Reminiscence :)

I was just thinking about Olivia's birth today... When mommy got home from the hospital, we had all been watching "Rudy"... which, today, I could only tell you was about football. We were nearing the end when they pulled in the driveway, and to this day, no one has seen the last scene and a half of that movie.  It was a nice day... October 3rd.  And I remember not being able to wait for my turn to hold her, and when it finally came, I cried because I was so happy.  I loved babies... I still do, and I couldn't believe that I was holding my little darling sister.  

Chloe and I would lay Olivia on our bed when she was still days old, and we'd dress her in her little pajamas, and then we'd just smell her... There's something gloriously mysterious about the way a baby smells.  :) 

Anyways... that was then. This is now.

Olivia's bottom left. :)

Don't get me wrong, I'm still thankful for her... it's just amazing to me to watch them grow and develop characters like... hers.

What A Day?!

Dear Friends...

My father and sister, Chloe, are in Indianapolis at the present moment.... Daddy had some concerts and a gig over there.  As a result of this, I was going to be left in the big, cold, attic room for the weekend... So last night, we made sleeping arrangements: Olivia slept with mommy, and I slept with Tirzah.  I studied late into the night, because I want so very much to get everything done on time.  I finally fell asleep very very late... I first woke up about 6:30, and thought: "oh! What a day! I can get up early... get stuff done... It will be so productive." But, of course, I fell asleep. Around seven I woke up to the sound of little pattering feet in the room.  The heaters had just come on and there was a delicious warmth that spread through the room.  Through my half open eyes I saw Olivia, standing with her eyes half closed (there is a big difference between the two... as one is partially awake, the other partially asleep) and she saw there was no room for her, so whimpering she left the room.  I felt a sort of inertia around my mouth, so I couldn't talk, and I snapped my fingers till she turned around.  I opened up my arms to her and the little blond-haired angel came straight to me.  We snuggled down together and I prepared to go to sleep again.  But Olivia is a restless sleeper... her arms and legs and head were constantly squirming.  So after awhile, when I became unbearably hot, I thought that I would go upstairs to my cold bed for a little bit.  So I stuck Olivia next to Tirzah, covered her up, and went upstairs, feeling the delicious cold air in my hot face... and my bed was so cool, and felt so refreshing that in no time, I was asleep.  I was aware of several little people scampering around my room during the course of the morning, but was never more than half awake to have the sense to wake up entirely. 

That is... until Olivia said: "Ruby! Ruby! Wake up! The carpet cleaners are here and they're coming up here!"

Oh joy....

So I hear them on my stairs (and I don't know why they were because they didn't even clean my stairs) and I completely froze in front of the mirror, looking at my swollen eyes, tired face, and wild hair.  I heard the men retreat all the way downstairs, and I hurriedly threw on some clothes, gathered up my books and notebooks, and a toothbrush, and went downstairs.  The carpet cleaner looked puzzled when he saw my face, but I only tried to open my eyes as wide as I possibly could and smile.  My mother laughed when she saw me.  "We were imagining what you would do when you found out that they were cleaning the carpets and you had no way to get down here."  I looked at the clock... it was 10 AM.  Three and a half hours had been spent sleeping... and not that that's a bad thing... just when it ends at 10 in the morning.  I sighed, and turned to finish an essay on Alfred the Great.   I only finished some of it.  When the carpet men were finished, and commented on how everyone in our family had grown since they had come last, I wondered if they thought that Gabriel and I were just more of those rebellious teenagers.  I hoped not.  Maybe the fact that all the little kids were sitting around the table talking with us did something.

We planned on getting Christmas tree, and decorating it while eating Jo Froggers and Eggnog.  We invited Peter over.  Mother left the house to do some Christmas shopping and get the tree.  I made the Jo Frogger dough, and then made lentil soup for dinner.  But mother came home without a Christmas tree. She couldn't make a decision.  As the day wore on, we decided not to get one.  We talked to dad, Uncle John and Aunt Kathy, found out that my cousin's wife (as of August) is just now expecting their first baby.  Then Peter called.  After that, we somehow decided to get a tree.  I don't know what the result of this day will be.  I'm about to go roll out the Jo Frogger dough to make the cookies, and the Eggnog.  But mother and Gabriel are out searching for a tree, Peter will be here in about an hour, and the carpets look white compared to before.  What a clean feeling! 

