Lydi & Lilly

     When Lydia was just over a year old, she met Lilly.  And while some kids that age play side-by-side, somehow these two girls learned early how to play together.  They spent the next 5 years playing princess, and then school, and then secret-society during kindergarten recess. They have a very sweet bond.

     On Tuesday night we got a phone call that Lilly was in the hospital about to go into surgery for an emergency appendectomy.  We were all worried, and Lydia wanted to talk to her friend right then.  She couldn't, but I promised her the very next day we'd go visit.  The surgery ended up going smoothly and Lilly was sore, but doing great. She was even well enough to have strawberry ice cream, much to her mom's chagrin :-).  The next afternoon, we made it out to visit her with a home-made card and a calla-lily flower that Lydia had picked out because of its name.  Lydia was a little shy when we walked in the room, but Lilly happily showed us her belly and where the camera went into her tummy.  Lydia has since been telling everyone about that.  And then, like it was any other day,  they laid on the hospital bed and watched part of a princess movie.  

        I'm glad that we got to see Lilly, and tell her how brave she must have been, and what a great story she has to share now.  I'm glad that Lydia will forever have this memory of visiting her friend because I share a similar memory.  My first friend Cathy had the same emergency appendectomy when I was just a little girl, and I too got to visit her in the hospital.  That experience has always stuck with me as I'm sure this one will stick with Lydia.  Somehow seeing a friend go through something very serious, something very non-kiddish makes you grow up just a bit.  And something I know for sure, these little girls who were once in diapers and sucking on pacis are growing up right before our eyes.

A Day of Fasting

     After knowing about and talking about this day for weeks, it finally came.  The day Lanie would have to fast.  In order to test some issues dear Lanie has, specifically the fact that she pees like a faucet, (sorry, terrible topic) our pediatrician wanted to test her urine and blood after she'd been without food and water.   So I gave her a late breakfast and then nothing until her appointment which didn't start until 3pm.  And since she was going without, the rest of us rallied behind her and we went without too.  I realize the task of children going without food and water for 6 hours seems small, and I know there are children around the world who are without food for days on end.  Knowing this didn't stop me from worrying I wouldn't be able to keep a handful of grapes out of Lanie's hand.  And it did create some cranky moments, but surprisingly, nothing out of the ordinary.

     We stayed home all day which is highly unusual.   I didn't think getting out would help us since getting out usually means being hot and thirsty.  I didn't think meeting friends would be good, because that usually means lunch together or at least a shared snack.  So, we stayed home, filled our time pulling out toys unseen for months and doing arts and crafts that have been stored for a rainy day, and stayed mostly distracted.  Thankfully, the big kids didn't complain about being hungry.  But Lanie did.  And to be honest, I was terribly hungry too.  You know you're the hungriest when you can't eat.

        When we finally got to the doctor, we had to wait quite a while even though I told everyone my kid had been fasting.  I brought graham crackers for the post urine test to tide us over until the deserving late lunch at Sonic.   But before we could leave, Lanie had to have blood work done.  She's never had to do anything like that.  Besides regular vaccines, she's rarely been to the pediatrician.  And God bless her, she handled it like a champ.  There's something very honest about a child preparing to sit through something painful.  Her eyes were so fearful while the nurse punched around for a vein, & the tears that dripped out while she stifled her crying, just about brought me to my knees.  My sympathy is wide for parents who have seen their children through stitches, broken bones, & operations.
   

Looking for a vein, before she laid down & I held her tight.

      But in all of this routine drama, what I was a bit unprepared for was the reaction of my sensitive, empathetic Lydia.  While they were filling the vials of blood, I looked over for her and she is kneeling over the chair, crying.  Elijah was concerned too, not to the point of crying, but I could see how uncomfortable he was with the situation as he bobbed behind me trying to coo, "it's alright Lanie; good job Lanie" and patting her head.  I've never thought about how siblings would react to something like this.  At home, they care little if they hurt one another, but this was different.  A professional adult was causing their sister pain and she could do nothing about it.  It was amazing to watch.

After all the crying, I snapped this picture.

     When it was all over, I didn't know who to hug more.  So, what did I do?  I group hugged them, snapped a picture (shameless) and then carried Lanie out to the treasure chest with glowing praise of bravery.

