What Would It Be Like?

So this is going to seem like a downer of a post, which is uncharacteristic of me, but it’s kind of where I’m at today, so I’m going to flow with the muse while I’ve got it.

My back was just beginning to feel better when I got hit by the tree pollen in the middle of the night. I woke up sneezing (which is an odd experience in and of itself), and my allergies were so bad this morning that I could feel my nose literally dripping while I stood at the pharmacy counter at 7:55 a.m. waiting for the cashier to ring up some allergy medicine and a box of Kleenex. Oh, the irony.

All day long, each time I sneezed, I would feel twinges through my lower back. Then Ryan called me and he was having a bad day, and someone asked me if I wanted to order lunch with them and I said no because we don’t have the money, and well, around 10:30, I just shut my office door and decided to have myself a good healthy cry.

Why does it seem to be harder for us than for other people?

Why can’t we seem to get ahead?

Why do we work our butts off just to come out even every month?

What do we have to do to get a job whose work/pay-off ratio comes out a little more proportionately (or favorably)? 

How do people have money for vacations?

What would it be like to have a house that doesn’t need so many repairs?

What would it be like to have money to do the home repairs we need?

What would it be like to have money to do the car repairs we need?

What would it be like to get paid a sum of money for editing and actually be able to use it for the things we want to use it for, instead of seeing it slip through our fingers for bills and necessities that just so happen to come up that very week?

What would it be like to have amazing metabolism and be able to eat like a normal person and not gain weight?

What would it be like to have more than one child?

Why is parenting one child all we can seem to manage?

What would it be like to decide to have another baby and then just… have it? Wow, that’s a novel idea.

It’s not that I’m ungrateful….In all sincerity, I know how to put things in perspective and how to ask: What would it be like to be hit with an earthquake and tsunami and lose all your possessions and your family in a matter of minutes?

I get that. I know things aren’t really that bad, and I know they could be so much worse. But sometimes when I look around at other people, I just think, “Wow, how are you doing that?” Sometimes success just looks so easy from the outside.

I’m not jealous or even unhappy at others’ fortune. I’m not that kind of person at all. I just want to know how I can get in on it, too. :-)

I’ll be fine. We’ll be dandy. Everything is really ok. Tomorrow my pity party will be over, and I will look at the world through fresh eyes… I will breathe the world through a pollenless nose.

I’m just curious, that’s all.

Conquering My Fears (and Other Things)

There have been so many times in the last few weeks when I have wanted to write, but the desire always seems to strike me at the most inopportune times. By the time I’m home and we’ve eaten dinner and homework and chores are done and the little one is tucked into bed, I seem to have lost my muse most evenings.

The biggest news in the last few weeks has been Ryan’s dad’s health. He was having extreme chest pains and was admitted to the hospital, where matters quickly became very serious. Ryan flew down to Florida last weekend to be with his dad and family and came back Wednesday night. The immediate danger is gone for now, but the truth is that we are facing the reality that our parents won’t be with us forever. Ryan already lost his mom when he was 13, but I guess we’ve always assumed that our parents will be with us for another 20 or 30 years.

The older we get, the more our views on aging seem to change. For instance, when I was little, I thought 60 was old! But now that my parents are in their 60s, I no longer think that. Even my active and energetic grandma at the age of 81 seems younger than I once pictured 81 to be.

Justin Bieber’s mom is 34. Now that’s scary. Someone my age dealing with her child being an international heart throb? I feel way too young for that. But I digress.

I’ve been dealing a lot lately with this fear of losing people we love. I would cry just thinking about the fact that my father-in-law’s health issues were so serious. I’ve always been emotional, and honestly, it’s embarrassing how easy it is for me to cry -- I recently broke down in tears/sobs while interviewing a lady for a magazine article about infertility and adoption. It was so unprofessional and embarrassing!!!

So in the midst of all this, God brought to my remembrance that scripture in 1 Thessalonians 4:13 about “mourning as those who have no hope.” I do have hope. So why am I acting as though I don’t? Why am I acting as though the world would end if someone died? And they haven’t even died yet! My tears are way head of the game. It’s crazy.

