Tyler looks the most uncomfortable of all of them. Plus, where is his seat belt? Grrrr.
(This last one is really in England, but you get the idea.)
Please look forward to my next post where I will outline the good things about Minot, ND and display pictures of the house that I bought in one day. Plus, later this week you can see the wedding cake I made for Kevin and Karen and pictures of my babies being silly. Stay tuned...
Today Tyler and I finished up his Fiesta float. Fiesta is San Antonio's version of Orem Summer Fest except that it involves the whole city (population 2,000,0000) and the kids all get a day off of school to celebrate. So tomorrow Tyler's school is having a Fiesta party and as part of that everyone is bringing floats to pull around in the Fiesta parade. We made this (more fun with cardboard and packing tape - remember the transformer house) for the parade. The wheels don't turn so hopefully the parade is inside on the tile. If they go outside on the sidewalk or in the grass, he'll be in trouble. I don't really know much about Fiesta but we did the best we could.
Lastly, I was reading "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" to the kids for their bedtime story a few minutes ago. I had just finished the page below when Tyler looks down at the book, pauses thoughtfully, and says in a very serious voice, "She won't." I love him!
Since Derek and Tyler were busy most of the day, I had time to make this Thomas cake as a reward for Derek's efforts.
I'm always asking her to stop complaining-sometimes her whining seems endless--but at the same time, the girl is an incredibly positive spirit. She was so excited last week when I unscrewed the top of an old IKEA baby dresser and turned it into a small bookshelf for Hannah. She placed the books beautifully on the shelves and was so excited she said, with no sarcasm, "This is the most exciting time I've ever had with you two!" (Stop laughing. We DO get out.)
There are other frustrating paradoxes. The girl is a fantastic older sister. I mean, it's a beautiful thing. But at the same time, the buttons she can push. Oy. She is constantly telling Hannah she is wrong about something and I am constantly telling her to not correct Hannah--to just let her say what she wants to say. Perhaps it is the younger sister in me. I don't know. But I do know how many conversations end in a battle between older and younger sister of "yes", "no," "yes," "NO!" "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah." Too many.
My point is, this girl is good. She is fantastic, really. But I am constantly on her case. Sometimes I need to be. And sometimes I need to back off. It's hard to get it exactly right.
The other day we couldn't find her swimsuit. I had looked for over a half hour and was irritated at her for not helping me look. Okay, she gave a feeble attempt for five feet or so and then collapsed on the floor in a heap. So I went on strike. I told her if she could find her swimsuit we would go and if not we wouldn't. Then I went downstairs and left her in her room to think it over. I wasn't convinced that this was fair of me. I listened to her cry, but I was too tired to get up and keep looking. She stopped crying. She shouted down to me a suggestion about wearing one of Hannah's swimsuits. I hollered back up without listening very carefully that, no, it wasn't appropriate. She couldn't wear a swimsuit that was too small. She protested. I got irritated. She cried. And when she came downstairs and we talked a bit more I understood what she was suggesting. She wanted to wear a bikini top under Hannah's one-piece swimsuit. Hannah's suit was only slightly too small. It was brilliant suggestion, really. The top didn't match the one-piece, but together they looked fine really. We went swimming.
One afternoon last week--perhaps it was the same day we went swimming, I'm not sure--Rachel was having trouble listening as I was putting Hannah down to nap. We butted heads. And then after a while I went into her room and suggested she come lie down in my bed with me, because I was tired and so was she. She whined a little, because she was over-tired, but then she joined me.
She lay in my arms as I drifted in and out of sleep. I had flashbacks to when she was two and I had to lay down on the edge of the bed with her to keep her from climbing out of bed. I remembered how I used to have to turn my back to her so she wouldn't get distracted and try to get me to talk or laugh. While my back was turned, I would hear her talking to herself in a two-year old babbling sort of way until she finally fell asleep. Now here she was, such a grown-up, really. And on this afternoon last week, after we had shut our eyes long enough to feel rejuvenated, we looked into each other's eyes and kissed and swooned at each other like lovers. We whispered into each other's ears how nice it was to have this time alone to cuddle.
And when we got out of bed it was like we were refreshed and reconnected again. Rachel later told me how much she enjoyed that time together. I could see it in her eyes. It was like her spirit was revived.
Do you ever pay attention to how much time you spend each day making eye contact with people? I'm asking because I forget to, and when I do it makes such a difference. I read somewhere that all a dog needs is five minutes a day of intense attention with an owner. That if you lay down on the floor with them and give them five minutes of complete attention, they'll get the connection they need. I know there are a lot of studies out there talking about how important this kind of intimacy--this connecting-- is in a romantic relationship.
Some things really are easy in the end.
I said, SOME things.
Catalogued by Raehan on 7/30/2006 09:47:00 PM
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