Cuddling when we got home.

Lydia's sweet card to her sister showing off her bandaid.

A Celebration of People I Love

   June 25th has always been a big day in the Ward house, both for good memories and some sorrowful ones.  We'll start with the good.

   Every June 25th, we celebrate Lydia's Baptismal Birthday by lighting her candle during dinner.  Lanie helped her out a bit.  I love Baptismal birthdays - the stress of birthday parties is missing, and instead what remains is just a small celebration of a very big day when our children were baptized into God's family. A great day!

   More good memories.  Right before Lanie was born in 2008 on this same day, June 25th, I got a phone call from my mom.  I had a new nephew! My sister had Taylor John that morning and we would be driving to Oklahoma (me 7 months pregnant, argh) to see him and the rest of the family.  Our new baby (who we didn't know was a boy or a girl at the time) would have a cousin the same age. We were really excited. Can't believe he's already turning 4.

    And unfortunately, this is where the sad news comes in.  Later that day, I get another phone call - from my mom which I thought was an update on my sister, but instead it was about my grandmother, Florene Oleta.   She had passed away that day unexpectedly.  I recall screaming into the phone, running up the stairs and falling into my pillow.  Elijah was only 4 and a bit scared.  Lydia was 2 and didn't understand.  My grandmother had been in a lot of pain for a long while, but I was still devastated to hear the news.  The Lord giveth and he taketh away. 

     I moved to Texas in 1998 for many reasons, and one of those was to be able to see my grandmother more often.  She lived in Texas City and I really did not know her growing up.  I knew she sold Avon because I got an Avon perfume bottle for every birthday, and I knew she LOVED sweet tea, and I knew she wore panty hose and heels until her damaged and arthritic feet wouldn't let her anymore, but I didn't know her, not really.

    Getting to know her in my late twenties and thirties was very special.  Before I married, I visited her often, and then after I married and we had children, I enjoyed bringing them to see her, mainly because she thought my kids were just the smartest :-) kids she knew.  They called her Great Grandma Float (in place of Florene) which she always thought was the sweetest thing.  She cracked me up with her scratchy yelling at my cousins (who still lived with her), her complaining about her aches and pains, her honest thoughts about other family members, and her stories about her youth. Had I heard them as a young girl, I wouldn't have paid much attention.  As an adult, I cherished them.  We would sit at her little table (which I now have in storage waiting for the day I have a room to put them in) in her little green kitchen and she would talk, and talk, and talk. It was always a little hard to leave.

    Of course, my biggest regret is that she didn't get to meet Lanie when she was born just a month and half later.  She would have gotten the biggest kick out of her, I just know it.  I think they would have been kindred spirits. So it seemed just the perfect way to remember her that August day when Elaine was born that her middle name be Oleta.  And I could get all sappy about this connection between my new daughter and her great-grandmother, but here's the funniest part.  My grandmother never liked her middle name, never, and she would have probably guffawed at me using it. But I always loved it, and Lanie loves it, so I guess I got the last word.

    And so every June 25th we celebrate a Baptism, a Birthday, and dear Great Grandma Float. 

4 generations - mom, grandma, me and Lydia on grandma's 89th birthday

Brave

    I've loved every Pixar flick, some more than others, but there's something very clever, very innovative about their style that I have always appreciated from Monster's Inc to Cars to Up to my favorite, Toy Story 3, mainly because it made me cry.
   I was very excited about seeing Brave and last night we went to our cheap theatre to see it in 3D, which really stayed 2 dimensional most of the movie.  At first, the story line seemed very familiar to The Little Mermaid, both about a wild, red-headed rebellious, but beautiful girl.  But 30 minutes in , I realized that this is NOT your typical princess movie.  You won't find a prince, or singing, or talking mice.  I won't give it away, but be aware of scary bears.
   We took all three kids to the movie and met some friends there.  I was a little leery when right before we left, I heard it may be scary.  Lydia never does well with that. She has always preferred the happy, short 30 minute sagas on PBS to long, good vs. evil movies.  I was concerned.
   I will admit, I jumped several times through the movie, and prepared for at least one child in my lap.  I even said at one time, "I can't believe I brought my 3-year-old to this."  I wouldn't suggest bringing little ones, but we were there already so we stuck it out.

