36

Thirty-six started off sketchy.

I have this precious daughter.  She is the day dreamer sort.  The type who loves to dress up in costumes and for ages 7-well into 9, pretended to be the 5th sibling in the Narnia series.  She is serious and headstrong and passionate.  She is also terrible at making rationale decisions.  That is something that we are really working on here in the next 8 years.  Her heart is in the right place, she usually means very well, but I catch myself wanting to ask her at least 10 times a day, “What in the heck were you thinking, Mattie?” Actually, she is usually very clear about the what part, it is the why that leaves me with a furrowed brow.

She made me a birthday card.

She wanted to be the very first to wish me a Happy Birthday.

I was born at 2:09 on September the 25th…….can you see where I’m going with this?  Passionate, headstrong and fierce in her love……..but 2:09 is not a good time for me.  Thankfully, Brandon got wind of her plans and though it didn’t make her happy, she conceded to let me sleep through my birth hour.  She did, however, decide to wake up at around 5:15 just to get an extra early start to her day.  And since there is a lot of traffic in our house before dawn, this required that there be a lot of opening and closing (loudly) of her bedroom door.  Because a 10-year-old girl needs a lot of privacy when there isn’t anyone else conscious and they are trying to get dressed for the morning.

She eventually woke up our baby….the puppy….who immediately upon waking up every morning, hollers to be released from her den and if you aren’t down there to rescue her, she will pee all over her kennel.  And I will get to clean it out.  No body wakes up Cybill unless they are ready to go take her outside.  But with all of her door slamming and excessive stomping around, she couldn’t hear the crying dog.  All of this to say that Cybill was the first person to greet me on my birthday and her Happy Birthday song was one that I could have gone without hearing….for at least another hour.

After draining the dog, I decided I might as well get started with the day…..packing school lunches and get the coffee started.

But there was no coffee.

What in the dirty?

I specifically remember that the morning before I had let Brandon sleep in.  He had an extremely late night and hadn’t made it home from the clinic until around 1 a.m.  I had made the discovery of all the coffee being gone, but didn’t worry too much because I was taking the kids to school and planned to just stop at Starbucks on the way home.  I purchased both myself and my husband some coffee and when I arrived home, he asked me if there was a reason I bought coffee or was I just being nice.  I also remember distinctly telling him that there was both a reason and I was being nice.  *As a side note, just recently, Brandon had decided that I was purchasing poor quality coffee and from that point on, he would be in charge of our morning caffeine needs.* I feel like that was pretty much the same as telling him he needed to pick up some of his special coffee before setting foot back into our house when he was done with his job for the day.

So when I woke up the next day, after a very noisy start, entirely too early……I really was looking forward to my cup of “Good Morning”.  And I was extremely agitated when I discovered that it wasn’t there and since Lila was still sound asleep, it wasn’t going to be there any time soon.  About an hour after the kids left for school, my dear friend texted me to let me that she wasn’t feeling good and wouldn’t be able to keep Lila while I went and got my annual, birthday haircut.  No coffee and nowhere to be, I decided I was going to spend the day on my couch, in my pajamas, maybe feeling a little sorry for myself, I might even take a little mid morning nap while my child watched something on tv.

Birthdays only come once a year.

I’m not sure at what point that morning another friend texted Brandon, asking him something about something and he let them know that he may have contributed to my birthday starting off on a sour note.  This dear friend then took it upon herself to fix things.  She called and rescheduled my hair appointment, she made me get dressed, and she came to my house with not just a cup of coffee, but a whole bag.  She also took Lila and assured me that someone would be picking up my other two from school.  Go get your hair did K, I’ve got you covered.

She also gave me an awesome birthday present later that night, one that is both meaningful and beautiful – but it will never compare to that afternoon.  Everyone should have that person, that one person who you don’t have to give all the details to – the don’t need the details.  But sit tight, because they are coming.  My day wasn’t exactly tragic.  Far from it, but she wanted to make sure that when I officially turned old, I at least felt special….or at least caffeinated and prettier because my hair would be fixed.  And if I was ever having a “real” problem, I know exactly who I would be running to.  I have an awesome person one my team and I am richer for that.

My hair got cut, I ate a Chik-Fil-A salad alone and when I arrived home 36 seemed pretty great.

