Gratitude 7/1/09

Things I am grateful for today:
*a window AC just loud enough to mostly mask the incessant popping sounds from small fireworks, which will be the soundtrack of my life for the next 5 days.
*digital cameras that allow you to see your images immediately
*my daughter, who when she sees scary movies, runs to another room to hide and asks me to change the channel - too scary to change it herself!

Funny Comments

L's two funny comments yesterday:
1. Stuart had joined us outside, where L was splashing in the wading pool. He said, "It sure is warm out here in the sun", to which L replied, "That's because it is a big ball of FIRE." So deadpan. When did she learn that?
2. In the car on the way home from Bogey's, we were talking about our dog chasing another dog off of our yard the other day. The other dog was pretty big, so we were impressed that our dog could do that. I said, "That's because she's tough" and L replied "GIRL POWER!"
Cracks me up!

Gratitude 6/29/09

Things I am grateful for today:
*cousins, and having friendships with them. I love to watch L play with her cousins, and I love how excited she is at the prospect of having them over to play. I remember how much I always loved to play with Adam & Aaron, my favorite cousins, and I am glad that L has that same experience in her life.
*my husband's willingness to listen while I complain about something petty/annoying that is totally irrelevant to his life. Like therapy, but cheaper (and undoubtedly more annoying for him - truly a sign that he loves me!)
*crispy grapes (as opposed to soggy grapes - ugh) for a bedtime snack

Girls Days

One of L's requests during Christmas vacation was to have some "Girls Days". She made a list of about 10 things that she would like to do - paint ceramics, go to the art museum, go to Exploration Place, go roller skating, get a manicure together, etc. We only got a couple of those things done during vacation, thanks to the stomach flu and a pretty aggressive cold, but we had so much fun on our Girls Days! We went to McPherson to a store called Joyful Creations. We've been there before on a previous Girls Day with Grandma to make bracelets. On this day, we each picked a piece of unfinished pottery to paint. We then left them at the store and we will go back in a week and pick them up. L can hardly wait -she asks every day when we are going to go get them! L chose to paint a puppy, which she then realized was actually a piggy bank! She chose to use the store's special tools to make polka dots, which was a test of her patience, but wound up being so cute!
On our other Girls Day, we went to Wichita to the art museum, where we had never gone before. We met my sister and her kids there. They have an amazing kids hands-on exploration room, and some mind-blowing glass artwork in their ceilings. We had a really good time, and L and I would like to go back some time and explore some more - it's hard for the younger cousins to be patient in the quiet, hands-off museum!
It was so much fun exploring new things with L - I'm going to start scheduling a special day at least once a month to explore something new with L - she is so curious!

Christmas gatherings

My family had our last Christmas gathering of the season yesterday. It was a day of many breaks with tradition ...a bittersweet gathering. For the first time ever, we did not have our gathering at my mother's house. She is in the middle of an unpleasant divorce, and her husband is still frequently at her house, so we were uncomfortable gathering there. My sister has a beautiful home with enough room for us to comfortably gather there, so my mother, brother, and my family drove to my sister's home an hour away to celebrate. Also, my youngest sister chose not to join us, another awkward difference this year. I think that she is leery of being ambushed by us, in regards to her disrespectful choices lately, and so she chose not to attend. So all in all, it was a day that was rather bittersweet - I love spending time with my family, especially my sister and his clan, who I don't get to see often. But it's hard to make those changes that have been caused by unpleasant events.
I had a wonderful Facebook conversation with my dad the other day, in regards to helping the young people in your life make good choices. It would be so nice if I could just suck my life experiences out of my head and stick it into K's head - I know that if I try to talk to her about it, she won't actually listen to me. But it is so hard to watch her make self destructive choices, and just sit back and allow it to happen. I wish that there was an easy formula for knowing at what point to force my involvement, even against her wishes. I know that her choices are things that she is going to regret later in her life, and I wish that she didn't have to go through them now. I have distinct memories of my dad saying something very similar to me while I was in college, and of responding with a very mature eye roll and a total lack of understanding, or even attempt at understanding.
I have a hard time knowing how much of the family situation to allow L to hear about. I don't want to burden her with undue stress - I had enough of that at her age, and I know how it can impact a kiddo's personality. But I am also hoping that if she hears a bit of it, that maybe someday K's choices will help L not make the same mistakes. She IDOLIZES K, and I hope that maybe by hearing about how much anguish K is causing other people, she will make the connection and carry that impact with her to influence her own choices some day.

Romeo and Juliet 11/26/08

Today we went to Wichita to do some early Christmas shopping with Jill and the kids. In the car on the way home, Lauren was listening to her new favorite song - "Love Story" by Taylor Swift. She has a Build-a-Bear bunny named Juliet, and she was telling me that she'd like to go back to BAB and get another animal to name Romeo.
As she was listening to the song, she asked, "Aren't there 2 stories about Romeo and Juliet, one where they are brother and sister and one where they die?" I couldn't figure out WHAT she was talking about. I said that there are different versions, but that they are never brother and sister in them. She said, "You know, the one with them throwing pebbles." I was thinking about the song she was listening to, and trying to remember if there is a part where Romeo is tossing pebbles at her window, but I couldn't figure it out. Lauren added, "You know, where their parents take them into the forest and try to lose them, but they use pebbles to get back..." AH-HA! I said, "That would be Hansel and Gretel, not Romeo and Juliet." Silence reigned for a moment from the backseat... "never mind."
It cracks me up, how she has such a combination of exposure to all different kinds of things, swirling around in that little brain...

Fall 08

This year seems to have gone so fast - such a cliche, but so true for me this year! I feel like our school year has just started, but I've suddenly realized that I need to begin thinking about Christmas shopping! Lauren is almost 8, and is so excited about the approaching Christmas season and her birthday. She has already begun making her mental gift wish list! :) We are borrowing a go-kart from some cousins right now, and Lauren is having a blast with it. She thinks that she might want to drive a Jr. Dragster, and so we are "test-driving" the idea. She needs to start learning how to control a vehicle if she wants to race! A big exciting thing for us this fall is that Stuart set the National Record in his racing class. It was an awesome weekend, racing in KC! It's pretty cool to open National Dragster every week and see his name listed as the record holder - and he put my name and L's name in on his "thank-you" line, so we get to see our names, too!
L is trying to decide if she wants to try out for the school Christmas program. She would do a great job, I think, but the idea is making her pretty nervous! She changes her mind about every 30 minutes - yes, I can do it, no, I'm too nervous...