Take it from me: fear can be crippling. There’s nothing more twisted than the game Satan plays with our minds, creating scenarios of horror that don’t even really exist. When I’m desperately afraid of something, it becomes impossible for me to focus on anything else, as long as I let fear have its way with me.

But…

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”    – Philippians 4:8

This is what I’m learning to do. After all, God didn’t give me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind!

He is in control. There’s no reason for me to go crazy worrying about it. I must let Him be Lord over my emotions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryley had a teacher in-service day on Friday, so Ryan took her to see the pirate exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

It’s not that I don’t like museums, but really I do get more bored than my husband would like me to. :-)  It’s definitely a Ry-day sort of activity.

She came home all pumped up about pirates:

Pirate gear included, I really like this picture! :-)

She’s definitely a daddy’s girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her love for science, Ryley has recently decided she wants to be a meteorologist when she grows up. She and Ryan even set up a vase full of water in the kitchen so they can chart the rate of evaporation.

So when she had to fill out a poster about herself this weekend, this is what we came up with:

It was all her idea. She’s so proud of it! Ha!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And today was the last day of the Girl Scout cookie sale. Mommy is soooo glad that’s over. :-)

We worked two cookie booths at grocery stores. It was cool to see Ryley become so confident in asking people to buy, but it was sad how many people actually ignored her and walked by, pretending they didn’t hear. But it’s good for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I pulled out my back/hip a week ago, so our house is a mess, and I feel largely unproductive. But I can only do what I can do, right? It’s been long enough now, though, that I am thinking I should probably see a doctor about it.

In the meantime, we are totally hooked on this hilarious video. Ryan and I almost know all the words we’ve watched it so many times:

Happy Daylight Savings! :-)

Snapshots

Just a few snapshots of our daily lives this past week:

Ryley and I had a girl movie night on Friday…

But apparently I picked some boring ones! So Ryley spent the time doing my hair instead of watching. :-)

This was the backseat as we ran errands on Saturday….Everyone’s all buckled in and behaving nicely. :-)

Ryley turned the TV on in our room, and America’s Next Top Model was on. That’s not really what I would consider appropriate programming, but I got a kick out of Ryley doing her best impression of a model’s disinterested pose. :-)

Sunday was the first day since New Year’s that we’ve all been out of school and work on the same day!!! Ryan has had to work every weekend for three months. So we skipped church and took a nice drive before heading to our friends’ Oscar party.

Ryley had never been to Red Rocks before, so we started there.

We had forgotten that there are a zillion stairs up to the amphitheater. While dozens of 20-somethings with iPods and yoga pants passed us by at high speeds (apparently it’s quite the trendy work-out destination), we fat people had to take a break every six or seven flights. :-)

Ryley and her babies are SO cuddly in their matching PJs! Thank you, Coleen!

Today after school Ryley and I had a hankering for Noodles and Co. She just looked way too grown up sitting on the stool next to me!

Then she discovered a good climbing tree on our walk tonight. She looks confident, but don’t be fooled. I had to help her down! :-)

She’s still my baby. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because Ryan works a lot, he doesn’t make it into too many photos on here, and I know it may seem like this blog is dedicated to my relationship with Ryley alone. But I just want to say that I feel so, so blessed to be married to such an amazing man. Ryan is truly my very best friend in the world, and every day God shows me another way/reason that this man is so perfect for me. Not perfect. :-) But perfect for me.

I love his heart.  I love the inner workings of his mind. I love the way he explains things. I love the way he treats people. I love the way he works so hard. I love the way we can laugh about it all.

I love the way he disappears to the kitchen whenever something on TV becomes uncomfortable to watch (i.e., Michael Scott). He’s got this tough exterior, but he’s so incredibly tender inside.

Several times a day I text him the words: “Remind me to tell you about….”

Most of all, I love the way he loves the Lord and trusts Him with his life…with our lives.

I still find it funny to think that, back in high school, I consistently prayed for my future husband -- that God would keep him “wherever he is and whatever he’s doing.” And he was sitting next to me in Algebra the entire time. :-)

Doorbell

This photo sums up everything about Ryley's personality.




And yes, we do use the doorbell. :-)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Life…and a “Nice Smile”

Well, if ever there was a blog post long in coming, this one is it. And as with all my journaling, I feel like once I get all of these thoughts out of head, I will feel at peace.

