What do you love?

I love lots.

I love my God.

I love my husband.

I love my family, my friends, my pets and my life.

And I especially love my kids.

Even a certain spunky little girl who just a few days ago thought she would be better off without me.

I like to think that it's because we took her to see Ramona and Beezus and she noticed my heart being yanked from the very depths of my being during the scene where Ramona ran away because no one understood her.
I have a feeling however, that this one would have thought of it on her own anyway.  She is certainly cut from a different mold than the other two.

Apparently, these are the things important enough to a 6 year old that she thinks needs to have them with her:
1 pillow pet
3 stuffed animals
2 gaming systems... a Leapster (no game cartridges) and a Nintendo ds
1 coffee mug
1 plate, 1 spoon, 1 knife and 2 forks
1 camera (belonging to her older sister)
1 hand held battery operated fan (also belonging to her sister, but I'll give her a break on that one.  It's Yuma and it's HOT!)
1 pencil
1 flashlight
1 book
1 band-aid :(  Who would put it on her???
1 necklace
1 fake credit card
1 penny
1 plastic cat
Some trinkets from our trip to Thailand (3 little jars of food, a mini tea set and a brass king cobra)
Last but not least...  A bottle cap necklace pendant that says "Love You Mom"   OUCH!

I am pleased to announce that her desire to leave was short lived and that she decided to stay after letting me know that she wasn't happy with the fact that I expected her to clean up after herself and that she was being "yelled" at all the time.  I gave her a big hug and kiss and told her that I loved her and was glad she was staying, but she still needed to clean up her own toys.  Then like any good mom, I absconded with her suitcase so I could check out what she would have taken with her!  ;)

Last night was rather rough for her as well.  She had gotten up super early yesterday morning after going to bed rather late the night before.  Then we had a busy fun-filled day.  By evening, she was just drained and it was exhibiting itself in a not so nice, rather sassy way, specifically towards me and anything I had to say to her.  The second time she deemed it appropriate to stomp her feet away from me was the end of the line for me.  Her fate was sealed.  She would have to miss the episode of I Love Lucy that the rest of us were going to watch after the pre-bedtime routine was complete.  It breaks my heart to make her sad, but I just couldn't let her get away with being so rotten to me.  (Otherwise I can't imagine having to live with her as a 15 year old!)

After we read our bible story and said our prayers, she hopped into bed, no longer angry, just sad.
(Have I mentioned my breaking heart?)
When we finished our show, the other two came up to bed and this is what we found.  Poor thing blocking her ears so she didn't have to hear.

Here's to a fresh start and hopefully a better day today with a lesson learned!

So far, so GOOD!!!