Two Shirts in One Day

Saturday was a busy day for us.  Mainly Zoe.  The first weekend of May is a big one here.  We have the largest  timed road race in the nation that happens the first Sunday in May.  It's a big deal and this year 48,000 of my closest friends ran it with me.  For the youngsters they have the Marmot March.

It's a mile run through our downtown park.  They get a shirt they can paint, cheerleaders from every school cheering them on, mascots from around the area giving out High-5's and a ribbon at the finish line.  It's our third year of running and Zoe has a blast.  Her favorite part is the small loaf of bread she gets at the end, since Franz Bread is a major sponsor.  She prefers to do her carbo-loading at the end of the race.

This year she even found a friendly pirate in the park who made balloon animals.  She got a yellow poodle she calls Pinkie.  I think she tries to think of names that just mess with my head.

I'm pretty sure we could've gone home, sat around and watched The History Channel with N all day and Zoe would've been a happy girl with her shirt, ribbon, loaf of bread, Pinkie and the memory of 35-High-5's from the cheerleaders.  Combine all those things into one morning and pretty much the rest of the day is going to be ho-hum.

Not for this mom.  No way.  That was just the beginning to the Day-O-Fun!  On Saturday the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife hosted their annual Fish In.  All kids, ages 5-12, could sign up for an hour of fishing, get a shirt and new fishing pole and spend that time trying to catch some trout.  They stocked the lake with 6,000 fish, so the odds were in our favor.

For days Zoe was asking, hoping, determined to get a pink fishing pole.  We were pleading, nudging, softening the blow that she may not get a pink pole.  It's not a girl's Fish In, it's a kid's Fish In and how many boys really want to get a pink pole?  This is manly stuff that includes worms, seaweed, fish and, if you're lucky, fish guts.  Pink fishing poles seem out of the norm.

We got to the lake at our appointed time, Zoe got her shirt and her pink fishing pole.  Sometimes I think God is just up there laughing!  The look on my face when they told Zoe to get her pink fishing pole was priceless.  She immediately looked at me and said, "I told you so Mom!" 

There were probably 50-75 other kids ready to catch their trout.  We tried the dock first, but since there were so many people on it, most of it was slightly underwater.  I'm all about lakes and water and just enjoying the moment.  For the Fish In, they hooked up nets to the sides of the dock so the kids would almost be assured to catch something.  I could see me getting pushed into the net with all the trout.  I enjoying holding a fishing pole and I enjoy the excitement from hooking one and reeling it in.  I do not enjoy any of the slimey stuff.  I don't touch worms or fish and I really don't enjoy being near fish.  I'll swim in a lake because I can't see the fish.  With all my neurosis, we went to the shore to try to hook one.

We were the people who were standing next to the guy who hooked HUGE rainbow trout.  Those fish had to be 10 pounds at least. 

Zoe kept catching seaweed. 

We got a little discouraged until Grandma got a bigger worm.  My grandpa was a big fisherman.  In the summers we'd head to a nearby lake, he'd get his boat motor out, rent a boat and troll for trout for hours.  I loved his fishing pole because the line was all different colors, so he knew how far down it went and it had all these shiney metal pieces on it so the fish would notice his line.  He got me my first fishing pole, a Snoopy one.  I drop it every time a fish would bite.  He'd laugh really hard at me.  I was very girly, even then.

One of his tricks was to spit on the worm for luck.  The second Zoe did that, she reeled in her first fish.  I use the term "reeled" loosely.  She dropped the pole, screamed "I CAUGHT A FISH", jumped up and down and then had N fishing the job.  She's got a bit of each of us in her!

It was the perfect day.

In the Waiting

It was a typical Monday drive to work today.  I got behind the drivers doing 5 miles under the speed limit and I hit every red light.  It was like every time I got a block ahead, I had to slow down or stop.  For the past few days, I've just been cranky.  This was not a good start to the day.

About 5 minutes outside of work, I made a green light.  I did a little happy dance because maybe my luck was changing.

Nope, at the next light, a block away, I got stuck for 5 minutes.  I've never seen these lights so off before and I was literally getting more and more agitated the longer it took. 

I finally made it into downtown, only to have three cars in front of me, going less than the speed limit. 

Just when I was ready to scream, I saw the car, three cars in front of me, get into an accident.  The driver in the lane next to him made an illegal turn and the driver in my lane T-boned him.

It was in that moment that God loudly spoke to me, "I am watching over you every second." 

In my normal morning commute, I'm usually in that front car spot.  I'm usually not held up like I was today.  Despite my crankiness, God was watching over me.

I'm trying to process much of what life is throwing at us and I'm failing at it.  I know God has His hand in our life and I know He's guiding our steps.  However, sometimes I can't see any part of His plan.  My limited understanding makes me feel uneasy.  I know most people would say that God is trying to teach me patience.  I really feel He's trying to teach me faith.  To fully rely on His power, His understanding, His plan. 

I am learning to let go.  Let go of my expectations.  Let go of my desires.  Let go of my hopes.  I'm needing to rest all of these things in His hands. 

Today I thank God for the slow drivers and the red lights.  It was His way of showing me to let go. 

