Down but not out.

Josiah is hacking, sniffing and tired. Keyana is stuffed up and has a deep throaty cough. Now I find out that Grandpa Peters passed away. He was very ready to go, so in a way, I am glad for him. He is going to be loving it on that side of heaven! I would have gone to the funeral if I was there, to celebrate the life of a man who lived a long, faithful life.

But for us left here, we medicate, soupinate and restibit as much as we can for our kids. It is always draining as parents when the kids are sick, they are more whiny and helpless than normal. We need to celebrate the times we can share here. Today I gave the kids a bag of dirt as a gift. Keyana thought it was chocolate so put a small piece in her mouth when I was trying to get a container for them to examine the gift more closely. In the end her taste test was all she needed to conclude the present wasn't good. The point was an object lesson - when we get rudeness, back talk or disobedience, it is like getting a bag of dirt when we really wanted a gift of polite, obedient and honoring talk. So when we hear another dishonoring someone, we will say that we don't want your dirt around here! After brushing Keyana's teeth, we did have a gift the kids could get excited about, they shared a pop. We hope and pray that this will be one sweet and dirty lesson the kids will remember!