As we decorate the Christmas Tree, we'll think of Martin Luther, the great reformer, walking through the pine forest and seeing the moon beams come through, reminding him of the beauty of God's creation...and then going home and recreating it with a baby tree and candles. As we put up the manger scene we'll think about why we celebrate Christmas... because the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and how without his incredible birth, born below his state in the humblest of conditions, we could not have his death, and without his death, there would be no remission for our sins and our guilt.  So for this reason we rejoice, and look forward to 25 December as the day that we celebrate the Incarnation of Christ.... but let us not celebrate it only once a year, but every day, and every hour, and every minute, and every second.

I still am thinking about the blond-haired angel who came to snuggle with me this morning.  Nobody ever feels more loving than when he/she is snuggling with one of these little angels.

Sweet Sleep

No worries... no cares... she just snuggles down in that heap of blankets and forgets the world.  It's that blessed bridge between life and eternity... Sleep.  It's a gift - everybody needs it.  And this little girl has just worn herself out playing. :)

We Live Too Close To The Power Plant

Our computer recently got "relieved by accident" of all the information on the hard drive... So, Luther and Olivia are attempting to re-fill our picture albums with new pictures. :P

You've gotta love those eyebrows of Luther....

Sleep-Less

Hullo everyone,

Whenever I can't seem to sleep, I usually post on my blog... I've really only done it once before. You see, I love my sleep so much I rarely forfeit it if I can help it. So it's seldom that I can't sleep. Did that make sense? Probably not. Anyways, maybe 2:00 AM isn't that late/early for most of you... but it definitely is for me!! Well, while I'm sitting here I might as well say something worth while... So I will.

Tonight when I was doing the dishes, I was listening to the different noises around the house, namely: Dining room: talk between the parents and Peter on his business. Kitchen: sound of pots and pans crashing together as they're being washed, dried, and put away. Landing: the sound of Angela and Chloe laughing about something particularly funny in those beautiful laughs they possess. Living room/family room/dining room/all upstairs rooms/kitchen/all hallways: the sound of scampering feet and screams of little children as they chase each other— "I'm going to get you!! Ohhhh yessss I will!! I'm going to put my lizard down your shirt!" — in short, a lovely, loud, typical night-after-dinner at the Hopkins home. Yet as I was listening to all these familiar sounds, a sense of completion and absolute contentment overtook me. I then thought how thankful I was that our family was whole. When Peter was gone for all those months, I never did have that sense. There was always something missing. When all the children younger than me went with mother to New York, it was abnormally quiet. The regular alarm clock of little children pounding up and down the stairs, slamming bedroom and bathroom doors, was completely gone. While it was refreshing, it was not normal or satisfying. And when they came home, though there was an explosion as soon as they walked through the door— (hey, they're little, what do you expect??) I thought, "Oh! We're whole now!"

These noises—yelling, fighting, playing, talking, running, etc—that all come from little childern, sometimes get on my nerves. I realize that siblings are really a blessing to me, and a lesson... A lesson in patience. They have been placed here for my sanctification.... And really, when they are all grown up, I know that I will miss all those noises. I know that the quiet will seem stifling. All these thoughts made me stop, and think, and finally be thankful for the time that I am given with my dear little siblings! How often I take things for granted... How often I get impatient and annoyed with siblings who I am supposed to love and serve. But oh! we have such a God in heaven who is so patient enough to forgive me for each one of these sins, and to never cease to teach me in the right way.

Well, I shall stop now... But I have one more thought... I just have to describe this. :)

Yesterday Olivia's mind disagreed with her body and refused to keep it running all over the place. In short, she took a nap in a chair. Now, for Olivia to take a nap in the afternoon is a rare occasion in the Hopkins household. But there she was. She had one little pudgy hand tucked under her head, and her large droopy eyelids looked like they covered half her face—but it was oh so adorable—and her little body was all scrunched up underneath a blanket. Her expression (because, you know, you DO have expressions while you sleep) was one of the utmost fatigue. She looked so sweet, so little, and so fresh and (well almost) innocent that I found her irresistible. And how grateful I was that God has given us that little girl for awhile, and how I long to cherish each moment with her, watching her grow up in the Lord.

Um... I don't know if this made sense to any of you—but hey! A blog is an online journal that's open to the public!! *gasp* So it's up to me to post, up to you to read and decide if it does make sense or not. :)

Oh, and this probably won't make much sense because it's late... :P

Luther Whitfield and Olivia Rose

Tagged!

Dearest Olivia from Eager Hands has tagged me with "Six Random Thing About Me. The Rules state that I have to state the rules, so here goes:

* Link to the person who tagged you

* State the rules

* Write six random things about yourself

* Tag (about) six people by leaving comments on their blogs

* And let the person who tagged you know when you have completed your mission.

Well, this thing might not be so easy, because for one, I don't know many people with blogs, and for two, I don't know many random things about me...

