We had the opportunity to take the kids and go see The Lion King. Adam and I had seen it before In New York but when I heard that it was coming to town we HAD to take the kids! We have had season tickets the past two years with two other couple friends but we all traded in our season seats for a 22 tickets so that we could bring our kids and other family members. The boys and Ava Jane loved it!
Grandparents Day at Little Rock Christian was THE.SWEETEST.MORNING ever! Hearing those children sing songs about subjects they've been learning, quote scripture that they have memorized and sing praises to our great God, always brings tears to my eyes. This past year Dr. Arnold's theme was "Run with the Horses", alluding to the scripture that talks about running our race (with enthusiasm, endurance, confidence and not growing weary.) It was a theme that was carried through even to Grandparents Day planning as we decorated with a western theme which turned out so cute!
Ava Jane, Mom and myself went to get a pedicure last weekend and it was Ava Jane's first time by a professional. I think she really enjoyed the massage chair and having her feet rubbed! (The apple didn't fall far from the tree!). There was a birthday party going on so Ava Jane got to sit in the big girl chair with us.
Adam and I had the opportunity to attend Rajun Cajun, a fundraiser for CARTI. It was definitely good food (though I did not partake of the crawfish), fun music and of course wonderful people.
A friend of mine is out of the country visiting her sister so I got to keep her sweet girls and Ava Jane was in heaven having them around to dressup with and play dolls, it was pretty sweet! We went to the donut shop one morning and were a tad like the Brady Bunch with three boys and three girls--boys at one table, the girls at another!
Adam and I took the kids to PF Changs last Friday night for something different and both of us were reminded that parenting is just challenging. We had been at the table all of five whole seconds when one of our children who was throwing a fit was escorted to the restroom with Daddy. Then while trying to teach them how to use chopsticks one child thought he would just employ the end to end approach (trying to drop food into his mouth and missing over and over again) as opposed to the "pincher" approach that most other people use while eating with chopsticks. There was interupting, talking over one another, crawling under the table for napkins that had fallen on the floor and whining over wanting more edamame. That's when I decided something had to change! The rest of the week we began using cloth napkins at our dinner table and working on keeping bottoms in chairs with no knees raised up to the tables edge. The struggle is real! I wanted to lose my mind by the time the check came...but I do realize this is my fault and there is responsibility to be taken and I'm full on excepting that this is an area where we MUST improve. So, here's hoping change will stick! We did end the night with good conversations and these three couldn't pass up a chance to climb up under the big horse.
And while I'm on a parenting note, I'll add this sweet moment. Peyton learned how to mow the back yard last year at 10, this year, he has been asked by some neighbors who will be traveling this summer, to mow their yard which he is thoroughly pumped about. So Adam took him out front and helped coach him on how to start the mower, how to keep it running and how to make straight lines across the yard. We don't have a self propelled mower so it took a lot of strength to push it but Adam said its the best way to learn. This boy of ours is getting so big and truly enjoys doing things like this, he was so proud of himself and the way the final product looked when he'd mown and blown the driveway and sidewalks. We are grateful for the responsibility that he is learning.
Even though parenting has challenges and hard moments, I am truly grateful for the privilege of getting to raise these sweet little people and helping them become the young men and woman that God desires for them to be whether that's learning how to sit at a table in a mannerly way, not interrupting people (which is a skill every age needs to know), or whether its simply learning to manicure the front lawn. As a parent, the monotony and the constancy is unending at times, the repetitive nature of teaching and "reminding" never goes away so I truly desire to be a parent who embodys Deuteronomy 11:19 "Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