Much to my surprise, here was the response from each kid.

Elijah:  It was a little scary, but it was awesome! I love the 3 little kids who keep pulling tricks and their pants fall down. 
Lydia:  It wasn't scary.  (Even though I saw her and her friend close together with their eyes pinched shut a few times.)
Lanie:  I thought it was soooo funny.  (she went on to tell about a part she liked but no one remembered it.  Lydia thought she was making it up.)

And while I give it 2 or 3 stars for stepping way outside the box of conventionality, I'll reserve my 5 star rating for the sweet stories that make me cry.

Waiting at the DMV

       Last month we noticed that our sticker for our car license hadn't shown up in the mail and it was 2 months expired. Then a few days ago I tried buying wine at Target and my driver's license was expired. Who notices those things? Apparently not me. So I went home without my Pinot.
     After calling to check on the tag which was being re-mailed, Kenny mentioned off the cuff that I needed to NOT get pulled over for 3 to 5 business days until the tag showed up.
      Famous last words. You know the rest of the story. I get pulled over with 5 kids in my car, not for speeding but for an expired tag. And when it rains, it pours. I must have sounded like an idiot to the officer. "Well actually sir we did pay for our tag and in 3 to 5 business days we will have it. No sir, my drivers license is not current and I just realized it. Just waiting for a day without a team of kids on my watch." I thought the kid angle would soften him, but it didn't.
     So today I'm sitting at the DMV. Actually standing. For the past hour with no end in sight. Is it terrible that I keep hoping the people in front of me will forget their proof of residency and have to turn back?
     I did meet a very nice lady who just moved here from Nebraska who was turned away because her birth certificate wasn't official. She had been turned away before for not having a utility bill. Needless to say, She isn't a fan of Texas, its laws or its weather. She hopes to get out as soon as possible. Since I am not in the best of moods, I didn't feel like sharing with her the beauty of bluebonnets and the taste of Blue Bell ice cream.
    But I suppose it is part of the adventure of life to experience the DMV every 5 or 10 years or so. And if I'm going to make lemonade of this, I do enjoy the people-watching and the shared quiet stares of my bewildered line-mates who tell me with their eyes "How much longer?" That part is kind of fun but yeah, that's about it.

Update: Now passing 2 and a half hours. Argh.

Final Update:  3 hours in line, 7 minutes to renew my license

Sisters

From my perch in the front seat of the van,  I overhear this small bit of dialogue:

Lydia:  Lanie, I don't know.  I don't know everything!

Lanie:  But, but Lydia, I thought you did.

Words from the mouth of a 3-year-old, uttered with complete honesty. 
That's what I call sisterly devotion, a true tag-along for life.  

Elijah "All Day" Ward

Since last week was so busy, I totally forgot to mention the Harlem Globetrotters basketball camp that Elijah went to.  Each kid got a Globetrotter nickname and his was Elijah "All Day" Ward.  They taught them a few ball tricks and some skills but really it was about the novelty of being with two of the globetrotters for a couple of hours.  It was a Groupon, and I am Addicted to Groupons, but more on that another day.

Out of love for the Globetrotters (who I first met on a Scooby-Doo meets the Harlem Globetrotters re-run, originally aired in 1972), I scoured the internet for some fun facts.  See which ones you know:

     A.  In which city in 1926 did the Harlem Globetrotters originate? (Surprisingly, not Harlem)

     B.  What beloved theme song (at least I love it) do the Globetrotter's use?

     C.  What famous NBA player who after his junior year of college in 1959 played for the Harlem    Globetrotters?

     D.  Who was the most famous Globetrotter, known as the Clown Prince? 

     E.  Which famous actor has a lifetime contract with the Globetrotters receiving $1.00 a year?



Answers:
A.  Chicago
B.   Sweet Georgia Brown
C.   Wilt Chamberlain
D.   MeadowLark Lemon
E.  Bill Cosby

The List

Kenny opening his Father's Day gift from the kids.  Thought another bandaged arm would be overkill.

