Yesterday was the big day, Pantera finally saved enough money to get her bike! She was actually about 60 cents short of her goal of $25 but they were having a great sale at Gordman's and I couldn't pass up a barbie bike that was originally $77 marked down to $25. So I went and picked up the bike and a helmet while she and Jess took a nap yesterday. When she saw it she looked at me and said "Is that my bike?!? Am I there?" (She would ask "Am I there?" every time we would count her money). She is so proud of this bike. Then she told me "I'm not going to be mean to you anymore. You know why? Cuz you bought me a bike!" I tried explaining that it is not good to be nice just because someone does something for you, but I think she tuned out the rest of our conversation. We went to Meredith and Jake's house last night and they had some people over. Pantera took each of them into the garage individually to look at her bike "that has a backpack I can carry, a water bottle if I get thirsty, and a book in the backpack (the owners manual) if I need to read."
This whole reaching her goal thing has made me really nervous, let me explain why, This last January I was having a very difficult time with Jess being gone so much and Pantera's bad attitude. She was getting really, really bad. Temper tantrums over anything and everything, it was horrible. The Veggie Tales movie came out around that time and she wanted to see it. So I made a deal with her, if she could go 3 days with listening and without throwing a fit, I would take her to see it. With the way she had been acting I figured this would be impossible. Much to my surprise she was a perfect angel for 3 days!!! We went to the movie and on the way out of the theater she wanted to play on one of the games, I said no. She flipped out and we were back to square one! I couldn't believe it. So in fear that she will revert back to peeing in her pants, she is saving up more money for a Kung Fu Panda toy.
5 comments:
Good way to redirect! I love the picture. For some reason it seems you and Meredith's kids don't like to wear pants?
Savannah you're such a smart mom....
Pantera congrats on your new Bike!!!
Love the biker's outfit. Is this possibly a new trend!:)
All i have to say is, i wish i looked as gorgeous as you do while being prego !!!!
i wish i had the motivation to even put on some eye-liner!!!!!:)
So i don't even wanna hear it sister.:)
When I woke up the first morning of summer vacation and remembered where I had to go, I felt nervous. I was going to visit a man named John.
My Primary teacher, Sister Chichenoff, had asked each person in our class to “adopt a grandparent at a nearby nursing home. She told us if we learned to love one another like Jesus taught, we would find real joy. At first I thought her idea was good.
Sister Chichenoff had made it sound like a privilege. “Hey, Nick,” she said. “I assigned you to a special person. This man could really use a friend.”
“You can count on me,” I said. “I’ll be his friend.”
“He doesn’t mix with other people much and he only has one leg. He could use someone who cares about him and will push him around in his wheelchair.”
“I’ll do it,” I said.
Sister Chichenoff reached out and took hold of my arm. “This man doesn’t like people,” she said. “He doesn’t like to talk to anyone, and he doesn’t like to go in his wheelchair. In fact, they tell me he is quite a grouch.”
“Why give him to me?” I asked.
“Because John needs someone to talk to,” Sister Chichenoff said. “He is a lonely man, and I told the administrator you were the person John needs.”
I was afraid to meet someone who didn’t want me to be there. I wondered if he’d yell at me. By dinnertime, I was so afraid to meet him that I went in my room and prayed. I knew Heavenly Father wasn’t afraid of John.
Sister Chichenoff met us that evening with her husband. Brother Chichenoff was funny, so I asked him to stick with me. He was also big, and I planned to hide behind him if John yelled at me.
When we walked into John’s room, he did not yell. He didn’t say anything. He sat in his bed and ignored us.
My friends and I liked monster riddles so I decided to try one.
“What do sea monsters eat?” I asked.
John glared.
“Fish and ships.”
Brother Chichenoff broke out laughing but John kept glaring. I changed the subject. “Um—how about a ride through the nursing home?”
To my surprise, John nodded yes. The evening didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it would.
The next week I didn’t want to go back, but I wasn’t afraid. When we got to the nursing home, John was already in his wheelchair.
“Been waiting for you,” he said.
“How about a ride?” I asked.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Brother Chichenoff and I still did most of the talking, but John grumbled a few words. When it was time to go home, he motioned for me to come closer.
“What happened to the apples on the monster’s apple tree?” he asked.
“Well, I … um, I don’t know.”
“They all grue-some. You know—g-r-e-w-some.” John chuckled at his joke. Brother Chichenoff and I laughed.
After that, I looked forward to Thursdays. John’s face lit up like a lightbulb when I walked in. And each week he had a riddle for me.
John told us stories of fishing and hunting years ago. He told us how he cut his leg on an old camper door and it got infected, and that’s why he had only one leg.
Several months later, John told me a secret. “Hey, Nick. Guess what’s two weeks from tonight? My birthday. I’ll be 88.”
“Wow! Let’s do something special” I said. “What would you like to do?”
“I’d like to go somewhere and have a big chicken dinner.”
“OK,” I said. “It will be my birthday present to you.”
My parents agreed to drive us to the restaurant, and then take us back to the nursing home after dinner.
The next week when I visited John, he was walking with crutches all by himself. All he talked about was going out next week for his birthday dinner. He was so excited. I was too.
A few days later, the phone rang early in the morning. It was Sister Chichenoff calling to say that John had died during the night.
On John’s birthday, I sat in the nursing home with the Chichenoffs, my parents, and some of the kids from my Primary class. It wasn’t evening and it wasn’t time to visit our adopted grandparents. It was the middle of the afternoon and we were attending John’s funeral. We were the only people there besides a few who worked at the nursing home.
As I sat there and listened to the story of John’s life, it was hard not to cry. The nursing-home workers said his life had changed and gotten better after the children from the “Mormon Church” started coming to visit. I knew my life had changed because of those visits.
I wish John and I had gone out for that chicken dinner, but I’m glad we had the chance to become friends. I discovered the real joy my Primary teacher talked about when people love one another.
SOOO HEART WRENCHING!
THAT SHOULD BE ON YOUR BLOG.
NOT A COMMENT! I LOVED IT.
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