A Saturday afternoon in March

This weekend the Duke women's lacrosse team was in town to play a game against UVA. We have a good friend who is an athletic trainer for Duke, and she gave our family free passes to attend the game on a very beautiful Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville yesterday.  

I was pretty unsure how it would all go down with me and the three kids trying to sit through the game, especially since it happened to be right in the middle of our regular nap time. While we were in the car, I tried to think ahead and prepare the kids (and myself) for what it would be like. I just remember praying a lot. 

The first thing we saw as we entered the stadium was the UVA mascot. It was so funny seeing the kids' reactions!

I was so pleasantly surprised by how great Mac and Corrie were. They were so much fun, and they actually seemed to like watching the game! Mac decided to cheer for the Cavaliers (he wanted to be on the team with the "swords"), and Corrie cheered for Duke with me.

The other thing that helped them sit nicely in the stands was the fact that I brought an entire bag of Sun Chips, a bag of Trader Joe's cheese puffs, water bottles, fruit, and yogurt smoothies. They pretty much just ate for 1 and 1/2 hours straight. 

And then there was Davey. 

There was no interest in watching the game for him, and not much interest in eating a bowl of cheese puffs either....only throwing them everywhere. After chasing him around the stands for a while, I had to banish him to stroller for pretty much the entire afternoon. Poor little guy.

Although I prefer Duke's soccer and lacrosse stadium by far, I had to admit that the Cavaliers have a beautiful stadium of their own and even a view of the mountains in the distance.

At halftime, Mac and Corrie were so funny when the music came on. They were both dancing in their own little ways. They had such an innocence and a total lack of awareness of what anyone around them thought. Mac seemed to be performing his own routine in his head. He was so serious about it! Such a great little guy.

The other thing we did at halftime was go to the concession stand to buy some M&M's. By that point we were getting low on food, and I knew Davey would sit for a long time - possibly even the whole 2nd half - if I slowly fed him a steady stream of M&M's. 

That sounds so terrible. Here's something even worse: as we were standing in line, Mac and Corrie found balloons in the trash can. They were playing with them and wearing them as hats. And you know what, I totally let them...I can't believe I am admitting that I even encouraged it. I reached in and pulled out a balloon for Davey. At first I didn't realize it was a trash can. Honestly, I thought it was just maybe some kind of balloon bin. But then I realized people were staring at us and I saw that it was actually trash that I was giving my kids to play with. 

There really wasn't anything else in the trash can, and it seemed really clean, so I let them keep the balloons. Also, I knew that Davey would break all of them before the game was over, so I wouldn't have to deal with taking them home in the car. 

After sword fighting with them in line, Mac and Corrie let Davey hold the balloons in the stands for the rest of the game. Of course, he did not just "hold" them. Below is a glimpse of of classic Davey. He popped all of the balloons. 

All in all, it was a pretty great day. Duke lost, but Mac was happy, and I was so pleasantly surprised by how fun it all was. The drive home was only about 10 minutes, but Davey was out before we even left the parking lot. 

We all felt pretty much the same as Davey when we got home, and we spent the remainder of the afternoon resting inside with the fresh spring air being carried by the breeze through our open windows and screen doors.

Later, we went outside and talked with neighbors and colored with sidewalk chalk until the sun went down.

I know I have painted a very rosy picture with this story, but there were of course parts of the day that were not fun and even very hard. But I believe in my heart that the Lord's good hand was upon it all, and I am very thankful for that.

"When through the woods and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!"

"He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." 

- Colossians 1:17

Rainy Day

It was a rainy day in C'ville yesterday. We had decided in the morning that we should take advantage of our free time and go for a hike around the trails in our neighborhood. At that point, the sky was a bit overcast, but it didn't seem quite like rain yet.

A short time later, the kids were up and dressed for adventure. We headed out the door with high hopes, but as soon as we got a few steps down the street, the skies opened up, and we found ourselves in the midst of a downpour.

"Well," Ellis said, "Do we keep going?" 

I looked at the kids. Each one had a huge smile, and Mac was already running down the street letting out whoops of pure exhilaration.

"Well, why not?," I said. Ellis looked at me and the kids and gave me a look that said, "Okay!"

And that is how our very fun, rainy day began. Soon we found ourselves hiking over bridges, through the woods, and eventually in and around little streams. I don't think the kids have ever been happier on a hike. Davey was ecstatic to finally be freed from the baby carrier. I was amazed by how long he was able to hike!

        

MacArthur in repose. A rare sight.