It got even better when a familiar pair of voices walked through my garage door.

It’s funny how some sounds, voices, the jingling of dog tags or the constant metronome of a clock can almost get engrained in your thoughts.  You recognize them before you realize you are even hearing them and your brain immediately connects them to a whole slew of thoughts, memories, feelings – all 5 senses are a go.  I heard a familiar laugh in my hallway and suddenly time was back to July and Chris and Shannon were still in Memphis and we were having Friday evening supper like all the times before.  They came with suitcases, which wasn’t really typical of their usual Friday evening visits, but at the same time not altogether crazy either.  Shannon never came to my house empty-handed, always bearing treats or even her knitting to work on with Mattie.  I’ve missed them so much, and I knew I had missed them – but getting to see them, to have them standing in the living room like so many times before, like usual, that felt 100 times stronger than the missing ever had.

Birthday just turned solid gold

Shannon also brought me a pie.  In the bottom of a birthday basket filled with goodies, there was a fresh, homemade apple pie.

36 just dropped the mic and walked away, there’s no way 37 will be able to touch this.  Even if Brandon buys me my own Starbucks franchise………

Birthday Shenanigans

It’s my birthday week and this next birthday will mark the start of the end of my being on the other side of old.  At 34, I was still closer to 30 than 40 and at 35, it was kind of a toss-up year.  Technically, 5 round ups to 10, but no one is really going to argue with you if you insist that its right smack in the middle and neither close to 30 or 40.  Thirty-five has been a safe little island of agelessness…….and I only have 3 days left before I am kicked off the island.

Yesterday, as our way of celebrating or livin’ it up before everything tanks, Lila and I lunched at Sonic.  I know, pulling out all the stops aren’t we.  We should really pace ourselves or we’re going to do some real damage.  Today, I have spent a good 45 minutes looking at t-shirts on a website, debating which I like best, when I know good and well that when it comes time to actually purchase what I have carefully tucked away in my virtual cart, I will just exit the site.  I’ve also let Lila watch a small marathon (more of a 5K) of My Little Pony while she eats her breakfast.  It’s not every day that your mom is almost about to turn 36.  I think what really happened was that I got a little caught up in the plot and was really too curious to find out why AppleJack didn’t return to Sweet Apple Acres after the big rodeo in Canterlot.

Lila and I also decided to clean out the car.  I could be wrong, but I am about 99.99999% sure that Brandon isn’t planning to surprise me Friday morning with a new SUV parked out in my driveway with one of those larger than life “new car bows” you see on the Lexus commercials at Christmas time.  I mainly know this because he may be the one that actually makes our money, I am the one who actually knows what we are doing with it.  And not to get too far into the private life on our “wealth” but one thing I am not doing with our finances is paying for a new birthday car.  He had talked about getting it professionally detailed for me.  The kind of professional job that one would have done if someone had died in my car and now the city wanted to sell it back at an auction.  Very thorough and also very pricey.  That was all set up and ready to go, but then the expensive dog we purchased got expensive parvo so……….CSI car detailing would have to wait.  Plus, the idea of spending a mortgage on cleaning my car and then having to drive my children around was kind of nauseating to me.  The coffee spills on the console I will take the blame for, but everything else from the driver’s seat back…….that’s all them.

We didn’t set the bar very high, no expectations.  Even if we were just moving the dirt around a little, we were at least going to do something.  It might still smell like something had died in there, but at least it would only smell like one something died instead of a whole family. So Lila and I set to work, with out little buckets full of slightly sudsy Mrs. Meyers radish-scent hot water and old burp clothes.

In our pajamas we scrubbed.

Then when we saw two firemen coming by hand us our quarterly fire safety checklists – we hid.  That might seem odd to you, but next time you find yourself out in your garage thinking you are entirely alone and wearing your shortie night gown while scrubbing what could possibly be bodily fluids out of the cup holders in your car….I bet the thought will come to you and seem like a good one, too. We scrubbed for a whole hour and though I wouldn’t go so far as to say that my car now smells good – it definitely doesn’t smell nearly as bad.

