackson girls, but at the same time, has such a sweet spirit and soft heart. So often I have wanted to write down some of the comments she's made, fearing that I someday will forget the funny things she says. I have forgotten too many of them already, so I thought I'd share a couple of her recent "funnies" now.

Last week I was driving Hannah and her little sisters to school, when Hannah asked me if I liked to drive. "Well," I replied, "I don't know if I like it or not, but I sure seem to do a lot of it!" She then told me that I should become a taxi driver. To my amusement, she went on to explain that "all we need to do is paint the van yellow, put a white sign on it, and you (Mom) need to grow a beard." I guess that's how she envisions taxi drivers! Oh, and of course this was all said quite matter-of-factly. She didn't see anything silly about it at all....just the things that needed to be done in order for me to make the transformation. Too funny Hannah!

And for funny #2.....today I overheard Hannah talking to her little sisters as they were playing on the living room floor. This is what I heard her saying..."Hey twins, do you know what bacon is made of? When pigs die, and they're cooked, it's bacon! And chicken comes from chickens! And fish comes from fish!". To that I said "What about cows?" "Yuck!" she said. "Nobody eats cows, that's disgusting!" This coming from the girl that always orders a cheeseburger whenever we go out to eat! Oh Hannah you really do make your Mom chuckle!



Maybe these things don't sound too funny, but hearing Hannah talk in her animated fashion, and saying things with such certainty, along with her vibrant facial expressions, just does my heart good. Hannah Banana, you have blessed my heart many times and I love you!

Leaving the Nest...Temporarily

It seems a lifetime ago that my husband and I started having children, although it was really only 8 years ago. And it seems also, that once the first one was born, the other 3 came along quite quickly. And because they pretty much came one right after the other (and by the pair) that there was always a baby in the house.

This past year has been a big one for me as a mom. For the first time in 8 years I was able to leave the house without a diaper bag, sippy cups, pacifiers, wipes (although I still use these things 'cause they're so darn handy!) and anything else affiliated with an infant. Oh how my definitions of "freedom" have changed over the years! When the twins were born, there was a stock pile of diapers, wipes, diaper cream, and formula. And it seemed that no matter how much I tried, I just was always in a state of sleep deprivation. There are very sweet memories that come from that time in my life, but I find myself in a new stage of "mommyhood" that is bound to have it's share of sweet memories too.

In two days I will be experiencing a new "first." Sometime Wednesday afternoon I will be found at home....BY MYSELF!!!! I'm sure to some, this may seem like no big deal, but to me, it's thrilling and kind of scary all at the same time. All 4 of my girls are attending school this year. We have a second grader, a Kindergartner, and the twins are in preschool. Our oldest is gone all day and our 5 year old is in school afternoons only, and the 2 youngest will be gone Monday and Wednesday afternoons. The 3 youngest girls are only gone 2 1/2 hours during the afternoon, but that's more "alone" time than I'm used to on a typical day. Between different pick-up and drop-off times, I'll actually be spending a lot of my "free time" driving, but I've decided I'm okay with that!

My girls are growing up. There were days in the past several years that I wasn't sure I'd make it through without losing complete sanity. For those of you who know me, I'm sure it seems I lost quite a bit of it :) But this new stage has me thinking. Now that my girls are "leaving the nest" for a good part of their day, are they ready? As their mother, have I prepared them? Did I nurture their "ouchies" and their hearts? Have I let them see enough of Jesus in me, so they can show Him to others? I realize they are actually still quite young, and it's not like they are going off to college tomorrow. But, I don't think that's any reason not to reflect on these things. I find myself losing patience with these little ones that need so much tenderness and care....and patience. I want to become a better mom to my children. Amazingly, it seems that my girls only ever love and forgive me, no matter how "short" I am with them, or how busy I can get sometimes.
So, I guess I still have time to learn from their examples of unconditional love and forgiveness.

I find myself wishing they could actually stay home with Mom a little bit longer. I love you my little princesses!