So K and I have a running list of things that are difficult or even impossible to do with just one hand.  It certainly doesn't meet Soul Surfer status of disability, but it's fun to make jokes about it (make jokes about the list of can't do's, NOT the girl who lost her arm to a shark. Want to be clear about that.)

Here's what we have so far:
Folding socks (mentioned that yesterday)
Typing without pecking
Tying shoes (Lydia tied his shoes this morning which came untied by afternoon)
Putting on a watch
Shower - wash armpit of non-hurt arm (I'm sorry, bad topic)
Buttoning jeans (not impossible, but not easy)
Slicing potatoes
Cutting chicken with fork and knife (which much to his chagrin, I did for him into little pieces like I do for the kids)
Play catch
Break dance (I'm not just being funny.  The kids were trying to do it this evening.  Kenny could not show off his skills.)

That's it for now.  Never thought I'd get this much mileage out of a knife accident, but there it is.

The surgery

   So I picked up Kenny at the hospital today after his hand surgery.  It went well -  He was only a little glassy-eyed, but looked fine, or as fine as anyone can look on vicodin and in a hospital gown.  One of the nurses offered him a drink, more specifically, a cola, and even more specifically, a diet Shasta cola.  I don't know why, but we got the biggest kick out of that.  He spends a pretty penny with this surgery at St. Luke's and Shasta is the choice beverage provider.   Instead of coming out of a surgery, K said he felt like he was coming out of a 4th grade soccer game.  But of course it would be Orange Shasta and not the more grown-up Diet Shasta.  How unfair. It was my favorite part of the surgery story, if there is such a thing as a favorite part of a surgery story.
     He is left with a pretty bulky hand that creates a much bigger hindrance than his ER foam finger so typing should be interesting since that's a big part of what he does all day.  I told him I could be his secretary for the week or until the cast is off, but I think he agrees working from home with his entire family a few feet away is probably enough close quarters for him.
   But champ that he is, Kenny seems to have made it through day 1, drowsy at times, but totally not playing up the injured man.  He took out the trash, scooped kitty litter, and even folded clothes with a gimp hand. Hmm, I'm not coming out of this story looking too helpful, am I? Well, I did fold the socks - that's something you can't do one-handed.  Never thought of that before, but really, try it, you just can't.
 

We are the Church

     If I've never mentioned it before, I love our church.  We've been at Epiphany for the past 12 years and when we consider the possibility of moving to a new city or state, our church and the friends and relationships we've built in the time there always count as a pro for staying right where we are.  We have three wonderful pastors who have dedicated their lives to ministry and who regularly speak God's truth with such passion and with such humility, you want nothing else than to just sit at their feet and listen to what the Holy Spirit will speak through them.
   Today, one of our pastors, Pastor Rob told the congregation that he was accepting a Call to a church in Tennessee. He had been prayerfully considering it for about a month and I think we all had an idea that this was it, this was the Call he would say yes to. But just because we had an idea that this move was God's will, it didn't take away the shock and the sadness.  To say goodbye to such a family, a family after God's own heart, a family who after ten years of service has become a cornerstone will not be easy.  
  I guess my reason for writing tonight was to put down on paper, so to speak, something that P. Rob said while breaking the news.  We all know the kids' song:  "I am the church.  You are the church.  We are the church together.  All who follow Jesus, all around the world.  Yes, we're the church together." No, he didn't sing the song, but he said (and I tried writing it down) something to the effect that a ministry is not made out of a person, and a church is not made out of personalities.  I really liked that comment.  I have seen or heard of other churches that were dealt a blow when their lead pastor left or retired because the church body had depended so much on their leadership.  I think that is a great message to any of us who are blessed to have great leaders and Epiphany has not 1, but 3.  It helps to remember, and this was Pastor Rob's point,  that when a body of believers is focused on doing Christ's work without prideful motivations, God's will wins out every time with or without the best sermon-giver or best administrator or best nurturer.
   But, and of course I'm biased, we have some great teachers.  And today P. Rob gave the Best Sermon Ever and so perfectly timed.  It was about bearing fruit, maturing in your faith, how NOT maturing isn't an option.  We can't just get to a stage in our faith and go, "yeah, I'm done." After the service, and I dried my tears because they fell a bit throughout,  I felt compelled to make some changes, some personal, some spiritual and some missional ones.  I love sermons like that.  Ones that make you move and today the Holy Spirit was working through every Word.
   Because Pastor Rob is such a dynamic speaker and leader, his wife Julie is by far one of the funniest and most honest Brits you'll ever meet, and their children (whose two oldest I taught Sunday School to when they were 4 and 5) are such great, hard-working and Christ-driven kids, they will all be missed.  I am happy for them to take this leap of faith and I know it will be blessed.  I have this urge to drive to Tennessee and tell the new congregation just how lucky they are, but they'll figure it out in time.  And in time Epiphany will figure out what to do with the chunk of brick out of their cornerstone and the hole in their heart.
    