Where to start?….

Oh yes.

Ryley has an aunt and great-grandma who love to sew. Better yet, they’re adventurous seamstresses who like to try out new patterns on Ryley and her babies! She doesn’t mind. :-)

Coleen had fun making these adorable matching PJs for Ryley, Elisabeth, and Sarah!


Meanwhile, Honey made this jacket and beautiful cape for Elisabeth!



Such fun!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you can see from the background of that last picture, we are up to our elbows in Girl Scout cookies! Here’s Ryley the night we picked them up:



The pile is finally dwindling. Thank goodness!

Girl Scouts has been so good for Ryley; we’ve befriended some interesting families, and it’s exposed us to a whole new side of Denver we probably never would have experienced otherwise.

Just last weekend, Ryley participated in her very first slumber party! Oh my, the anticipation! We had not been certain we would allow her to do slumber parties just yet, but when she was invited to this particular girl’s birthday party, we hardly hesitated at all. 

The mom and I have gotten to know each other fairly well over the past several months; she is much older – she had her kids later in life.  We’ve been to their house before, and I love it…an older home in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, only eight blocks from the Denver Zoo, with the same exact layout as Jamie Crook’s house, for those of you who attended her 4th grade birthday party with me (I don’t know why that party left an impression on me, but it did!). Anyhow, in so many ways the mom reminds me of my aunt Gail. They have money, but they’re thrifty. There’s no pretention – no feeling like you don’t (or can’t)  measure up.  They hang their daughters’ artwork on clothesline around the living room, and I did not see a TV on the main level. They recycle. Their daughters dress themselves (you can tell), yet they’re not allowed to have pierced ears. They live a life I’m not brave enough to do. I really, really like them. And I trust them.

So Ryley had the time of her life having pedicures and watching the original Parent Trap. (I told you I liked them!) Ryan and I went on a little date, and when we didn’t hear from her all night, we took that as a sign that she was all right. And she was. :-)

And now this family is moving away. We are so sad. They are a fixture in our school and growing community of friends. Our friendship was just beginning. I haven’t felt this sad about someone moving in a long time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan and I are slowly coming to the realization that we are raising a nerd. That’s a good thing in the longrun, I’m sure. :-)

 

She spent Saturday afternoon looking through her microscope, which is wonderful, but she soon realized that her beauty was interfering with science.

“Ughh! I wish my eyelashes weren’t so long!” she said, complaining that her view through the lens was obstructed by her long lashes . :-) I love it.



Recently she’s taken to clipping her book light to her belt loop so she has it handy wherever she goes. You know, in case she needs to read in the car. She looks like a maintenance man or janitor! Oh, she cracks us up.

She read in a magazine this week that if you have trouble with being cold right after you get out of the hot shower, you should try gradually decreasing the temp toward the end of your shower so it’s not such a shock when you get out. So, of course, she tried it. And she was so frustrated when she was still cold!!! And she was frustrated with the magazine for misleading her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mommy?” she asked the other night. “I have something I need to talk to you about.”

I was doing dishes, and she was supposed to be in bed. She pulled a chair out and sat down at the kitchen table. I knew then that it was one of those things. I sat down across the table from her.

“Sometimes I wonder…What if we’re not in the right religion?” Her voice shook. It was the same shaking that was in her voice when she asked us who Lady Gaga was -- fear of the answer.

So we had a nice long talk. I told her it was a very good question and that it’s good and healthy to think these things through. God wants us to come to our own conclusions. Daddy and I are here to guide her and answer her questions and raise her in the way we believe is right, but she has to still make her own decision.

I explained “faith” in things we cannot see. We talked about the things God has done for us. We talked about why Daddy and I believe the way we do.
We talked about how sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we’d like Him to (in her case, for a baby brother or sister), but that we know He has our best interests in mind and that He has a plan for us that is being pieced together bit by bit.

We talked about the time she saw Jesus when she was 2 -- She still remembers it vividly.

This is tough stuff. Our daughter has a soul. A spirit. She’s given it all to Jesus, yet we are still at war for it.

