the Game of Life

The lads are into The Game of Life.  After setting up the game board with the spinner and buildings, they choose their cars and load 'em up with people.  Then they cruise around the game board path.  They may or may not stay on the path itself, and they may or may not take turns spinning to see how many spaces to advance.  Sometimes they just cruise.  Sometimes they designate which building is whose house and invite us over for dinner.  They don't mess with money or insurance or these weird tokens that came with the new edition of the game that I don't remember from my childhood.

The elder lad has informed us that his guardian angel's name is George. I'm fully confident that this duly charged angel is well-versed in the wiles and foibles of curious boys (and monkeys, for that matter).

The younger lad has adopted one of the dolls our lass received for Christmas.  He says he's the doll's daddy.  It's a wonderful thing to see, really: this young lad tenderly caring for the baby doll (as the bambini's dad cares for each of them).  It's a skill well-worth cultivating, we think, as developing compassion and concern for someone else can only stand to serve him well all his life in whatever vocation to which God ultimately calls him.  He's rather attached to the doll now.  Yesterday he woke up asking for her.  We searched the house high and low to no avail.  Finally just before bed he went into the hall bathroom and lifted the hinged lower step of the two-step stool placed there to facilitate easy hand washing access for the vertically challenged.  Lo and behold, the baby doll was inside!  Come to think of it, he had stashed the red spatula he received for Christmas in the same little cubby and discovered it just recently.  Now I know to check that "hidey hole" first whenever something's gone missing.

The lass must be getting ready to grow, as she has a near insatiable appetite.  She wants whatever we're having, and she doesn't mind letting us know!  She's a pretty good sport about her older brother taking charge of her baby doll.  We'll see how long that lasts...

I've been contemplating how to rearrange the car seats in our Bambini Ride to accommodate another one for our fourth child due this summer.  It's a bit like the Game of Life, traveling along the path taking life as it comes.  Though it might seem we are sometimes just cruising along, our faith tells us this is not the case.  God is in control. He invites us to cooperate with Him.  We can't see where the path will lead next, but we trust our guardian angels are along for the ride, and we have our sights set on what we hope and pray and strive to make our final destination (God willing): Heaven.