One of Our Kids is DRIVING!(scary thought!)

Life's been good so far this summer! Monica and the kids have made several trips to Stockton Lake to swim. Rayna and Doug have been having fun riding their bikes. And, today, Grant gave Darcy her first driving lesson ever! They went to the license bureau today to pick up a driving handbook and then Grant took her to a large empty parking lot and let her crawl behind the wheel of the van. Of course, Doug and Rayna were in the back seat screaming, "We're gonna DIE!!!" Darcy's bummed that the license bureau won't be open on the Fourth of July...but, she has every intention on getting her learner's permit first thing on the fifth!

Our Family is Finally Complete

Doug became a Christian about about 8:20 this evening. Momentous conversations begin when you least expect them. With Darcy it was when she was not quite 4 years old...sitting on a fallen tree trunk near the site where we were building our home...a conversation that began with her questioning what would happen when the rapture came--would she get to go with myself and her daddy? Afterwards, Darcy exuberantly ran ran pell mell back to her grandparents' home bursting with excitement to tell her daddy and her grandparents what she had just done. With Rayna it occurred even earlier, when she was just turning 3 years old and happened one morning as we sat together on the blue love-seat in the library looking out the window just chatting and then she began talking about things she had learned in Sunday School...how Jesus had died on the cross for our sins...and the conversation just flowed simply and clearly and little Rayna made her decision...she finished with a happy smile and wrapped me in a hug. With Doug, it happened tonight, when he was 11 years old, as he layed in bed, propped up on one elbow, brows furrowed in concern while I perched on the ladder of his loft bed. His worries about the lightening outside, took his thoughts to tornadoes and then to questioning if we would all go to heaven if we died. When he finished praying, his face was wet with tears...his fears melting away. Life changing moments that slip up without fanfare, without warning, quietly coming when we least expect them.

Maybe I Should Start Planning a Bit SOONER...

Well, another birthday season has slipped up on me! Rayna will turn seven years old this Wednesday. Do I have any birthday shopping done or even STARTED? No! Do I even have any clue what I might get her? No! Did I have any birthday plans in place before 7am this morning? Again, resoundingly No!

I became such a lame parent after I turned 42 and found myself managing three rambunctious kids instead of just one. I've never quite gotten my footing since then. I know...lame. What's worse, I hate to admit, is that this will be the first BIRTHDAY PARTY (excluding family gatherings) that Rayna has ever had (and Doug, age 10 has only had ONE)...compare that to Little Miss Darcy who had HUGE birthday blow-outs with lots of kids invited at age three (12 kids) and again at age five (35 kids) and had overnighters with one friend for ages two, four, six, and seven....Doug had to wait until he was ten just to have TWO friends come celebrate HIS birthday with him...and now, little Rayna has had to wait until age seven just to have THREE friends invited to celebrate her birthday with her. I just had more energy when Darcy was young...

But, what I lack in organization and umph, I more than compensate for in GUILT. Yes...GUILT...the great motivator! So, it was, that this morning we threw together birthday plans....to Kansas City on Sunday to make stops at those two sets of grandparents and then, Friday (a week from today) Rayna will have a sleep-over to which she is inviting three friends (Mary from across the street, her bosom buddy Lizzie from church, and Crystal her friend from the Chinese restaurant).

I just met Crystal for the first time last night. We were eating at China Pearl when Rayna excitedly announced, "There's my FRIEND!!!" I looked up to see a little Malaysian girl walking in the restaurant and going behind the counter. I asked Rayna, "What is your friend's name?" She replied, "I don't know!" We continued eating. A mouthful later, Rayna went on to tell me, "Everyone always thinks she is my SISTER! Everyone at school is always asking me, 'Is Crystal your little sister?'" At which point, I pointed out that Rayna DID know her name. It was so funny...Rayna looked a bit startled and then said, "Hey, that's right! Her name IS Crystal!!!" Funny how she didn't think she knew her name, yet, moment's later was quoting her friends using the little girl's name! A few moments later, Crystal's mom came over to our table and struck up a conversation with us, remarking herself how much Rayna looked like her own daughter. While the rest of us ate, Rayna ran up to tell Crystal "Hi!" and the next thing I knew, Rayna had disappeared behind the counter, too...and then somewhere beyond into the back of the restaurant. Rayna hadn't eaten much from the buffet, but we never saw her again at our table. She wasn't left to starve, though, because Crystal had a large supply of decorated cupcakes that she and Rayna plowed into.

