My five-year old lost another tooth this summer.  FIVE YEAR OLD. I was surprisingly emotional, I must admit.  KB was nothing but thrilled.  I think it changed her entire appearance.

Within two weeks she had lost another one and we are going on three+ months with a gaping hole in her mouth.  Her sweet friend “Mackerdoodle” has a matching hole.I’ve grown accustomed to the gap and the lisp that comes with it.  What am I going to do when it’s gone?  I’m getting a bit emotional again.

Today my daddy sent me this quote from Billy Graham.  I wanted to record it here so I wouldn’t lose it.

“As I approached my 95th birthday, I was burdened to write a book that addressed the epidemic of “easy believism.”  There is a mindset today that if people believe in God and do good works they are going to Heaven.  But there are many questions that must be answered. There are two basic needs that all people have: the need for hope and the need for salvation.  It should not be surprising if people believe easily in a God who makes no demands, but this is not the God of the Bible.  Satan has cleverly misled people by whispering that they can believe in Jesus Christ without being changed, but this is the Devil’s lie.   To those who say you can have Christ without giving anything up, Satan is deceiving you.”

In the above picture you see what Little calls, “her play room.”  This is an upstairs room at my mom and dad’s house and it’s where Little sleeps when we are there.  There are a few toys, a tv with dvd (and video) player, and a couch that folds out into a bed.  Throughout the entire trip Little would disappear and could be found in “her play room” doing a variety of things, but often with an iDevice in hand.

This year we had a first – Little stayed in Birmingham and the rest of the family drove back home.  It was my mom’s idea.  It was a good experience for everyone, I believe.  Little had a great time and didn’t miss us a bit.  We slept through the night, the house was quiet, and we realized through her absence just how much Little’s presence affects us.  It was eye-opening.

We tried to do things we find difficult to do with Little.  One of our many outings that week found us at Ted Drewes getting concretes and then heading over to a new park where we climbed trees and played for an hour.

I am not sure the younger two kids would ever say that they missed their sister but I will say that they jumped right in when it came time for her to come home.  They made a big “Welcome Home” sign and talked about all of us being back together – I was thankful for the sweetness they demonstrated after seeing “how the other sides lives”.

I have to confess that any struggle I had about the reentry transition went right out the door when my little girl came around the corner screaming, “I’m home! I MIIIISSED you!” What a joy she is.

Thanks Mom and Dad, for the gift of a week and the time with the other kids.  Thank you for investing in our Little and creating memories for a lifetime.  When can we send KB?