1. I have crazy dreams... And thank goodness, but they don't come true!
2. I read approximately 220 pages of history per week.
3. I look better in sporty clothes than in little black dresses with stockings and high heeled shoes.
4. I like the name Corliss, and everyone wonders why I do. Oh, I also like the name Spartius.
5. I got my ears pierced on Monday, December 13, 2004, when I was (but not exactly) 11 and 4 mos old.
6. I am listening to Your Guardian Angel right now and it's been played 196 times.

I am going to tag...
~ My darling older sister, Chloe, at Beautiful Fidelity...
~ My dear brother Gabriel at The Notes and Past Times of Gub-Gub
... That's all I know! (pitiful I know!)

Delaware!

Okay guys, I'm sorry this post has taken so long to do, but it's finally HERE!!! :) This is beautiful Jordan looking a little unapproachable, beautiful, and a little wicked at the same time. Jk!

Mr. Connor smiling readily for the camera as he is passing on to make dinner.

Lovely Mrs. Howard... :)

AND ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE SETH HOWARD!!!!! :) I love this picture of him.

Preparing dinner at the Hopkins Campsite!

Mrs. Clarke and mommy on the beach, probably talking about how they hope their children won't drown in the oncoming waves. :P jk.

Children going through cycles of being soaked, being cold, being dried off, being sandy, etc..

Olivia playing in the sand.

Trizah, Andrea Clarke, and Willa Howard on the beach.

Sisters!! :) Chloe and Tirzah.

Jordan and I writing in the sand.

Rather happy.

Happy Olivia!

Sisters! Again! (man, there's a few of them!) Chloe and Olivia.

And another sister! Though not a related one... Rachel! :)

The walk from the bike path to the beach.

Having fun with everyone. Deciding that Jordan is the mother of all these young children.

Jordan and Olivia doing I know not what.

Brothers!! Duncan and Gabriel.

A really good picture of Duncan! :)

15th Birthday... Halfway to THIRTY!!! :)

Oh how romantic. :) Those Gerber Daisies are some that daddy bought me... :)

I can't get over how adorable she is...

Or her... for that matter... :)

Another weird picture!!!

Isn't so nice that we love each other??

Do You Guys Like Weird Pictures?!

...Cos I've got plenty!

The Good Old Days

Olivia Rose.

























Luther Whitfield. (Isn't he SO adorable?)

An Update

For the past two days my mother has been reorganizing, rearranging, and cleaning our living room like crazy. We've taken a couch out, we're stripping and refinishing a bookcase that belonged to my great great great aunt Annette B. Hopkins (author of "Elizabeth Gaskell: Her Life and Works) and countless other things. In the midst of it all we happened to notice that Olivia wasn't acting the way she normally does. Her eyes were droopy, (though they're always like that, they seemed droopier this time) and she whimpered. We decided that she must not be feeling well, and promptly took her temperature. It came out 101.8. Okay, so she has a fever. But she insisted on getting her "babing suit" on and running through the hose with the kids, and we went on cleaning.

That night Chloe and I stayed up a little late. She was talking online to someone, and looking online for wedding dresses, bridesmaids dresses, etc.. (Ask her, not me. She's got this thing for it.) Anyway, I was too tired to watch anymore. I went upstairs and daddy asked me to carry Olivia from their bed to her bed in the attic. I picked her up and she felt pretty hot. I covered her up with a blanket, that she stubbornly kicked off in her sleep. I then proceeded to do "my things" i.e., read my bible, write in my journal, etc., etc.. I was just on the brink of sleep when I heard a moan, and then crying. I came back to reality, noticed that Chloe wasn't upstairs yet, and then went to Olivia, who lay crying in her sleep. I picked her up and started to sooth her. I noticed then that her skin was as hot as coals, and expected every minute for her to blow up. (Just kidding.) But she settled down, although she was really restless, and then I covered her up and went back to sleep.

Chloe came upstairs, but because the air conditioner was on (she cannot STAND air conditioners) she went downstairs to Peter's room. Olivia started crying in her sleep again, but I combined it in with some weird dream I was having, and didn't wake up. (I only know she was really crying because Chloe told me so the next morning.) Today Olivia's fever is gone, but she goes around telling everyone that it isn't in her skin, it's in her blood. She is still a little weak, and tired, and lays around on the couch, while we continue to arrange, clean, etc.. Hopefully this will be our last day. Mommy has this thing with vacuuming, though... She's always at it.

I can't really remember what the point of this post was supposed to be... But it's just a post, so I'll leave it at that without any point, except that now you know what happened with me and my sister last night. :)