A couple of weeks before he died, my Grandpa told me that as parents we must be “wise as serpents and gentle as doves.” I cling to that wisdom. It is  so, so true. And every day is a battle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple of weeks ago, Ryley and I were in Target when she saw a display of Valentine’s Day dishes. An idea sparked in her head that we should make Daddy a special Valentine’s dinner! Because he is BOTH of our Valentine. And we love him so much! And he is so wonderful!  So she has been planning ever since.

So as we were standing in the store mulling over the options and prices of specialty dishes on Saturday, I felt sick at the idea of spending so much money on frivolous things. We don’t have extra money to just throw around.

But I felt like God was telling me to indulge Ryley…to let her have this experience of giving. After all, isn’t that spirit of generosity what we’re trying so hard to foster? So even though it will be a cheesy dinner on plates we will only use once a year, it will allow Ryley the opportunity to imagine, create, and give. So I bit the bullet.

We both dressed up and greeted Ryan at the door when he came home from work on Sunday night. Ryley removed his shoes and escorted him upstairs so he could “freshen up.”

And then dinner…. Crunchy chicken and twice-baked potatoes that Ryley helped to make!

Heart-shaped ice cubes.




Deliciousness all around. :-) It was a huge success! Ryan was surprised, and he loved it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve had some weird moments in the last few weeks where I have felt inadequate professionally. I was actually really down about it for a couple of days…

It’s good to be humbled, I suppose.

Anyhow, so today I had a meeting about some potential editing. I brought them the magazine I edit, and I felt like things were going fairly well, though I could tell it probably wouldn’t be a good fit.

Then I was told, “Well, at least you seem to be a pleasant person.” Followed up by: “And you have a nice smile.”

That’s no lie. Word for word what he said.

I seem to be a pleasant person, and I have a nice smile.

Well, at least there’s that. :-)

The Winter of Our Discontent?

So January is almost over, and I haven’t stopped drinking coffee, lost any weight, or managed to put any money into savings.

I like to think we’ve simplified our lives somewhat, but then again, it seems like more items keep entering the house than manage to exit it. And I keep thinking of things I want to sign Ryley up for…ice skating lessons, horseback riding, children’s choir, and fencing. Yes, fencing. These are all her ideas, her requests. Silly girl. But they all take money. And time. And money. And time. And well, it doesn’t matter because we have neither. :-)

So we’re doing swimming again, because at the end of the day, she loves it most.

And always piano. Because it’s wonderful. And because it’s free. :-)

I am constantly amazed at what her friends are doing. One friend does group piano lessons, soccer, ice skating, and Odyssey of the Mind. Another does Suzuki violin lessons and horseback riding. Huge time commitments. When these moms tell me what their kids are doing, I feel like my eyes bug out a little bit. They’re seven. Sure, I was an overachiever in high school and enjoyed being involved in activities that would expand my knowledge and enjoyment of the world. But when I was seven, I played “house” in my bedroom and picked the dandelions on the soccer field, completely ignoring the ball if it came my way. So with Ryley, why do I feel behind?

I read an excerpt from Amy Chua’s new book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” and I found it fascinating. There’s some good wisdom there about the fact that we can certainly expect more from our kids than we currently do. But I just don’t know.

In recent weeks, we had some trouble with Ryley and her homework. Her language/spelling homework was taking more than an hour each night, and most nights it was becoming a battle that ended in tears. This was in addition to the math and reading homework she was also bringing home each night. It was ridiculous. It wasn’t that the homework was hard; it was simply that there was too much. And because she knew it would take awhile, she didn’t even want to start on it. And when she finally did, she was so overwhelmed by it that she was rushing through and not learning what she was supposed to learn. So then she wouldn’t do well on the test the next day, and as a result, she would earn even more homework for that night.  She was caught in a vicious cycle, and we hated what the situation was doing to her love for school.

So Ryan and I did something that was very hard for the competitive spirit within both of us. We asked Ryley’s teachers to move her back a level. This was difficult because we don’t like to admit defeat… and because we know that Ryley is bright. Even so, we could see that she was overwhelmed, and we didn’t want her to start hating school in the 2nd grade.