Proud of our work, we put on real clothes and decided to take the car out and get the exterior clean as well.  Because I intend on spending the last of my time at 35 feeling fancy.  It was while humming along through the car wash that I noticed that maybe our cleaning job hadn’t been as effective as it felt while we were doing it.  There also might be something to be said for cleaning out you car (or anything) in a well lit area.  It is possible that the light from the interior recessed lighting system and my overhead garage door may not have been all that we needed to do a A+ cleaning job.  I used the rest of our car wash ride to document with my phone the areas that looked questionable and made a mental not to touch those up before I shared with the husband what Lila and I had done that day.  Your bragging only goes so far when the car is still dirty.

We topped our day off with a little treat at “Nothing Bundt Cake”.  Birthday week means you get all sorts of free things sent to you in-box and being the last kid living at home (during the day) means that Lila gets to share in my birthday revalry.  Tomorrow we are going to Baskin Robbins for birthday ice cream and Tory Burch for Birthday $40 off fancy shoes.

So far, Lila hasn’t cracked to the others that she got cake for lunch.  When she does, I expect a reaction similar to this.

Three Days in a Row!

Since I’m doing so well, I hated to lose the momentum that I have going. I really don’t have any great stories to share since yesterday, but I can’t certainly catch you up on a few other little things that have occurred over the last little bit.  First and foremost, something that I am reminded about every time I do just about anything is this:

Sitting, standing, leaning, running…..all painful

This happened a few weeks ago when I was taking Cybill out to do her things one morning and it was raining.  I knew it was slippery and I even made sure to put shoes on to help out with the traction situation.  Unfortunately, I chose a pair of Brandon’s flip-flops and I though I really can’t say if it was the shoes fault or not – I ended up falling down the stairs of our deck.  That was about 4 weeks ago.  It is looking remarkably better, but there is still this weird, invisible ridge of something there on my backside that I am beginning to fear will never go away.  I suppose I had it coming.  I fell down the stairs in our house this summer.  i had just finished primping for church and was wearing a white sundress with brand new,leather soled sandals…..and carrying a mug of coffee in my hand.  The soles of my shoes were fresh out of the box and had never met carpet before…..I may as well have been wearing skis.  I felt the fall coming, but I have learned my lessons about trying to hang on to hand rails or putting my hands down to catch me….so I just went with it.  I tried my best to not fight it and just ride it out, that and to not drop my coffee mug.  I made it to the bottom without breaking anything – there was coffee all over our entry way and my dress immediately got a bath in oxy clean, but for the most part I got out unscathed.  I think my bruise is sort of payback for not hurting myself more the first time.  Fall once, you get a pass.  Fall twice, you get this awesome bruise to carry around for a month.

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Lila is in dance again this year.  She loved it last year and I think her Creative Movement or whatever it was called class, was perfect for her.  There wasn’t anything technical about it – a lot of prancing around, swaying and pretending to be different animals, but she loved every minute of it just the same.  This year, even though it’s still technically the same class, it is a whole world of different.  Their teacher is Ms. Georgia and she is the most elegant, grandmotherly woman I have ever met.  She wears drapey, flowy clothes and of course her little dance shoes.  Her hair is always pulled back just so and even when she opens the door to let the girls in, she has the graceful, dancery way of doing it.  Instead of doing cute little motions to songs about eating healthy and different types of animals, Ms. Georgia has a cd with a whole little curriculum on it set to classical piano music.  She calls the girls “Dancers” even though that seems quite a stretch of the term.  If you ask Lila what her name is now, she will address you by curtseying and quietly whispering “Lila”.  Of course, you won’t be able to hear her and when you ask her to repeat that please, she will yell it at you.  But for that brief little instant – she is a tiny, graceful dancer in head to toe pink.

If the world ever gets you down, maybe you just need a minute to take a time-out – I would recommend going to a preschool dance class and just taking 45 minutes to observe.  It is hilarious and soothing all at the same time, like getting a mental massage.  The world can’t be that bad when little 3 year olds are trying their hardest to copy the swan-like moves of their seasoned instructor…..and failing beautifully.

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We went to Mumsey and Poppy’s house over the holiday weekend.  Friday night, right before bed, the girls found my wedding dress.  How I managed to keep it tucked away from Mattie for 10 years, I have no idea.

Have a great Wednesday and watch out for stairs!

