It's Official...I'm a Soccer Mom!

It's May Again

Both of my "babies" have birthdays this month. Birthdays are bittersweet for me.

My pastor quoted from this short story on Sunday.

The Center of Time

There is a place where time stands still. Raindrops hang motionless in air. Pendulums of clocks float mid-swing. Dogs raise their muzzles in silent howls. Pedestrians are frozen on the dusty streets, their legs cocked as if held by strings. The aromas of dates, mangoes, coriander, cumin are suspended in space.

As a traveler approaches this place from any direction, he moves more and more slowly. His heartbeats grow farther apart, his breathing slackens, his temperature drops, his thoughts diminish, until he reaches dead center and stops. For this is the center of time. From this place, time travels outward in concentric circles - at rest at the center, slowly picking up speed at greater diameters.

Who would make pilgrimage to the center of time? Parents with children, and lovers.

And so, at the place where time stands still, one sees parents clutching their children, in a frozen embrace that will never let go. The beautiful young daughter with blue eyes and blonde hair will never stop smiling the smile she smiles now, will never lose this soft pink glow on her cheeks, will never grow wrinkled or tired, will never get injured, will never unlearn what her parents have taught her, will never think thoughts that her parents don’t know, will never know evil, will never tell her parents that she does not love them, will never leave her room with the view of the ocean, will never stop touching her parents as she does now.

The rest of it...
http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/data/EinsteinDream/chapter05.htm

by Alan P. Lightman, Einstein's Dreams, 1993

If only it were true...

There's Only One First Piano Recital

Audrey's was this past weekend. She did great! She played a duet with her teacher. Why was this not an option when I was a child? My entire piano career was scarred by the terrible recital in which I forgot the last half of "Glow Little Glow Worm". I spent the next six years of my life begging my mom to find a piano teacher who didn't have recitals. But enough about me.

Here is a video of her playing, "Go Tell it on the Mountain". As I told my friend later, she was the first 90 seconds of a 90 minute event.

She waited patiently for the remaining 88.5 minutes with her buddies.

Benton was riveted by the whole affair.

A few more poses at the end.

Nice job, Audrey!

It's a Quiz!

Our sweet babysitter sent me a text on Wednesday as follows, "Who is quark? Benton talks about him all the time!"

Choice A - Lovely quartz crystal.

Choice B - Quacking duck.

Choice C - Uncle Clark!

Clark is a college basketball coach and I stole this picture from his team website. The one above was on the site last year during season. Benton LOVES basketball and asks to check the computer regularly to see the pictures. "See Uncle Quark! See Uncle Quark!" When this picture pops up, Benton responded, "No, Quark yelling. I want Quark not yelling."

So, Choice D - Quark not yelling.

Let the games begin! Go Eagles!

Molasses Madness

This weekend, we went to vist my aunt and uncle on their farm in Missouri. My uncle plants sugar cane and then uses it to make homemade molasses. My aunt makes homemade soup and yummy apple cobblers. They've done this for a while now, so lots of family and friends come for the day to help, watch and eat!

My uncle uses this cool old cane press and his prize Belgian horses to squeeze the juice from the cane stalks. We got there too late to see the horse, so the kids had to pretend. Then he cooks the juice for about eight hours. He stays by it all the time and skims off the yucky stuff. When it starts getting sticky and sweet he pours it through a strainer into old milk cans. Here are some pictures of the action.

Can you figure out the puzzle on the pink t-shirt? The first picture is a mole. Then, a donkey or (*ss) times 2! Get it! So cute! And my aunt, the hostess with the mostest.

My cousin Kelli with her college friend, Jenny, who drove all night and slept in her car to make the big day.

Family pictures...

Kurt and Jaci

Uncle Mart, Uncle Jim, Daddy and Aunt Doris

Mom and Aunt Doris

Joseph

The terrible twos, except they're three now. In case anyone from PETA ever reads this blog, these two did not, repeat did not, throw huge walnuts at the prize Belgians.













There is never a day too busy to work in some crafts.

Thanks Jim and Cathy! We all had a great time!

Generosity

Benton doesn't tell us much about preschool. The only friend he mentions on a regular basis is Spence. Excitement ran high this week when the mailman delivered an invitation to Spence's birthday party.

Unfortunately, the party is a few weeks away. The way Benton understands time, it might as well be in 2017. My patience was wearing a little thin in the wake of the many, many questions about this big event.

Benton let the topic drop for a little while. We were sitting at dinner when Benton hopped out of his chair and announced he needed to go in the backyard for something. He returned with his much loved (and almost new) baseball bat, tee and ball. He handed them to me and said, "Wrap these for Spence."

I responded, "Do you want to give Spence your new baseball stuff?"

Benton, "Yes, for Spence." He left the room and then brought his very dear Spiderman velcro wallet. "Wrap these for Spence."

I hope I never forget this brief look into his sweet, giving heart.

GO t U l S A!!!

The TU football team played its home opener last Saturday. We all loaded up and went to watch the game. Benton insisted on bringing his American flag to the game. He almost forgot it in the car, but went back and retrieved it at the last moment. After a hike to the stadium, climbing up to our section, and then scooting past several people to our seats, Benton sat down, waved his flag, and yelled, "You can do it!" Repeatedly.

Audrey agreed to go to the game because she thought it was a good photo opportunity. She made sure her dad brought a camera and staged her best shots.

TU won big. Everyone was happy.