Chatting with Crystal's mom, we discovered that we live just a few blocks apart. When we were finished eating, we invited Crystal to come home with us to play with Rayna for an hour and a half. The girls were both delighted! They had a blast playing here and then we brought Crystal back to the restaurant in time for Rayna to start getting ready for bed. They are a rowdy pair. Rayna tends to gravitate to very energetic, high spirited friends. Birds of a feather, I guess!

The over-nighter next Friday should be interesting (or at least quite tiring!)! My advice to everyone else out there, is HAVE YOUR KIDS WHILE YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR TWENTIES!!! By your late forties you are liable to be as lame as I am!

Bitten by the Bookworm

The older the kids get, the fewer and farer between 'firsts' are...but, yesterday was a first for Rayna. I noticed she was engrossed in an unfamiliar book silently READING it to herself (not just flipping through looking at the pictures! She has become quite fond of books this year, but this is the first time I have seen her actually READING a book that has never previously been read to her all by herself without someone at her side listening in and assisting her if she got hung up on a word. She has been reading books out loud for a long time now and has been silently re-reading books she has already read aloud with help, but this was the first time I noticed her picking up an unfamiliar book and just getting completely absorbed silently reading it to herself without anyone to cue her. It was "Dogerella"...a doggie version of Cinderella!

This morning I picked that same book out to have her read aloud to me (she reads a book aloud to me each morning after she has gotten ready for school). She was able to read it without much assistance at all, even though it had some challenging words in it.

It is so neat when you see an independent love of reading begin to take root in your child! Two down, one to go...we still have Doug to get over that hurdle.

Hot Off the Press!

Run right out and grab a copy of the November issue of "Bluegrass Unlimited" and you can read a four page article on "The Tradition of Kansas City Bluegrass"! The article is a retrospective of the four foundational bands in the Kansas City area over the past 37 years. One of those four bands is The Bluegrass Missourians (the band that Grant was a member of for 28 years, until last year when we moved to Bolivar)!

(That article is on pages 40-43. There is a picture of the band--while Grant was still playing with them--on page 41.)

Photos from the Home Front:

Wow, a lot went on the eight and a half days that I was in El Salvador out of communication with everyone back in the States....




Doug learned to ride a bike without any training wheels (thanks to a lot of help from his Grandpa C!).







It seems Darcy grew another inch or so!

(My parents came to see me the day after I got home. Darcy and my mom apparently are consulting over a phone issue!)







(a photo of "Black" Ransom when she was about 4 weeks old)

(these two photos were taken just a day or so before I left for El Salvador)
And, Ransom reverted back to a wolf pup! Darcy had been entrusted with the solemn responsibility of continuing the pup's training and SOCIALIZATION but, she got too busy hanging out with her grandparents all week and left the pup on her own in the back yard. Wow! I could tell what had happened the moment I picked the pup up (even before confirming it with Darcy)... The silly pup would not make eye contact any longer (something we had really worked on and had gained much ground on) and she squirmed and flailed in my arms, unwilling to be held and she ran about the house like a crazed animal with no manners whatsoever. I was surprised at how quickly she had "detached" from us...but, then, I got to thinking about it, and eight and a half days is a HUGE chunk of your life when you are only nine weeks old, anyway. Gladly, Ransom found her manners and willingness to LOOK at us and interact calmly within just a day of me dragging her about with me...but, the way she was acting when I got home simply confirms in my mind that my instincts have been right and that this pup is going to require consistant socialization and training. She is just so dominant, self-sufficient, fearless, and independent that she NEEDS consistant training and continual socialization. She would turn into a real handful if just left in the backyard ignored for long periods of time.

Ransom is nine weeks old...and almost has gotten too big for Rayna to lug around! When I left for El Salvador, Ransom's ears were still sweetly symmetrical and tipped over so cutely. When I got home, I was shocked to see how much longer her nose had grown (not to mention those legs of hers!) and dismayed to see that she will not be escaping the "ugly ear" stage that is so common among German Shepherds. One of her ears is presently bent almost flat against her head at a cock-eyed angle. I'll be glad when they begin standing up erect!