The Best Medicine

I am congested.  Not just the kind of congested were you are uncomfortable and annoyed, but the kind where you are actually crying.  And I don’t mean crying because you are sad or the pressure hurts so much, but crying because the pressure in your sinuses is actually squeezing moisture out of the only unobstructed orifice on your face.  It’s the kind of congested where breathing is difficult, but more than that, you are terrified that you are going to somehow drown because its impossible to swallow and breath at the same time.  Its a little better this morning, but two nights ago, the congestion had reached its apex.  I was lying on the couch, waiting for my decongestant to make even a pin hole – there may have been some complaining going on too, maybe a little bit of begging Brandon to please take an ice pick to my head….I promised I wouldn’t fight him or press charges later.

He didn’t take me up on any of my outlandish, home remedies.

He started messing with his phone, which at first made me really angry.  I was possibly going to die here on our sectional, strangled by my own sinuses, and he was texting or playing Two Dots.  But then something came on the tv – and old, home video from way back when.  It was grainy and fuzzy and for whatever reason the sound didn’t match up, but it was a little girl I haven’t seen in years, working on her first steps.  And then more followed, pretending to read a Valentine’s Day card from her Daddy, and driving around in her Fisher Price car pretending to place a to-go order.  The fact that I couldn’t breath was no longer relevant – breathing isn’t important when you are time traveling and for that moment on my couch on a Sunday night, it totally felt like I was.

*It could have been my sentimental emotions or the high intake of meds…..the jury is still out*

I take a gazillion pictures of my kids, but hardly ever do I think about sliding my finger over and hitting that video button.  Of course at Christmas programs and recitals – when they are performing, but rarely do I think to do it when they are just being themselves.  Those little selves that are so rich and full and also fleeting.  Mattie’s little voice doesn’t sound like that anymore, her movements are nearly as reckless and floppy as they were then and I can’t remember when the last time she walked into my room, completely stonewall and insisted that I sing 10 Little Indians while she did an interpretive dance dressed in hula gear.  She did come outside to play dressed like this about a week ago, but she wasn’t serious and there was no performance.

The little videos continued – we watched a very unhappy Reese get placed on my chest for the first time, and whether I had the ability to or not, I forgot to breath.  That moment is a touchstone I keep in my memory to bring out when I need it, like a drug fix – but to actually watch it on our giant tv was like getting to be there again in real-time.  We watched Mattie meeting her little brother for the first time and she looked so much like Lila it was crazy.  And while watching her unwrap his little hands and feet, there was a voice on the video that I have missed so much…..my grandpa.  “A girl and a boy, well now that’s just perfect.” It was a beautiful reminder of how blessed I am.  At the time, I knew that I was blessed to have this sweet little family, but the scary world of uncertainty was very intense.  My house was in boxes and being put into storage as I was lying there.  We would be moving to a new city where we knew absolutely no one and at that point didn’t have a home.  I remember crying while filling out paperwork for Reese’s social security card because we had no address.  But now looking back 7 years later, all I see is my little perfect family, with everyone there who should be – no blank spaces.

More videos

Putting up the Christmas tree with Mattie and a very wide-eyed baby Reese wearing a bunny suit trying to verbalize his thoughts about the whole thing.  Mattie holding her little brother and singing to him, “You’re my best friend, I love you.” That would NEVER happen today! And Crosby mosying in and out of the picture – Cybill is precious, but she’s not reached Crosby status yet.

The best was a little video of Reese, with the tightest little curls just barely sprouting out of his head, sitting in a high chair laughing so hard that he was crying.  It looked like his was possibly afraid of something and crying, but at the same time couldn’t contain the laughter.  The camera pans over to the left and all you can see is a huge crow puppet on the hand of my unseen father.  I remember that day, I remember that silly puppet and I remember that little boy with those huge cheeks and that deep little baby voice.  He doesn’t giggle like that anymore, he is much more reserved and those cheeks left last year when he had the stomach flu.  I think one of my favorite parts about that video though, is that even though you never see whose body is attached to that crow puppet – I know exactly who it is.  And just like my Grandpa’s voice in the video of Reese and Mattie’s first meeting, one of these days, hopefully a long ways off, I will watch that video an immediately be reminded that all of that happened and was real.

