It’s begun. 32 days of winter fun. And when I say “winter,” keep in mind yesterday was 72° and my cousin Mandie and I ate outside on a picnic table at a sushi food truck. While we were there, her mother happened to drive by, so we went back to her house for afternoon coffee.
So far my break has been great. On Saturday, Sarah and I met my mom, my sister-in-law, and my nephews at Dixie Stampede in Branson. My nephews loved it. The five-year-old looked like he was going to cry as a lady stood on two horses’ backs and jumped through a flaming hoop. He kept saying, “No, no more fire!” But when he got home he described that as his favorite part. The two-year-old liked “the piggies that did race.” (Kids’ language development fascinates me. He hasn’t integrated past tense yet, but he knows he can’t just say, “piggies that race.” When you’re around kids who struggle for every word – or even sound – you don’t take that stuff for granted.)
I came to my parents’ house Saturday night. Sunday afternoon Levi came over. For those of you who’ve never built a gingerbread house with a 5-year-old boy, I highly don’t recommend it. But we invited them back today to make more cookies. I’m usually not a Christmas cookie maker, but this year since I won’t be here very much, I wanted to do some stuff.
Levi helped me set up a jump for Dempster to learn. I wonder if he’s the first puppy to learn to jump over a bar propped up on Christadelphian classics like “Eureka” and “The Story of the Bible.” He did pretty well. We got up to a height of about 8 inches. Later I read that puppies shouldn’t really do jump obstacles till their growth plates have closed around 14 months. Oops. I ordered a little agility kit on Amazon for him. He needs things to keep him busy, other than chewing on me. Last night was the first time he’s ever not whimpered at all when I put him in the crate. He had a busy day of chasing boys and jumping bars. Today we added some books standing up, for him to weave around. He figured it out right away, and I even got some cute videos (on FB) of Levi leading him.
Today was my mom’s birthday. She and I went to lunch at a place near where her grandparents lived, in a tiny farm town in rural Arkansas. They have fantastic pie. Then we got the boys and made cookies. In between, Levi and I walked to Walmart. He found a fluffy former-dandelion thing and made a wish. I wasn’t going to ask, but he volunteered: “I wished for the Kingdom to come tomorrow.” Then he spotted another one, grabbed it, and said, “This time I wished for the Kingdom to come today. That’s even better.” ❤️
We went out with two couples for dinner – my dad’s cousin and his wife, and my best childhood friend’s parents – and then had cake and ice cream. We finished off the night by my little nugget of a dog running around like a crazy man while we watched a little Alfred Hitchcock.
Oh, and I broke down and got an iPhone 8. I’d had mine for almost 3 years and the battery had been replaced (before I went to the Arctic). It still didn’t work right and I had a battery charger case plus I kept it on low battery. Even with all that it won’t last all day. So it was time, even though paying that much money for a phone seems crazy to me. A friend pointed out that it’s the item we use most in life. I guess that’s a good point.
I hit the road tomorrow for Illinois.
Next Comes Africa 