Fly a Kite

Vanessa recognized that recent conditions have been great for flying kites. We finally had a chance last weekend. Fortunately kites are very cheap, so we usually have a few stashed away. Sunday (4.27.14) we were flying high. Vanessa came home from church, after several weeks of extreme insecurity and worry, and said she wanted to pray for Jesus to come into her heart so she can be certain she will go to Heaven. It was a very proud moment.

Then we ventured outdoors to fly kites.

Vanessa was emotional at first, saying she couldn't do it and she was giving up. We were able to talk about how God hasn't given up on us, so why should we give up just because it takes a lot of work and isn't easy? We realized there are a lot of lessons and skills to learn and practice, so Vanessa helped name some:
1) Patience
2) Focus
3) Thoughtfulness
4) Timing
5) Watchfulness
6) Awareness
7) Determination
8) Calmness
9) Self-control
Her attitude changed and she ended up spending an hour or so repeatedly putting her kite in the air. "There you go. . . . Come on, you can do it. . . . Did you see that mom?!"

Zane couldn't launch it himself, but he was able to navigate it pretty well for a 3-year-old. After a few opportunities, he and I ended up snuggling under a tree while Vanessa continued to entertain us with the kite.

One of our best days ever!

Just Another Day at the Parks

Zane: "Mama, can we go to a park?"
Mom: "Are you okay with getting a little wet? It's raining off and on."
Zane: "Rain, go away! Raindrops don't have mouths, so they don't talk."
Mom: "Do they have ears?"
Zane: "No. Don't be silly. They don't have ears so they can't listen to me so the rain won't stop."
Mom: "Let's pack a lunch and go. Sound good?"
Zane: "Yep. If there are foxes and dogs we will have to leave. I want to see a horse on a bridge. Maybe the horse will let me ride him if I see him. When I'm bigger I will ride my skateboard."

*UPDATE*
I forgot to include one of Zane's requests made while swinging. Made me laugh.

Zane: "Mom, stop taking pictures of me. It's boring."

Oh . . . it's far from boring.

Sharp

He's smart and creative. He's vigorous. He knows what he wants. He notices the finest details. He calculates his moments. He's sensitive to others. He's charismatic. He's as sharp as a newly sharpened pencil . . .

And another good related thought to consider, taken from a church sign: "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil -- no point."

Banking

On Good Friday, we changed plans last minute.  When I asked the kids if they wanted to meet friends at the zoo instead of going to the opera performance at the library, it was unanimous. And it ended up having a great payoff.

But while scrambling to pull ourselves together, the first excited request was to play on the playgrounds. The second was whether or not they could get their faces painted. I've heard this request for several years now. And they've always heard a response of "Not today. We don't want to waste our money on that."

However, on Friday Vanessa asked if she could use her own money from her piggy bank. "It's my money so I should be able to spend it on face painting if I want. Right?" She ran to see if she had enough. She found a twenty-dollar bill and asked if she would get back change. Then she worried for Zane, so they ran back upstairs to check his cash box. Indeed they both had enough, so from that point they were banking on it . . .

Vanessa chose a half crown design and Zane wanted to be a zebra. The lady finished Vanessa quickly and Zane was more patient than most 3-year-olds -- he didn't budge the whole time the lady painted. Others in line were amazed at how still he was. There were comments that he could perform as a statue or a mime.

The kids were also very good to keep their face painting secret until after playing and eating with friends, knowing that we can't expect everyone to break their bank on something like that.

We didn't see many animals on Friday, but we all had a blast visiting. Indeed you can take that to the bank.

The weekend ended up being good in many ways.  Upon returning home from a solo trip to the store Saturday evening, Vanessa ran to me screaming she had just found a 4-leaf clover in the backyard. Since we've had a couple prior experiences where she was mistaken and a leaf from another clover was stuck together, or one leaf had split in two, I wasn't banking on it. But then Vanessa handed it to me. . . . and she had!