My medicine kicked in about that time……and Cybill needed to go out again

I’m sharing this little moment with you for two reasons, 1) Having a good distraction can be great when you aren’t feeling good and B) Take more videos.  My face is in probably 1 out of 100 of our photos, but in those videos even if they can’t see me, one day my kids (and grandkids) will be able to hear me.  Pictures are wonderful, but there is nothing like watching, peeking in at what our special people were like right at that specific time in their lives.  Record the programs, the recitals and the Christmas mornings – but don’t forget the Tuesdays when you are outside waiting on the dog to go poo and your three-year old is telling you what she wants for lunch.  Tomorrow, she might pronounce “lunch” with an actual L instead of a y sound.  Tomorrow she might not have pudgy hands and tomorrow the sun won’t hit her hair and it shine in quite the same way.

On a less sentimental note, but equally important – even though their mother has not been involved in their lives the last couple of days due to the plague – my children are still managing their way through life, and successfully I might add.  They both brought home reasons for me to be proud yesterday.

Reese presented me with this lovely award:

The boy wasn’t allowed to touch scissors before he entered school, ( DIY haircutting at an early age was a horrible crime of mine and I worked very hard to keep my children from repeating my own mistakes) so it’s good to know that he has picked up the skill with proficiency.

And Mattie made a cell out of dough and paint:

I would not have been able to identify what it was had she not told me, but I can appreciate it just the same.

Way to go kids………I should have taken a video.

Please Go Cybill!

It’s not so much what I have been doing lately, that has made it difficult to blog, but more so the frequency with which I have been doing it. Potty training a dog is time-consuming and I feel like I have spent more time in my back yard in this month that we have had Cybill, then in the past 3 years that we have lived here.  I’m learning a lot about my surroundings and which neighbors are early risers.  We also have a real bad mole problem or something.  I’m sure all my neighbors on the sides and behind us, know that we have a new puppy named Cybill.  She seems to be getting the hang of things a bit, either that or I’m figuring her out a little bit better.  Either way, our time outside is becoming more efficient and the time I am spending cleaning up after her inside is becoming less and less.  The kids still think its ridiculous that she doesn’t just hold it for hours or go and sit patiently by the door.  I have had to remind them on several occasions that none of them were potty trained at two months either. We are training each other.

Other things that I feel like I am doing a lot of are driving my kids to things.  There is a little 12 X 12 (inch) plot of land on the soccer fields at the JCC that I am just about ready to plant a flag in and set up my kingdom.  With both of the older kids being in soccer now, 3 days a week, I feel like I could start having my mail forwarded there.  And when we aren’t there for soccer, I go and spend 45 minutes tucked away in a little corner outside of the dance studios waiting for Lila.  This week, I saw that I had tons of things written on my calender, before I set to work figuring out which days I was going to actually bother with showering and which days I was going to throw on “sports wear” to pretend that I had just been exercising – I took a second look at all those activities scrawled on my week.

Some of us find other ways to amuse ourselves at soccer practice

Hydration is a very big deal

Thank Goodness for Jewish Holidays!

Instead of being activities “to-do”, they were all reminders that I didn’t have to do them.

Tonight, I might actually make my family a meal that comes from my oven, one that requires things to be cut and possibly purchased from the grocery store in the produce department………then again…………….

When I haven’t been out draining my dog or taking my kids to after school activities, I have been hunting for shoes for Lila.  Sure, she currently has a whole basketful of shoes that are perfectly appropriate, except for church shoes – navy blue ones in particular.  I am going to stop right now and say that what I am writing feels very deja vu-y and I feel like if I were to go back and read my entries from the month of September last year and even the year before, I would find a post saying the exact same things.  This is an ongoing problem that I really should get a hold of by this point in my parenting/ clothing career.

I really thought that I was prepared with shoes, whenever I come across any that are some of my staples, and on sale, I always buy for the future.  And I thought I had….but it turns out that the particular little shoe I bought for Lila’s church things runs a size small.  So I have 4 pairs of pristine, darling little girls leather shoes in red, black, brown and navy – and none of them fit the girl.  I received a coupon in the mail a bit ago for one of our favorite little Lila shoe stores and I’m not going to lie – it felt like an answer to prayer.  A very lame, 1st world problem prayer, but a prayer nonetheless.  I arrived at our store with Lila in one hand and my coupon in the other.  I knew my sizes and colors, we were going to be the best costumers ever!  No messing around, wishy-washy trying to make up our minds.  Four pairs of shoes, in and out…maybe not all 4 at once but at least one pair.  Turns out that Memphis has an abundance of little girls that wear the exact same size shoe as my child and they all decided the week before to go and get their church shoes.  There wasn’t a single pair of shoes in any brand, ANY BRAND in the style and colors that I needed.

