Five Today

My baby turned five today. I can now fully agree with all of the wise and experienced parents who have so many times told me to purpose to enjoy every moment of time with my little ones. For, as they all promised, time has a way of speeding by without my noticing. And then all of a sudden I stop to see that I have a smart, funny, cuddly, wonderful five-year-old who is already dreaming about life when she is all grown up. I have no problem waiting for that day. I am sure it will be here before I know it.

 

Little One. Gotcha day- Monday, May 5, 2008.

Little One- Wednesday, May 7, 2008.

 Birthday party- Saturday, January 12.

 Dr. Little One- Tuesday, January 15.

Birthday flowers from Daddy- Tuesday, January 15.

"Children are a gift from the Lord.
    They are a reward from him."

-Psalm 127:3

The Wisdom of Solomon

From the other side of the girls' bedroom door last night:

Little One: No, that's mine, sissy.

Second Grader: I just want to use it tonight.

Little One: You can't. It's mine.

Second Grader: It was just sitting on the floor.

Little One: It's mine and you can't use it because you don't have special hair. Only I have special hair.

Second Grader: Everyone has special hair.

Enter Daddy.

Daddy: Girls, what are you fighting about? (though we already knew and had been laughing in the bathroom)

(Both at the same time, though I can't type it that way)

Little One: Her is trying to wear my sleeping cap but her doesn't have special hair. Only I have special hair.

Second Grader: She is getting all mad because I was going to wear her sleeping cap, but it was just laying there on the floor and she didn't even care about it.

Daddy: Second Grader, that is not the way to handle things with your sister. Waiting until it is dark, trying to sneak down from your bed and snag something behind her back. If you want to use her sleeping cap, you should have asked her.

Second Grader: But she wasn't even thinking about it until I snuck down to get it and she would have said no.

Daddy: Little One, why can't sissy wear your sleeping cap? It was on the floor and you weren't even thinking about it before Sissy tried to use it (practically quoting Second Grader's response because we all knew what she said was true).

Little One: It's my sleeping cap and she doesn't have special hair. Only I have special hair.

Daddy: Little One, when is the last time you wore your sleeping cap to bed?

Little One: Last summer. (brief pause) But it's mine...

Daddy exits with the sleeping cap. Quiet arguments continue from the other side of the door.

After a few minutes Daddy re-enters wearing the sleeping cap (though he doesn't have special hair) and carrying a pair of scissors.

Little One (Laughing out loud at the sight of Daddy in her purple silk sleeping cap): That's mine, Daddy. You don't have special hair.

Daddy: Yeah, yeah, we know all about the special hair. Look, I am going to cut this sleeping cap in half so you both can have a part of it.

Second Grader: Okay.

Little One: Then it won't fit on my hair and I have special hair...

Original argument between the girls picks up again and Daddy exits the room with both the scissors and the sleeping cap.

We shrug, feeling content in our attempt to parent with Solomonesque wisdom, and continue to chuckle as we listen to the girls argue themselves to sleep.

Wisdom?- Wednesday, January 9. 

And I was Running...

Hello. Long time no see. But here I am. Not quite sure what drew me in today, but I'm here and glad to be so. I updated this space with some pictures I took from Skyline Drive. Though I hadn't blogged in over five months at the point of that trip, I took the picture of my boots with the purpose of putting it at the top of my blog. Silly me. But I like it, just like I thought I would when I was imagining the day I would feel pulled back into this adventure of capturing my thoughts, my life in a blog.

I don't have a plan or a goal for how often I will visit. But I'm here today on our first full day back to "real life" after an extended holiday break. When I told the girls they needed to eat breakfast at 8:10 this morning, they grudgingly tromped up the steps asking, "why so early?" But after a very full day, girls in the tub as I type, I think we are all secretly glad to be back to our routine. And that may be a big reason why I find myself here. Blogging was a great part of winter last year and I think I was remembering how much I enjoyed that slice of each of my days.

So, today I can tell you I went running for the first time in a long time. To be honest, it was much more walking than running. Couch to 5K, here I come! But none the less, it was great to be outside, listening to my audio book, convincing myself that I will be able to run more than a few minutes at a time if I keep this up. I am sure I was slightly inspired by the annual feeling of invincibility and impossible dreams come true that settles on each of us come January, but my biggest motivation to go out walk-running today was my new hat. It's a running hat that even has a hole for my little ponytail. It is my new favorite thing!

Me in my new hat- Monday, January 7.

So hopefully I will see you here more often than not over the season that has us all tucked away. And hopefully I'll be able to report I've been running. We'll see if the magic of the new hat lasts longer than my New Year's optimism usually does.