She took me to the backyard to show me the patch where she found it. I asked her to tell me about it. She said in one breath "I just knew there would be one here so I bent down and started looking and it didn't take me long at all when I found it!"

What was even more amazing to me was that the teeny tiny leaf had grown in a way that it was actually overlapping the one to its right. We had to be extra careful to press it in a book. Daddy said he thought the same thing I did, that she must be mistaken. Vanessa laughed her way to the bank.

April 20, 2014

This date was full of so much. It's been 10 years since my dad passed. It's fitting to have the pillow Grandma made for us in a La-Z-Boy recliner on this day, pocket stuffed with Juicy Fruit (his favorite gum for helping fight off a desire to smoke). I smile when I think about the number of times he stepped out of his comfort zone to make another person happy, like fitting and wearing a tux for his baby girl's wedding. He's another soul that found joy in making and seeing others happy. In his last years, he was extra happy with just hotcakes and coffee at Bob Evans -- it was easy to find and bring him joy.

We also celebrated Christ's resurrection. Church was overflowing with visitors from the Egg-splosion the day before, which was incredible. We woke early to discover EB left you notes and clues to help you find your Easter baskets. Vanessa left her window cracked the night before to be sure EB could enter the house. Zane wouldn't go downstairs in the morning without reassurance that EB had left and was nowhere to be found. 

Daddy helped design eggs by drizzling rubber cement on them before we dipped them in the color. And since we seemed to be really into baby chicks this year, we crafted little chick nests. Disappointingly and before placing them in their nests, Zane had the wild desire to pull the glued googly eyes back off. He's such a picker. Good thing he doesn't mind undoing and redoing all of his hard work. :-)

Creatures

I'm not even sure how to spell the character's name from an old PS2 video game the kids play with Daddy (Rajay?), but Vanessa turned Zane into the human/hybrid creature. She gave him fingernails/claws and wings using notebook paper and tape. I love their random moments of play. I couldn't script it better.

Other recent non-scripted moments:

One day while reading about dinosaurs (". . . dinosaurs are extinct animals"), Zane commented "Ew. Yuck! They smell."

Another occasion when talking about things made of meat, Zane said:  "Dinosaur is made of meat. I will eat a dinosaur."
Vanessa: "You could if we found one. . . . We're made of meat too."
Mom: "But it's not okay to eat people. God gave people animals for food. He made it so humans rule over the animals."
Vanessa: "Raccoons eat people."
Mom: "I've not heard of a raccoon eating a person. What I told you the other day was if you run into one, stay away from it and come indoors.  They will bite if they get scared, and they have nasty germs and diseases."
Vanessa: "Yeah, but meat-eating dinosaurs ate cavemen."
Mom: "Yes, however, God made us to be smarter than animals. So if we don't plan to protect ourselves from being eaten, and if dinosaurs were still around, we could be eaten. We would want to stay away from meat-eating dinosaurs for sure."

"Then God said, 'Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" ~ Genesis 1:26

The Lowdown

When Vanessa is under the weather and she misses school, she can count on Dru to call her with the lowdown on any important things she missed. First Dru has to hear about every move Vanessa made throughout the day. Then Dru tells Vanessa every single move she made. The conversation ends when Vanessa reminds Dru that she has other commitments about to start:

Vanessa: "Don't you have soccer practice at six?"
Dru: "Wait . . . Mom! Do I have soccer practice . . . ? Vanessa I have to go. We need to leave. Hope you're at school tomorrow! Bye!"

Probability

If Zane has gone a couple days without a nap during the day, he'll probably need one, so we plan accordingly. He's grown a ton recently, so he's needed more rest.

Reading before naptime yesterday:

Zane: "Next time we go to Grandma and Grandpa's we'll bring this book about Jimi. We'll read it and show him heaven. He'll like it.

Mommy: "Jimi isn't at Grandma and Grandpa's. He's in heaven." 

