Surfin Safari

Grant’s in the bathtub in my room while I’m one glass block wall away in the shower.

SPLASH!

Me: Grant? Are you okay?
Grant: Yep! I’m fine!

SPLASH!

Me: Grant, are you jumping in the bathtub?
Grant: Nope. Just playin.

SPLASH!

Me: What on earth are you doing? Is water splashing all around everywhere?
Grant: Nope. No splashes.
Me: Okay, well make sure there isn’t water all over the floor.
Grant: There isn’t!

After my shower, and as the water is draining out of the bathtub, I notice the bath pillow is among the bath toys.

Me: Why is the bath pillow in the bath tub?
Grant: Oh. I was just surfing with it.
Me: Surfing with it? Like standing on it in the bathtub?
Grant: Yep.
Me: Is that what all that splashing was while I was in the shower?
Grant: I made sure no water splashed out.
Me: Next time let’s make sure there’s no surfing either.
Grant: Oh man.

Given specifically to me

I’ve been thinking about a statement I read in the Momology book that is the MOPS book for the year. “God gave you the children you were designed to mother”. For over a month I’ve pondered this, thinking about my delightfully unique children, wondering what about them was designed specifically for me to mother. I haven’t figured Grant out yet, although I do know he’s a good fit for me. But Emma, I realized why she’s mine today.

I think God gave us Emma because I don’t embarrass easily. She loves to sing in public places, she loves to shout with joy when she’s high on the swing, she loves to be the center of attention, she loves shoes that clip clop and clothes that sparkle and big big pink bows on headbands. Her enthusiasm makes it fun to live life along side her.

She feels every emotion intensely and today the emotion was disappointment. Right before the bell rang for the start of school, she realized she wanted to wear her hair up but had forgotten a hair rubber band. A meltdown of enormous proportions ensued. It started right outside the door of her classroom, then at a quieter volume but still involving intense emotions as she entered into the classroom, and then onto the carpet where the teacher was trying to take role as the kids were getting seated for a story. The day was finally saved by a pink hair band from the teacher’s purse, and tears were dried and Emma was ready to learn.

As I walked to the car, wondering what on earth had just happened, I realized exactly why Emma is ours. I’m not easily embarrassed.

Moving on to a 10K

Last night Hubs looked at me and said "Whatever happened to you running a half marathon?".

Right. What did ever happen to that idea?

So I downloaded Couch to 10K onto my iphone, got my hiney out of bed at 6am on a Sunday, and kicked off 10K in 2010. I'm aiming for a Nov. 10K. It's feeling daunting, this whole running for an hour thing, but I'm trying to remind myself if I follow the day by day training plan I'll be fine.

I'll be fine.
I'll be fine.
I'll be fine.

As heard from Grant this week

- “There goes the battalion chief firefighter!” (What? Did he just say battalion chief? Where on earth did he hear that? Oh look, he’s right, there goes the battalion chief.)

- “Was that an appropriate choice I made there on the play structure?”

- “That was definitely awesome!”

And then, just to remind us he’s still silly and not all adult vocabulary, he emerged from his room after being asked to put his shoes on so we could take the trashcans down to the curb wearing his soccer socks pulled up to his hips and his rainboots.

Finding a long lost love

Emma and I started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory tonight as her bedtime story. She loves it, and begged to read more. It was hard to refuse, because I love it too. I love Roald Dahl, and I’m so excited to share that love with her. We giggled as we read the other books written by him – James and the Giant Peach, the BFG, Charlie and the Glass Elevator. I can’t wait to dive into Beverly Cleary’s Ramona Quimby Age 8, or anything Judy Blume, or when she’s older, Madeline L’Engle and the Wrinkle in Time series. It’s finally time to get the box out of the rafters labeled “Chapter books”, a book I packed up 8 years ago, dreaming of the time I took it down and lovingly passed the books of my childhood on to my child. The time is now, and bedtime stories just got a whole lot more interesting.

She's a First Grader now

She had her dress picked out, a new pink headband with a huge bow, and brand new shoes, all ready for the first day. She had a new water bottle with purple stripes, a new Hello Kitty thermos, and we had a plan for what I would pack for her lunch. We had met her teacher at the Back to School picnic, connected with old friends, and talked about how to behave in the cafeteria and to remember to lock the stall door behind her in the bathroom. We were ready, and Emma was excited.

As Sunday wore on, Emma felt like she was going to barf. She was super lethargic, and a little bit warm most of the evening, and wouldn’t eat a thing. I spent the whole night worrying she was going to miss her first day of school. I debated emailing her teacher to give her a heads up, I cancelled Grant’s playdate for Monday morning, and I worried some more. I dozed instead of sleeping, waiting for her door to open and her to race to the bathroom to barf.

But that time never came. Monday dawned sunny, Emma woke up well rested, refreshed, and excited for First Grade. She put on the pink dress, the pink headband, and the sparkly shoes. She posed by the first day of school picture tree in our backyard. She grabbed her lunchbox (with a heart shaped note from mom inside), grabbed her backpack, kissed her dad on the cheek, and declared herself ready to go.

So we went. She marched down the hall confidently, found her cubby, squealed with joy when she realized she was seated next to Brooke, a good friend from Kindergarten, gave me a hug and a kiss, took out her freshly sharpened pencil, and got to work on the writing activity on her desk. One more quick smile and wave, and I realized she was ready for me to go. So I did, wondering the whole way back to the car when she became a First Grader.

Church Camp

We just spent a week in the Santa Cruz mountains, surrounded by redwoods at the conference center, and taking day trips to the beach to check out tidepools, play in the sand, and visit the Boardwalk. Hubs golfed one day, we hung at the pool one day, and we logged many hours at the conference center playground. In the morning, the kids made friends at the Children’s program, learning about the Armor of God, while Hubs soaked in the speaker, and I worked with the youngest attendees in the nursery. It filled our souls, strengthened our friendships with other church members, and taught us that we can survive a barfing kid on vacation. We’re hooked, and we’ve already paid our deposit to come back next year. It’s what childhood memories are made of!