Lemonade

The girls have talked about having a lemonade stand now for two summers. Perhaps because as a child I put so much effort and hope into my own lemonade stands and had very little success, I didn't act on their excitement until now. There were always excuses - we're too busy; it's too hot; it's too windy; it's too cold, etc.

Lately, though, I've been feeling convicted of times when I brush their dreams aside, even when they are seemingly "small" dreams, like having a lemonade stand. Right now, there's a legitimate excuse who has made life incredibly busy, difficult to balance, and more than a little bit hectic. Actually, there are two of them, and they're both under two.

Maybe that's why I decided that this is the summer the girls, who help out so willingly and sweetly, who love their little brothers beyond words, were going to get their lemonade stand.

They worked on the signs all day on Thursday. Sunny told me it was "the best day ever", which I somewhat believed, even though she, at one point when upset with her older sister, told me it was "the worst day ever". I really do believe her positive assessment, though, because they were so very, very excited.

The best part, the part that melted my heart entirely, is that they were over-the-moon excited about this lemonade stand because they are using it as a way to raise money for Compassion International. Instead of collecting funds to upgrade their toy stash or increase their nail polish hoard, they've, from the beginning of "lemonade stand dreaming", been desiring to raise money so that they can help children like those we sponsor.

It's humbling, really, because I wouldn't have ever thought of giving away the few quarters I earned at my dusty, little stand.

Sunny, who has begun to flex her little butterfly wings as an i.n.d.i.v.i.d.u.a.l this summer, decided she wanted to sell PINK lemonade and raise money for Compassion's medical assistance fund. That helps children who may need to see a doctor for medical needs beyond those which the typical sponsorship can pay for. Sunny will tell you "it helps kids who are in the hospital". It sort of helps those kids GET into the hospital.

One of the little girls we sponsor was born with an ear problem. Her "good" ear compensates for now, so she's doing fine. But it's a problem that would have been fairly minor to fix in the U.S. Most of us would have been able to have had it fixed for our children, whether through private insurance or public assistance programs. I'm thankful for that. It's possible that our sponsored child will be able to have surgery to improve her hearing function when she is older (for some reason, because the issue wasn't corrected in infancy, she will need to wait until she's mostly done growing before considering having things corrected), and it's special to see Sunny, who is close to the same age as this particular sponsored child, wanting to raise money for children whose parents can't get them medical care.

Sunny's sign says, "We are giving this money to Compassion", which is exactly what she told me she wanted it to say. I just wrote out the bubble letters, and she colored away.

After several cars drove by and didn't seem to even notice the stand, the girls started waving frantically at each car, and sometimes holding up their lemonade jugs.  I was a little bit embarrassed by their desperation, but, on the other hand, I thought the cars who drove by this ensemble should be more embarrassed than I was.

Notice the appropriately colored-coded outfits? Sunny is wearing pink for her pink lemonade stand, and Miss Mouse is wearing yellow and blue because she is selling yellow lemonade and raising money for clean water, which is often thought of as blue. They totally came up with this all on their own.

Miss Mouse, who chose yellow lemonade, made the sign that says, "Your lemonade buys clean water. All proceeds to Compassion International". She's been stuck on Compassion's Water of Life filter program for several years. It's a lofty goal for a lemonade stand on our street, since each filter costs $70.00. I think they made $10 last Friday. Since it was all from our neighbors, I'm not sure they would keep up their profits if they put the stand out seven weeks in a row, either. But Miss Mouse is so hopeful she'll get to buy a water filter. It upsets her to no end thinking that there are children like her who have to drink water that has been exposed to animal (and sometimes human) waster, or that there are little girls who have to spend the day hauling water for their family rather than going to a Compassion project for education, skills training, and to learn about Jesus. It may be the accepted way of life in many areas of the world, but it certainly shouldn't be. And she is just positive she can do something to change life for a family by providing them with a water filter; she's right.

  Since they have such honorable goals for their proceeds, the "powers that be" in the house decided to award them a grant for the cost of the materials. We're not charging for posterboard, lemonade, or ice, even though I suppose that would have been a teachable moment. Sometimes they teach me more than I teach them.

Manly was such a trooper. He and I hung out in his playpen, somewhat out of the wind, for most of the lemonade stand. He did great, watching the leaves on the trees. It was a cloudy day, though hot and humid, so it really was perfect for a small baby, except for the wind.

Right as Manly was getting fussy, Mike got home from his bike ride and took over the outside, parental supervision duties. Mighty had just woken up from his nap, so he had a snack in his stroller while the girls wrapped up the stand.

I don't even know what to say about these photos other than that Sunny adores her littlest brother.

With a capital A. ADORES.

Mighty loves his little brother, too. He just does it in such a "big boy, let's play and wrestle" way. He knows Manly doesn't wrestle, but he wants to "hug, hug" him and "kiss, kiss" him in ways that demand supervision!

They really are going to be best buddies.

I love this photo because I've seen one of Mike holding his baby sister when Steph was younger than Manly, I think, and Mike has this same expression on his face.

After the lemonade stand, after the cleanup, after giving all four kids baths and showering ourselves, Mike and I took our whole brood to a wedding reception an hour out of town. We're either really energetic these days or completely crazy, but it was a blast! I'm not sure either one of us ate our meals completely sitting down, between getting food or drink for one child or another, feeding Manly, changing diapers, etc., but it really was fun to get out of town and spend time together as a family!