Ellen is 10!

She asked for a football, but she's still "Daddy's GIRL!" Happy Birthday, Ellen. The family wouldn't be as blessed without you. True on the day you were born; still true!

"When Life Hands You Lemons . . . "

It's nice to know that "when life hands you lemons" (bad economy), you can not only "make lemonade"—you can also SELL lemonade! On Saturday, at the end of two hours, three gallons of lemonade ("regular" and "sassy raspberry"), and all of the ice (store bagged and freezer-produced), these two female entrepreneurs had earned $25 profit after costs. Quite a few 100% percent tips and one 300% tip helped!! I think Anna and Ellen's added beauty made the lemonade thrice appealing, too.

"Cheers all around!"

The "Word of the Day" & "Ellen, My Melon!"

Years ago, I found an interesting, very inexpensive wooden photo frame in the shape of a squatty-looking watermelon, painted to look like the same, with an an opening for what seemed to demand a very tight, close up facial photo. I knew exactly which photo was suited for this frame, which, as you can see is one of my daughter Ellen, then four.

As the months rolled past, I realized that because of this framed picture, and because of the rhyming sounds of Ellen with "melon," I was beginning to refer to Ellen via the nickname, "Ellen, my melon" or, shortened, "El-Mel." I would call her in from playing, call her down from upstairs for a meal or to make sure she was getting dressed for school. Ellen is now well past halfway through her 9th birthday year, and occasionally I still find myself hearkening back to the enduring "El-Mel" nickname days.

However, it wasn't until today that I learned something from Latin (I'm a Latin teacher) that made this less frequently used term of affection for my youngest even more special—in an ironically unique way. One of the automatic emails I currently receive as part of my general interest in language (Latin and Greek, especially), is a daily "Dictionary.com" feed of the English word for that particular day, along with various definitions and language of origin.

Here is today's entry, in part:

Word of the Day for Thursday, April 30, 2009

mellifluous \muh-LIF-loo-us\, adjective:

Flowing as with honey; smooth; flowing sweetly or smoothly; as, a mellifluous voice. Mellifluous comes from Latin mellifluus, from mel.

Then, looking up the noun's original Latin meaning, I found:

mel, mellis

honey; sweetness; darling

So, as you can easily see, what I have been calling my daughter all these years, the verbal expression of my heart's affection for her through the nickname "Ellen, my melon," actually turns out to be what the words actually mean: Ellen, my "honey," my "darling." I couldn't have planned it better if I had worked at it! So, "Ellen, my melon" it is . . . and always will be!

The Ever-Maturing Ellen: From Belief in the "Tooth Fairy" to Personal Entrepeneur

(2008)

   

(2006)  (2006)  (2008)

Well, it's been almost a year now since Ellen went through a whole series of "lost-teeth-under-the-pillow-overnight-for-the-'Tooth Fairy'-payment" expectations, during one of which she woke up just long enough to catch me impersonating that legendary Benefactor of toothless offspring.  At that point, I was certain that my budgetary "line item" for lost teeth expenditures was probably a thing of the past, since Ellen, my youngest (nearly 8 at the time), is turning 9 next month.

How wrong I was!  Yesterday Ellen—with longer hair and looking much older—lost another tooth, which she promptly announced to me she was placing under her pillow. And, not that I meant to, but I actually forgot to leave some "Tooth Fairy" money for her during the night. (I had also forgotten that she no longer believed in the "Tooth Fairy," anyway.)  So, when she announced today that she had forgotten to look under her pillow, I hoped I could somehow get there first with the finances.  I failed.  Of course, she discovered nothing but the tooth—labeled in a zipped plastic storage bag—under her pillow just as she'd left it. 

What happened next was hilarious, though.  She came and asked me why I hadn't left any money for her tooth, acknowledging (and reminding me simultaneously) that she didn't "believe in the 'Tooth Fairy' anymore," and adding, "Don't you remember when I caught you a couple of years ago, Dad?!" 

Cute, huh?  No longer believes in the "Tooth Fairy," but **appreciates the value of the American dollar! What a great capitalist and entreprenuer she will be (is).  Part of the American Dream, I suppose. 

So, bye-bye "Tooth Fairy !" I think she can do a lot better financially running the lemonade stands at the end of the block. You go, girl!!

** [I know you're wondering:  Yes, I gave her some money for this tooth, too!]

The "Tooth Fairy," "Santa Claus" & the "Easter Bunny"

Not too long ago Ellen, my youngest — who refuses to stop growing up — left another self-extracted child's tooth on my computer desk. This is the place the kids know to put things that need Dad's attention or for general "safe keeping." As I have in the past, I "stored" this new source of monetary compensation for Ellen in a plastic zip bag for safe-keeping until she decided to repeat that traditional child's ritual of leaving it under her pillow for the "Tooth Fairy." (Somebody please remind me sometime to look up on the internet the name and address [email or otherwise] of the person who conceived and brought this "guardian of souls" into existence.)

Annnywayyyy . . . I think at least maybe two weeks passed and the tooth had not yet been reassigned by Ellen (to its new function) as a potential "bank deposit" under Ellen's pillow. One day, though, she did notice it lying (not "laying," fellow mid-Westerners) right where she had left it on my desk, and promptly made the deposit under her pillow (which needed to be picked up off her bedroom floor and made up with her bed before lunchtime anyway). The next morning: no $$$$ under her pillow, which, of course, she mentions to me personally. (If they believe in the "Tooth Fairy," you'd think they'd take it up with her!) Annnywayyyy . . . I think I told her that maybe the "Tooth Fairy" had a "statute of limitations" on leaving $$$$ under pillows, or that maybe the tooth was "no good" anymore (haaaaa! That would be true to some extent, of course). I'm sure I had some good excuse (er . . . uh . . . reason) why Ellen's investments had not increased overnight (something we'd all like to regularly experience, huh?).

Nevertheless, Ellen decided to put the "Tooth Fairy" to the test by leaving the little plastic zip bag with tooth under her pillow for a second night in a row. This time, the "Tooth Fairy" (ahem) did not forget to show up. In the midst of what was supposedly Ellen's "deeeeep sleep," he . . . er . . . rather she not so carefully placed $$$$ under her pillow, simultaneously removing the little plastic bag with its contents. Ellen stirred; but . . . no big deal, right?

Well, the next morning the whole story came out: "I know it was you, Dad. I heard you in my room," Ellen calmly and grinningly proclaims. "I don't believe in the 'Tooth Fairy' anymore, anyway; or in Santa Claus. It's just you, Dad! You're giving us the money!" It turns out that there's no "Easter Bunny" either!! (No kidding!)

To make a long(er) story short(er), all of this gave me another opportunity to query all three children on their "world view" regarding such things. When I asked them where any of these good things come from, they said "They come from you, Dad!" (I silently attempted to humbly accept the compliment here, but my "world view" held me in check).

"Okay," I said. "But where do they come from before that?"
A. "From the store."
"Where did the store get the stuff?"
A. "From other people."
"And where'd they get that stuff?"
A. "Somebody made it."
"And where'd they get the stuff they used to make the stuff?"
A. " . . . "

Okay, I think you get the point so we can cut to the chase. All three of the kids ultimately (and nearly simultaneously) stuck index fingers into the air pointed toward God. It was a great opportunity for me to remind them again that the Scriptures speak to these things. You all know this, and now they do too, since:

"Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights . . ." JAMES 1:17a