Wednesday's Winning Words

Get excited people--Justus is playing T-Ball this spring!!  You know what that means, right?!?!  Little humans in sports uniforms (and a tiny human in blingy-sporty-sibling outfits!). 

Can. Not. Wait. for the cute parade!

We don't get started for a couple of weeks still, but we got our roster and team name (Texas Rangers!) and will be going out to get new equipment this weekend.  Two of Justus' friends are on his team, which is super exciting for him.  Charlie's dad coached his soccer team, and Carlos' dad is coaching this team.  So, I think the idea that dads are supposed to coach hit home pretty quickly for him. 

Next thing I know:  "Mommy, when is my daddy going to coach my team?"  and before I can even  start with "I don't know that your dad..." I get:  "Maybe he can do it when I play basketball!" 

Have you ever seen Kidd Royal play basketball?  I'm not saying if he's good or bad, I just want to know if any one has actually ever seen him play the sport.  I never cared one way or the other if Justus ever played basketball, but for that, it may be worth it!

Heavy in the House

I've mentioned a time or two about the "heavy" subjects we've been talking about lately, courtesy of Justus' unceasing curiosity.  Well, it continues.  Awhile back, during the regular bedtime prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep..." Justus asked what a soul was (wanting to know why we would ask God to keep it or take it, per the prayer).  Given that it was bedtime, we talked about it but didn't go into great detail.  He forgot about it by morning.  Now, it seems we've moved on.

Recently on the way to school, he was talking about how if you get "burned" (creamated, to you and me) you get to heaven faster than if you "go in the ground" (buried).  The he said, "If you go in the ground, you may not even go to heaven."  I swear, I know what you are thinking:  "What in the world are they teaching that child at his young age?!?!"  I do not initiate these conversations with him, but I'm also not going to ignore what he brings up for discussion.  So, I told him very generally that one way is not a faster path to heaven, and that even if you get buried, you can still go to heaven.  I told him how our soul goes to heaven when we die no matter what, as long as we believe in God.  He pointed out that he believes in God, so that means he gets to go to heaven.  Good, we understand the fundamental here (at least what a 5 year old can grasp).

Then, he wanted to know where in his body his soul was.  Are you kidding me with this???  at 7:00 a.m.?!?!Can I just send the kid to theology school now, please?  Maybe he can explain it all to me. ....and we're back to "What is a soul?" 

Wednesday's Winning Words--the [First] Lent Edition

We are Episcopalian.  We do Lent (contrary to most people thinking it's only a Catholic thing).  So, I was talking with Justus about Lent because although I don't think he's necessarily old enough to full understand and participate in all aspects, the education can clearly start.  I mean, the kid understands sacrifice and deprivation.  Ask him--he thinks he suffers from it every day at my hands--he just doesn't know the words.  So, we started with the small stuff:  Lent is the name for the 40 days before Easter...People give up things they really like to have/do for the 40 days to represent the sacrifice Jesus made for us...."  Well, I apparently lost him at "Easter."  The next part of the conversation went like this:

J:  "Mommy, do you know what I'm going to ask the Easter bunny to bring me for Easter?"
M: "Justus, you may get an Easter basket from the Easter bunny, but he's not Santa Clause.  He doesn't take requests."
J: "Ok, but do you know what I'm going to ask him for?"
M:"  No, I don't.  How do you plan on telling the Easter bunny what you want?  We don't know where he lives like we do Santa Clause."
J: "When we take our picture with him, I'll tell him."

That kid has an answer for everything!

Our first effort at explaining Lent didn't go so well.  I guess we'll just keep trying.  If anyone has creative ways to explain Lent to a 5-year-old, I'm more than willing to accept suggestions.

A fairy godmother?!

Look at this face!

This is my godson, Everett.  Aren’t those some of the best blue eyes you’ve ever seen?  So adorable, I just want to squeeze him.  And what a privilege, to be asked to be his godparent?! I'm not actually capable of doing any *real* magic like a fairy godmother can, but to think that someone trusts me enough to say now that they want me to be a part of their child’s life forever, and want me to share in the responsibility of ensuring this sweet angel knows God’s love and commitment to him, and lives in a way that pleases God... 

Wow.  Just wow.

Everett at lunch after his baptism a couple months ago

Now for the disappointment-- Everett and his parents do not live nearby.  They are only about 3 hours away, but in the life of people with small children, a city a few hours away may as well be on the other side of the planet.  It is near impossible to plan visits around everyone’s schedules…especially when both of our husbands work on many weekends (and don't tell them, but we actually prefer to visit when they are working--less wife guilt).  As a result, I get to enjoy Everett’s life in snippits.  He’s now 5 months old and I’ve only been able to see him in person twice.  This would be something I intend to change.  Somehow, someway, I plan to see him more frequently.  I love the pictures I get of him from time to time though.  (Hint, Hint, Amy—ramp it up a bit, why don’t ya?)

