7 Quick Takes

1. Purchasing clothing for an 8-year old who is as tall as an average 12-year old, wants to look like she is 16, loves sequins, glitter and all things sleeveless is hard. *sigh 'Cause sometimes a girl needs to have clothes appropriate for the park.

2. Who knew that Walm*art would be my hero in dressing my daughter? In the past, I have felt that the Walm*art clothing selection was highly limited due to my desire to not have my child dressed exclusively in Dis*ney advertising. However, yesterday I found several basic, cute, modest T-shirts perfect for going to the park. Score! On sale for $3 each. Double score!


3. The next time I watch the Olympics and the athletes say they want to thank their parents - man, can I just say I have a new appreciate for that comment! It can be a ton of work to have your kiddo doing this type of sport. And we are so far away from the Olympic level! Punkin's state meet is this weekend, and her gym is hosting. I will be at the gym for at least 12 hours on Saturday, and I have spent 18 hours working on the signs that go on the clip of the scoring contraption. There are 457 gymnasts registered for this event, so there were a lot of signs to make.

On a positive note, there were 5 of us working on the signs, and I might have to take back every ugly thing I have ever said about "committees". Every mom came to the meetings, was helpful, and cared that the signs were done properly. I don't think I've ever been on a committee with all "20% people" before. It was ... fantastic. I mean, if I'm going to spend my time working on it, it was nice that it was organized and done correctly.

4. Today is our last day of school!!! I'm going to have a 3rd grader and kindergartener next year - yikes!

5. My Little Man is amazing. This week, he has been to long committee meetings, hours of shopping, quiet through some of the year-end tests, and he has been so, so well-behaved. I think I owe that boy a huge bowl of ice cream.

6. Little Man has been obsessed with the concept of an "attic" this week. The kids watched a TV show where the kids played hide-n-seek in the attic, and then he wanted to know if we had an attic.

As an aside, I grew up in the South, where all the houses had attics. Most you get in by pulling down a set of collapsible stairs and you climb right up. In Colorado, the roofs are reinforced to support the weight of the snow, so attics are not the prime storage space they are in the South. We do have an attic, but it does not have a floor so the access point is just a hole in the ceiling, we don't store things there and we don't go up there.

So, here's a summary of our conversations this week:

Little Man: Do we have an attic?
Me: Yep.
LM: How do you get to it?
Me: In our closet.
LM runs off.

A few minutes later:
LM: I can't find the door.
Me: It's in the ceiling.
LM: The ceiling? Really?
LM runs off.

A few minutes later:
LM: I can't reach it.
Me: Yeah, you'll have to wait on Dad for that.

So, 2 days later, WeaverDad and Little Man are finally home at the same time before 9:00 pm, and Dad lifts him up so he can see in the very dark attic. It made his week.
LM: ...... and Dad says, that we can't walk in there, or we would CRASH THROUGH THE CEILING!

He makes me giggle.

7. I love these two.

Esther

I'm doing a Beth Moore bible study this summer with a new group of women. My "normal" bible study takes a break in the summer, and one of my newer friends from church invited me. It is a very eclectic group of women - which I love. I don't know everyone yet, but I think the age range is teen all the way to age 60. Some of us have kids, some have grandkids, some are married with no kids, and some are not married. Since I have been doing a morning bible study, it has been awhile since I have been part of such a diverse group. I think it is going to be awesome.

And I'm excited about the study also. I'm in a very peaceful season of life. It seems odd to say that because I feel like I am in constant motion from sun-up to sun-down. But, there is very little drama in my own life right now. A peace from any major crisis.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that doesn't fill me with a little fear for the future, but I am trying to breathe deeply and completely immerse myself in this present peace. Most major crises are out of my control anyway, so why mess up my peaceful time with fear? I'm assuming God has urged me toward this study to strengthen my faith that no matter what the future brings, He will not let me go.

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me. Isaiah 49:16

Isaiah is specifically talking about Israel in this verse, although I believe it represents the people of God which now includes us. This whole chapter is really encouraging reading. Check it out!

I'm looking forward to studying Esther. What are you studying right now?

7 Quick Takes

1. Almost done with homeschool for the year! Our last day is next Friday, and all of us are ready for a 6 week summer break!

2. I broke my camera - on my birthday! (sob!) I dropped it at Walmart, and it refuses to come on. WeaverDad found the same camera on ebay for a bargain, so I just ordered another one. It works well for me and I have all the accessories. Hopefully, it will arrive soon!

We ran into some friends at Walmart that day, and Little Man took the last picture:

3. Our Vacation Bible School is going to be at night this year. I have mixed feelings about it. Has anyone done a night one? Like it? Hate it?

4. Punkin has 2 more gymnastics competitions this year. Yay!! She is still doing well and steadily improving. Here she is after one a few weeks ago:


5. Little Man had his last soccer game last Saturday. He scored 6 goals!!

And of course had snack:

And got a trophy:

6. It has been raining a lot here lately. On trash day, I went out to add one more thing to the bin, and found that the trash can was stopping all the worms in the water run-off. Look at all of them! I scooped them out and put them with the flowers and in the garden.

7. It's been several weeks, but Punkin had Field Day with her enrichment program. Field Day is so much fun - it's nice to actually have conversations with the other moms and to learn the names of her classmates.

Punkin ran a relay:

Ran a three-legged race:

Did the sack hop:

Played tug-of-war

While Little Man did this. For the entire morning.
Thank goodness I thought to bring his bike at the last minute. I think that was a God thing!
We had a fun day!