1. (At the urgent care) Not so long ago, we were on our hurried way out the door to a play Carrie was in. Everyone was filing into the car, just as they were asked, when I hear little Meg yell, "Wait a minute Mom! Watch this!" We were running tight on time, and just as my mouth opened to release the sigh and "Meg, come on. We're late", I see her little body perform some oddity of a motion and land face down on the hardwood floor. I think it was a twirl. My thought? "Great... thanks Meg."
At the urgent care, Meg was great; quite a trooper actually. The Army doc that sewed her up had stitches himself. He told the story of how he jumped out of a plane and hit his chin on his knee during a hard landing. Meg's face spoke volumes! Not wanting to diminish the hardship he endured, but knowing her story was much better, she let out a nonchalant breath and calmly replied with braggadocio, "Yeah, I did a one-foot jump spin."
2. (At the eye doctor). During her annual eye exam, the doctor asked Meg to look into the cool thingamajig that helps detect colorblindness, I think.
Dr: "What do you see Meg?"
Meg: "I see molecules!"
Dr: "Then what are you here to see me for?!"
3. (At home) Meg's pink snowman bathrobe was laying right in the middle of the hallway. This is not uncommon, unfortunately. Exasperated with coming across yet another article of Meg's clothing, I holler upstairs, "Meg, why is your robe in the middle of the floor?"
Meg: (Very involved in what she is currently doing) " I dunno"
Me: "Meg. That's not an answer. You do know. Why is it down here?"
Meg: "I was using it as a boat."
Me: (Ahh, of course.)
4. (To a police officer) We had just left Carrie at summer camp in Woodland Park and were on our way back home, about a 45 minute drive. Before we even got out of town, we were broadsided by a woman running a red light. Everyone was fine. We were all standing in the street, giving information to one of the officers, when another officer, seeing Meg, thought he would be helpful and engage Meg in conversation. I'm keeping a careful ear out to hear what's being talked about when I overhear Meg ask him, "Were you a little boy?"
Officer: "Why, yes. I was."
Meg: (winking and smiling) " I bet you were cute!"
(She did NOT learn that from me)
Meg: (referring to the standard officer uniform of blue shirt, blue pants). "Does someone make you wear that?"
Officer: Yes. It's our uniform.
Meg: " That's good. You'd look pretty silly if you wore a pink shirt and plaid pants!"
The officer stepped away to gain his composure from laughing.
They say it's going to be a cold and heavy winter this year. I should have known they were serious when we had 3 inches of snow on the last day of summer! But it's so beautiful, it's hard to hate it. 
1. (At the urgent care) Not so long ago, we were on our hurried way out the door to a play Carrie was in. Everyone was filing into the car, just as they were asked, when I hear little Meg yell, "Wait a minute Mom! Watch this!" We were running tight on time, and just as my mouth opened to release the sigh and "Meg, come on. We're late", I see her little body perform some oddity of a motion and land face down on the hardwood floor. I think it was a twirl. My thought? "Great... thanks Meg."
PJ and I attended a seminar hosted by CHEC at the beginning of the month to help us navigate and discern God's direction for school as we get closer to the high school years. Of all the great information shared and choices laid out before us, one little precious piece of wisdom continues to smack me in the face every day. Math, above all else beneficial, is GREAT character training! You need not but step through my front door around 9am Monday through Friday to know this is true. I married a math-whiz physics major who dreams in spreadsheet format. I never really struggled with math (that I can remember -which really isn't saying much -that WAS a long time ago). In that, God has blessed me (I mean that sincerely!) with one very artistic daughter who tends to not think like a mathmetician, and one who is very detail oriented, but lacks some perseverance for the meantime (the third is a little young yet to know). Both are perfectionists! Add these together, and you have a very interesting, and sometimes trying hour of math that invites lessons in self-control in the midst of frustration, perseverance to seek solutions amidst failure, and patience and love in teaching.
I found these pictures on one of my cameras. Apparently Meg got a hold of it and tried her hand at self portraits.
Our family escaped the city in 2007 when we took the adventure of building a house in Black Forest, just outside Colorado Springs. We wake up to acres of towering Ponderosa Pine trees gently blowing in the breeze, the misty fog looming just above the branches, and the morning sun igniting the peaks of the Front Range. Every time I step out the front door, I'm stepping out of the tent and taking that deep breath. It's quiet, simple, and beautiful. It's the number one thing PJ and I would mention as we anticipated and dreamed about the house we would some day build together, and it's still one of the most frequent comments any of our family of five will make on any given day when we step outside. "Guys! Come smell the forest!"
