I have decided that there is still hope for the human race.
I came to this conclusion for two reasons. First: My Mother, the day she arrived for Christmas, presented Kari and I a pamphlet from "Planned Parenthood" on all the various forms of birth control that are available today. "Not too subtle, Mom." I got a kick out of it though, mostly because she wasn't joking. The funny thing is that Papa didn't think that more kids sounded that far fetched. In fact he sounded kind of keen on the idea that we might have more. He came from a large family so I guess its not a stretch. However, I would have thought that he would be a proponent of the birth control also, seeing as we have been relying on him quite heavily due to our sudden population explosion and lack of planning (Or maybe it was a lack of judgment or common sense or lack of sanity - choose your favorite) I'm still thinking "blessing", but I may have done some more planning if I knew what was going to happen. The point is, as long as there are irresponsible people like Kari and I, the human population will continue to grow.
Second: There is still goodness in the world today and sometimes you don't even have to look for it. Yesterday Rylee was "helping" me do something in the front yard. I don't recall exactly what we went out there for, I think we were bringing the trash cans back up to the house. As we were taking our time out front, enjoying the nice weather, two little girls walked by with their Irish Setter. The girls were probably nine and eleven, wearing jeans and t-shirts, without a care in the world, as you should be at that age. They noticed Rylee pointing to their dog and they gave a little wave. I wished them a happy new year and they returned the greeting and proceeded on their way. I didn't give it a second thought, I continued to retrieve trash cans and try to convince Rylee that now is not the time for a car ride.
"Car, car, car" she was saying patting the rear passenger door, looking at me expectantly.
"No, not right now. Maybe later." I said as I was hauling the last can past her.
"Car, car, car...CAAARRR!" she implored.
"Not right now, lets go see what Grandmom is doing." I said.
"Uh uhhhhh. Car?"
"We have to wait for Reagan to wake up from her nap." I said, trying to think of another angle to get her off the car subject. Three year old girls can be very persistent, but are easily distracted. You just have to find the right distraction at the right time to avoid the fight and the time out that must follow. Because, as you well know, timeouts are fun for no one.
At just that moment the two little girls reappeared, jogging toward us. The youngest with a large pink "Care Bear" teddy bear in her arms.
"We would like to give this teddy bear to your daughter, as a new years eve gift." she said, holding the bear out to Rylee and looking at me with a smile.
"That is very nice." I said, returning the smile. "Are you sure that it is okay with your parents for you to give away your bear?"
"Oh yes, we are going to have a garage sale and they said that it would be alright." By this time Rylee is hugging the bear tight, with a smile from ear to ear and beaming up at the two girls. This was no small stuffed animal either, it came up to Rylee's nose and she had to tip her head back to rest her chin on its head. The girls seemed right pleased with Rylee's reaction and there were smiles all around. Kari came out, getting ready to run to the supermarket, and we all chatted for a bit.
The older girl lived right down the street and the younger one had moved away but was back visiting family for the holidays. They were quite well spoken and I was impressed with their kindness. However, with Kari gone, I needed to get back inside to check on the twins. The girls, Kaitlynn and Emilee, seemed like they would be quite content to chat away the rest of the afternoon and I started to feel a bit awkward. Partly because they had been so kind and I didn't want to just blow them off and partly because I didn't know their parents and I thought it might look kind of "funny," a grown man chatting up two little girls. (It is sad that you have to think about those things these days, isn't it?) At any rate, I bid them fair well and took Rylee inside.
Not 15 minutes later the door bell rang and the girls were back with more stuffed animals for all the Spencer girls. What big hearts God puts in little people, I was very touched. I was trying to think of something nice I could do for them, candy?, cookies?, ice cream? Again I was a bit uncomfortable with not knowing their parents and all, so I just gave them thanks and complements. I don't know if that sort of kindness and thoughtfulness is taught or if it is inborn, either way I think it bodes well for our future generations.
Rylee decided that the big stuffed rabbit was for Reagan. Before I knew what she was doing, she ascended the stairs, flung open Reagan's door and tossed the rabbit into her crib. That was the end Reagan's nap.
In other news: Hilda's mother is still hanging in there, but is in a lot of pain. She is at home now and Hilda told Kari that they don't think that she is going to last very long. We are still keeping them in our prayers.
Grandmom says that she is going to stay as long as she is needed and we sure do appreciate that, but I know she needs to get home. So, we are still weighing our options. With Kari and I there, we can handle all four girls fairly well. When I go to work for four days at a time it is a little much for Kari to handle and I can't see leaving her with all four kids by herself. We have talked about contacting some of Hilda's friends from church, but have not done anything about that yet. We have been hoping to get some more news from Hilda in Mexico but have not spoken with her for a few days.
The twins are doing well. No more colds and their reflux seems to be back under control. Jordan is rolling over all the time now, but Madison has been taking her time. It is fun to watch them interact with each other. Jordan will roll on her side, grab Madison's hand and coo at her. Madison will give her big smiles in return. It is very interesting to watch.