I walked out of Cottontails feeling confused, defeated and slightly panicked about what my child was going to wear on her feet to church.  Technically, she still has sandals that fit perfectly and the weather is still blazing hot – but try as I may, I cannot quite shake the tiny voice that sounds eerily like my mother that says, “Labor day is for packing up those summer things”.  Brandon, being the California boy that he is, hailing from the land of eternal summer, doesn’t seem to understand my distress over this bi annual issue of whether or not to wear white or sandals after a certain date on the calendar.  Frankly, I don’t think the rest of the world gives a care either.  Those fashion rules went out the window a long time ago….but I can’t quite let go.  I feel like I’m driving without wearing my license when I know Lila is sitting in the back seat wearing white sandals and a sleeveless dress in September.  Since they don’t offer a medication for this issue, I have resorted to exposure therapy.  Brandon, being the expert in mental health that he is, has written out a plan for me.  I will continue to dress my kids in weather appropriate clothing despite it being mid-Septemer, until the official first day of fall.

Hopefully, I can find Lila a pair of shoes for church by then.

I would hate to have to resort to this:

My methods of furniture polish may differ from yours

This is what happened when I couldn’t find her an appropriate dress to wear for Easter.  Totally kidding, but I think this could explain how Cybill came down with Parvo shortly after her arrival at our house.  Again, kidding…..Parvo can’t be transmitted from person to animal……but I bet nobody is going to be anxious to sit down and play our piano anytime soon.

This is completely random, but I came across these the other day and felt like they were worthy of sharing:

I had no idea that they made special sauce just for children!  I thought about grabbing a bottle for myself because I am the lightweight around here and seem to ruin everyone’s day by always buying mild things.  But then I came across this sauce:

I may not be able to find my child church shoes in this town, but I have found a BBQ sauce custom-made to fit my taste buds specific needs.

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One last little thing, my kids have recently discovered baseball.  That probably has something to do with the plethora of 80’s-90’s baseball themed movies their father downloaded for them to watch on all our travels this summer.  Anyway, they had decided that they really wanted to go to a baseball game and luck of all lucks, we just happen to have a minor league team here in town – The RedBirds.  I, myself, am not a huge baseball fan but when I discovered that they would be hosting a Grizz night featuring the Grizz, the mascot of the Memphis Grizzlies (basketball team), the Red Birds would be wearing Grizz colors and Tony Allen (one of our favorites) would be throwing out the first pitch – this seemed like the best time ever to attend a game.  We went with friends, because everything is better with friends, and sported our Grizzlies wear.

We oohed and aahed at Tony Allen, who is way shorter in person than I thought he would be.  I think I was expecting him to be at least 8 ft tall and was a little let down at his mere 6’4.

 

And for just a minute there, it looked like we were really getting into our game.  Then we spotted Tony Allen again near our section, his head peeking out of one of the stairwells. I don’t think he realized he was visible, but because I was paying attention to everything except that actual baseball game, I spotted him right away.  It also just so happened that I had a sharpie marker in my person, not so much for celebrity sightings, more so because I think I confiscated it from a child at some time and then never put it away.  Friend Julie came equipped with about 6 growl towels and a handful of sharpies – I think those were just for the game, but you never know.  Anyway, we sent the kids on a mission – go harass Mr. Allen until he give you an autograph, but be polite and say thank you.  There was one point I where I thought they were going to lower Mattie over the guard rail or that we were going to get kicked out when the security guard came over and gently nudged them back in our direction – but overall they were successful.  We are now the proud owners of a 2015-2016 autographed game schedule magnet.

The home team lost, but the kids enjoyed the food and the singing at the 7th inning.  They were a little disappointed that there weren’t any foul balls right to us – we were sitting directly behind home plate so that would have really been something should it have happened.  But at the same time, I have seen my children try to catch a ball in their gloves and I am afraid that had a ball come in our direction, one of us would have left in an ambulance.

We are slowly checking off the “Things to do in Memphis” list.

Have a lovely Monday and I hope your dog does its business quickly and efficiently so that you can move onto the importunate things on your list.

