The End

Today marks the last day Zoe will be in pre-kindergarten.  Actually all types of pre-schooling.  Next we enter the world of kindergarten and her schooling career.  It's an odd thing to realize.  To distract from all the weird emotions of this milestone, we made teacher gifts.

We painted a terra cotta pot black and wrote on it with a white paint pen to make it look like a chalkboard.  Then we planted a flower into it and made a card.  Inside the card it says, "thank you for helping me grow this year."  Zoe wrote her name and drew a sunflower.

Super cute, super easy. 

She's A Sparkie Now

Since the beginning of the AWANA year, Zoe has been counting down the patches until she's in Sparks with me.  Granted, it's based on age, not on how many sections you pass, but that's not as fun to countdown.  Especially since Zoe is the only child I've ever known who wished time went backwards.  She'd much rather be an infant than 6.  Her mother would much rather she be 6 than an infant.  I get WAY more sleep now.

Last night was the awards night for AWANA.  Zoe officially passed her Cubbies book, received a ribbon and flowers from daddy, who couldn't make it to the ceremony because of a class.

The whole night was spent talking about what happens in Sparks, what color team will she be on, does she actually earn money for the AWANA store, what songs we sing, what kind of games do we play, and that she's going to be my special helper.

I love that she loves AWANA.  It was one of my favorite things growing up.  She's just as eager to continue on with hiding God's word in her heart.  This mamma will take that any day!

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.