Melancholies, A Lesson and Mr. Potato Head

Today has been a melancholy sort of day. For the past two days and for some unexplainable reason I have been missing our deceased dog, Bryce. He has been gone for over a year now and I still feel the emptiness of not having him around. I miss his toothy smiles that he always had for us when we arrived home, I miss him chasing the 508 lizards (really, I've counted, and counted and counted) we have in our yard, I miss seeing him, from my kitchen window resting on the cool grass of our lawn. I just miss everything about him. He was such a special part of our family (yes, pets are family members too).

Maybe that is why I had been grumpy with the kids this morning. I promised to take them to Story Time at the local library. All morning we talked about being quiet in the library, and how we are to respect others and share at story time and craft time. I was nervous about taking them, worrying that they might misbehave or run off in two different directions but the girls were so excited. It was one of those mornings of leaky diapers, wardrobe malfunctions, telemarketers, and general housekeeping nightmares. As I finally wrangled the girls out of the house and was buckling them in their car seats Abby started acting up. I yelled at her and basically made fool of myself. It was uncalled for and unnecessary but I let my temper and nerves get the best of me. Abby was quick to reply with a very stern "SHHH momma yibwary" (library). Boy howdy did she put me in my place and rightly so. How often are they catching me in my lowest moments not practicing what I preach? Thank you Lord for giving me the reminder I needed from an almost-two-year-old and for the opportunity to teach her humility in asking for her forgiveness. This mommy makes LOTS of mistakes and has to apologize for her bad behavior A LOT!
On a lighter note~ Abby & Bree have been loving Mr. Potato Head lately. They have had the toy since Easter but never showed much interest in him until recently. Here is a sample of their creations. Oh and I promise to snap out of the melancholies....tomorrow :)