A VBS Funny

  Today was the last day of VBS but the fun continues tonight with a big final party.  It really was a great week and the director's and leaders did such a good job.  I got to see so many kids - and today I had the biggest chuckle of the week.  We were outside today because we had bubbles and I had a group of 4-year-olds.  I told all of them that THEY were each a "bubble" because just like our bubbles didn't stay in one spot, they floated or popped, we don't stay in one spot. We go so many places, but in every place, God is with us and we have the privilege of sharing Jesus with everyone we meet, everywhere we go.  Great message, right?  Well every group I got them to say really loud:  "I Am a Bubble!" But this one little girl refused to say it. She told us:  "I'm not a bubble; I'm a Princess!"  I thought that was precious.  Had I thought of it, I would have told her yes, you are GOD'S little princess, but I didn't think of that.   Kids are so funny - they say the darndest things (Bill Cosby, right?).   And they made the week so special.

  

A hi-jacked post

    We have only 1 more day of VBS and I'm just now getting a picture of me and the kids in our blue SKY t-shirts - a little fuzzy too, but just getting them to stand still with their mom for a few seconds was a major accomplishment.
    Look at how tired my eyes are.  We ended up staying up till about 1am last night watching a special on the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Basketball Dream Team.  And while I don't remember watching basketball during that summer of '92 when I left Oklahoma and moved to Nebraska for college, I do remember going to McDonalds a lot and getting the Dream Team cups.  Do you remember those?  They had Jordan, Barclay, Magic, Bird, Pippen and several others on their extra large drinks.  I haven't thought of those cups in 20 years, but when I did, I was taken back to the many trips we made to the outskirts of our small town of Seward to even find a McDonald's.  That's where you could find the only Walmart as well and the restaurant, The Peppercorn that I worked at for a few years.  Which made me think about the haven't-found-better-anywhere-else homemade chips and salsa and the drinks I got to make bartending, which made me think about how much I wanted a margarita with chips & salsa.
     Now what does the 1992 Dream Team, or my college years have to do with the 2012 VBS at Epiphany Lutheran Church in Pearland, Texas?  Not much, except I love any example of a random train of thought.  When I used to teach, I'd give the kids a word.  I've give them a couple of minutes to do some word associations and after a short amount of time, see what each person came up with.  For example -

Cat - Boo Radley(my cat's name) - To Kill a Mockingbird - Scout - Girl scouts - Brownies - chocolate - Reeses - peanut butter. 

Fun, isn't it?  And while I end up with peanut butter, the kid next to me ends up with Hawaii.  And somewhere in those thoughtful word trains, you can often find a topic to write about.

But this post wasn't supposed to be about lists of words, but since I've hi-jacked with a writing lesson, I'll try to get back to my point via word association.

Vacation Bible School - Jesus - love - kids - teaching - busy - tired - feet - rest - relax - margarita - chips - salsa - yum.

