Daddy’s away and so I figured we should play.  The slow start to our morning was wonderful and having children empty the garbage cans throughout the house was a real high for me.  The 75 degree weather was too much to ignore and so we headed out for the afternoon. First a picnic at a “new to us” park.We laughed and danced a bit and then made eyes at each other.After lunch was over we went across the street to check out a gigantic sculpture called “The Awakening”.  Apparently a man is waking up and coming out of the ground.  The kids kept saying it was “freaking them out” so I staged a few photos to make it even more fun. . . I call this one “Wrapped Around His Finger”.And this on is called “Right on the Nose”And then there is, “Shin Sprints”:And lastly, “Stepping on His Toes”:All this silliness was followed up with an hour on the playgroundand then a trip to the library followed by shakes at Sonic. It was fun, fun, fun.

One realization I had today was the effect of working full time and having Little in a school for special needs kids. . . I rarely see her interacting with your run-of-the-mill strangers and I am out of practice with dealing with the public’s reactions. I truly miss outings with my kids and their absence set me up for a shock today as I watched Little interacting with another ten year old on the swings.  How do I know she was ten? Well, Little asked her.

Little asked her name and age and then shared the same with her. Little sang and shared about her LeapPad Ultra and then made siren noises as she swung higher and higher.  I watched Riley, the ten year old, run over to her sister and laugh and repeat all Little had said. I was fully aware that they watched the next moves Little made and had a running commentary on each one.  They didn’t make too big of a deal. . . just soft and hushed, “Did you hear that?” and “Why is she acting like that?” and “What is wrong with her?”. It’s the first time in a long time that I had to do a real gut-check and chose my response for her sake and His glory.

It was a sadness and a highlight of the day.  Our Little is truly something else.  Completely unaware that anything was being said about her, I watched as Riley tried to jump and swing on a hanging bar apparatus and missed.  She made a second attempt to the sound of my little girl calling out, “You can do it, Riley! You can do it!” It made my choice for interacting with this little girl an easy one: when Riley did grab the bar and swing, I joined my Little in saying, “Good job, Riley!” My hope is that Riley will one day think that maybe it’s not that something is wrong with that little girl on the playground, but maybe there is something right about the way that little girl cares for people.

I picked up Little from camp today and she was excited to tell me jokes and tales of her day.  It was truly fun and another first for this mom. By the time we had traveled the 30-plus minutes to pick up her siblings, Little was nodding off – exhausted.

When I picked up KB she was wearing the face of a lion.  She talked non-stop for ten minutes straight and then nodded off in her seat.

Bubba was the last to be retrieved today and he had a face covered in snow cone remnants.  True to his temperament he slowly, steadily, and methodically told me all he did today, what he wanted to eat for snack and dinner, and what his choice activities were for the evening. He showed no sign of being tired until he was sent to his bed and, once he was kissed goodnight, he fell immediately to sleep.

Little has one more day of camp; tomorrow she will do a ribbon dance in a talent show. KB and Bubba have the privilege of a quiet day split between a favorite sitter and their mother who loves them so much.  It’s a good ending to a crazy and good week.

Lord willing.

Honey turns 40 this year and one of the things I hoped to do for his birthday was to send him to Georgia for a weekend with his dad and, if I could swing it, his brother (who lives on the border in Texas). Well, when daddy died he left an abundance of frequent flyer miles to be used and we found out Honey’s brother and family were planning to be in Ellabel for Father’s Day.  SO, tickets were bought, plans were made, and Honey flew out this morning at 7:05 AM.

No one told Jeriald that Honey was coming. Jeriald was definitely surprised.Happy Father’s Day, Jeriald and Happy Birthday, Honey!!!