But the teachers had a meeting and decided that Ryley shouldn’t be moved back; they determined she was correctly placed in the right group and that she would be bored in the group below hers. They would, however, change her homework requirements so that there wouldn’t be so much take-home work.

It’s two weeks later, and what a difference this small change has made! Giving Ryley less homework has changed the entire situation. She has been doing better on her tests because she is able to focus on the work being tested on the next day instead of being punished for the poor test results of the present day. It’s cyclical. She still has about 20 minutes of language/spelling, in addition to math and reading, but she has much more confidence and is much more cheerful about everything.

Anyhow, I don’t know if that proves a point or not. It’s just a story. :-)

If anything, we are learning what works for our individual daughter. We are learning what she needs. And at this time in her life, when she’s still the sweet age of seven -- with an active and interested mind, no doubt -- we’re learning that less is more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the flipside, I find that I need projects in order to stay focused and driven. Maybe I haven’t made any life changes or achieved any real goals within the last month, but I have finished two of the three big editing projects that have been hanging over my head since August. And that is a big deal for me.

For five months I have felt guilty any time I am watching TV or doing something frivolous.

“You could be editing,” the little voice tells me. “You are such a procrastinator!”

“But I’m not!” I respond defensively. “I work full-time. I am a wife and mother. I deserve the chance to chill out for a little while.”

The war within me wages on.

What’s worse, I can’t (in good conscience) edit unless the house is clean and the laundry done, so I spend all of Saturday trying to clean so that Sunday I can edit. But then Sunday comes, and I just want to rest. After all, God did, right? Ha ha. But in reality, the house didn’t get finished on Saturday, so I still have some housework to do anyway. And then with what remaining time I have, I get sucked into Facebook. And then suddenly it’s Monday morning.

I feel guilty all the time, no matter what I’m doing.

So last weekend I spend 12 hours finishing up one project, and though it felt great, I never really felt like I got a weekend because of it. Then I finished another project on Wednesday. So now I am, in good conscience, taking a few days of reprieve before diving into the next project, which is also due a lot of work. And when that one’s done, I think I’ll be done for awhile.

The interesting thing is that with only one project hanging over my head, I feel much more excited about editing in general. Truthfully, I love editing, and this upcoming project is going to be fun. And without all the guilt and pressure of additional projects looming before me, I expect that I will have more confidence and motivation to get it done in a timely manner. I pray so.

Plus spring is in the air, don’t you think? We’re past the “winter of our discontent.” We’re learning more and more about ourselves, and we’re learning more about the ones we love. We are stretching and growing.

Only good things can lie ahead.

A Mile a Minute…

For about a week now, I have been “collecting” certain statements of Ryley’s. I guess, because this is my journal of sorts (albeit a public one),  I want to make sure I adequately document this very entertaining part of her personality while it lasts. :-)

Ryley is just so incredibly talkative – a trait which definitely comes from her daddy, am I right? But in every conversation and situation, she feels the need to re-state what was just said and then go one step further, whether it is to create a “fact” or blanket statement that lumps all similar situations with this same conclusion, or to vividly imagine and re-create the circumstances that caused this conclusion. That’s what inspired our “Jump to Conclusions Mat” back at Christmas.

For instance:

Tonight she and I were discussing where we should place our mugs of hot chocolate so that they would be out of reach of Juliet. I had suggested the end table.

“Mommy, we can’t put the mugs on top of the Bible. Nothing ever gets put on top of the Bible. If you have a stack of books, stack everything else first, then leave the Bible for last so you can put the Bible on top. Otherwise leave the Bible alone. Unless you’re reading it, of course.”

I don’t know if she just craves rules? She is always looking for patterns and consistency within the universe. “This always does this.” Very scientific.

Or maybe it’s just that she has such a big imagination. If you tell her The Titanic sank, she will start talking about the ship’s captain and what he must have thought or what he must have been doing when the ship struck the iceberg. She wants to know why. And if she can’t know why, she will create the why.

Here are some more:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You are so cuddly, Mommy. I love cuddling with you. Some mommies don't like to cuddle with their kids, and they spank them all the time instead, and they are bad parents."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Byrds’ “Turn, Turn, Turn” comes on my iTunes and….

