Don't You Ever Grow Up

Taylor Swift released her newest cd a few weeks ago and many of the new songs were deemed "must-haves" by Anna Cate and I. One of our favorites is the song entitled, "Never Grow Up".  Although I feel such pride in all the ways that AC is growing in independence, I am starting to see how quickly time is passing. I am enjoying the conversations we have now, the way she is growing in knowledge of the world but still so innocent of it. And though I know she will grow up, there are a few ideas of hers that I want to hold to.

*Some close family friends were not married at the time their child was born. The man he calls "father" was present at his birth, but wasn't actual his biological father and therefore the child has a different last name. After listening to an overall simplified version of the story that ended with me saying, "They weren't married when he was born".  AC responded, "How is that even POSSIBLE"? 

* I was pulled over for speeding a few weeks back and AC was in the backseat. As the officer walked back to his car to check my license, AC begins to explain to me how I went wrong. I answer that I already feel bad about the situation and her advice really is only making me feel worse. She then says, "Mom, now you know how I feel. Because,  you know how when I make mistakes at school and then I get home and we have to go over them all again? Well, I've already felt bad about them and then when you sit me down and nag at me, I just have to feel bad all over again".  Point taken.

* There is a little boy in class that AC decided was mean on the very first day he entered school. After listening to an episode that occurred in Spanish class Friday, I remarked that it sounded like on that occasion he was trying to be thoughtful. She said that maybe he was then but that he pointed his middle finger at people. I said, "Oh really, well, why is that bad?" She answered, "It means the worst bad word ever and I don't even know what that is". (Oh, my sweet, sheltered child)

Dressed up as a trash-collecting robot

*We are trying to make a conscience effort in our home to teach AC how to make responsible decisions when spending her money.  She had received several gifts one weekend and wanted to go to the store that day to buy some more Pokemon cards. I told her that she needed to wait. There was no reason that she had to have the cards that day. She marched upstairs and I didn't hear anything from her for 20 minutes. She then reappears downstairs and says, "If I order the Pokemon cards from Amazon, I won't actually get them until at least Wednesday. So, that is still following the rules, right?" (I walked upstairs to see an Amazon cart full of Pokemon cards.)

* We are driving down the road and AC is telling a story about another classmate that had seen the Funniest Video episode where a kangaroo began kicking a little boy. She said his name and I wasn't sure I understood, so I asked her to repeat it. She repeated the name and then followed it with, "he's a little brown boy" in the most matter-of-fact way. So funny because she has absolutely no idea why mentioning the color of someones skin is in anyway a big deal.

* Anna Cate came home one day and mentioned that she thought one of her teachers went to our church and I disagreed with her and explained that I knew the church the teacher attended. She wanted to know how that church differed from ours so I explained why we didn't agree with the main ideas taught there. She was quiet for a minute and then said, "I think it's scary to think about people who don't believe what God says".

Oh, darlin', don't you ever grow up

don't you ever grow up,
just stay this little.

 Oh, darlin', don't you ever grow up
don't you ever grow up

     it can stay this simple.

A Day With Anna Cate

We have been on the go for months now. So, I asked AC what she wanted to do on her day off from school and she requested that we stay home ALL day. Sounds like a peaceful day, right? Here's a rundown of our day:

8:00 - Begin working on a catalog for Tix (the store she plans to own and run when she grows up). Catalog contains a map that she googled and printed and then pages dedicated to each of the departments shown on the map. Pages have titles and are packed with pictures from the internet and magazines.

9:30 - Breakfast

10:15 - 10:45 - Mile Run. Complete with ipod and singing songs aloud as we run.

10:45 - 11:30 - Walk Abby around the block because she also needs some exercise. This turns into a nature walk with AC collecting items to use to make a nature diarama.

11:30 - 12:15 - Practice backbends, front walkovers and dive rolls. Also included some weight lifting.

