Long Course Season, Meet Two

Swimming is fun.  Swimming with your best friend is even more fun.

And sitting in the stands and cheering with some of your best friends makes the day priceless.

Losing Teeth

Until yesterday, my almost eleven-year-old and my eight-year-old had lost the same amount of teeth.  I am not sure how that happens, but for whatever reason, Maggie was not losing baby teeth.  Her adult teeth are all lined up just waiting to push through the gums, but no teeth are falling out.  Our dentist took care of that yesterday.  She had all FOUR of her baby canines pulled so that maybe, just maybe, her adult canines will come in so we can get some braces on her!

She was a rock star.  I believe the dentist told her she was the best patient ever--other than the boy who just falls asleep.  She even went to dance afterward--not to actually dance, that's against the rules of teeth-pulling--but to make sure she knew what was going on and didn't miss anything so close to recital.  Apparently our cheap tooth fairy was on vacation last night, and she received a little more than the normal $1 per tooth.  Now she wants to hit up the store and buy her sister a birthday gift.  Really?  She is a rock star!!

When he was three, he HATED the water.

When he was five, he took private swim lessons so he would put his face in the water.

When he was seven, he swam like a fish.

When he was eight, he stood at the end of the lane.  He adjusted his goggles, listened to the whistles, dove in, and swam as fast as he could to the other end.  When he was eight, 50 meters was A LONG way, and he did it...twice.

When he was eight, God reminded me that he makes all things good in his perfect timing.  If you would have told me that my little blue-eyed boy would one day conquer the pool AND love it, I would have never believed you.  But he did, and it was AMAZING.

Dance Fever

I am often asked why we chose the dance studio we did.  I am not exactly sure, other than I am confident it is exactly where my girls should be for this season.  Last night, we drove to other side of big city suburbia and stayed in a hotel room with some of our very best friends.  The girls slept, and Jen and I stayed up entirely too late talking.  We spent all day today among our dance friends--both Maggie and me.  It was long.  It was tiring.  It was fun.  It was really, really good for both of us.

And we finished off the evening with a surprise treat for the girls--dinner at the Melting Pot.  Maggie and Ava were so excited to FINALLY get to eat there--and the food was yummy!

A New Skill Set

She took on the lake today and won.

He is risen, indeed!

When I was twenty-one years old, I sat in an interview for a summer job.  College was closing in--I just had one last summer free and clear before student teaching and "the real world."  I really didn't know what I wanted to do with my summer; I just wanted to do SOMETHING.  So I sat in an interview for a summer camp counselor position with an intense man.  He asked me to share the basics of the gospel with him.  I did.  He told me that I did a fabulous job--except one thing--I didn't finish the story.  I didn't include what happened AFTER Jesus died on the cross.  Without Easter, Christmas means nothing.  We need the Easter portion of the story.  Those words have stuck with me through the years.  It is the portion of the story I have the most trouble with even now...remembering that God is in control no matter how it seems.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Fourteen years later, I taught the very same lesson to a group of girls in my Sunday morning small group.  We talked our way through the Easter story, the hearts of the disciples, the obedience of Jesus, and the victory over death.  I love every minute I get with those girls, and I hope that as Easter seasons come and go throughout their lives, they remember the whole story.  I hope and pray that they will never forget the most important part.  I pray that Easter will mean more and more and more to them as they grow up, just as it means more and more and more to me each year.  It has become my very favorite holiday.

A special thanks to Stephanie and Leanne for inspiring me to make bow ties.  Even if you tricked me into hanging out, Leanne.  I love you all the more for it.

Never Underestimate Your Children

It has been a week of tough conversations for me, some with my children.  It is always hard to sit down and REALLY apologize to your children, because unlike adults, they 1) really seem to care, and 2) they ask so many questions that have a right to be answered.  Children aren't waiting for some magical apology that with remedy a situation with the promise to keep the peace next time (Adults won't admit it, but that's really what they want.  They want to know that you are sorry, you feel their pain, and you won't ever do it again.  Which is totally impossible, seeing as how we are all still sinners, but I digress...).

So I sat my children down on Tuesday for an apology, and it turned into a Q & A session of sorts, which was fine with me.  I answered some tough questions about some tough things.  It was good and helpful and grace-filled.  The amazing thing?  It has taken me almost twenty years to figure out why I feel the way I do.  My eight-year-old son figured it out AND VERBALIZED it in about twenty seconds without even realizing what he was doing.  Never, ever, ever underestimate your children.