My How Time Flies

Imagination Station leaders 

   We've been thick into Vacation Bible School for the past 3 days and I can hardly believe day 3 already came and went.  VBS at our church is a BIG deal.  We stuff 400+ kids and staff into a pretty small space and through song, skit, games, crafts, experiments, story, and snack - tell these 400+ kids about how much Jesus loves them. It's a daunting, but quite satisfying task.  My job this week is to spend 12 minutes, 10 times a day in a class called Imagination Station with the preschoolers.  If I wasn't used to repeating rules and instructions over and over again to my own kids on a daily basis, I would probably be more worn out now, but as it is, saying the same thing over 10 times a day actually always surprises me.  It's the same spiel, but the result is always a little different. For example, my first group is a bunch of 3-year-olds, my daughter included, and they say NOTHING!  I play the obnoxious cheerleader role during their group.  But this vastly differs from a group of 5 year-olds we have later in the day that have an opinion about everything and my job there is mainly to say, "Shh, hold on, I'll get to that.  Hey there, let's not touch that." And then, bless their hearts, there is the last group of the day of little ones who are so tired, one is laying on the floor on his blankie he brought and another is crying in anticipation that her mother is picking her up.  Never a dull moment.
   Because we have so many kids this year and because it feels like 100 degrees outside, Imagination Station didn't score a classroom, so we used our imagination, so to speak, and created one in the entry way of one of our buildings using a curtain on a pole, a very small space that houses both the elevator and the janitors closet.  One child even came in the first day and said, "This is our room?!"  But it's dirty!" I had to chuckle at that.
   But despite the heat of the day seeping in from the front doors, lines of classes loudly switching rooms and peeking into our curtained door, and the need for the elevator throughout the day, we have somehow made it work.  In my 11 or 12 years helping with VBS at our church, I've learned that if you want to open the doors and let the community in to hear such an important message for free, then a little bit of uncomfortable has to happen.  In the big scheme of things, it's a small price to pay for spreading the Gospel message to so many little ears.
  And though the good absolutely outweighs the bad, it won't stop me from making jokes about our hot, curtained-off, janitor's non-room. In a few years you'll hear us say, "Remember that time . . . ." And then we'll smile at each other, have a good laugh, and agree it was a crazy idea.

To Pre-Pack or Not to Pre-Pack

     Today was the LAST day to purchase pre-pack school supplies for the 2012-2012 school year at LSA.  I know, a boring post topic and way too early to be thinking about it, but it has had me going back and forth all week. Do I save the trouble of searching 5 or 6 different stores for the right kind of supply that is also the cheapest?  Kenny says, Absolutely!  He tires of me holding onto receipts and taking back just one bradded folder to Walmart only to go to Target to get a different one.  Oh, and the time when Elijah needed a specific composition book, we had to go downtown to a Teacher Supply store only after we'd tried 4 other places.  So, with memories like that, the decision seems easy.  And almost EVERYONE I know takes that route.  Why waste time and gas when a pack of supplies on that first day of school can be waiting for you in the classroom?
     I always seems to have some traditional, sentimental reason for everything I do and it's usually the hard way,  and this ridiculous topic that I'm thinking about in June, is no different.  But here goes.  I love the hustle and bustle of parents and kids in school supply aisles. I love new folders and packs of paper and unopened pencils, and brand-new markers and pencil boxes and, you get the picture. I love taking all 3 kids' lists and making my own list and checking it off as I go.  I love the pile of supplies that sit in our kitchen for the weeks leading up to school and the excitement that builds.  And I love that when the kids go to school the first day their backpack is loaded with more than just their gym shoes and a change of clothes. I do. I love it all.  And that's why today I didn't send in my check.  And I'll be a fool come August when I'm running around with my list and loads of receipts.  But hopefully this long list of "I loves" about school supply hunting will resurrect itself and I'll hold onto that excitement and forget about the lost time and the mileage.  Be a dear and remind me, okay?

Didn't your momma teach you . . .

    With all the excitement of the baseball season finally coming to an end - woo hoo! I forgot to mention for those who haven't befriended him on Facebook that my dear husband is an injured man.  Yes, at 11 o'clock Tuesday night he was cleaning a knife and it slipped.  I was luckily upstairs and didn't witness the blood, but apparently it kept coming.  He took himself to the Emergency Room and came home by 2am with a cut tendon, a few stitches, an appointment to be made with a hand specialist and the biggest bandage ever.  He handled it all in stride.  The best part - he now has a persistent foam finger shooting the #1 for everyone and anyone who passes him by.  It really played out nicely at the baseball game. He was the Yankees #1 fan.


