Glimpses of Spring

This morning was perfect…drizzly and overcast and wet -- but not snowy -- which is the first sign that we are crossing the bridge from winter into spring. Almost overnight, the grass in our front lawn (or what’s left of it!) became bright green in spots. We still have a ways to go; March is Denver’s snowiest month, and we are forecasted to get a little bit of snow tonight. So we built a fire and had soup for dinner and are hunkering down in the warmth of our family room for one of the last times this season.

We had the most amazing weekend. We had NO PLANS or commitments for once. None. And I had forgotten how wonderful that could be.  I can’t put into words how genuinely peaceful and restful it was. Everything we did, besides church, was extremely spur-of-the-moment. I took two (yes!) – two – naps!  Never underestimate the value of a restful weekend. I’m actually a little concerned because they can only get worse from here. This one will be hard to top. ;-)

So we woke up early on Saturday and decided to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, as well as the planetarium. The museum is Ryan and Ryley’s favorite thing to do together, but she had not been to the planetarium before, and that has been on my list of long-term activities to do as a family. What a hit! Though, I remember it being different and better when I was little. It may have been a different one.

Ryan and Ryley found our house on the interactive GoogleEarth.

Ryley has taken a real interest in space recently. The other night she called upstairs to us: “Oh, guys, you have to see this! I’m watching ‘This Week at NASA’ on TV!” I think working at NASA is her current profession of choice. It changes every two minutes, but it’s almost always science-related. :-)

We also spent some time rearranging Ryley’s room. How can you resist it when your daughter comes to you with a drawing of how she wants it rearranged??

Before:

After:

All we really did was move the bed and take a bunch of stuff down from her walls; unfortunately, the new layout leaves little room to play. But she likes it! I like that she is starting to take some pride in her room. She’s a bit of a packrat, and there is more work that needs to be done in there, but this is a start. :-)

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The other day Ryley was asking me about marriage. “Do you think that if I don’t find a husband when I grow up that I could go on Christiansingles.com?”

I think I laughed out loud.

“Where did you even hear about that??”

“On TV.”

Thus began a several-day-long discussion about not worrying about finding the right guy; first of all, you’re way too young to worry about it. But focus on Jesus and on being who He made you to be, and everything else will work out, etc., etc. Don’t focus on outer beauty; focus on your inner beauty.

You know, all that good mother-daughter talk. :-)

And suddenly she was interested in my stories from high school…how I used to pray that my first date would be my husband, and how when Ryan asked me out in 10th grade, I didn’t know him very well at all, but I said yes anyway. After the date, which Ryan and I both considered a disaster, I told God, “Never mind about my first date being my husband.” But He didn’t forget. And over the next two years, Ryan and I developed the deepest, most meaningful friendship that was beyond what we could even understand. And it just grew from there.

I told her how a certain boy (we’ll call him J) had a crush on me, and how the guys in our class sent him a carnation on Valentine’s Day with a note supposedly from me, saying how much I wanted to be his girlfriend. J sent me a carnation and note in response saying that he too wanted to be together. When I found out, I was upset that the guys could be so mean! After school, I was finishing up a piano lesson when Ryan came in (good friend that he is) and told me that J was waiting in the school lobby for me to have “the talk.”  I had to go out and tell J that the guys had played a mean trick on us. The look of disappointment in his eyes was awful.

Ryley was horrified!  She felt soooo bad for him. “Did he ever get married?” she asked. Because to her, at this moment in her life, being married is the ultimate happiness. :-)

“Yes, he’s happily married with two kids,” I answered.

“Oh, good!”

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Here are some pictures of Ryley’s Odyssey of the Mind presentation at school. The entire project is student-driven -- from the inception of the idea, to the writing of the script, to the set creation, to the presentation itself. They’re proud of it, and Ryley’s team’s presentation was the best of the eight that we saw. But just think pure chaos.

Thanks to my Uncle Paul for capturing the photos!

Ryley and her friend Harry are waiting for their group’s turn.

Here’s their team right before their performance. Ryley is the narrator, which is why she insisted on dressing up. I won’t try to explain the play to you because, honestly, it makes little sense. :-) But it looks to me like the control panel of the rocket ship (to the right) had some adult assistance (gasp!).

Getting the set ready:

Fun, fun.

After we spend a Saturday in rural Longmont for the all-day regional competition next week, I am looking forward to reserving more weekends for doing absolutely nothing at all.

The end is in sight. :-)