(Laura, who got Ransom's litter mate brother told me last night that his ears never went through the ugly stage at all...just went from being perfectly tipped to standing erect...without the in-between-smooshed over grotesquely stage. She also reports that he has perfect manners, perfect coat, perfect behavior, and is calm and quietly affectionate. ...Well, I knew Ransom was the rough and tumble, rowdy, trouble-maker of the litter when I got her, so, I'm not going to worry about the fact that her siblings have better social skills... besides, I doubt that any of them would have dove off a high bridge into deep water below without a second thought at 7 weeks old like my fearless little fighter began doing!)







Here are the three kids out in the front yard yesterday modeling for me their souveniers from El Salvador. Darcy got a Soccer Uniform that has the seal of El Salvador on it. Doug got a hat. Rayna got the white top she is wearing.








I am beginning to wonder if little Rayna HAS any permanent teeth! Those top teeth just keep falling out, but no new ones come through in their place. She is currently short about EIGHT teeth--poor kid!

This silly girl has been watching too many Martial Arts shows on TV, I think!!!

(My Three Dumplings: Rayna, Darcy, and Doug.)

Whoo-hoo! It's Spring Break!!!

Spring is beginning to peek through in our corner of the world! Yesterday when I picked the kids up from school, it was a gloriously perfect Spring evening...and, best of all was the heady knowledge that school was out for the next nine days!!!

Living in town is SO DIFFERENT from our former lifestyle...but, it has its advantages! The kids revel in the fact that we live on a quiet dead-end street that more than a dozen children call home. Last night, there were seven kids and three dogs spilling out onto the street out of my front yard.

We usually keep the three dogs in the backyard, but they needed to see some new sites, too! The blonde dog, Shanachie, is very old and totally deaf, now, so I only let her in the front yard if she is on a leash (since she never knows when I am calling her back), and Gloria, our horse of a dog, can only be in front on a leash, as well, because she is the most obstinately, bull-headed, stubborn dog that ever walked the face of the earth! Rivie, however is allowed to run free, because she will spin on a dime to come when called.

Meanwhile, Rayna has been BEGGING me to take her training wheels off her bike for some time now. I kept putting it off, knowing that the moment the training wheels came off, someone (Grant or I!) would have to be running along behind her to keep her from toppling over sideways. I was PLANNING on getting that done one of these days, just not YESTERDAY. So, when she asked me once more to take her training wheels off, I explained, "Not tonight, Honey. Let's wait until your dad is home, because we are going to have to HELP you ride your bike when the training wheels are off." Rayna was adamant, "You will NOT have to help ME! I already KNOW how to ride a bike!" Then, to prove her point, she ran across the street and borrowed her friend, Mary's, bike which was much more "grown-up" without any humiliating training wheels on it! As I watched, I was just shaking my head, KNOWING that she was going to fall. Joke was on me...the kid was a PRO on the bike! So, I got out the wrench and took the hated training wheels off her bike and she gloried in her new rank...a child WITHOUT training wheels! Wish it had been that easy to teach her sister to ride a bike! Doug, meanwhile, still really DOES need his training wheels. Just since we moved to a home with a PAVED road has he actually learned to PEDAL. Because of the spasticity and poor coordination from his head injury, the mastering the alternating use of feet for pedaling had fiercely eluded him until late this last summer. Doug WANTS the training wheels off, but, he really isn't ready for that yet.

Yesterday, I was totally politically incorrect. I let the kids play like kids played when I was a kid...forget the bike helmets and knee pads...let them hang upside down from the tree branches by their toes, if they choose...let them tie each other up...all sorts of things that probably should not occur in this safer, more genteel age. (Have you ever stopped to notice the irony...50 years ago we let our kids do all manner of shockingly dangerous things without so much as batting an eye or thinking twice about it (I remember standing up in the front seat of our car hanging my head out the window as the car hurtled down the highway at 80mph...I never HEARD of a carseat for kids when I was a kid...or bike helmuts or knee pads. My father-in-law entertains us with stories of his childhood when he and his brothers would take turns wearing a metal helmut while the other brothers would aim at the helmuted head to shoot him with their BB rifles, taking delight in the ping of the BB off the helmut!...or throw rocks at each other with the occasional necessity for stitches in the head...getting kicked in the chest by unruly colts... These days we safeguard our kids, practically wrapping them in bubble wrap before allowing them out the door...yet the world they are growing up in is sinister compared to the world we grew up in, back in the days before our parents knew to wrap us in bubble wrap. Ironic...and sad.)