A stick in the hand

So last night was the last night Paul would be home for who knew how long. I had to take him to his dad’s tonight (Thursday). So we did a horrible thing, we skipped church and spent the time together. Since he won’t be able to see him for who knows how long either, we invited Clayton to join us. I made homemade pizza…which was okay. Conner must have liked it because he ate 8 pieces. Then everyone seemed a little tired and sad, so we went a few miles away to the “Spiritual Center” over by the Shrine of the Holy Relics (very long explanation, no time to go into it, google it…or go the website www.mariasteincenter.org)

The center is building used for many meetings religious in nature. There are dorms and a kitchen. Out front is a pond and a fountain…and an enormous silver cross I did not take a picture of.

Anyway, as you can see there is a lovely paved path through some lovely woods that are very peaceful. The little thing in the picture is Conner.  There are little bridges and windy streams. Pretty rocks and flowers to find and pick up. Maryn found a piece of brick (which is now in my van) with a pink rock in that Clayton theorized to her wasn’t a rock at all but petrified bubble gum (She got all grossed out). Clayton found some pretty wild flowers which are now laying on one of the bushes outside my door (sunbathing perhaps?). And Paul found a long straight stick.

Now I have to give the boy points for imagination. It was a walking stick, a light saber, karate weapon and potential javelin (I put a stop to that one pretty quick) all in a matter of minutes. But things like sticks, though fun, are also potentially dangerous. This is a lesson I learned when we paused along the path a minute and I turned my attention to the small children running away…when I heard a big THWACK! I thought he had hit a tree with it and turned around to caution him about being careful. When I turned, I find my 9 year old daughter doubled over out of breath…and sobbing. He’d accidentally hit her straight across the stomach.

I was bothered a bit by that fact he had not been careful, but he immediately took her in his arms and apologized and offered to carry her the rest of the way. It was very sweet..even if it was his fault she was bawling in the first place.

Below you will find a picture of the offending stick...which he was still holding after he injured his sister. I also thought this was a good picture of the fellas. I told them to try and look handsome. I think they did a fairly good job :)