Dear Sprout,
Right now, you are an itty-bitty baby. At this point, you need Mommy and Daddy to do just about everything for you -- and do not despair, we love taking care of our sweet boy! And guess what! You can do new things every single day! As a family, we are going to do so many wonderful things together in the days to come. Among those things are five seemingly impossible feats. But remember, you are a Shook! And we Shooks can do just about anything when we work together! Here is "the list":
1. We are going to make marshmallows. For the vast majority of my life, I believed that you could only purchase marshmallows from your local grocery store. I thought that to make these fluffy sweets, some special engineered machine was absolutely necessary. However, I was wrong! Thank goodness! Yes, we are going to make our very own marshmallows. Do you know what the very best part of making our own marshmallows is? Homemade marshmallows can only lead to one thing ... the best S'mores ever!
2. We are going light up a dark room with no batteries, electricity, or candles. Although I am not a fan of bugs in general, I am a HUGE fan of fireflies. I just think that they are so wonderful. During the day, they look like plain brown bugs. However, they are really extraordinary! They give out such a beautiful yellow glow. In fact, just one little firefly can easily pierce through darkness. Imagine what a whole jar of fireflies could do! Yes, we are going to light a room with a Ball canning jar full of these amazing little creatures. And, of course, we are going to let them go when we are done. :-)
Disclaimer: The participants shall light up a rather small room.
3. We are going to save our Christmas tree! Last year, your daddy and I went to a Christmas tree farm and picked out the most lovely tree that you have ever seen. We showed the farmer which tree we wanted and then a big horse with a sled pulled the freshly cut pine to the entrance. We are going to get our tree from that place every year ... and we're going to bring lots of carrots with us! I love Christmas trees very much --but I am always a little sad when it's time to lay them by a curbside. I didn't know there was any other option until your very own uncle saved the day! He told us you can re-root your tree. In fact, he knows someone who actually did just that! Don't you think it would be great if we did that, too? Yes sir, we are going to re-root a tree (or 2 or 3 or 4) right in our front yard. At first, our neighbors will probably think we're a bit confused ... but then they'll see that our plan will work! Who knows ... maybe we'll inspire them to do the same and our little street will forever be lined with Christmas trees.
4. We are going to give away dozens of eggs using just one egg. As you know, we have chickens. We love those "bock-bockings," don't we? Our first chicken, June, was purchased as a little chick and spent her first few weeks in my second grade classroom. My initial plan was to give her back to our friends who own the feed store, but I fell in love with her so she resides here with us. She has four chicken siblings that we purchased as teenagers and adults. Do you know what we have never done? We have not hatched a chicken from an egg yet. When you are older, we are going to do just that. We are going to get some Ameraucana chicken eggs (they come in pretty pink and blue colors) and we are going to put them in an incubator and watch little babies peck their way through eggshells. Afterwards, you are going to pick out your very own chicken. I bet you will be so excited to see her lay pastel-colored eggs one day. Together, we will decorate egg cartons with paint and ribbons and glitter. Then we will fill the cartons with your special eggs. Our church has a ministry that gives away garden goods to folks who need them. Each month we will give them beautiful boxes of Easter eggs to share with others.
5. See things that cannot be seen. When I was growing up in Florida, I lived fairly close to a hospital. Sadly, some people would tease the hospital's inhabitants and call them names. One morning, Dad drove my sister Nikki and I passe
d the place on our way to breakfast. He told us to never make fun of the people who lived there. Dad explained that we don't know why patients entered the hospital's doors. Perhaps someone had lost his whole family and as a result had lost his mind as well. Although I was very young at the time, that moment proved to be one of those parent-child times that I will never forget. Sprout, it is easy to give people labels -- nice, mean, dumb, smart, pretty, ugly... Let's try not to do that. Take time to understand someone and "walk around in his shoes." And if you meet someone who is particularly difficult, care about that person anyway. Remember, if you are in a situation where you think you cannot open your heart, pray that God will love that person through you and He will.
d the place on our way to breakfast. He told us to never make fun of the people who lived there. Dad explained that we don't know why patients entered the hospital's doors. Perhaps someone had lost his whole family and as a result had lost his mind as well. Although I was very young at the time, that moment proved to be one of those parent-child times that I will never forget. Sprout, it is easy to give people labels -- nice, mean, dumb, smart, pretty, ugly... Let's try not to do that. Take time to understand someone and "walk around in his shoes." And if you meet someone who is particularly difficult, care about that person anyway. Remember, if you are in a situation where you think you cannot open your heart, pray that God will love that person through you and He will.Yes, my little man, there are so many things that we are going to do. This list is but a sample of what we have in store! Feel free to add to our "unlikely" compilation. Like the fabled character Don Quixote, always dare to dream the impossible dream!
Love always,
Mommy
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