So, you may wonder how I got so lucky to work myself into this position with this handsome little munchkin.  Well, Everett’s mom is my person--which makes complete sense only if you watch Grey’s Anatomy-- and has been for almost 17 years.  Amy is the one who knows pretty much everything and who I can say just about anything to without fear of judgment, ridicule, chastising, etc.  Don’t get me wrong, there may be probably is any one or more of those things any time I open my mouth, they just aren’t immediately overt. 

Despite having grown up in the same city, and attending rival high schools (we played an annual football game called...wait for it...The Gucchi Bowl.  Don’t be jealous.), we didn't meet until the beginning of our sophomore year of college.  Amy joined my sorority.  Yes, I was in a sorority.  I had been in a year, and she just pledged (although I believe that’s no longer the technical term when one becomes a provisional member of a national Greek social/philanthropic organization).  We were at Del Lago on a retreat which neither of us was excited about having to attend.  We commiserated over it at the time and have been enjoying each other’s snarky attitude ever since.  We spent many an evening in college partying, dancing, and singing “Summer Lovin’” to each other with our friends all around. Yep, because the night always had to culminate with a playing of the Grease hit--don’t ask me why.  Amy was the first person I told that I liked Kidd Royal as anything more than a friend.  She was my maid of honor at our wedding.  I called her right after I called Kidd to say our first baby was coming that day.  When anything big happened, she’s the one I wanted to talk to first.   Over time when we were no longer in the same town, we would look forward to our visits and make long lists (because we are both list people) of all the things we were going to discuss when we got together.  We’d spend a weekend on the porch at one place or the other, talking until we couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore and would cover everything and more over the weekend, which would have to suffice until we talked again.  We spent hours solving the world’s problems of men, jobs, marriage, friends, frenemies, school, worldly, national celebrity gossip news, and so on.  Now that we’re older and more mature, the conversation is more about men, jobs, marriage, friends, frenemies, school, and motherhood.  So, you see, a lot has changed.  I’m sure we both saved tons in therapy because of our talks.  If only time and schedules allowed us to do it more often.  We will likely never live in the same city again, as our lives just have taken us down different paths, but we will always be close.

I have been criticized in the past for acting as though my friends are more important than family.  I believe that family is what you make of it, and you don’t get to treat people like crap and take them for granted just because they are related to you, by no choice of their own.  You have to cultivate a relationship to really keep that family feel.  So, yes, some friends are every bit as important to me as family.  Amy is one of those.  As an added bonus, her family is pretty darn amazing too.  Chandler is a pretty fantastic guy, and I have known and loved her parents and siblings as long as long as I’ve known her, and I cannot tell you how awesome they are.  Talk about a shining example of the kind of parent and wife I want to be!  As it so happens, her sister Jessica and I are kinda the same person.  Just sayin’.  Maybe that’s why she loves me.

So, back to my point---which is long overdue (both in terms of time and length of this post!):  Welcome to the world, Everett David!!  Know that Kidd and I love you so very much and are deeply honored to have the privilege of being your godparents.  We wish you every happiness in life and look forward to watching you grow into the outstanding human being we know you are to become.  You have phenomenal parents who would do anything for you.  But, know that like the rest of us, they are human and will make mistakes.  Don’t hold it against them for too long.  You are so very loved by people far and near.   I hope you feel that in every step of your life.  We will all be here to spoil you rotten,  laugh with you when you are happy, support you when you are sad, and answer your millions of questions as you figure out this crazy thing called life.  We'll talk again more later, I promise.  For now, suffice it to say you are an amazing blessing, for which I am truly grateful!  I'm not exactly fairy godmother material--seeing as how I'm not a fairy and don't carry a wand-- but I will do everything I can to help make your life magical.

Justus and Everett after the baptism

 

Amy and her godson.  Look familiar?

The chipping away of innocence

The other day on the way to school, Justus was telling me all about how there have been 44 presidents and how important Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were.  I beamed with pride of how smart he is.  I am pretty certain that at his age, I did not know the names of important presidents, much less how many we'd had to date.  Then he did a little of his typical imaginary play, which I also love.  He co-mingles real life with books with tv shows...  It definitely makes for some interesting stories.  Then, out of the blue, he says "Mommy, did you know there were bad guys who flew planes into the really tall building and it fell and a bunch of people died?". I paused, and had to think for a second--is he making this up, or is this a real story?  It hits me, which is exactly how it feels anytime the subject comes up, even 10+ years later.  It is a real story, a very real story.  One that I (and every other American) remember like it was yesterday.  But, how does my 5-year old know about that awful day that changed the world?  I know that we've never discussed it with or even around him.  School, of course.  At first I'm bothered, but I don't know why.  It is part of our history and something that all children will learn about.  Side note:  When I asked his teacher about it, she said it came up when the kids ask what presidents do, and they discussed making hard decisions (like going to war).  Can't say it's my favorite teaching moment in pre-k, but I can accept that.

