In Character

Zane acts as a Power Ranger a lot. He recites the lyrics to the theme song along with the dinosaurs. He swings his legs and chops with sound effects. I had to sneak a photo from inside the house of him swinging his sword. He heard the snapping of the shot and turned as I darted from view. I love to intentionally set up moments to eavesdrops. :-)

He's an amazing artist too. He created this "mask" and held it over his face, asking if we can cut out the eyes. He put it down and forgot about it so I hung it up. Once he spotted it he asked how he's supposed to wear the mask if I hang it up. Good question . . .

Cousin Friends

Great Aunt Julia came to visit in April and was as awesome as usual with her capturing and sharing photos. So thankful for all of her time and energy to preserve family memories. I should probably clarify but I'm assuming in the second photo above all the cousins are playing zombies . . . :-)

Jacob seems like a very cautious boy so he's not in the group photo above but there he is below, enjoying raisins with a fellow redheaded cousin, Tollie.

And we were so blessed to celebrate Zach graduating high school. Vanessa had to hang behind in Hilliard with all of her softball scrimmages but we missed her and were sure to photoshop her head in the second picture below. :-) She hated missing the visit but had a lot of giggles from all the pictures.

We are SO blessed!

Persistence

A couple of weeks ago Vanessa's school had a favorite time period day. Examples given were to dress as if you're from the 80s, 50s or the Roaring 20s. With jam packed schedules we didn't plan well and I ended up unintentionally ignoring my reminder to talk it over with Vanessa. At 7:15 the night before, about the time we're wrapping up before baths and bedtimes, Vanessa went to work on drawing blueprints and asked if it was okay to draw on an old white t-shirt. I quickly realized that she was prepping for the next day. 

Upon listening to her planning I realized that she wasn't going in the typical direction as most others would likely go. I was excited for her and quickly jumped on board to help her pull together her plans before bed. Thank goodness for all the crafting materials I horde in the basement. :-) And hot glue guns! :-)

Vanessa went as Future Girl. She was inspired by previews she had seen for Tomorrowland -- a movie we may or may not see in the near future. She was also inspired by Mrs. Lycan. It worked out perfect. She was extremely excited. She even had stop and go buttons that could be velcroed to the sides of the jet pack. She did a lot of the work on assembling but I helped with finer details and hot glue.

The next day as Vanessa was preparing to go into the school, it suddenly occurred to her that this jet pack would draw attention to her. This worried her. I assured her that others would stare out of curiosity but it's okay because they'll be intrigued and have a lot of questions for her. I don't always walk into school with her but I did this day to help carry her extra stuff. Indeed people noticed. Sydney was excited and guessed her approach right away. And all the other kids wanted a jet pack too. Vanessa repeated from the time she started her idea to presenting it that Mrs. Lycan would love it and be so impressed.

I'm so happy the approach worked out how it did. It was a moment of huge encouragement. Vanessa has cardboard projects scattered throughout our house. She doesn't always get chances to run her own direction with freedom to do exactly what she has in mind. In fact, even at recent invention convention, she was talked out of her original plan because her facilitator couldn't comprehend her vision. It was obvious Vanessa lost inspiration and ownership without the encouragement to develop her original concept. But she loved hanging with her buddies!

She created a game in Mrs. Lycan's class this last Tuesday. After the excitement from bringing it home and demonstrating how it works, she shared with me that she was first told it wasn't a good idea and wouldn't work very well. I was disappointed but happy to hear she persisted. 

Maybe that is what Mrs. Lycan is trying to instill in Vanessa -- to defend her idea and to be persistent, even though I was told in the fall that one of Vanessa's strongest traits demonstrated in class is persistence -- could be that she needs to channel persistence to things she can take full ownership and not toward things she can't. Her final product gained a huge approval and love for the game she created and Mrs. Lycan shared how impressed she was. She also apologized for sending home more cardboard. ;-)

Vanessa is clever. She recently wrote a play and performed it for us. She was the writer, director, narrator and performer. It didn't occur to me immediately, because I was distracted by how impressed I was on how quickly she developed her idea and how complete it was, but while organizing things to put in keepsake tubs, I realized that the theme for her play was a clever way to convince us and express her strong desire for a cat or dog. In the end of the play, the princess gets her pet and life is no longer boring. :-)

"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence." ~ Colin Powell

The Waiting Game

We've typically tried walking to school every chance we get but this year, after opting to drive most of the fall because of lack of energy, Zane and I found a new routine that seemed to work perfectly into our day. To do car pick up, we need to be there 25 to 30 minutes early, and that is okay since Zane often needs to rest by that time in the afternoon.

