Lessons in Life...and Death

Yesterday morning we all got up before the sun excited about going to the science museum in the nearby city w/ another family. All the inside & outside chores got done in record time. The only problem was the kids couldn't get one of the calves to eat or stand up for long. It was snowing pretty heavily, but it always is up here on our hill, so I didn't worry too much about the road conditions.

However, my dh worked nights & on his way home the roads were pretty bad & he recommended we not go. I was fine with it as I can't stand driving in bad conditions if I really don't need to. The kids were pretty disappointed, though-especially Jonah. Then, when my dh got home & assessed the non-eating calf, there was more bad news. This calf has been sickly since we got him-he was doing better, but then nose-dived and was twitching & suffering. So, Pat had to shoot him. What made it even worse is that it was Susanna's calf, Ferdinand. Here's a pic of little Ferdinand the second day we had him-he lived about 2 weeks:

To say the least, she was pretty upset. So, we're all in the living room-Pat was outside with a gun taking care of things-and 2 kids were crying, 1 baby was fussing (and 3 of them were either on me or next to me) & Hannah was looking out the window unhappy.

I said a prayer for help and the kids & I talked. Everyone started to calm down & I decided we would just read books, watch movies, play board games & eat snacks.

Then, the tide turned. Jonah's friend, Ethan, called & asked if he could come over in the afternoon to hang out as his 3 sisters were going to a tea party not far from here-and he didn't want to go. (lol) Jonah's unhappy face immediately turned into an elated face.

Earlier, one of Hannah's 4-H friends called to see if Hannah could come over to her house in the afternoon & she couldn't since we wouldn't be home-so she called her back to say she could go over. That was perfect as Pat could take her there on his way to work.

We actually had a very nice morning & early afternoon all hanging out together...Susanna was easily distracted away from dwelling on her calf (although we talked lots about it-but it's all very confusing for her)...and the older kids got to have special time w/ their friends. I had something special, too-when Ethan's mom dropped him off, she sent him in with a pot of planted tulips that were almost ready to bloom. Her thoughtfulness made tears come to my eyes and warmed my heart.

It's funny how quickly plans can change three times within 15 minutes.

When Ethan's mom picked him up she thanked me for letting Ethan invite himself over & I told her how much of a blessing it was for us and that he could invite himself over anytime!

So, I think it was a full day of learning life lessons-dealing with disappointment and death.