A tearful moment...

This morning, I awakened the kids as always, and Kas popped out of bed cheerily and started her morning routine... (a bit unusual, since it normally takes a bit longer for her to wake up).  After I got the boys up, I came out into the front room and found such a heart-wrenching scene: Kas was sitting frozen on the couch staring at my computer screen with tears streaming down her face.  I had put Bumper's picture on the desktop last night, thinking that would be fun for us all to re-live some of our fun moments with our sweet dog... little did I know it would bring up a whole host of emotions for little Kassie, who loved him so much.  We talked about it for awhile, and she just said how much she missed him. Poor baby - that will be our first order of priority when we return... getting a new puppy.

But it just made me think about how lucky I am to have these sweet kids - who have such a capacity to love. The Pohlman book I'm reading beautifully describes the reason I love being in my family -- because it's such an important place to be:  "Jesus chose to be born into an ordinary family as evidence of it's place in the hierarchy of life's most precious entities."  So true! He could've appeared anywhere, anytime, and as a grown man, but instead, he came as a little baby, as part of a family.  Watching my kids grow and experience all their emotions -- what a privilege and blessing to be part of such a divinely, master-planned little group of people.

One of my favorite things to do is send the kids to school on a Friday with a big bag of candy for their classmates - - today Kenny and Kassie both had their "Bon vendredi! Pour la classe" bags filled with little chocolate bars for everyone. Kenny was SO PROUD to walk in and show all his friends, who were of course crowding around him, showering him with their French praises.  So darling. Then I chatted with Kenny's teacher -- Kenny has felt like one of the boys in class just doesn't like him... he has tried to be his friend and smile but he feels like this boy is just mean to him.  I'm not sure if he's mean or just aloof or overly confident (he's the son of a prominent townsperson) but I let the teacher know it hurt Kenny's feelings. Madame Gauch said that I should encourage Kenny to bring it up in Thursday afternoon's 'Circle Time.' Hilarious - so they all come together in a circle on the carpet and talk about their 'feelings' - anything that has bothered them, something that they're proud of, etc. Oh how I wish I could be there next week when he brings up, in English (only 2 other kids understand English, besides the teacher) that this boy won't be his friend. I want to peek in the window...

PS. Kas came home happy... I'm glad she's so good about picking up and getting over things. No lingering Bumper sadness, never grudge-holding.. so easy going.