Wax Museum

In the 4th grade at our school, the kids all dress up as a famous North Carolinian and have a "wax museum" for the other children and any interested parents to come see and read about. As you can see and probably predict, Bryant chose a famous baseball player from Wilmington. His name is Trot Nixon, and he spent most of his professional career with the Redsox. It is really neat because Carey's dad coached Trot in football in high school, and he actually went to our elementary school for a year. I wish they had required a longer report because this is something Bryant might have had enough interest in to actually research and write a nice report about, but at least what he wrote was grammatically correct.

That is Enos Slaughter (aka Christian), Andy Griffith (aka Van) and Sugar Ray Leonard (aka John) in front of Trot. They line up all around the school and have to stand still for about an hour. Of course, B was not able to accomplish THAT feat, but he looked good!

This is Mary Elizabeth Winstead (aka Maddie) with B/Trot. It's nice to have famous friends.

I've heard other people complain about all the dress up requirements in elementary school, but I think this is the only time Bryant has had to do this. Once in 5 years so far is not bad. The kids all enjoyed it, and I think they learned a lot about who is from NC -- as did I since I did not grow up here. Besides, what else are they going to do the day before the last day of school? It is much better than a movie!

Not Very PC

While driving around today, we saw a lady wearing what I think is called a hijab. I tried to find a picture just to make sure everyone knew what I was talking about. This one seems a little more trendy than some, but you get the idea. Anyway, this started a conversation with my kids about why people wear these. I stumbled through an explanation of modesty. Ann Bennett said she thought it was to keep the bugs out of your mouth. I am still chuckling about this. I guess maybe we need to do some cultural education.

NEVER Thought I'd See This

Having 10 and 7 year old children means I hear a lot of arguing and complaining about each other. I'm never fair. They are both mean, and by golly, one of them looked at the other one! They talk over each other. I spend a lot of time dealing with this issue, trying to remain calm and teach how to behave toward each other. MANY times I fail and lose it with their arguments. Add to this that they have few interests in common. I mean, TV is the great equalizer, and they will play games together (board or the wii) on occasion. But for the most part, B wishes he had an older brother - or at least a younger brother. AB loves to go to Bryant's baseball games, but it is because it is her social scene. Her girls are there, and she almost never watches a game. She will tell you she'd like a sister too (especially after visiting her friend with 3 older sisters), but I think she'd keep Bryant too. I keep telling Bryant in particular that he's going to be glad he has a sister when we are all older, but he's not really buying it.

So, imagine my surprise when this morning as I was pruning the overgrown box woods in our front yard, I hear Ann Bennett volunteer to throw balls to Bryant to hit! He took her up on it, and you know what? They played together that way for probably an hour.

As you can see by the previous 2 pictures, AB still has a bit to learn about soft toss. He's catching the first ball. The second one he swung at even though it was way too high. I think he was afraid it was all he was going to get, and on occasion he remembers what his preschool teacher taught him (you get what you get and you don't pitch a fit).

But eventually, she threw him some good ones. He "jacked" it all over the place. He encouraged her, and she VERY patiently kept feeding him balls. They even went to pick up the bucket full of balls together without complaining. I'm telling you it was a miracle. I went to get Carey to serve as a witness to the miracle occurring in our front yard. It was Carey who wondered whether it was wise to have Bryant hitting real baseballs in the front yard. (B broke his first window around 5, I think, hitting golf balls at grandpa's house.) I knew our windows would be replaced even if broken by a ball, and I think my neighbor has a similar agreement. Either way, I decided the bliss of seeing them play together was worth the cost of a broken window if necessary. Fortunately, we have some trees in the front that blocked the damage; although, one hit the power lines. That was a bit unsettling.

Anyway, Ann Bennett even decided to try to hit. When she asked Bryant to throw to her, he agreed without a fight! He reminded her how to swing and gently tossed balls to her. I did not hear even ONE comment about her lack of technique. He cheered for her when balls were hit well. Miracle, I'm telling you! Did you hear the angels where you are?

My smiling, agreeable 10 year old. Proof that he's in there. (He not only played with his sister, he let me document it.) I might need this picture over the next "104 days of summer vacation." (Anyone out there recognize that song?)

Last, did you notice Ann Bennett's choice of clothing for this activity? Pink helmet and tee-ball bat, Hannah Montana shirt (from her Halloween costume), jean skirt and 2 inch wedge sandals. Priceless! But, her daddy and brother taught her well -- her eyes are on the ball!

Here's hoping for a summer full of pictures just like these!

Daughters

Some days having a daughter just takes my breath away. Today is one of those days. We went to a birthday party at a spa for girls. Ann Bennett had her hair done and a mini mani and mini pedi. I'm sure there could be lots of commentary on spa services for young girls, but I'll leave that for others. For us, it is fun. She is such a girly girl and always has been. I've had the nature/nurture argument many times! But, boy is this girl a GIRL, and I love her to pieces - pop star hair, princess necklace, hearts on her fingers and toes, animal lover and all!

