Stories

When I took the Circle of Security class (an attachment theory class) a few years ago, I learned about "Being With." Briefly, "being with" is when someone is suffering or upset, and rather than trying to make them feel better by being positive or cheerful, or rather than trying to talk them out of how they are feeling, you actually acknowledge what they are feeling, you validate them, and then they are able to recover on their own. This is a great clip of how to "Be With." It's from a different author--Dr. Brene Brown who wrote Daring Greatly. But it shows displays it very nicely. (Plus nice graphics!)

All the teachers at the preschool the girls go to are trained in the Circle of Security. One of  Pyper's teachers actually is a trainer of the program, and she teaches multiple families every year about it.

Anyway, yesterday, as I walked in the door to pick Pyper up from school, the teachers rushed to me and said, "You'll never believe what happened today." And "This is so amazing."
They proceeded to tell me that Samara had tumbled off the couch, and was crying. Teacher Mary was holding her to soothe her, but she continued to cry.
Pyper came over and said, "One time, I fell on the sidewalk and scraped my hands." Pyper then gave Samara a hug, and Samara stopped crying.
Teacher Paige, the instructor of Circle of Security, was pretty much in awe. "The most beautiful "being with" I've ever seen." She said. They continued to tell me how great a friend Pyper is to her classmates.
Okay, so it might not be all they've made it out to be, but I love the story. It actually portrays Pyper's compassionate little heart.


For Mother's Day, Claire's teachers had her complete some sentences about me. Then they hung all the kids' responses about their moms around the room. Yesterday was the first day they were up, so we found Claire's and read it together.
"My mom likes: green.
My mom is 40  years old.
My mom has many names. I call her Mama.
I like it when my mom tickles me."
Claire was very proud of her answers. Then she asked, "Mom, are you 40?" I laughed. "No, Claire, not yet." She was deflated. "Will you be 40 next year?" I said, "No, next year I'll be 33, then I'll be 34, then I'll be 35, then I'll be 36, then I'll be 37, then I'll be 38, then I'll be 39, then I'll be 40!"
And she said, "Oh!" So excited. "So you're 32!"
Cute story, but how did she know what came before 33? Wow! I was pretty impressed.

Last Saturday was Summer's first soccer game. When we signed her up, it was a "Oh-you're-coaching-soccer?-We'll-put-Summer-on-your-team!" kind of decision. And then we found out it was a boy's league for 6 and 7 year olds. But the coach is one of Rhett's co-workers, and he said he talked to the league and they said it was okay. So now she's playing soccer. Rhett got her some soccer gear, and of course, everything soccer for girls age 5 is PINK. So when she was on the field with blue and black and yellow, she was the one in bright pink. I loved it.

She'd gone to two practices before the game, and Rhett has been practicing with her. So when she was let onto the field, we really had no idea what she was going to do. And we were SOOOO surprised! She was so excited she could not contain herself. She was dancing and swiveling her hips and shooting her arms in the air. It was hilarious. And then she'd realize where the ball was (after gentle reminders from us to "Look at the ball! Look at the ball!") and she'd run after it. They'd chase it around, but every time the other team scored (which was about 13 times that game), and every time it went out of bounds, which was the majority of the game, she would dance around again. And then we'd yell all over again, "Summer! Look at the ball! Look at the ball!" It was hilarious. I wondered what all the other parents were thinking of this bright pink girl out there dancing around.
Well, we were getting whooped. And we hadn't even scored. And then--BAM! Summer kicked it and GOOOOOOOAAAAAL! It was hilarious. And then more dancing, and running, etc. We made two more goals, and then final goal was actually one of our kids into the other team's net. So everyone cheered. It was kind of a good way to end the game, I guess.
It was so fun to watch her. As we were sitting there, I had flashbacks of years of watching my siblings play sports--football, basketball, softball, volleyball. Man, I think I got ulcers from the stress and anxiety of wanting them to play well. I can't believe it's starting all over again now!


And Basil, well, I think she is on the verge of her first words now. And those first words are going to be "Dog" and "Dad." Any time she sees a dog, she whispers and points, "Da, da, da, da." And when she sees Rhett, it's in a very excited voice that she says, "Da da da!" I think she is actually communicating very well. On Sunday, some friends were holding her during Sacrament meeting. They had a little plastic egg, and she was holding one end of the egg out to the brother (who is about 13) sitting next to her. She kept holding it there for him. The mom leaned over and whispered to him, "She wants you to take the egg." He was drawing, and whispered back, "Whatever, mom." And just a few moments later, Basil let out a big yell. The kid took the egg, and Basil stopped yelling. The mom said, "See! I told you!" It was pretty funny.


Rhett is getting ready to travel over to Yakima on Wednesday for a pretty important case that they are presenting in court. I'm not sure what the technical terms are for all of it, but Rhett's job is to be an expert on part of it. It is pretty exciting. Rhett doesn't do a lot of litigation (in court stuff), mostly he does trademark applications and registrations, etc. So this is an exciting thing. I'm thinking he should write a book about it. He could be the next John Grisham!


My food storage challenge is over. For about five or six weeks I participated in a food storage challenge to make as many food storage recipes as I could. I was in the top ten (only ten ran, haha), so I won a wonder oven--a non-electric cooker--which I'm pretty excited about. And I won some freeze dried sweet potatoes, food storage ready-made black beans, and freeze dried sausage (shelf stable). I also won a water purifier kit. It was pretty exciting to win all these things, and to find some yummy food storage recipes to gather for my food storage cookbook. I feel like I learned a lot and came a long ways in my food storage knowledge.


My last story is about a little family of six who shared a duplex with a neighbor lady until one day, a house came up for sale, and this family decided to buy it. The house is next to a little park, is up the street from the elementary school and church, has a big back yard, a large garden area, five bedrooms, two baths (plus one more unfinished), and is still in Liberty Lake. If the story ends happily ever after, then the family will be moving in this Saturday. But only time will tell . . .

To be continued . . .