Breakfast man

The other morning, Isaiah and I had a conversation like this.

Isaiah: What are you doing?

Me: Getting my breakfast ready.

Isaiah: Why?

Me: Because I'm hungry.

Isaiah: But why didn't you eat already?

Me: Because I just didn't get my breakfast yet.

Isaiah: Well, why didn't you just ask Daddy to get your breakfast?

Dan always gets Isaiah's breakfast, because they're usually the first two up. I guess Isaiah thought Dan should get everyone's breakfast! Sounds good to me!

Tough questions

So Isaiah has been asking some tough questions lately. When he hears wind, he asks me if the trees are going to fall over. See, he knows from playing with blocks that tall things fall over easily. So I drew him a picture of the trees with roots, and he sort of got the fact that the roots hold on to the ground, so that the trees don't fall over.

Then the other day he was bummed that it was raining, so I said that rain is really good for the trees because it gives them a drink. Of course he asks, "How does it give them a drink?" So I had to explain how the roots absorb the water from the dirt. "Well, how to the branches get a drink?" Ok. This is going way back to 7th grade earth science. I really had no idea, so I just said that the water goes up the tree like you suck water up through a straw.

Then sometimes he quizzes me, like today in the car.

Isaiah: Does God ever choose the wrong person?
Me: The wrong person for what?
Isaiah: No, just, does God ever choose the wrong person?

Me: No.

Isaiah: You're right! Like on Gideon (veggie tales), they say, God never chooses the wrong person!

Isaiah: Does God ever make mistakes?

Me: No.

Isaiah: You're right!

He's only 3. I'd be lying if I said I don't dread how much more difficult the questions will get in the years to come!

Icy Tuesday

Today has given me so much to blog about. Where do I start? I'll just share a few thoughts.

Today was our first day back to our regular schedule of preschool, band, lessons, and worship team practice. It definitely feels good to be back to a routine, even though I always kick myself for trying to pack too much into one day.

I was a little concerned about driving all around the north hills today because of the weather forecast... freezing rain... not fun. Turns out all the roads were fine except for our road and our driveway. We've lived here for over four years now and have seen our fair share of mixed winter precipitation, but this has been the worst. The hilly road leading up to our house is literally a solid sheet of shiny, wet ice. It is as smooth as a pond. I've never seen anything like it on a road. When we left the house for worship team practice tonight we couldn't make the one turn and ended up going sideways, almost backwards, down the hill. It ended up in a slightly tense moment between Dan and I! (He was driving...) When we came back, we parked at the bottom of the hill and walked up. THAT was interesting. Nothing like taking 25 steps to go one inch forward! Slippery wet ice is the worst! So I've decided I'm inventing a new sport: downhill ice skating. Our hill would be PERFECT!

Then there's this other part about Dan walking my mom down to her car, while my mom was using a shovel for a walking stick. Two people walking through the dark woods with a shovel... sounds like a horror flick!

So that's just part of my interesting crazy day.

Rest in peace, Obadiah Zephaniah Borchert

Ok. The middle name was kind of a joke. But unfortunately we did have to get Obi enthanized this morning. He had a uti a few weeks ago that resulted in a few not-so-cheap trips to the vet. Yesterday he was vomiting throughout the day, and he had a really rough night, roaming the house and meowing. Poor thing. Dan read that excessive vomiting in cats can be a sign of liver malfunction, so I was kind of prepared for the worst. I called the vet first thing this morning, and she determined that Obi had a full bladder and was unable to urinate, meaning he had a blocked urinary tract. At first I was happy, because that didn't seem like that big of a deal. But once they explained about the anesthesia, probing the urinary tract, chances of the problem recurring since he is a male cat, special canned cat food, the total came to $750. Wow.

I called Dan since I couldn't make the obvious decision by myself. Thankfully Dan was only five minutes from the vet and came right over. My mom had Isaiah for the night, so she brought him right over to say good bye. It was sad. Of course Sam had no clue what was going on. He just kept laughing and giving everyone kisses. I wonder if he'll realize that his dee-dee (how he says kitty) is gone. Isaiah seemed sad at the vet, but I think he is starting to grasp the concept of illness and death, so we'll see how he does with it.

Twinbrook sent Obi home in a lovely cardboard casket-shaped box. It was really sweet actually. Dan told me they'd probably just stick him in a garbage bag! Thank goodness he was wrong! =) Dan buried him in the woods beside our house.

Twinbrook and everyone who worked there was just so wonderful. They gave us as much time as we needed to get everyone together and say good bye. It was a great place to make a tough decision.

By the way, I had to include the first picture above. Have you ever seen a more pathetic picture?! It was real. In the second picture we tried to look a little happier.

New Year's Trip

We left Wednesday afternoon to see my dad in CT. We really didn't know how long it would take us to get there. We got caught in some traffic for 20-30 minutes because of a multi-vehicle accident, and when I say multi- I mean 10+ cars. It was crazy. We only stopped for one bathroom break, then later we stopped for a quick dinner at Subway. But it only took us 9.5 hours. We were expecting it might take us up to 10.5 hours. We made it there at 11:00, just in time for the new year! When we parked the car at my dad's, Sam and Isaiah were both sleeping, but Isaiah popped his head up and said with a peppy smile, "Well, that didn't take too long!"

We had a good time though. We ate great food constantly. Dan and I got to have lunch with my good friend from high school, Elizabeth. We drove around by my high school, my old neighborhood, and my old church. I hadn't been to CT in over four years, so it was good to see what changed and what didn't.

The trip back was a dream! Beautiful weather, relatively quiet kids (portable dvd player!!), and absolutely no car trouble. Amazing! We only stopped twice, and made it home in eight hours. Yahoo maps said it should take 8.5 hours. Yes, Dan drove the whole way (he doesn't trust my driving!), so it's to his credit that we got home so quickly. =)