Squashing the Arts and Other Events of the Past Week

I’m so happy that my yard has dog pooh in it again!  Mainly, I’m just excited that there is now a dog in our family again to produce this pooh, not so much about the material itself.  And I’m pretty sure that the kid whose job it is this month to collect and dispose of the pooh REALLY isn’t happy – but the dog part itself is really fantastic.  She has already proven to be “Our Dog”, having developed a fatal illness within the first 5 days that she was with us and enjoying a lengthy stay at the vet’s office.  She has doubled the amount that we originally paid for her and seems well on her way to tripling it, as she has a weird rash on her tummy now.  I’m really excited about our Well-Puppy Visit in the morning.

Turns out Cybill really loves NASCAR, too!

But long cautions wear her out.

Our past week has been full.  Soccer practice has taken over our days, and Mattie has decided that she would like to play, too.  I think she’s mainly into the socks.

The kids had their first Spirit Day at school.

This doesn’t really look like much, the kids appear to be wearing perfectly normal clothes.  But it was Color Day, Reese’s class wore purple and Mattie’s green.  Again, this would have been no big deal, except that Mattie doesn’t really own any green and Reese doesn’t have any purple.  They are wearing each other’s clothes and it is making them more uncomfortable and embarrassed then if they were naked.  So far, this has been, by far, the most difficult “Spirit Day” that the school has ever had.

Mattie had her official Induction Ceremony for her Pathfinder Club.  She had to wear her fancy, dress uniform which required black uniform pants.  I don’t know if you have ever had the opportunity to hunt for little girls, black uniform pants in your life – but it’s probably a task that is about as easy and enjoyable as say, lice larva removal from a head of hair.  Turns out, very few little girls in the city of Memphis wear black uniform pants, which means very few stores carry such a pant.  She eventually had her full uniform, she vowed to walk softly in the sanctuary and go on God’s errands……and a few other things…….then it was time for cupcakes.  I have loved everything about her Pathfinder Club so far, I have absolutely zero complaints…..except I don’t know that I completely agree with the choice in cupcake frosting.  I didn’t actually taste it, but it looked and felt very similar to royal blue Play-Do.

And my daughters looked like they had gone Hannibal Lector on a smurf

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Other fun events of the week, Lila seems to have ignited her inner artist and water colors are her medium of choice.  She will sit at the kitchen table for hours, papers scattered all over working on her works of art.  As long as her “music” is playing – a collection of little children’s “Jesus” songs that I used to sing when I was her age, oldies but goodies – she will work away without any complaints.

But when paints aren’t available, ink preferably from a ball point pen, seems to suffice.  Previously, she has been content to write and doodle all over any scrap of paper she can find.  I find her tell-tale “John Hancock” all over any receipt, cereal box or check that she comes into contact with.  So far, this has been okay – maybe a little annoying, but tolerable.  This week, she discovered that her skin makes a fantastic, portable, and reusable canvas.  A few days into the week, when her shins weren’t accessible due to her ballet tights, she just used them.  This didn’t go over as well.  And when I discovered that she hadn’t just utilized her pink tights, but also her pink leather saddles – there was a moment when I considered hurting her.

So mad!

I tried a magic eraser and rubbing alcohol, and the writing isn’t quite as obvious, but it’s still clearly there.  The new, mouthy puppy – with her piranha like teeth hasn’t destroyed anything……yet, but I Lila and I together have ruined 3 pair of sandals in the last 5 days.

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Papa came to visit us this weekend.  We haven’t seen him since early last spring and it had been far too long.  Nene wasn’t able to make it and we missed her dearly.  We tried not to have too much fun, because it wouldn’t be fair for Papa to take back such a huge serving of Love and Nene not be able to have any herself.  But I have to say, it was pretty fun even if we were trying to hold back.  I think one of the favorite points in the weekend was when both Mattie and Reese got to run a quick errand to Kroger.  If people can help it, they don’t usually take both Mattie and Reese at the same time.  They are both precious children and I wouldn’t’ trade them for anything – but taking them together somewhere isn’t something for the faint of heart.  It isn’t so much that they get into trouble, it’s just that they fight about EVERYTHING.  Anyway, I guess Papa was feeling brave or it had really just been too long since he was around them, but he let them both go.

