Home So Soon?

These are the photos from our trip to Charlotte:

4 in 25. Not the number of people who think I resemble Six from Blossom. Hopefully not as many people who think that Sarah Palin can actually pull off the debate on Thursday. It is quite possibly the number of failed attempts to hang out with the Kulps in Charlotte (pink eye, fever, and budget cuts now being a few of the reasons we haven't been able to visit our friends). 

But in this case, 4 is how many miles I drove in 25 minutes yesterday on I85 leaving the Kulps house. What was supposed to be an overnight visit full of fun for me and the girls turned into a wardrobe exchange for Mary and me and a naptime playdate for Kate and Celia. After laying Nancy down for a nap, she woke up with a fever of 101.5. So as not to infect our sweet friends, not to mention Camilla who is just 6 months old, we decided to head back home. Plus, who wants to sleep in a pack and play in a room with your sister when you don't feel good? I'm sure Dave thinks we are crazy. He was home just long enough to say hello to me after I came out of the bathroom from spanking Kate, and comes home for supper to find we are 45 minutes gone. Kate was so disappointed, but Celia was such an encourager. She gave Kate a hug and said "Kate, I know you are sad to go home, but maybe you can come back again another day because you are my best friend in the whole world." Since 5 year olds don't quite know how to show all emotion yet, giggles and racing around the house followed in a celebration of friendship. These little girls couldn't get along 18 months ago; now they are BFF! 

4 miles in 25 minutes isn't as slow as some have experienced, but it is as slow as I want to experience with a sick baby, Dora, and antsy kindergartener in the car on a trip we just completed only 4 hours earlier. And I have plenty of time to wonder "why?" Why, if God's plan/will/choice is sovereign and perfect, is sitting in traffic exactly what He wants me to do? How does it benefit me? i ask myself. And He reminds me that it's really not about me. Obviously I need to think more about how I can be a part of God's kingdom instead of focusing on how He can help me in my kingdom. 

After wallowing in self pity and telling Ryan he either needed to feel sorry for me or get on google earth to tell me what lie ahead on the road (accident? bottleneck? people giving out cash?) I talk to Brandy in Bluffton. She and Gray are making some hard decisions for their family, and all I am worried about is that Nancy might start having a meltdown in the backseat. Even in the middle of their trials, Brandy is the one that says to me "but I know that God's will is perfect." And He wants to take care of us, and He will. 

Who knew that 10 years after Clemson, Bran, Mary and I would still be able to be real in each others' lives, dealing with exhaustion, quarter-life crises, a faltering economy, sick babies, and getting dinner on the table? Now that I think about it, the road-trip-that-almost-was may not have been about me, but it did give me a time to reflect on how gracious He's been to provide these and other wonderful, sweet friendships. I am so thankful for you, girls! I love you!

Kulps, we'll try again in November!

Gross

This is why we don't play in the backyard. If left to their own vices, the girls get absolutely filthy. It's really cute and funny when I have put them in their grubby clothes and we are all outside doing yardwork on a Saturday. It is not cute and funny when it is 4:45 in the afternoon on a weekday and I have to wash their clothes immediately so the dirt won't set and bathe them both and redress them (can kids eat in their pjs? mine get theirs so crusty with food at suppertime) and then corral them so I can start dinner 30 minutes late because of said dirt and baths. Instead of the swingset they usually end up playing in the dirt, raking it and making bigger holes in our already eroding yard. We can't grow grass b/c of the trees and the huge hickory nuts that fall from them - Belle has often been knocked in the head while napping on the porch by falling hickory nuts, and it's gotten to the point where she doesn't even bother moving after a pummeling.

At any rate, we were ready for them to get dirty today. Stuck them in the sandbox and even gave them each a bucketful of water. Once they ran out of that, Kate kept coming back to the hose for more - she one day got tired of waiting for me and can turn it on by herself. Nancy literally stuck her head in the sand. They decided they were done with the sandbox and eventually just played with the hose. Actually, Kate sprayed Nancy with the hose and they both loved every minute of it.

Oh, and one more thing. This morning I left for the farmers market around 7:45, and in addition to the rotting squirrel carcass in the street is a possum, who, I kid you not, lifts his head up at me as I drive by as if asking for rescue. I am starting to think one of our neighbors has waged war with local varmints and sits in their car at daybreak for a chance to play chicken with them. Later, as I am stripping down the girls in the backyard to hose the sand out of their hair, watching the water pool into mud around them in our family-friendly backyard full of mushrooms, dog poop and hickory nuts, I hear the clang of Ryan's shovel as he tries to decapitate the large rodent suffering in the street from a hit and run. Could we be more white trash?

"Why, that's grass!" you may say. I put them in the small green spot we do have to avoid eroding the yard more.

Date with Daddy

We have been learning about the moon this week in school, and my friend Greta told us about the "moon show" at Roper Mountain Science Center. Four daddies and little girls went on a group date to Pizza Inn (where Ryan ate enough food to feed a small country) and then to see Starry Nights. Kate was so excited about her date with Daddy! Hopefully it will be my turn soon!

This picture makes me laugh! Ryan said she made a face and was trying to look like someone else. 

Kate, Abby Fowler, Ella Fuller and Hannah Espinosa. The dads sat in the back and goofed off while the girls tried to understand how the stars were formed by bears and horsemen arguing over seven sisters. Might have to do some damage control....