It's Amazing How Much Your Head Sweats

This weekend D came over for a visit.  I love having her come to our house.  She settles into the routine without problems and it's like she just belongs.  It's like that with E too, but since she wasn't with us this weekend, that didn't happen.

Saturday morning D had a soccer game.  Fortunately for N it was at 11, so that meant we got to sleep in.  D asked me to do her hair.  That usually means small braids that pull back sections of her hair. 

Later that afternoon, we surprised her with a hair cut.  As we were taking out the braids, her hair was all wet and sweaty.  A sure sign of running a good soccer game. 

Nothing compared to the smile once she knew why we took her braids out.  She is all girl.  Loves the salon and loves a manicure (which we did this weekend too.  Both Zoe and D got their nails painted this weekend during some "girl time.")

I never thought I'd be the mom who loved having girly-girls.  But I do.  It's one of my favorite things, getting my girls all ready for church with their hair, their nails, their skirts and their earrings.  Maybe it's because I just love being involved in the process.  It's my job and there's nothing else I'd rather do!

It Warms My Heart and Hurts My Ears

Years ago, in my single life, one of the things I loved was tap dancing.  I practiced several times a week, had dance classes and even became an assistant teacher for a 3-5 year old class.  It was an outlet for me and really the first type of "sport" I was good at.

When I got married and moved away, I couldn't find a studio in Tacoma, so I gave up dancing.  Although there are times still, when I'll be walking down an aisle at the grocery store and start to do a riff walk rather than a normal, non-tap dancing walk.

Don't judge, it's part of my charm. 

Since Zoe turned 3 this year, that has opened up a world of opportunities for activities and classes.  We can do Mom and Me art classes, gymnastics classes and dance classes.  In July a 4-week session begins.  I think it will be a good opportunity to test the waters with Zoe and see if she's ready.  If the amount of time she dances at home is any indication, she's beyond ready.

Often times I'll hear "go daddy, go daddy, go daddy" to look up and see they've started a dance circle and daddy is busting his moves in the center.  Moments later I'll hear "go Zoe, go Zoe, go Zoe" to see it's her turn in the center.  Dancing is just part of who she is.  It comes naturally to her.

I decided to look up the studio's website and see if the July session's schedule was listed.  It wasn't, but the few pictures of tap dancing made Zoe scream, "I want to do that too!"

We got out her leotard, some socks and her black dress shoes.  I taught her a few moves from my days as an assistant teacher and she's not only ready for class, she's ready to teach it.

Go Zoe, go Zoe, go Zoe, go!

We Will Lose Our Saturday Mornings

This weekend began the spring soccer season.  We have two players in the family.  They never play at close to the same time or on the same complex.  That means there will be early Saturdays and lots of driving.

We're okay with it because we're some big fans.  D & E have their own cheering section at the games.  Usually there are at least 4 people at the games, plus a couple younger siblings. 

This year E isn't too keen on playing.  She mentioned that this will be her last season.  It's just not her thing.

D on the other hand, is all about soccer.  She typically plays goalie and in her first game the other team didn't score on her once. 

In good news, this Saturday is supposed to be 70 degrees.  Not only can we cheer on our favorite soccer stars, but I can work on my tan.

The Pink Dot

As she gets older, Zoe has ideas.  More ideas than hours in the day.  They usually involve something I'm not keen on doing.  Last night she informed me that it was time for a race.  She would say "ready, set, go" and I would need to run.  That falls into the category of "Mommy better think fast and distract her with another idea."  After being sick last week, I'm not as quick as I used to be.  I ran a few laps around the house.

It goes beyond things to do at night when I'm exhausted.  She hates going home.  She's rather go shopping.  She usually has a list ready.  Sunday night after bible study, she was not ready to go home. She actually wanted to just stay at church and wait for all her friends to come back.  After we piled her into the car she informed us that we needed to go to the grocery store because she needed a new iPod.  A yellow one.  The battery on my iPod ran out and we just needed to recharge it, but in Zoe's mind that translates into just buying a new one.

