4 pinks and a blue

Have you ever heard someone say that they like their coffee with a 'pink and a blue'? For those that are not up on coffee lingo, pink refers to Sweet' n Low, blue refers to Equal. It dawned on me for some reason that our family is a mix of four pinks and a blue. It sounded like a good blog label for a series of posts.

I can honestly say that I never thought that I would be the dad to three children, mush less three girls (pinks). Don't get me wrong, they are a blessing unlike any other and each of those 'blessings' is very individual and unique. I have learned (am learning) to appreciate each of them for their own personalities and approaches to life. While each of my girls (Laura included) affect me in different ways, I have begun to see how my life is going to be different as the result of being the one lone blue in the middle of four pinks. Example: this evening after small group some of the men went upstairs to check out the bowling game on the Nintendo Wii. Never mind how cool the the game was and that the inertial controller could actually put spin on the ball - you just hold the control and treat it like a bowling ball. How cool is that! (If we were honest, we could have stayed for a couple of hours playing.) But the world of Nintendo or Xbox is something that I really doubt I'll ever get into - I mean, they don't have Dancing Princess or High School Musical games do they? But sometimes there is that part of me that watches other dads and sons playing their Wii or Xbox and kind of misses that father/son stuff - but I have been given pinks. I know that there is a whole world of daddy/daughter stuff out there and it is all good, just different from what dads grew up doing. So, I'll continue to let my first two pinks give me 'foot massages', continue to braid their hair on request, and continue to live inside a musical - it is sweet.

Passing the swim test... In the snow

Emily, Mary and I went to the YMCA today to swim today after having been gone for a week.  It was neat to swim and see the snow falling outside.  We made a deal that we would swim and play for 30 minutes and then I could swim some laps and then go back to swim and play some more.  So that’s what we did.  We played and messed around for about thirty minutes and then went to the lap pool.  I turned my laps while the girls sat with their feet dangling in the 10 foot section - while the lifeguard was watching.  Got that done and Emily asked if she could jump into the 10 foot section and swim to the ladder.  Fine with me, she can swim.  For several weeks, I have been sort of pushing her to take this swimming test that the Y wants kids to take so that they can go down the slide and generally swim unsupervised, at least by parents.  So, after jumping in and getting to the ladder, I began to ask her why not just go ahead and ask the lifeguard to watch her for the test.  She kept on saying yes, then no, then yes...  saying she was nervous.  I finally got her on a ‘yes’ moment and got the lifeguard to watch.  Now Emily, as some of you know, is or can be as determined as anyone when it comes to proving herself.  So, there we were, Emily, Mary, me and the lifeguard.  The lifeguard told her she had to swim w/o stopping across and then back.  Em gave me the 'look', went under, pushed off the wall, came up, and was swimming like I have never seen - kicking, head down, taking breaths, digging deep - she owned that lap.  We get to the other side, she took a breather and did it again.  When she got to the other side, the lifeguard looked at her and smiled and said, “OK, good job... go slide”.  I guess in the grand scheme of things this was a small hurdle, but it was good to see her go after something hard.  The best part may have been that Mary was as happy for Emily as Emily was for herself.

The Grand...

I am taking a stats course for work this week in Fairhope, Alabama. Usually I am traveling alone when I do this sort of thing, sitting in class all day, brain well into overload by mid-afternoon on the first day, and no one but a group of strangers to hang with at night. Sometimes this is OK, but it gets old; this week that part is different. This week Laura and Kate came with me. It is nice to see them in the afternoon when I am finished as opposed to staring at a TV or hanging with a bunch of folks that are feeling the same way. In addition to Laura and Kate coming along, there are two other things that make this trip better than usual - location and great friends.

Location - Fairhope, Alabama is about as good as it gets. It combines the simplicity of a modern-day Mayberry with Old Southern charm and coastal living. I think that they actually have a 'town botanist' to make sure that the flowers and landscaping around town look just right. And to top it off, there is this hotel, locally referred to as The Grand. It has a neat story.

Friends - Jeff & Amy Powell... Jeff and Amy left Smyrna a little more than 3 years ago to move here for a job. Jeff and I worked together in Nashville and shared many drives to and from work. We had dinner with them tonight at their home and it was like we had just seen each other last week. For three and a half hours, we talked about life, kids, family, work and on and on. That must be the sign of true friends, that no matter how long it has been since the last conversation, you pick up just where you left off feeling fully at home in their company. Friends like that are few and far between. I think that Solomon said that he could only find 1 in every thousand that he could really connect with deeply.

The Things that Amuse Us...

Laura's sister Sarah, who lives in Georgia, hasn't seen Kate since Christmas and asked if we would post a picture or two of her. As you can see from the pictures, Mary has become quite the mother-type and Laura managed to take a picture of Mary pushing Kate in a baby-doll stroller the other day. Kate didn't seem to mind and actually seems to love Mary 'taking care of her'. So, here you go Sarah, and whoever else would like to see some Kate pictures.

Snow... finally!!!

Finally, we get some snow. I think that this is the last memorable snow we had was in the Winter of 2003; Emily was almost 4 and Mary was 18 months. Here are some of our pictures from today. Watching them wake-up to see snow outside is equal to, if not better than, than Christmas morning.

Digging out the jeep...

Angel #1

Angel #2

Face full of snow!

The final product!

Sharpening the Saw

Laura went out to eat with some girlfriends tonight (Omni Hut) - something that was well deserved and probably long overdue. I am glad that she went, but I cannot say that I always feel that way; it is hard to come home tired, ready to chill-out and then minutes later see her walk out the door. She needs it - I understand, but it is still hard. I cannot imagine living in the world of endless videos, reading books, always something to clean, always someone that needs you for something, always. I can barely make it through Swan Lake & the Twelve Dancing Princesses once, much less twenty times. Being a mom is all Laura has ever wanted to be and I believe that she is loving each minute, give or take some here and there. Though I imagine being 'needed' can get tiresome, I also believe that it is the most rewarding feeling.

Laura always encourages me to 'get together with the guys', though I believe that we are more properly called men or dudes (those that remember Carl P. will appreciate that comment). I kick around ideas about going to see a movie, going out to eat, camping... with some other men. For some reason it is always hard to get men together just to hang out. Maybe it is that most of us have been gone all day and just want to be home with the family? Maybe we aren't as social as we would like to think? Maybe they feel guilt about being gone for work and missing so much of family life? There is probably some element of truth in all this, but it seems that we men need to share the company of other men - to sharpen the saw and so on.