Dragons-Dragons EVERYWHERE!

Okay, so in this house, Averie's dragons are an essential, and I mean ESSENTIAL toy.  To her, they're not a toy, they are truely real, life-like friends.  She absolutely loves these dragons.   She got her first dragon from Grandma - who stumbled across them in a bin of rubbery-slithery animals at Toys-R-Us. 

We've literally had these (and others!) dragons for multiple years.  They sortof come & go from the forefront of her mind, but mostly, they're here to stay.  For the past (nearly) week, she has insisted that the dragons have a bed next to her at night, right there on her nightstand.  They MUST have a blanket (or one of my lovely kitchen towels miraculously transformed into a dragon sleeping bag, specially built for 2).  So, I oblige.  I mean, who am I to turn down this simple request straight from the precious dragons themselves? 

Furthermore....  the dragons have had to start going with us to the bus stop in the mornings.  Today, I had no pockets, so they stayed behind and gazed out the window as we walked away.  But, not yesterday.  No, I wore a fleece with pockets, one for each dragon.  They had to have special voices & wave as the bus went by...  Boy am I glad there aren't any other parents out there at the bus stop.  I only do things like this to make her happy....  ;-) 

As I was thinking about this post, I just wasn't sure how I was going to incorporate God in my every day life with this topic...(as has been my ultimate desire for these blog posts) but it's actually become clear to me - God is definately a part of these dastardly dragons.  They make Averie happy and that makes me happy.  I love that girl and all of her quirks.  The dragons drive me crazy at times - with all their demands.... but it's all good.  These dragons aren't hurting a thing. 

One more way to iterate just how important these dragons are to our dear Ave....  One Sunday (years, ago - YES,  that's right, YEARS ago!) Ave accidentally left one of these black dragons (the one with the silver hue on his head & tail, yep, that's the one!) at church.  We looked high & low for this dragon.  Thought we'd lost it forever.  Several days later my mom went to the church, specifically looking for the dragon.  And would you believe she spotted it!!!  Riding on the palm of a young boys hand like a mantlepiece on the hood of a car as he was on a skateboard, gliding down the hill.  Oh!  What a sight that had to be.  (We continue to laugh about it to this day...) My mom graciously confronted the boy and said, "That's my dragon! My grand-daughter lost it!!"  And, fortunately, he wasn't gonna mess with G'ma..... so he handed Draggie over.  Averie was SOO happy to be reunited with Dragon.  And as the story goes, we've accumulated more dragons since then.... 

Thanks, grandma, for getting her hooked on these rubbery, jiggly, flame breathing creatures that I can now say I can see how they fit in my "God in my everyday life"... All the reasons I want to be here, today, right where I am. 

Ave requested tonight that I go downstairs and find her dragons because they needed a bed (right, kitchen towel) right next to her on her night-stand.  So, I did.  They were not where she said they would be, no - I had to look harder....  But, I thought to myself....  Before I take these creatures upstairs, I'm going to pose you for a photo.  One day, she will appreciate this picture, and so will I.  I love that kid... and her dragons.