Yesterday was Buttercup’s birthday. Yes, BC, the dog. While I don’t make a habit out of celebrating canine milestones like this, I remembered the date and its significance during a particular fussy moment with Emma and Ana, and the hype over “BC birt-day” (as Ana called it) was enough to keep the troops happy for just a little while longer. In honor of BC’s birthday, the girls wore their new dachshund pjs…

Looking cute!

I’ve been on a roll this week with the Sunday school curriculum. I figured if I did a week’s worth of curriculum a day then I would be a month ahead. And so I am. Actually, we’re good through November 23rd. While that seems far, far away, I know it’s literally right around the corner. I plan on doing the same kind of work next week, which will hopefully have us covered through the Christmas holidays. I have a wonderful teacher coming up with creative crafts (thank you, Lisa!), and I feel really, really upbeat about the weeks ahead. It’s wonderful to actually be excited about teaching on Sunday mornings and to feel prepared to do the best job possible. So, yay for that!

We’ve recently made a decision in the Faulk household. We’ve been a one vehicle family now for a year, and while it’s been working out, we’ve been discussing a second vehicle purchase in the near future. Now, when I thought “second vehicle,” I thought of a car. When Wes thought “second vehicle,” he thought of a motorcycle. Hmm. After much careful discussion and research, I’ve reached a conclusion. I think Wes knows what he’s talking about. Yes, you heard right. We live in a small town where a motorcycle would get him back and forth to work and to the stops he needs to make along the way for visitation, meetings, lunch appointments, etc. A motorcycle won’t drive our insurance up too much, and it sure will cost a lot less at the pump. It’ll give our family car a bit of a break as far as mileage goes and will allow me access to the car during the work day so that I can run errands with the girls instead of waiting until Wes comes home to pick us up. (This actually may be a disadvantage, though. I remember going to the grocery store in Okinawa with both girls by myself, and that was a big heaping help of no fun… and that was Em was so little that she slept through the entire outing!) Anyway, Wes has completed the driving portion of the state licensing test, and tomorrow, he’ll complete the written portion. He’s super excited and can’t wait. We’ve started saving up for the one he has in mind, and I think we’ll have it covered by next spring. Hopefully earlier, though, because who wouldn’t want to ride a motorcycle in 30 degree weather, right?

Last night, Ana did something (can’t even remember now what it was), and I told her that she hurt my feelings. I went on and on about my hurt feelings, exaggerating it just a bit for her, and she came over, gave me a hug, and leaned over to kiss my heart. Aww! Because my heart was hurt! (Wes says that it was actually HIS feelings that she hurt, that I went on and on about it, and she kissed my heart instead of his. Well, she had good intentions.) I was sitting in the floor with both girls today, singing songs and helping Em with a toy, and Ana came over with a huge smile on her face, threw her arms around me, put her head on my shoulder, sighed contently, and said, “Love you, Mommy.” Aww! I don’t know when the Compassion Fairy came to town and made Ana so tenderly loving and generously kind, but I’m thrilled by the sweetness. Em, who is equally as compassionate, has been having some growing pains lately. Bless her heart, because she IS so generous and sweet, she can’t keep herself from sharing all of her food with BC, who whines by her chair at each and every meal. After she threw a handful of raisins at BC today (you can just imagine what that would do to a dog’s stomach), I told her very sternly that she was NOT to do that again. She immediately squeezed out two giant tears and starting crying. You know when they open their mouths and no sound comes out for a second, then they take a breath and you finally hear the scream that’s been building up? Yeah, just like that. Our “calm down” phrase for Ana fits like this is, “all done?,” which she answers with a somewhat forced, “all done” and then stops crying. I guess Emma has seen Ana respond to “all done?” enough that she knows what it means, because today, Wes said it, and she stopped crying, and said, “duh duhn.” And then, she looked back at BC and started crying again! Ana started screaming, “No, ma’am!” at her, which made her cry even more because then EVERYONE was against her. AHH!!! It was chaos. But I think this is to be expected. And if it’s expected, can it really be defined as chaos? Probably not. Perhaps the more accurate description of the dinner table mayhem is this — it was normal. Yay for normal one year olds and two year olds — kisses, fits, and all!

And I think I hear one of the wee ones now. They’ve been in bed for about an hour and a half, but it sounds like one of them has woken up and might need her blanket. I know — blankets! It’s fortysomething degrees here in Oklahoma, y’all! Crazy!