Zane: "But he might come back cause he misses us."

Mommy: "When you go to heaven, there's a good chance you're not coming back. Maybe Jimi helped the author write this book about heaven."

At dinnertime last week:
Mommy: "Zane, will you please go ask Vanessa if she would like cheese in a crescent roll?"
Zane: "She will probably say no or yes. I'll be right back." [He runs away and returns.] "Vanessa would like cheese in a crescent roll. She said yes. I would  like cheese in a crescent roll too, please."

A random and recent conversation:
Vanessa: "When are we going camping again?"
Mommy: "We're thinking this summer we'll go for a few days."
Zane: "Wonder if there are bears."
Mommy: "We're not staying in a place with bears."
Vanessa: "Remember the bears at the playground in Gatlinburg? That was scary."
Zane: "If bears in bushes, Daddy and me will go shoot them with our guns. Mommy, you and Vanessa will stay in the tent and Daddy and me will go find the bears in the bushes and kill them."

While playing with Battleship pegs:
Zane: "Mom, see, it goes in a pattern. Red, white, red, white, red, white. . . ."
Mommy: "Which one will come next?"
Zane: "Red! Then white, red, white, red . . ."

Little Bother

They are not like some of the stories you read about -- where the big sister is constantly bothered by her little brother. We've been blessed for it to be quite the opposite so far. Every once in a while, though, when Vanessa has a girlfriend over, especially one with a younger sibling, she may tag her door with a note that says "No Boys Allowed!" But it only last a short time. I've also witnessed Vanessa telling girlfriends that she wants Zane to play with them too. He's a load of fun.

I remember being the younger sibling who loved when my older siblings included me. I also remember being a big bother to them. Bother but guinea pig? Whatever. It was little bother to me.

Anchor & Comic Relief

A week or so ago, when I was in the kitchen, Vanessa and Zane were making videos on Daddy's old iPod. When I watched the various videos, I was impressed and humored.

And here is a somewhat decent performance of ABCs, at least for Zane. The problem with Zane making videos as I'd like him to is that he is such a ham. He intentionally goofs things to be funny. (Uncle Danny, Uncle Phil and I were very much like this. Uncle Thom would get so very frustrated with us whenever we should be serious.) In this instance he's holding fruit snack pieces in the back right part of his mouth and he ends it with the word horse. The video cuts off but he went on to explain to me in a very proud manner that he waited till after he said "Z" to be really silly and he didn't say "stinky poop" like usual (and in the previous videos.) I would love to capture video, though, when he's enunciating each letter sound with great intention -- it's so cute. I may have to rely on my memory since I don't get full cooperation.

And here Zane's requesting and waiting on me to play the YouTube sing-along versions of Let It Go and Do You Want to Build a Snowman.

The Story of Zane the Carpenter

I hope and pray whatever Zane's story ends up being, that it includes serving God in some form or another. I love this story/poem shared with us by dear friends on Zane's last b-day. It is copyrighted by Wee Believers.

"Joseph the Carpenter had lots of fun, working and building each day in the sun. Donning his apron he was ready to start, toiling and laboring with a disciplined heart. Screwdriver and wrench, trusted tools of his trade, the hammer and saw helped build as he prayed. Using these tools to create and construct, he never complained or sought to destruct. Joseph glorified God in whatever he did -- he was not lazy, heaven forbid! Hard workers feel peace by doing God's will, joyfully using their talent and skill! You can be like Joseph the Carpenter too, just pick up your tool set and work with virtue!"

"Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." ~Romans 12:11

Gold Mine

Here are a few nuggets we scored.  We enjoy doing spring pictures. It's a good excuse to document the half-year mark. Zane is changing so much and so fast. Anymore Vanessa expects the event. Zane requires reminders for our goals but he's also willing to look up when I interrupt his play. They make it easy to pan a hundred nuggets in no time flat.