This is actually the second time we've been to a place similar to this, and I am always amazed with what they can do to hair! And, AB has that baby fine hair!

This picture is from the last time we went to a place like this. That's her friend Courtney, another younger sister from Bryant's travel baseball team.

This is officially Bryant's cat, Sammy. She was named after Sammy Sosa - a Cubs player whose questionable use of drugs was not known at the time!

Sammy has a love/hate relationship with AB. She knows AB is most likely to do this to her.

But at the end of the day, Sammy loves AB as much as AB loves her -- I think.

Theology Questions of the Week

Here are a couple of the questions I have been asked by my 10 and 7 year olds in the past week.

1. Why did Jesus descend into hell? (As in the Apostles' Creed) I think the question was really if Jesus, who was perfect, went to hell, what chance do I have to escape the same fate. I explained that Jesus was not sent to an eternal hell and conquered Satan even in death, but it got me thinking about the theology of this statement.

2. I don't get how God said "Let there be light," and there just was light. I don't get that. I explained that no one understands the science of this, and this is where faith comes in. I explained that some people who don't believe God created the world think that it all happend in some kind of big bang. We talked about how this didn't make a lot of sense either. Faith is believing even when things aren't easily understood.

3. Ann Bennett is really working on controlling her thoughts. She has been struggling with passing judgements about people she sees at school -- so and so is fat, he's not very smart, her hair is ugly, etc. We have talked about how Jesus asks us to take our thoughts captive and work on thinking about people as He sees them. Every day she gets in the car and says she is still working on it. One day in the past 2 weeks, she was so excited because she had a "good" day - meaning she didn't have any of these thoughts. I've explained it takes a lot of practice and prayer to do this, but I've had a hard time actually telling her this is probably something she'll be working on her whole life! That might not be very motivating.

So, those are a few of the theological conversations we've been having recently in our house. Who knew I needed to have my theology straight for conversations with my elementary school aged children! It's amazing how much we learn from our kids.

Working Out

Carey and I met at a gym. He worked there (and worked out there), and I worked out for a couple hours a day at the time. I didn't know anybody in town except for the people I worked with, and they all had families. Anyway, about a lifetime ago, I worked out a lot - WE worked out a lot. Then, most of my friends at the gym moved or had children. Carey quit working at the gym and started appraising, and we had children. Our time in the gym essentially dwindled down to none. For the past 2 years, our membership has even been frozen.

But, then I found out about this contest where 6 people were going to win 8 weeks of personal training 4-5 times a week. I applied, but I was not selected. But, they gave everyone who applied a temporary membership to the gym, a class just for those of us not chosen on Saturday mornings and a special rate for personal training. So, I'm at least working out for now.

I've been to the Saturday classes the past 2 weeks, and they are really good. But, you can recover in a week! I was kind of thinking, I could do the Biggest Loser (except for the weighing in wearing a bra and bike shorts!). I've done everything she asked. Yes, it hurts, but I've done it. This week personal training started. We went Tuesday and did part of a spin class, followed by a a bazillion plié squats, then ran up and down the 4 sets of steps throughout the gym. Let me just say I could barely walk yesterday. Then, I went back today, and she made me run (to be fair, it was only a couple of short intervals, but still), squat some more, and do those dadgum stairs -- among other things! I'm developing a better understanding for the people on the Biggest Loser. When Jillian is yelling at them to run and let go, I've always thought I'd never be able to do it. Now, I know I'd fall off -- never mind throwing up! At least my trainer is more reasonable than that. I guess I kind of deserve this after taking such bad care of my body for so many years! Baby steps. Baby steps!

Battle of the Books

Last fall I MADE Bryant sign up to participate in the battle of the books. For those of you unfamiliar with this program, students read a list of books. Then they "battle" each other by answering questions such as "In what book did the main character visit a lady named Miss Caroline?" The students have to answer the question and give the author's name. Each school selects a team to represent them at the county level, and the team works together. A student is asked a question, he consults the team, then gives his answer. If right, they are awarded points for the title and author. If wrong, the other team has a chance to answer the question and get their points. You can see this link for more info, including the list of 30 books or so. http://www.battleofthebooks.org/4-62009.html

Anyway, Bryant was selected to represent his school. I think they based this on how many books he read and how he did on the test. Today was the battle, and his team came in 3rd in the county! The team they lost to won the entire competition, so he felt really good about how they did. I'm very proud of him. He did NOT want to do this at the beginning, but once he got started, he really enjoyed some books he never would have read. Some of them were more geared toward girls, but he survived. I even found a few books I'll make sure Ann Bennett reads later on as well. (The list changes annually.) I am very proud of him for sticking with this and doing well in the battle. Way to go B!