I've always known that the difficult subjects would come up.  I just wasn't expecting it yet, and frankly hadn't considered 9/11/01 as a topic I would have a hard time discussing with my kids.  In a bit of a shock, I just acknowledge that I did know about that.  Satisfied with my simple yes, he went on mixing real life and fantasy as though we had just discussed what color the Hot Wheel in his little hand was.  However, in that moment, I felt the need to say so many different things to him.  I wanted to say how sad it was, where I was exactly when it happened, how proud I was of our country in the following weeks, months, and years; how hard it's been to be a country a war, and so much more.  Mostly, I wanted to tell him how we would always protect him as best we could and that he shouldn't fear something like that happening, and what a (hopefully) very rare event it was.  Finally, of course I would tell him how important it is to tell your loved ones that you care about them and never say goodbye in anger because you just never know what can happen.  This would obviously all be much too heavy for a child of his age, but I just felt like a piece of his innocence disappeared that day, whether he knew it or not and something needed to be said.  Yet, I sat silent as we drove on.  It begs the question--is that what education does?  Chip away at our innocence by teaching us the truth?  Is it even the truth?  Not to get into a debate over the perspectives taught in our schools, especially given that mine is still only in pre-k, but I guess I feel compelled to know exactly what he was told about such an important event to ensure the story matches with what I want him to believe about that day.

I'm not disappointed that he knows.  I'm not even disappointed that he learned about it at daycare.  I think my only disappointment is that, assuming he remembers and if it actually sets in, that can be a really scary thing for a kid his age and we never want our children to be fearful.  This is obviously not a real possibility, but we still do all we can to prevent it.  We also know that experiencing fear and other negative emotions develop our inner strength and shape how we maneuver similar situations going forward.  It leads me to think of all the other difficult topics that will arise over the years, and I know this is just the beginning. I kind of feel like I just flunked "Tough Talks 101." Guess I better put my game face on, because it's going to be a bumpy road.

Wednesday's Winning Words

This week, Justus' class is working on the letter S.  We generally encourage him to take a show and tell (on Fridays) that begins with the letter for the week.  At dinner Monday night, we were going around the table coming up with S words, as we do from time to time.  At one point, one of us said "sister."  Kidd and I both suggested (jokingly) that Justus could take Delaney for show and tell on Friday.  Justus assured us that was silly and he couldn't do that.  We asked why not...

"Because she may fall out of my cubby!"

Valid point.



Look at that face.  Even sick, she's pretty darn cute.  She'd make a great show and tell. Next time we have it at my office, this is what I am bringing...even if she doesn't sit in my cubby all day waiting.

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

My Funny Valentine

...and my Not-So-Happy-Cause-I'm-Still-Sick Valentine

Oh, and look--Pinterest strikes again.

"Of all the fish in the sea, I'm glad we swim in the same school!"

What's inside?  Swedish Fish, of course.

and Goldfish for Delaney's friends.

May your day be filled with lots of LOVE!

Wednesday's Winning Words: Courtesy of Delaney

Delaney decided it was high time she get in on the Wednesday's Winning Words action too. 

She's been a dancing phenom lately and this originally started as an effort to capture her moves.  Alas, she was more interested in the phone (not surprising), so I whipped the camera around and we practiced our kisses and "hi".  Enjoy!



I know this post is supposed to be about winning words, but I also had to share this picture.  And let me just say- there are no words for the joy that this random Sunday morning moment brings me.  Just look at those faces.

That's right, I can craft too.

I have a secret.  I have been crafty lately.  Well, sort of.   Crafty for me, I guess I should say.  Thanks to Pinterest, I have all these wonderful plans, and a FEW have finally been executed.  I just had to share.

This was a recent breakfast: Egg/Bacon/Cheese Ring  Yummy!

Not necessarily crafty, but still a Pinterest acquisition.  I make quite a few recipes from it, just happened to take a picture of one this time.  And it practically looks like a craft project, doesn't it?

This was Shanon's Graduation Gift. 
Can you guess what she's going to be when she grows up? 
Yes, I MADE this!  I thought it was so cute, I had to try for myself.

and this frame.

...and who doesn't have socks that get separated in eaten by the dryer?  I loved the idea of this.  Mine isn't nearly as cute as what was on Pinterest.  I would have loved to do the original, but I am well aware of my own limitations.

Notice how I don't post the "inspiration" photo so there's no excessive laughter at my version?

I have several more projects in mind, and will keep you posted on their progress.  But, for now, I'm pretty proud of myself and just had to share the fun results.

Wednesday's Winning Words

As you may recall, Justus is all about the age thing right now.  We can't seem to get the kid past this.  So, we're trying to use it as a math lesson.  He's been particularly interested in himself as a 17 or 18 year old.  I'm choosing to ignore this. 

Today, it continued:

Justus:  Mommy, when I am 18, how old will Delaney be?

Me: She will be 14.  I can feel my heart tearing out of my chest at the mere thought of this.

Justus (unknowingly adding fuel to the fire):  Laughing...That's going to be fun! 

At this point, Delaney starts lauging too.

Heart, Meet Ground.