I thought D & E asking for one a couple Christmases ago was early. 

In an effort to thwart the iPod discussion, N and I distracted her with ice cream.  One of her favorite things to do is go to The Pink Dot for ice cream.  For those not in the mind of a 3 year old, The Pink Dot is actually Baskin Robbins.  It sounds quite a bit like Red Robin and that just confuses her.  She calls it The Pink Dot. 

Some chocolate chip ice cream on a sugar cone is her style, along with a cereal necklace from bible study.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Unless of course we went to the store for a yellow iPod afterward.

Easter...A Week Late

I've been a bit lacking on the blog lately.  For the last few weeks I haven't felt great and when I went to the doctor last week he told me I had pneumonia.  There is nothing that will zap all your energy faster than hearing a doctor say that word.  I spent most of last week in bed with my eyes shut.  According to N, there may have been drool.  You know how guys exaggerate.

I'm finally feeling like I have some energy.  I thought I would post some pictures from Easter since I still think I'm within the time period where it's okay to talk about it.

This year Zoe was totally on board with egg coloring.  However, she's got rules.  They can only be one color and no decoration.  All the fun of coloring with the wax crayon or putting stickers on them is totally out the window. 

Her eggs are all plain.  Except if you let her poke a pipe cleaner into them.  That's apparently okay.  Grandma found out the hard way.

We got up early for church on Sunday.  N played on the worship team.  The Easter bunny came to our house while we were at church.  He's a clever bunny, that one.  He his all our plain eggs and plastic, M&M filled eggs in the backyard.

We had one girl who couldn't wait to seek.  I think we've hidden the eggs about 527 times since then.  It hasn't gotten old yet.

Even without M&Ms.

Tears and A Loss

Zoe didn't get hair until she was about 2.  She's followed my footsteps in that.  When she did get her hair, she's got her daddy's hair:  thick and curly. 

These past couple months have been full of hair fights.  She "doesn't like her hair combed" and will scrunch up her shoulders so you can't get to it.  Finally last week instead of tears and scrunchy, I started talking up a hair cut.  I told of a world with chairs that looked like trains and horses.  I had her at the word train.

Friday afternoon we took her to get her hair cut.  I forgot my camera, but daddy had his phone. 

The second that drape was put around her neck, the tears started to form.  Then the wailing.  Then the "get me out of her wiggle" that makes cutting hair so much easier.

I held her in place while Edith, the sweetest lady ever, cut hair faster than I knew possible.

Then it was time for bangs and a brave smile.

Now we are three inches shorter, much more wavy and have fewer tears in the mornings!

Will You Join Me?

Several months ago N and I joined a small group bible study at our church.  It's made up of 6 couples, including us.  We're all about the same age and so are our kids.  It's the highlight of our week, not only for N and me, but also Zoe.  She knows Sundays are the day she gets to play with her friends not once, but twice because of small group.

Neither N nor I have ever been part of a group like this.  To say this group is a blessing would be an understatement.  We feel incredibly fortunate to count each of these people as our friends, prayer warriors and accountability partners.  In just a few months they've managed to work their way into our hearts in a very tangible way.

One of the couples in our group is going through something that, as a parent, I cannot comprehend.  Their 4 year-old daughter, Sara, was just diagnosed with cancer.  The good news is the doctors are confident that it's treatable and they can get rid of it. 

This family is a family who lives by faith.  They have been an example to both N and me.  If you feel so led, would you pray for this family.  We know that the Great Physician will be guiding this process every step of the way.  We know His plan is perfect.  As a parent you don't want to see your child go through this, even though He knows how it feels to see your child go through difficulty.

Just makes me want to squeeze our girls a little closer and a whole lot more tighter.

Even when they do squeal, "mommy you're squishing me."