And all three of them came back, together, in the same car.

Both kids have mentioned that grocery store trip in the past 48 hours, in a wistful sort of way.  I have no idea what all went down while at my local Kroger, I haven’t even asked – I think part of me just wants to leave the magic alone and revel in the glittery feelings left in its wake.

After the trip to the grocery store, we headed to church for Reese’s Adventurers Induction.  For any readers unfamiliar with Adventurers, it is a little club for 1st-4th graders where they learn about Jesus, work their way up the levels from Busy Beam to Helping Hand and earn little awards.  We had some really great leaders back when Mattie was in it and then things came up, life I suppose and suddenly we were a club without a leader.  I drew the short stick and became the leader than year and have sort of vowed that I will continue to do it until Reese is finished.  However, I probably have a few more years after that because Lila will be right on his heels.. I figure I have 7 more years left in Adventurers.  Anyway, our official Induction ceremony was this past Friday night.  It’s really a pretty low-key affair, there are no secret rituals or hazing, but there is fire which gives it that little extra pizzazz.  Something that does get me every time though, whether I’m the leader or not, is when the kids names are called and their special person puts their Adventurer scarf around their neck.  It’s right up there with being “hooded” when you get those higher degrees.

As parents, we get a little sentimental and you see the eyes get a little misty, as we are performing this special task for our children even though at this point, they haven’t done anything except show up to registration and pay the $50 club fee.  But its a moment nonetheless.  Last year, two of our little members didn’t have either of their parents there to do their “scarfing” and I made it a point to remind our audience that we are the village that is helping to raise these children.  To see the Uncles and Aunts, the Framily to come forward and let these little kids know that they would be their special person, definitely got the softy a little choked up.  This year, a big sister came forward to “scarf” her little brother.  That one really got me because I cannot imagine a world where my Mattie would do such a thing for Reese – but I sooooo pray it exists out there eventually in the future.  And without any discussions about who would do the deed, without any hesitations, as soon as Reese’s name was called by me, his Papa was right there to be the special “scarfer”.

I’m so thankful that even though it all just happened by coincidence, that Reese’s Grandpa was there for that honor.

At the end, when our candles were lit and the kids had lit their special person’s candle as a sign that they would do their best to be a little light for Jesus this next year – I felt it only appropriate for us to sing “This Little Light of Mine”.  Call it what you want, sentimentality, hyper sensitivity or a hormonal imbalance, but I don’t know how anyone can make it through 3 verses of acapella children’s voices singing “Let it shine till Jesus comes, I’m gonna let it shine” by candlelight and not get a lump in their throat.

The rest of our weekend was far less tear-inducing.  We had a great time just enjoying Papa and showing him the latest in Memphis attractions.  We visited the giant Bass Pro shop and only got lost from each other twice.  We checked out a new soda shop in the art district called “Love Pop Soda Shop”.  They have tons of different kinds of soda and you can pick whatever kind you want and they will pour it over ice or ice cream for you.  It’s a simple little idea and a very simple store front, but the kids especially seemed to LOVE it.

The “Girl Getter” Papa’s right hand that has a fierce tickle. It can also transform into the “Boy Getter” should the male grandchild be close by

The Grandkid posing in the back of Papa’s truck.  I took this photo at about noon on Sunday in my pajamas with several of my neighbors driving by.  I am not ashamed….but probably should be.

Enjoying a Butter Beer float

Lila opted for a popcicle instead – Our little divergent

It has been far too long since I had a chocolate soda. I will be back soon Love Pop Soda Shop!

We also ate barbecue.  Any weekend with Memphis barbecue is a success and noteworthy in my book. One last detail that deserves to be mentioned, if for no other reason than for our own little time capsule that I am creating here.  Mattie, the girl who hasn’t had any sort of sports training or experience in her life, got bumped up to the higher level soccer team.  We are trying to play it cool, emphasizing that we would be proud no matter what and are just happy that she’s having fun – but I think Brandon and I are both super proud.  I especially am because I have absolutely no athletic talent.  I have accepted this and have decided to not let it hinder my attempts to at least participate, but I am fully aware that I am an easy out and will always be picked last. To see that Mattie might escape that fate, made me shine.  Go job Mattie Belle and way to play like a girl!

Now, happy start to a new week and a new month.