Now that I've started to do this, I'm noticing the little things that happen during the week more. I love that. I hope when I'm 98 I remember some of the little things about my life that I really enjoyed. Honestly, while the big stories are fun, it's the little things that make up so much more of life.
1) Air conditioning - we're running in the high 90's - low 100's this week. My mom's car doesn't have air conditioning. I really think that I could put cookies on a baking sheet and 30 minutes later they'd be ready.
2) Flowers for no reason
3) Lunch dates for Zoe and daddy on Fridays.
4) "I love you because:" frames. I saw this in Pinterest and just had to implement in our family. It's been a HUGE hit. We all love to have little notes and this way we can put things on there to show our love and appreciation. Zoe wrote one for N last night that was absolutely dear.
5) Hearing Zoe and daddy on the couch reading the bedtime story and hearing Zoe randomly say, "I love you so much daddy."
6) Unexpected calls from family just because they want to check in and find out how they can pray for you.
7) Church family that uses their talents together to create really awesome decor for VBS.
8) Free Starbucks and on a Friday the 13th! Go get some from 12:00-3:00 today.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
We Have Apparently Entered the Negotiation Stages of Arranged Marriage
On Monday Zoe went to church with grandma for a quick VBS meeting. My mom and I are the directors of VBS, so we'll be living at church the next couple weeks and "quick" is a relative term!
Anyway, Zoe was at church and Ben's mom works at our church. Ben just happened to be dropped off that day and he was very worried that Zoe was mad at him. Zoe and I had agreed that the best thing to do was to treat Ben like we always do and just be a friend. I'm so proud of my girl. She went right up to Ben, started talking about who knows what and they ended up playing together for 4 hours. No mention of the dreaded engagement talk, just two friends playing and laughing and having a great time. At then end, he even thanked my mom for "her patience" because he knew she had been wanting to leave for the last 2 hours. Score a point for Ben and his thoughtful heart.
Yesterday, we were at church again and Ben's mom was there, but no Ben. As Zoe and I left, we said hello to her and went on our way.
Fast forward to last night, Grandma Lily ran into Ben's mom at dinner. I guess when she got home, she told Ben she saw Zoe and his first question was, "did she ask about me?" I have to be honest, that little question just makes me smile.
I guess the real reason that he said "NO!" was because Zoe mentioned something about him living with us. That, unfortunately was a HUGE deal breaker to a 5 year old. Quite honestly, I'm glad he can keep his wits about him when asked major-life changing questions by a cute girl. Score another point for Ben.
He told his mom that he does want to marry Zoe, but she'd have to move in with his family. He's thinking he'll ask her on Sunday to marry him.
Now we have entered into negotiations for a fake marriage. Do we need to have a couple fake goats and some rubber chickens to sweeten this deal? I feel a little unprepared.
Anyway, Zoe was at church and Ben's mom works at our church. Ben just happened to be dropped off that day and he was very worried that Zoe was mad at him. Zoe and I had agreed that the best thing to do was to treat Ben like we always do and just be a friend. I'm so proud of my girl. She went right up to Ben, started talking about who knows what and they ended up playing together for 4 hours. No mention of the dreaded engagement talk, just two friends playing and laughing and having a great time. At then end, he even thanked my mom for "her patience" because he knew she had been wanting to leave for the last 2 hours. Score a point for Ben and his thoughtful heart.
Yesterday, we were at church again and Ben's mom was there, but no Ben. As Zoe and I left, we said hello to her and went on our way.
Fast forward to last night, Grandma Lily ran into Ben's mom at dinner. I guess when she got home, she told Ben she saw Zoe and his first question was, "did she ask about me?" I have to be honest, that little question just makes me smile.
I guess the real reason that he said "NO!" was because Zoe mentioned something about him living with us. That, unfortunately was a HUGE deal breaker to a 5 year old. Quite honestly, I'm glad he can keep his wits about him when asked major-life changing questions by a cute girl. Score another point for Ben.
He told his mom that he does want to marry Zoe, but she'd have to move in with his family. He's thinking he'll ask her on Sunday to marry him.
Now we have entered into negotiations for a fake marriage. Do we need to have a couple fake goats and some rubber chickens to sweeten this deal? I feel a little unprepared.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
A "NO!" and the Day I Turned Into My Mother
There's one more type of flowers that I believe are in order at our house: the "I'm Sorry Boys are Dumb" flowers. For years Zoe has dreamed of her wedding. She's going to marry a boy named Ben who goes to our church. She thinks about this at least once a week. Mainly when she sees a wedding dress or fancy shoes. Sometimes she freaks out about it.
This past week she's been 100% gung-ho about finally asking Ben to marry her. She said to me, "mom, you need to ask Ben if he'll marry me when we're adults and I'm okay if he says no."
Here's the thing about being a parent, you walk a very fine line of crushing their little spirit or setting their expectations too high. Because I don't have a crystal ball, I didn't try to talk some reality into her, I just kinda let it go as, "I'll see what I can do." I figured either she'd forget about it by Sunday or I'd just tell her I already asked his mom before I got her from Children's Church.