Update later today:  K went to the specialist who made fun of ER doctors for wrapping his finger so foolishly into a foam finger look-a-like.  He's without a bandage now, but his finger hurts like crazy to bend it or to touch anything. Very small surgery is coming up.  Lesson to all - to never play with knives.

City Champs!

    I know just a few weeks ago I was writing about Elijah's losing baseball season and the glory of a win but what do you know, after 5 straight wins in the city tournament (which is the tournament for the bottom 4 teams of the division as opposed to the top 4 teams who get to play districts), his team, The Yankees just won 1st place in the Machine Pitch Division.  Crazy, right? It's like the consolation prize, but cool none the less.  It seems something happened near the end of the season and they started playing well together.  Every single tournament game was a nail-biter, so back and forth, and so exciting since they played teams who had seasons just like ours.  I did my pacing, as usual.  I tried to play off my pacing by picking up trash along the way.  I saw a lot of trash. 
   
    What's so funny is when it was all over tonight - they had a little ceremony and the boys got their trophies, and were all smiles for the pictures.  But then, that was it.  Elijah could care less about getting pictures with team mates or hugging his parents or talking over the win.  His biggest desire --- making a bee-line to the mom who brought snacks.  He grabbed his Doritos, Capri-Sun, and cookies and said, "let's go."

If anything, he's taught me soo much about winning vs. losing from a kids point of view.  I have caught myself thinking, "E just really wants to win. It's so important to him." But, you know what?  He's 8.  And while he likes to do his best - he doesn't care that much about winning a trophy that will gather dirt within weeks.  He just liked that with each win in a single elimination tournament, his team got to play one more game and have one more Gatorade and one more bag of Doritos.  From now on, remind me to think like a kid when it comes to sports.  It's a lot simpler and requires a lot less pacing.

The Wristband is No More!

   Some of you readers, if you've been keeping up with the past month or so, may remember this entry about the Purple Wristband.  For a short backstory, the kids did a Miles for Mission at their school and each group got a paper wristband and each lap they got a tally mark on their band.  4 days after the run, I wrote about Elijah and his odd desire to keep his band on.  Then, I found out that he and a little girl at school, Lauren, were in a competition to see who could keep it on the longest.  Okay, that was fine.  When Lauren's band came off, I expected his follow.  Nope. 
    Then, on the second-to-last day of school, I made up a game for his class party where each student received a paper that included a fun fact about every one in the class and they had to match the fact with the student.  I had one for every student BUT Elijah. Sadly, I could thinking of nothing strange or bizarre about him.  It was his teacher who finally came up with:  "This student still has not taken off Miles for Mission band." And of course everyone knew who it was and we all had a good laugh. Even when his teacher tried to snip it with her scissors, he hid it with his hand.
   Finally, finally, 45 days after the run around the track, Elijah's band has fallen off.  He tried putting it back on and wearing it to swim lessons but realized the futility in that and he had to finally give in.  I wish I had some moral to the story, or some great final message about what holding onto a paper wristband points to in Elijah's personality or his future, but I'm coming up with little.  The kid's got endurance, I guess, and a one-track-mind, I suppose, and a weird desire to hold onto things.  Whatever it is, let's just give thanks the dirty ring of paper is finally, safely off his wrist and put away.  No, not thrown away where it should be, but tucked away for a future scrapbook so if ever Elijah needs a reminder of his inner will, it'll be there. Gross and grey, but it'll be there.

Any guesses?

   This weekend we had the privilege of seeing an old favorite, who some call a pirate, in concert.  While I know some (ahem) care little for this 60-something, flip-flop wearing, cheeseburger-eating, rum-drinking, hard-living singer, we truly enjoyed sitting on a blanket in the cool breeze of a full-moon at the Woodlands theatre talking with friends and listening to songs everyone knows by heart.
    If my small hints and Kenny's festive, only worn 5 times in 15 years shirt, are bringing up blanks, I have a feeling this short clip will be a tell-all. 
   

Something Sweet

 

I was trying to delete unwanted videos on my phone and came across this. Lydia tends to walk around the house without my knowledge making her own videos about her toys, her dolls, and her sister.  I decided to save this one.  

  Short, only 5 seconds and volume has to be turned up loud, but certainly sweet.