The randomness of summer

The joys of living with a three year old boy. That's how my summer has been. And man has the summer flown by. I was going through my photos and put a lot of randomness in my post to help me remember some things about the stage we are in.

The phrase of the summer: "Is it a little early or lots of early?" Meaning do we have to go take a nap now or do we have lots of time to play a game before brushing our teeth, etc.

While watching a show on PBS, a commercial came on for Chucky Cheese. I then hear Justin yell form the other room, "Mommy, we need to go to Chucky Cheese to go play." Those advertising goo-roo's know what they are doing!

Justin loves to floss, especially when he runs in the room to show me his food that he got out from between his back molars. He makes a face while we both say, "Ewwwwww." Don't know where he gets it from.

I have a neighbor who has three kids, the youngest being 8 years younger than the middle child. She told me that she micromanaged her oldest and by the time the 3rd came around she was just happy they were dressed. That statement has been ingrained in my head all summer. So I have stopped in certain areas of micromanaging with my son, telling myself that it's not eternal.

I was involved in a our church VBS for the first time ever. They moved it to the week before July the 4th, so I decided we would get involved. The theme was Saddle Ridge Ranch, and though I wished the Lifeway curriculum was more based on learning about Jesus vs. Zaccheus and learning about the Holy Spirit over how to be a cowboy, we had a great week. I worked in an overflow room of kids that had just finished kindergarten and some that were not currently involved in attending church regularly. They were hungry for knowing more, and on the last day several told me that they didn't even own a Bible. You better believe we got on that quickly and made sure they went home with a copy of their very own Word of God. A bonus was working alongside several of my close friends from Sunday School all week long. Knowing where the other leaders stood in their walk gave all of us confidence to work together as a team.

Justin has been dressing himself in the mornings, and by not being all on top of him, I tell myself that he is learning what he likes to look like. It's not eternal, it's not eternal swirling in my head. So on a certain craft day at VBS when he had to wear an old outfit, I clenched my jaw and bit my tongue. And I allowed my son to go to church looking like this:



He loves to wear his socks up high like that, telling me that his teachers would love his socks. And as they all winked at me as I dropped him off, they all agreed that the socks were the best part of the outfit. But let's not forget the sudden urge to wear the cowboy hat everyday, without the rest of him looking anything but a cowboy.



A sense of my controlling nature went out the window that week. JT loves to wear anything with orange shorts - today it was his purple shirt. The favorite thing in our room at VBS was Derek's old tent. It was where the kids went for their nature station with Miss Erica. But I tell you what, if you ever have some dead space in a room, just set up a tent. Guaranteed to be a crowd pleasure for sure.



Moving on with the allowance of not quite so matchy-matchy outfits, Justin insisted that these shorts matched his shirt. And now his silly bands had been moved to his ankle.



He said that the dark orange around the number three was really red. We went all over the place that day while wearing that outfit. I used to think mom's were crazy for letting their kids look like this. Now I know that they were just giving them grace and telling themselves that deep down it really didn't matter. The closet of cute clothes remains untouched while the J man starts his own creations.



Taken by my camera happy son. No editing done, as you notice the third eye on my forehead. Working on less perfection in a photo and more as is. It's hard for those that know me well. Working on areas that need to be let go. This will be the summer of me taking a step back from things that don't matter as much.



The summer of card games. Justin and Derek play battle all day long. And now they play with creativity. A little lick...



...and now a fun way to see who really won the hand.



Mommy doesn't play like this, so it's great for Daddy to be so fun. They usually end the game with a good wrestle session upstairs before bedtime. I feel like I am back in my younger years with my dad and brothers wrestling until someone is in tears. Someone always got hurt. That's why I stayed on the sidelines telling everyone what to do.



We have been using the food coloring a lot lately. This time we put yellow food coloring in his cereal milk. Justin was stunned that it tasted the same as white milk.



We kept adding more colors, ending up with a lovely purple in the end of the mess.



I was practicing for a shower a few weeks ago and tried out cakeballs. Justin asked at the end of trial #1 why they all looked like hats. Others have asked if there was cheese on the balls. Nope, just a disaster of my first attempt. Blurriness thanks to my new phone...that doesn't have a flash when you take a photo...



Derek joined a golf course that only takes men. So he and Justin have a new love of going on either Saturday mornings bright and early or Sunday late afternoons. They put, ride around on the golfcart, eat uncrustables and toasted PB&J's from the clubhouse, and they fish in a catch-and-release pond. Since there are no women allowed, I only get to hear the stories. But this is their thing, boys only. Justin caught this monster on his Cars fishing rod a few weeks ago. Derek said he was beside himself with excitement. And this happens almost everytime they go. Only in a boys world.



And I have to record that this has been a summer of awkward conversations with my little man. We went to get a haircut the other day and in walks a very large man. As we are walking out, Justin says in a loud voice, keeping his eyes on the man, "Mommy, that man is fat." I pull him out of there so fast and quickly try to grab something effective to say through my muddled thoughts.

We are at the gas station the next day and Justin says about the male worker behind the counter with longer curly hair, "Mommy, that man looks like a girl with a man face."

And then another at the same gas station, "Mommy, that man has a pony tail."

We were in Waco this past weekend and he looks at my mom with me standing right behind him. Here's how this convo goes: JT: Mommy, Birdie is bigger than you. Me: You mean taller. JT: No, I mean fatter. My mom quickly chimes in with: Yes, but I'm stronger! In case you are wondering, we all had a good laugh.

Then today he tells me as we walk into a store with a female worker, who happens to be a midget, "Mommy, why is she so small?" I quickly explain to him that that is the way God made her, and we need to love her for who she is. He then says that she is small like a sister. Oh my word, I have to get a handle on this overly observant boy!

Just for the record, I have addressed each issue of why statements like that hurt other's feeling, God made us all in His image, Jesus loves us for who we are, etc. So we are driving back from Chick-fil-A today after having lunch with my buddy Dianna. He was telling me how he told the other kids in the play area that we shouldn't push. Then he stated that maybe they would learn about Jesus because of his (Justin's) actions. At that moment I saw a woman that I had noticed over an hour and a half ago walking outside. She walked with a limp and had the same grocery sack in her hand from before lunch. It's a cool 92 degrees outside and she is moving so slowly. My breath is knocked out of me as we drive me, my brain swarming with what I am thinking (one of which is if I should call my husband and ask if this was a smart idea). I out of the blue made a quick U-turn and start throwing all the junk out of the front seat to make room for her. I explain to Justin that we need to be like Jesus and offer that woman a ride home. By the time I get to her, I notice she has several handicaps. She tells me thanks for the ride but she was crossing the street to her house just right there.

I was bummed we couldn't help out, but decided this was how we would tie all the statements from a curious three year old boy in together. On the way home, I explained to Justin how Jesus hung out with people that the world didn't see as beautiful. In our instance, the fat man, the short lady, the man with the ponytail, the lady with a hard time walking like we did. He loved them, saw them as wonderfully made, and prayed for them. We needed to be like that to those people. And when we noticed someone that didn't look like us, that we needed to pray that one day, if they didn't already, they would know Jesus.

I was totally choked up driving home in my nice car with my AC setting on 67 degrees while I watched in my rear view mirror that woman cross the street. I silently prayed for the Lord to change me, to become more of a world Christian and not get caught up in my daily pettiness. To notice the hurting of others, and to do more than just look and never do anything about it. And to give me son a heart of helping others.

Lord, make me have a heart like yours. Help me to love your people as you do and not notice everything with a critical spirit. Change me...