just when you think certain behaviors have been outgrown, kids love to surprise you. i wonder if sometimes they just pretend to be a bit more grown up so that they can get a really good reaction from what you never saw coming.
yes, that must be it....or maybe you're just so busy building a house, getting the homework done on time, planning for and participating in the school fundraiser, changing diapers, and cleaning up messes that a 3 year old little girl has to come up with ways to get noticed.

which brings us to tuesday night.
while driving the kids home from school, i had this sudden urge to not go home. i just didn't want to face another night of the homework/dinner/bedtime routine with the same 4 to 1 ratio that i usually do.
i found myself driving toward dave and the house- even though i knew he would be busy, we had schoolwork to do, no dinner options, 2 little girls without shoes, and 2 in their school clothes.

i just forgot about it all and was having a great time chatting with my neighbor jody while our kids played in and around the house.
and then i realized that i had not seen tekoa for quite some time.
i asked the other kids as they ran by if they had seen her, and no one had, so we started searching and calling for her.

after awhile i heard a muffled reply and realized that she was in the van.

what could she possibly have been doing in the van alone all that time??
let me tell you.
she was hard at work. with a red marker.

that girl colored the ENTIRE inside of our van.
rear view mirror, touch screen, seats, headrests, armrests, ceiling, air vents, seat belts front and back, buttons, doors, cup holders....

how do markers even have that much ink???
how did she stay focused on one activity for that long??
what did she think was going to happen when she inevitably became discovered??

who knows.
i've been trying to see things from her perspective, and maybe, yes maybe, she had been a bit looked over in the busyness of things.

"i can only do the best i can do."
i repeat this to myself at least once a day. out loud. to myself.
it seems to help me keep things in perspective and to not get overwhelmed. sometimes i think about writing it down on a huge poster board so that i can read it everyday along with other important and noteworthy phrases such as:

"be a servant"
"kids before cleanliness" and
"do not buy any more little girl's clothes no matter how cute or on sale they are"

but dave and i both know how even big poster board notes can be accidentally looked over ;)
(love ya, babe :)

but getting back to my story.
i spent a considerable amount of time in the van the next day scrubbing. and scrubbing.
with success in some areas and not in others.
when i finally deemed my work good enough and repeated my "only do the best i can do" phrase, i came back inside and was greeted by little wren. with her arms stretched out to me saying "up please" which sounds more like "upease."

i picked her up and snuggled her close only to realize that she was soaking wet.
when i set her down, she led me straight to the bathroom to show me what a fun time she had been having in the toilet while i was hard at work....sigh.

another one of those behaviors that i thought had been outgrown....












still discovering more little scribbles everyday....