Tale of a Noisy Bucket

This morning, I woke up with the sound of my husband's alarm... it was 6:00.  I lay in bed listening to the wind and rain blowing outside.  Lovely day to stay warm under the covers.  I drifted off to sleep, but about half an hour later, I heard the little pitter-patter of footsteps coming down the hall, pausing at my door.

Looking over, I could make out a fuzzy form, but couldn't tell if it was my son or daughter.  I asked, "Who is it?"  Olivia quietly responded, "Mom...can I come to your bed?"  I said yes, so she ran and eagerly jumped under the covers, nestling in close to get warm.  I asked why she was up at such an hour, as she's usually my late sleeper... she said, "The wind blew over a bucket outside, and it was really loud... it's rolling around now, do you want to see?"  I reminded her, "Mommy can't see without her glasses."  Not to be deterred, she scrambled out from under the covers to grab them off the dresser, and left for the bathroom.

I heard the water running shortly, and so I just looked up at the ceiling, listening to the little noises she was making.  She came back, gingerly holding them (by the frames, so as not to smudge her handiwork), and attempted to place them on my face.  Really, she did a pretty good job... I didn't even come close to losing an eye.

Side by side, we crawled over to the window... and there was the bucket.  We stayed there, on the edge of my bed, for just a moment.  I glanced over at my little girl... her hair was illuminated by the outside light from the garage.  Perfect in all it's crazy curliness.  Her eyes were wide as she took in the morning scenery.  I hesitantly broke the silence, asking if she'd like to share a few cups of morning tea together.  With eyes now at their maximum widened potential, she shook her curls up and down in agreement.

By this time, her brother had heard us stirring in the next room, so he was up too.  We sang our "good morning" song, and headed downstairs, as I now prepared tea for three.  Zachary asked for cinnamon tea right away, and Olivia balked at the idea.  "Yuck mom, I hate cinnamon... except when it's in cinnamon rolls or on cinnamon sugar toast!"  She chose an herbal tea.  They both wanted rolls with butter leftover from our dinner last night.  I prepared myself a cup of cinnamon tea last, and sat down with my little ones.

Mom called and we talked for a few minutes, ending with Olivia singing a little song she just learned about mothers and chocolate cake...  We finished eating and Zachary went off to play with tractors as I got Olivia dressed and ready for the bus.  She paused to say goodbye to her brother, and then it was to the end of the driveway we went.

I knelt down and took her hands, as we always do, and as I started to pray, Olivia stopped me.  She asked if she could say a few words to God... so I of course said okay.  "God, thanks for knocking that bucket over with the wind this morning.  It was a great idea!"  I smiled and we finished praying just as the bus crested the hill.  She turned around, smiled and waved goodbye...

Thank you God for all your great ideas!!