Unfortunately I couldn't forsee into Sunday at church where we'd run into Ben and his mom and Zoe would know I hadn't asked yet because church just got out. Here's the order of events:
Zoe remembered the important question.
She asked Ben if he'd marry her, full of hope and excitement.
Ben's eyes became the size of saucers.
He forcefully said, "NO!"
Zoe grabbed onto me, said he said "NO" and began to cry.
And cry.
And cry.
And attract a crowd.
And cry some more.
Then it became the ugly cry with gasping for breath and loud sobs.
Then I told her a story of my preschool life with Jeff. I basically had the same story. I'm pretty sure I didn't cry that hard, I just kinda shrugged it off. Although we're friends today and I can laugh at my 5 year old self. Then I told her that N was the perfect man God had for me. Maybe God has someone even more awesome then Ben and I pray He does because Ben should see how awesome she is. If he doesn't, he's not worth her tears!
Then I turned into my mother.
The end.
This past week she's been 100% gung-ho about finally asking Ben to marry her. She said to me, "mom, you need to ask Ben if he'll marry me when we're adults and I'm okay if he says no."
Here's the thing about being a parent, you walk a very fine line of crushing their little spirit or setting their expectations too high. Because I don't have a crystal ball, I didn't try to talk some reality into her, I just kinda let it go as, "I'll see what I can do." I figured either she'd forget about it by Sunday or I'd just tell her I already asked his mom before I got her from Children's Church.
Unfortunately I couldn't forsee into Sunday at church where we'd run into Ben and his mom and Zoe would know I hadn't asked yet because church just got out. Here's the order of events:
Zoe remembered the important question.
She asked Ben if he'd marry her, full of hope and excitement.
Ben's eyes became the size of saucers.
He forcefully said, "NO!"
Zoe grabbed onto me, said he said "NO" and began to cry.
And cry.
And cry.
And attract a crowd.
And cry some more.
Then it became the ugly cry with gasping for breath and loud sobs.
Then I told her a story of my preschool life with Jeff. I basically had the same story. I'm pretty sure I didn't cry that hard, I just kinda shrugged it off. Although we're friends today and I can laugh at my 5 year old self. Then I told her that N was the perfect man God had for me. Maybe God has someone even more awesome then Ben and I pray He does because Ben should see how awesome she is. If he doesn't, he's not worth her tears!
Then I turned into my mother.
The end.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Just Because Flowers
On Friday I got home from work and these were on the counter:
There was no note and no Zoe yelling "we got you flowers!" I didn't think too much about it. I thought maybe they bought something pretty for Grandma. Here's a little fact, in almost 8 years of togetherness, I've never gotten flowers just because. I've gotten I'm sorry flowers, Too Bad Your Liver Ruptured flowers, Happy Valentine's Day flowers, Happy Anniversary flowers, Happy Birthday flowers and Happy Mother's Day flowers. I've never gotten them just because they could. Until Friday.
I think of all the flowers I've ever received, these are my favorite!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Small Joys of the Week 2
This week's small joys include:
1) Cuddling with Zoe in a king sized bed that she was positive was smaller than a twin. Nothing, not even sleep, beats sweet cuddles.
2) A mid-week day spent with N, touring his temporary dam and just being a family.
3) Eating in a small town and NOT getting food poisoning - that's worth more than 1 line item.
4) God taking care of all the little details when I'm stressed about them and trying every minute to remember to just give them to Him already!
5) New, fast drying, hot pink nail polish - so when you're impatient and jam your foot into your flip-flop, it doesn't get ruined!
6) Sun
I finally think summer is here. Happy Friday all!
1) Cuddling with Zoe in a king sized bed that she was positive was smaller than a twin. Nothing, not even sleep, beats sweet cuddles.
2) A mid-week day spent with N, touring his temporary dam and just being a family.
3) Eating in a small town and NOT getting food poisoning - that's worth more than 1 line item.
4) God taking care of all the little details when I'm stressed about them and trying every minute to remember to just give them to Him already!
5) New, fast drying, hot pink nail polish - so when you're impatient and jam your foot into your flip-flop, it doesn't get ruined!
6) Sun
I finally think summer is here. Happy Friday all!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Celebrating our Independence by Rebelling
On Tuesday afternoon I got a call on my cell phone from a number I didn't recognize. I usually don't answer those, but for some reason I did. It was N. At the dam he's working at there is no cell reception. He called to inform me that there was a change of plans to his work schedule today. He would be home late. In a spur-of-the-moment decision, Zoe and I decided to go to him. That meant a very fun trip to Ritzville, WA - population 4 fast food joints, three gas stations and one Mexican restaurant we will never patron again. Zoe had never been to Ritzville for a night, so she was beyond excited.
Tuesday night we ate from a safe restaurant and then played in the pool. Because N's hotel room only has a king-sized bed, we got to share. N got the 1/3 closest to the air conditioner, Zoe got the middle 1/3 and I got the 1/3 closest to the bathroom. This getting older thing really disrupts my sleep.
For the entire night Zoe slept on my 1/3 of the bed, her lovey got her 1/3 of the bed and N got a glorious night of sleep!