Sometimes he's asleep when I put him in the van to head down. Sometimes he hasn't had a chance to rest so he's made to use this moment. I use the opportunity to read and catch up on my devotion, preparing for the afternoon wave of energy, homework, playing, dinner, errands, extracurricular activities and talking.

I will miss these moments for the next couple of months but we are excited to spend our summer days chilling, swimming, and playing with friends.

Zane is learning Vanessa's gift for negotiating. We'll continue to practice waiting and growing patience.

"Each life is made up of mistakes and learning, waiting and growing, practicing patience and being persistent." ~ Billy Graham

"What the heck?!"

A common expression of Zane's.

But what about that face?! Daddy says the top picture is his favorite. And what about that hair?! Love!

On a return trip from Gallipolis, without Vanessa and Daddy, Zane said "I wasn't sure and I worried Vanessa isn't there. But you know what?! I had a really good time."

On the way there Zane talked about what to call different size pieces of wood. "What do you call a wood from a tree this size?" He showed me the length he was talking about. We came up with labels for various sizes, like twigs, sticks, branches and limbs."

Pointing to the rolling hills in southeastern Ohio, Zane asked "What do you think is way up on that hill behind the trees?" My reply, "I don't know. There could be more trees, mud, a house, cows, deer . . ." Zane interjected "I bet there's animal poop . . . and bad guys. Someone needs to go find the bad guys." I told him we'd leave the bad guys for his soon-to-be cousin Kayla's dad to find.

Between bouts of heavy rain, Zane asked me to roll down the windows so he could feel the breeze. He was totally lost in imaginative, adventure play.

We sang songs at the top of our lungs while people in other cars glared at us.

Zane enjoyed talking about places Daddy and Mommy lived and other landmarks. As we passed Pine Street Cemetery he exclaimed "Mom, we blew bubbles by your daddy's grave there one time." I answered, "Not this one but you're right in that we did blow bubbles at my daddy's grave. I'm sure he liked that. But actually, did you know your daddy used to mow the lawn at that cemetery?" Zane: "What, your daddy mowed the lawn there?!" Me: "No. We're confusing daddies. We blew bubbles at my daddy's grave, which in a different cemetery up the road. YOUR daddy mowed the lawn here." Zane: "My daddy Adam?! Oh . . . my daddy Adam . . . that's so cool."

Zane: "I love the up and down roads!"

Crick

Vanessa had a school day off about a week ago so teachers and staff could receive more safety and security training. It was a beautiful day to head down the road apiece to play in the crick.

Zane was convinced that he found brains at the bottom of the heart-shaped tree trunk we like to always check out.

Vanessa was intrigued by the fresh spring moss on the rocks. I asked her what it reminded her of as she squeezed out the excess water. She said "It's like frozen spinach!"

Zane said the roots reminded him of our hair.

Vanessa loved that she could cross and test out her distance from us.

And Vanessa was convinced that earthworms had grown into this tree trunk.

A beautiful day to play in the crick!

MHA (My Husband is Awesome)

(Zane fell asleep the last 5 minutes.)

We've been asked by several people what "MHA" means. I think you know what it means to me. Daddy impressively balanced duties for full-time work, school, husband, father, church and family. So happy we can celebrate his success and unload the heavy extra . . .

Horsin' Around

When we're bored, we just end up horsin' around. . .

Short Story

And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while." ~ Mark 6: 31

Just one of the guys?

This might become a ceremonial place to pose for the Special Someone Dance. Vanessa asked to have her hair put in a bun and she loved it so much, we've put it back in a bun for 3 days in a row. I've recently recognized just how much my almost third grader has grown. She's no princess, really, but our rambunctious tomboy. When she picks moments to be a princess though, she bats her pretty blue green eyes and a coy smile flashes across her face. When she plays football with all the boys, she puts on her brute expression and prepares to run the ball with force.

Vanessa said "I chose to wear the blue heart-shaped plastic bracelet because it matches what we are wearing and because I love Daddy."