12:15 - 1:00 - Work to complete our "Thankful Turkeys". This included cutting out turkey feathers, turkey legs and attaching these pieces. Then taping them all to straws and arranging them in their little box.

1:00 - 1:20 - Monster drawing and comparing monsters AC drew a year ago in the notebook to those she drew today. Conclusion: The ones more recently drawn are more realistic. (I'm not really sure how monsters get more realistic looking, but we're moving on).

1:20 - Lunch (Whew)

2:00 - 5:00 - Clean house. AC helps with the downstairs dusting and cleaning the bathroom sinks upstairs. She also makes videos with the computer while singing to her ipod playlist and makes a sting ray kite. While cleaning the bathroom, a song comes one that contains the lyric, "'cause sparks fly whenever you smile", I ask AC if sparks fly for her whenever someone smiles and she answers, "yes". I go on to ask who and she responds, "You and Dad".

5:00 - 5:45 - Look up how to make "fortune tellers" or "cootie catchers", depending on where you are from. We then make five of them, all with different fortunes, and take turns predicting one another's fortunes.

5:45 - Turn TV on for the first time today.

6:00 - Eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches and grapes together while watching "Wizards of Waverly Place". (Call me a bad mom if you like)

6:30 - Play "Queen of the Couch" and try to see who can keep the other off the couch the longest. This game is really just a "girly" way to wrestle. Then I lead AC around the house while she pretends to be blind. She says following me is actually very relaxing because she can just trust that I am going to take care of things. We then discuss what our lives would look like if we truly believed that God was by our sides, holding our hands all the time.

7:00 - Begin shower.

7:30 - Quiet reading followed by reading together, a back scratch and a song.

8:00 - Lights out!

And I am tired. I never knew a "relaxing" day could be so exhausting...and so wonderful.

And the winner of this quarter's Character Counts award for 2nd Grade is... (insert drum roll) ANNA CATE!!  OK, so in actuality, it may not have been that dramatic. But it did contain a few "Yay, Anna Cate" and "Woo-hoo" from her classmates as well as a beaming-like-crazy Mom.

Each quarter at AC's school they focus on a character trait. It is discussed in class and various activities are completed in the classroom that highlight the characteristic. This quarter they completed a lion that was "Roaring with Responsibility" and Responsibility Shields where they drew examples of how they can be responsible with friends, at home, in the lunchroom and in PE. The children also had several journal topics concerning how they can behave responsibly. The last week of the quarter the school had Jungle Jill come visit with over 20 animals and talk about the responsibility it takes to care for the animals and a separate assembly where members of the ASU Women's Basketball Team performed skits for the children concerning responsible behavior.  The finale was the award ceremony and a school-wide pizza party.

When the teacher emailed me to tell me she had chosen AC for this quarter's award, I was so very excited for her. I love going to see her at gymnastics or watching music recitals, but those are talents she has been blessed with. This award signified something more important to me, this was more about who she IS.

She said when she was sitting there, she was thinking, "Oh, I wish it could be me." and then when they called her name she felt surprised and REALLY happy.

True Traditions

As I was looking at the pictures from this Halloween, I was struck by how much the children have all changed since we first met them. Then it occurred to me that we have known these families now for three years and they have truly become a part of who we each are today.  When you move away from home, you have to find some way to create a type of extended family wherever you are so that you can live life with people. Every family needs people that are there to share the big and little events of life, the laughter and the struggles. And an extended family we are - the children sometimes argue, people get frustrated with one another, tease one another and are there to move furniture or wipe tears. And, we have created some wonderful traditions, one of which is our Halloween get together.


It's craziness really. There are children running around everywhere, ten different conversations going on, animals winding through everyone's legs...and surprisingly soothing and restful for me. I love to hear the laughter. I love listening to the children tell their funny stories. I love that there are men that Matthew will actually hug (with only a little discomfort). And I love that like with all traditions, there is no question as to whether or not we will be there only some discussion of how everyone will figure out how to make it work.