Kid-Free and Paul Blart

This weekend, as a very kind blessing, my mom offered to take Zoe so N and I could have a kid-free weekend.  It seems like lately our weekends have been non-stop.  If you add the distance during the week, there isn't much left for quality time. 

On Friday after Zoe's soccer game, I loaded up and headed off to our home in the desert.  We had a great time.  Sleep, food, time together.  N, bless his heart, even went to a quilt store with me.

It was a wonderful time of recharging and being a couple. 

Plus, we got to see Paul Blart in action! 

We'll stick with the free kind

In women's bathrooms there are dispensers for feminine products.  Sometimes they just have the words, but sometimes they have little pictures of what you're purchasing.

Earlier this week Zoe and Grandma were in a public bathroom washing their hands.  Incrediously, Zoe looked at the wall mounted dispenser of feminine products.  With her hand on her hip, she said, "SERIOUSLY?!?  They are now charging twenty-five cents for towels?"

Grandma looked at what she saw and said, "maybe we should just stick to the free towels over here instead." 

Mermaids

We recently re-joined the YMCA.  There are several reasons, three of which happen to be girls who are dying, "literally dying to get to the YMCA to swim!"  Apparently when you have a teenager and two, dramatic girls as daughters, things become life or death.  I think they actually plot when they're together about how to get N and I to acquiesce to their demands.  It also doesn't help that we pass by the YMCA almost every day.

The girls had some money left over from Christmas, so we took them swimsuit shopping.  The thought of swimsuit shopping for me personally brings on a very large, very paralyzing panic attack.  For our girls, they each found about 62 swimsuits apiece that they thought were adorable.  We spent a good hour in a dressing room while they tried to find thee perfect suit for the YMCA.  Which I'm positive, all this was part of their plotting.  YMCA, new swimsuit and new goggles.

All our girls are fish.  They love to jump in, dive, do laps and be in the water for as long as possible.  Because of all the chlorine and the fact that they live under the water, they needed new goggles.  Ones that don't fog up because that's just annoying. 

On the way from the store to the YMCA, Zoe was admiring her pink, anti-fog goggles.  I'm positive this girl would wear them 24/7.  She told me I should try them for driving because they are AWESOME!

When she got out of the car at the YMCA, this was her look:

She put them on in the car and was ready to go. 

She will routinely get them out of the YMCA bag and wear them around the house.  Just yesterday I saw them on her table and I asked if she went swimming.  She laughed and said, "no mom (in a teenager tone), I was watching TV!"  You have to imagine that with an expression that informs me I'm the dumbest person in the world for not knowing they are great for TV watching. 

I have a feeling this will be the look of summer at our house...swimsuit and anti-fog goggles. 

The Final Patch

We are involved in AWANA at our church.  It's something both N and I did as kids.  I actually attended the same church we do now.  I heard the story of Jesus dying and raising again in the very room I teach kids the same story.  If it wasn't for AWANA, I wouldn't have made the decision to accept Christ as my Savior at the age of 8.  It holds a very dear place in my heart.

You can imagine how excited I was when Zoe became AWANA age.  She's in the Cubbies group of 3-4 year olds.  She passed her book last year and has been working on memorizing verses in her second book this year.  Once she hits kindergarten she moves from Cubbies to Sparks, which is where I am.  Since January she's been counting down the patches until she's a Sparkie.  It started with 5 and we were finally down to 1 patch left.

Someone got that patch last night.

She is beyond thrilled.  Next week is move up night, so she'll get to play games with us.  The whole way home she was planning what games we are going to play.

I think she may have a future as a Sparkies Director too!

It was a Ball to Remember

N is a man who is laid-back.  His personality just goes with the flow of my Type-A personality.  He used to not be social or really like to leave the house.  Then I started planning all these things for us to do and now he enjoys the busy. 

A few weeks ago we got a newsletter in the mail from Zoe's school.  In it was an invitation for all dads and daughters to a social on Friday the 13th.  It was a princess themed party, so you could dress up as your favorite princess. 

Because we are crafty people, my mom decided to make Zoe a princess dress.  Zoe had her heart set on being Cinderella.  Fortunately it's prom season, so all special fabric was 50% off.  We worked on making a dress that matched Cinderella.  By we, I mean my mom, I just cut out a couple pieces of the pattern.

Zoe was beside herself counting down the days to the ball.  What's even more awesome, so was N.  He asked Zoe what he should wear if he was to be her prince.  She said, "your Easter shirt with all the designs, jeans, boots and a hat."  Basically her prince is daddy and she'll take him just as he is.  Those two melt my heart.

On the night of the big dance, Zoe got into her dress and daddy got into his princely attire and we headed outside for pictures.

To make the night more special, N gave Zoe a necklace.  It was Cinderella's carriage with a blue sea stone inside to match her dress.  The look on her face when daddy gave her the finishing touch to her outfit brought a tear to my eye.  She couldn't stop hugging him and saying thank you.  In that moment, Zoe transformed into a princess.

She was truly the belle of the ball that night.  She made a crown, got her face painted and learned to waltz with daddy.  They spent the entire evening dancing.

It's such a blessing to have the daddy that makes our girls feel like the princesses they are.  He truly is our prince.