For our 4th of July, we took a trip to N's temporary dam that he loves more than life itself.
Zoe and daddy practiced skipping rocks, throwing driftwood and posing by signs because I told them we had to document this life moment. Then we watched several people launch their boats into the water as we got insanely jealous!
It was time to head back and Zoe learned what happens when you're on a rural road, nothing between where you came from and where you're going and she says, "I have to go potty."
We went back to Ritzville, played more in the pool (where Zoe learned to hold her breath and go under water), jumped on the hotel bed and bought some sparklers. In our county you can't have any fireworks. Any and all things that explode, no matter how pretty or immobile they are, they are illegal. Some of my best memories of the 4th are spent sitting in a lawn chair with the hose watching all the fountain fireworks on our street. I was always a little worst-case-scenario when it came to fireworks. In my defense, no house or shrub or person ever caught fire on my watch! It saddens me that Zoe will have a different memory of the holiday.
To remedy that, we bought some sparklers in a county that allows fireworks and brought them home to celebrate the independence of the USA. Appropriate, no?
Zoe took to them like she did to all the firsts of her day. There was lots of smiles, giggles and a sweet rendition of "You're a Grand Old Flag" sung by Zoe herself.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Small Joys of the Week 1
Since apparently I’m blog deficient, I thought I’d start posting, at least weekly, the small joys of my week. More as a reminder of the things that will likely be lost during the aging process.
The Reason? N and I were having our fancy dinner, before Food Poisoning 2012 hit and I mentioned that Nickelback had come to town. While I do like Nickelback, I was more upset at not knowing that Bush was there as well. I’ve been a huge fan since Sixteen Stone came out in 1994. Well I guess I haven’t been a huge fan since I didn’t even know they were touring. Nonetheless, I really like them. I was telling him how bummed I was that I missed Bush.
He looked at me dead in the eye and said, “you owe me tickets to Nickelback. Why didn’t you mention it?”
My response? “I owe you tickets? How do you figure?”
He proceeded to tell me that when my liver ruptured in January 2007 and our daughter was born, we missed a Nickelback concert because I was “in the hospital with my liver” instead. Because my body imploded, it was me who owed him. Granted, the implosion is a good reason to forget small details like concerts we’ve never made, but apparently it was an additional scar that N has that I was unawares. It made me think of how much I really don’t remember. Here’s to the small joys of the week:
1) Having enough time to pluck my eyebrows.
2) Sitting on the couch with Zoe while we watched Good Luck Charlie. Then having her cry because it was such a sweet show about a new baby coming home. Her heart is full of so much genuine emotion and caring.
3) Realizing I wasn’t the only one crying at the touching Good Luck Charlie.
4) Going one hole further on my belt.
5) The first drama practice for VBS and all the joy that comes from having a cast that actually works well together. Such a blessing.
6) BBQ’d salmon for dinner.
7) 30 minutes of time to quilt and then another 15 minutes of time to fix the original.
8) Ice cream dates with Zoe.
9) Flowers chosen just for E’s birthday and hand-delivered by N.
10) That despite our distance, N is happy and excited to see me, despite Food Poisoning 2012.
11) The sound of 6 feet (2 for Zoe and 4 for Toby) who greet me upon coming home each day.
The Reason? N and I were having our fancy dinner, before Food Poisoning 2012 hit and I mentioned that Nickelback had come to town. While I do like Nickelback, I was more upset at not knowing that Bush was there as well. I’ve been a huge fan since Sixteen Stone came out in 1994. Well I guess I haven’t been a huge fan since I didn’t even know they were touring. Nonetheless, I really like them. I was telling him how bummed I was that I missed Bush.
He looked at me dead in the eye and said, “you owe me tickets to Nickelback. Why didn’t you mention it?”
My response? “I owe you tickets? How do you figure?”
He proceeded to tell me that when my liver ruptured in January 2007 and our daughter was born, we missed a Nickelback concert because I was “in the hospital with my liver” instead. Because my body imploded, it was me who owed him. Granted, the implosion is a good reason to forget small details like concerts we’ve never made, but apparently it was an additional scar that N has that I was unawares. It made me think of how much I really don’t remember. Here’s to the small joys of the week:
1) Having enough time to pluck my eyebrows.
2) Sitting on the couch with Zoe while we watched Good Luck Charlie. Then having her cry because it was such a sweet show about a new baby coming home. Her heart is full of so much genuine emotion and caring.
3) Realizing I wasn’t the only one crying at the touching Good Luck Charlie.
4) Going one hole further on my belt.
5) The first drama practice for VBS and all the joy that comes from having a cast that actually works well together. Such a blessing.
6) BBQ’d salmon for dinner.
7) 30 minutes of time to quilt and then another 15 minutes of time to fix the original.
8) Ice cream dates with Zoe.
9) Flowers chosen just for E’s birthday and hand-delivered by N.
10) That despite our distance, N is happy and excited to see me, despite Food Poisoning 2012.
11) The sound of 6 feet (2 for Zoe and 4 for Toby) who greet me upon coming home each day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)