Frogs and an ARK

Summer.

Dry Heat (and anyone who has lived in the south KNOWS what a humid sticky heat is... Idaho does not have that!)... swimming pools... the 3-months where I actually get to garden here in the frozen tundra... vacation... sunlight until 10 pm... Sharing glasses of wine under our gazebo with the honeysuckle vines and japanese lanterns...  Love it!

This summer has been particularly interesting because my DH is serving in Afghanistan.  Which  means it all falls on me to be sure that a) the kids and I don't drive each other batty and b) the house does not implode on itself and c) we end up the summer with the same number of children and adults as we started out with.

All noble but challenging tasks.

But there have been some extra surprises this summer.

What I didn't expect this summer was to see my youngest C adopt an entire family of frogs in the backyard.  He was SO ecstatic when he came to me and said "Mommy!  I found a teenage frog!  I know it's a teenage frog because it is bigger than the babies but smaller than the daddy - so I named it Caleb!"  (That is the name of his teenage brother... who I had to convince to accept his namesake with gratitude). Then he proceeded to explain that "All I have to do now is find the BIGGEST frog and name it Jesus, and our frog family will be complete!"

I have a feeling that Jesus was looking down on my little boy with the same laughing tears in his eyes as I was!

**Sidenote- it seems that our froggy family has left the yard now, no doubt due to the eager little hands that sought them out each and every morning.  Either that or Froggy Jesus sent them a message... "RUN!  no, wait, "HOP!" for your lives!"  Little C is very sad... :-(


But even with family vacations and trips to Oma and Opa's house, and friend sleepovers, and such... tempers get testy.  It's normal.  It's expected.  But still...

Today, I needed to do a last shopping trip before our next round of vacation starts next week.  After much begging and pleading, the kids let me go by myself asked to stay home while I went to the store.    I told them that they could do so, but only if they got certain chores done while I was gone, and no playing with friends and no tv or computer.  Sure enough, I had been gone only 20 minutes when I got the first phone call.  And the second.  And the third.  And finally threatened them with all kinds of creative punishments if they didn't just do their own work and stop worrying about their siblings...

And then I went to the store.

Where, because God loves me, there is no cell reception.  Shopping bliss... except for the niggling fear that I would find one or more children strung up by their toes, dangling from the banister or weeping willow when i got home.  So it was bliss... for about 5 minutes... then I did the "Flight of the Bumblebee" through the rest of the store.

Drove home... and there was a note on the front door.  "Mom, whatever you do... KNOCK before you come in"  (Surely so they could hide the bodily evidence, right?)

I walked in the front door... and my breath caught.

There, on the stairs, were my three children, smiling, giggling... and in the air I smelled my cleaning solution (Mrs Meyers Geranium... BEST stuff in the world!)  My eldest spoke up first "Mom, we all felt really bad about how we were acting before, and not being responsible, and for fighting... so we cleaned up the entire house for you!"

And they had!

Beds were made.  Pillows fluffed and straightened.  Books and magazines put away.  Kitchen counter wiped down.  Dishes washed.  All toys put away.

I was... and still am... speechless.

Acts of Random Kindness.  (ARKs)

Yet another surprise in our summer.

I am blessed.