“Oh, I know this song. There’s a time for everything. There’s a time for my microscope, and there’s a time for homework. There’s a time for winter and a time for spring. There’s a time to get glasses because most people get glasses at some time in their life. Some people are young when they get glasses, and some people are old. You got glasses when you were young. Did your friends make fun of you the first time they saw you with your glasses?”

And a minute later…

“There’s a time for me to get married and a time for me to have babies. There’s a time in your life for everything. Some time in your life you will have time for something that you never had time to do. Some time in your life you will have time to read this book you bought.”

“I have read that book,” I retorted.

“No, I didn’t mean you and that book. I just meant….”

“In general?”

“Yeah.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were watching the Red Carpet for the Golden Globes, and Ryley admired Nicole Kidman’s accent.

“She’s from Australia,” I told her.

“So they're all from Australia,” she responded, matter-of-factly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were watching the Miss America pageant, and they showed footage of all the contestants hanging out at Disneyland.

“Oh, they did lots of activities so they could get used to one another."

And when somebody yelled out and cheered loudly in the crowd after a contestant performed her talent: “Oh, I think that was her mother that was screaming.”

And when she saw last year’s Miss America: “Oh, she is beautiful! No wonder she was Miss America! And she visited the army in the hospitals in Germany, and they were glad to see her because she represented their country!”

And when the runners up were walked off the stage: “They don't want to be runner up, but at least they get flowers!”

And when Miss Nebraska was being crowned: “The crown is so sticky that it won't fall off your head, so you can put your head back like this.” (And she tilted her head back to demonstrate)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were talking about how, as Christians, our light overcomes the darkness. I asked her, “If you put a candle in a dark room, will the candle stay lit?”

“Yes, unless it's windy,” she answered. “Or if there's no air.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She completely fascinates us. All the time. It’s exhausting because we are constantly having to correct her assumptions and come up with hypothetical alternatives to the conclusions she’s jumped to. Sometimes I want to say, “Ryley! No! That’s not how it always is. Relax. Life isn’t that cut and dry. You have to roll with the punches!” But at the same time, I have to appreciate her desire for order in the universe.

Like I said, I don’t know how long this phase will last. It’s been at least six months so far. It’s just a quirky part of her personality.

Here are some more Ryley Stories:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryley is discovering the power of Google.

Unbeknownst to us, on Christmas Eve, she helped herself to our computer and typed into the browser, “Where is Santa?” What she got was a link to the NORAD page. She came running down the stairs telling us she found out Santa was in Asia.

The other day she asked me what she can do to make her hair grow longer. I told her we’d have to Google it. So she did. Ten minutes later, armed with a water bottle, she was outside playing on her swing-set and running around the yard with Juliet. Curious, I stopped by the computer to see what it said: Drink plenty of water and get lots of exercise.

She’s gotten a little too comfortable with the computer, and we have had to have a talk about only using it with Mommy and Daddy. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the last couple of weeks, Ryley has been taking it upon herself to check the expiration date of everything in our fridge, as she uses it.

“Ughhh! 2010! Mommy, this Ranch dressing is old! Gross!”

“Oh, good. August 2011. So this one’s still good.”

I asked her why she was suddenly interested in checking expiration dates.

“It’s a new year, and I thought it would be a good thing to do,” she answered. “Just make sure everything says 2011.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryley is fascinated by people being “drawn” to Jesus. She said, “When someone comes to Jesus, it's like Jesus is fishing in a lake, and the person is like a fish, and He catches the fish and puts it in His boat with the other fish, which are like other Christians.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She has expressed more and more interest in football (or at least she tries to because she wants Ryan to feel good! :-) ), and the other day she saw a picture of Tom Brady when Ryan was reading a story on the Internet.

“Mommy thinks he’s good-looking. Do you think he is?” Ryan asked her.

“He’s just trying to be good-looking,” she answered, slightly disgusted. And then she imitated Tom Brady’s smoldering, “sexy” look. Silly girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know this is a long post. I had Ryan read it, and I asked him if all the stories about Ryley are too much. He said, “Well, it’s our life. Our lives are too much.” :-)

She is lovely and quirky, and we love her to pieces. We can’t wait to see what God has in store for her life…how He will choose to use her and her very, very unique and beautiful personality.