Later that evening, I encouraged the kids to go back outside for a bit. "How about you try and dig up some worms?," I suggested. All of the kids got their shoes on and went outside excitedly, each one with a little shovel and tupperware container in tow. 

Sadly, there were no worms around our house that day, even with all of the rain. Just as we were about to turn in the for the night, I saw some stepping stones in our backyard and suggested we look under a few of them. We never could have guessed the treasure we found under the very first one! 

A little baby salamander! It was so cute! We gently placed the tiny creature in one of the small tubs of dirt and brought it into the light of our bathroom basement. Corrie and Mac observed its movements and fragile features for quite a while. We wondered what kind of salamander it was, and what sort of facts we could learn about it. 

Around 7pm, I explained that we needed to set the little guy free...back into the wild habitat of our backyard. I was glad that both kids took the news pretty well that we would not be keeping the salamander for a pet. 

We took a video of him moving around, and then we went upstairs and looked on the computer to see if we could identify the little guy and learn about him. 

It turns out that we had a newborn (1 inch long) baby Redback Salamander. Unlike other salamanders, the Redback does not live in the water. Instead, it lives in muddy areas, under rocks, or under piles of dead, damp leaves. The Redback also has no lungs, so it breathes completely through its skin. 

Both kids were excited to make a special page in their "creature books" for the little Redback. What a fun day!

Snow Day Videos

We awoke to a very snowy sunrise in Charlottesville this morning. I wish pictures could do a little better justice to the beauty I saw as I looked at the sun rising over the mountains behind our house. 

Later, I could not help but marvel at how the sun was shining on the snow covered tree branches in our neighborhood. They are so impressive and majestic in stature when you see them with your own eyes. Wish you could see them with me.

By mid-morning there were a few more mental pictures that I will treasure always. I love seeing the pure joy and endearing curiosity in Mac as he observes his giant marble track that we put together while he was home from school. Such a fun age.

Sometimes I just watch the kids and try to take it all in - sort of like how you would take in the scent of a fresh flower or savor a crisp, sweet breath of air in the springtime. Their personalities and individual quirks have a simple, sincere and refreshing quality. I am so glad that God has granted me the time right now to be able to "stop and smell the roses."  

And last but not least, an unrelated but interesting sight. Have you ever seen a giant mystery snail eat?

So these are a few of the typical sights that color our days. It is a sweet season for our family, and I am so glad that God continues to foster gratefulness in our hearts for it all. 

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"

-Psalm 118:1

Memories of a School Bus Driver

Below is a video of the scene in our minivan this weekend. Mac, Corrie, Davey, and their cousin EJ were so excited to ride in the same car together. Ellis joked, saying that he felt like a school bus driver.

That comment made me think about some of the shenanigans from my many years of riding the bus to school: In Kindergarten my friends and I used to lay on the floor under the seats and slide to the front and back of bus when we went up and down hills. I remember looking up and yelling, "Hi!" to my friends as I passed under their seats! In middle school we made signs and put them up in the windows for other cars to read.

In high school we heard a story of a boy who "iced" his street one morning in the winter by spraying water on it in the middle of the night. Legend had it that the street froze overnight, making it too icy for the bus to make it up the hill the next day for school. That story had a Ferris Bueller-like effect on us.

One freezing cold, snowy morning, with that same story on our minds, we noticed some huge, icy snow boulders piled up near our bus stop. We also lived at the bottom of a very steep hill. We looked at each other and immediately started lining the icy boulders across the road. We exchanged excited laughs over our genius plan. It was foolproof!

I remember the nervous glances we exchanged as the rumblings of a school bus engine approached. Pretty soon the familiar yellow bus rounded the corner, and we all saw the look on the bus driver's face when she saw the barricade waiting for her. She was very, very,very mad. I think that's when we realized it was possible our plan might not be exactly foolproof.

A look of sheer determination came across the bus driver's face. She lowered her big, black sunglasses and put the bus in reverse. We heard her rev the engine. We heard the tires squeal. She went for it - full force into the line of snow boulders. We were mesmerized.

It took two or three attempts for the bus to make it through the barricade. At first we wondered, "have we really done it?!!!, but we could soon see that the snow was no match for the big bus tires. One by one, we boarded the bus in a defeated fashion, trying to avoid eye contact with the woman who had shattered our fragile dream. I could almost still hear a maniacal chuckle...

Suddenly I was back in the reality of our minivan, listening to absolute, unadulterated chaos in the seats behind me. I turned to look at the kids and saw that they were having so much fun, much like I did on so many of those school bus rides.