wootens.net

Ever since Laura and Sara were babies, I have sung a special song to them.
Think about the tune to Frere Jacques (Are You Sleeping).
I sing the following words to that tune:
Sara Wooten (4 syllables like frere jacques), Sara Wooten
I love you, I love you.
I love you very much, much.
I love you very much, much.
I love you; I love you.

Tonight, as I put the girls to sleep, Sara requested I sing this. Laura then chimed up and wanted her version (Laura Wooten also has 4 syllables and works equally well).

The first fun event was Sara and I harmonized. The second fun event was that Laura joined in. She didn’t sing the words. She just went me, mo, hum (whatever word occurred to her). But she harmonized with us. So ALL three of us sang together! That has not happened before.

The third event made my heart melt. After I was done with Laura’s version and Sara’s version, Sara asked if we could sing a Karen Wooten version. I said sure. So both my girls sang their love for me. And love will set you free.

I miss my girls. I am concentrating on the work side of life these days by attending a conference on Multiple Sclerosis. The learning is great. My brain is being stimulated and stretched in nice ways. The networking opportunities are fabulous. But I miss my girls.

They ate in the bosom of Poppa and Nana. They are happy and well (besides the vomiting which is over now). They’re Dad has been around a lot also. They’ve been to the zoo and to a puppet show.

I believe in getting out of the way when we visit grandparents. I like to give my kids room to form bonds with their grandparents without me around or interfering. That’s the way I grew up with my grandparents.

We have now vomited in two states. Laura added her own stamp on Aunt Debbie’s party by throwing up all over her kitchen floor floor. It tampered the call for desert. We got her home and she had a hard evening sleeping with me. That was TN.

Two days later I had a sleepless evening with a sour stomach. The next day I had diarrhea and faced a 5 hour drive to Atlanta with few bathroom opportunities. Luckily, I recovered enough to make the trip and attend my conference the next day.

The latest victim has been Sara. She landed her vomit in Georgia last night. She vomited 7 times last night. Her fever only broke today.

We’re recovering from the party. It’s 5pm and this is the first I’ve been seriously outside. The sky is blue and the heat of the day has passed. Laura is playing in the wading pool. Sara is playing with the kittens after a day of not being able to play with them because of the party. Wayne and I are sitting in lawn chairs with a pleasant breeze. Southern bliss.

We got up late at 9am after a late night. We had breakfast before even realizing John and Shirley were awake and planning a big breakfast. It’s helping to feast in the evenings and eat in moderation during the other meals. We did visiting. Aunts, uncles, and cousins showed up to gather chairs or coolers leftover from the party. Of course, if you stop, even for business, you need to chat, visit, reconnect no facebook involved. Wayne and Sara have had to go through the great southern tradition of de-ticking.

We showered ourselves and gave both girls baths. Then it was lunch time. And nap time. When laura and I awoke everyone was sleeping, even grandparents.

That’s how I didn’t get outside till 5pm.

Wayne’s sister and her brood (they add 6 to our numbers) have arrived for dinner. Frisbee, bean toss, wading pool and watermelon to celebrate this glorious evening. Laura calls roly polys ‘holy polys’.

It’s been a day. The sky is blue, the temp going up to 90, and I’ve appreciated the breezes. Today has been regular day. I’m sitting on the porch watching the girls play with newborn kittens. We’ve been to Costco. We bought a pool for the girls. I joined Karen this morning for stroller strides. I really enjoyed the exercise to start the day. Dinner with Aunt debbie.

That last statement doesn’t express the lovely taste experience that is John and Debbie’s cooking. Seasoned grilled steaks, roasted fingerling potatoes, grilled romaine lettuce with grilled red onions. Wayne rode me and the girls around on the 4 wheeler. The girls played with Coco the brown lab. I got to visit with Sondra and Bobby who I haven’t seen for 2 years.

“Karen had a perfect Mother’s day. The fact is that I heard a sermon on Roman’s and went to the Ballard Farmer’s Market with my family. None of those words express the joy I got from those activities. Simple things for simple days.” That’s my facebook summary of the day.

Wayne says Karen days are the best and we should do more of them. Definition of a Karen day, “let Karen plan the activities.” He was great at letting me do this today.

Wayne posted some Dinosaur Live photos on flickr. Cool photos.

Whenever I see that phrasing, I can’t help but have Battlestar Galactica echo in my head about the cylons, “AND THEY HAD A PLAN!” Well so did Sara. I love getting these little insights into my daughters growing brain. Today was unexpected. It poured. All day. I kept the kids home today because Laura seemed under the weather (given all the weather we had). Sara was ecstatic. This was supposed to be my at home day to rescue my desk from it’s backlog after paper and conferences and vacation.

Laura ruled my night and woke me several times. She caused Wayne to leave the bed at 1am and pushed me to the very edge and stole all the covers. Pretty talented for a 3 foot being for a bed Wayne and I normally share with no problem each night. So I was sleepy. So was Laura. So we had a very slow morning and a leisurely breakfast. When Laura put herself down for her nap at 10:30am I followed suit. Shower didn’t happen till 1pm. But by afternoon, the kids had energy and the weather started to break.

This is the girls walking backwards.

Did Sara ask to go to a park or a friend’s house or a coffee shop? No. She wanted to visit the alley by Jon and Claire’s house. She wasn’t that interested in visiting Claire. Me and Laura flummoxed that part of the plan and said hi for 5 minutes (3 girls keeps Claire in demand). So what was so interesting about an alley. It was the river that ran through it. Though it had poured, the ground had absorbed a lot of water already. We were having a hard time finding puddles to jump in. Sara had remembered this alley as having a steady stream with multiple puddles to jump in. Smart girl.

So they got wet. Then we went to park and added mud to the mix. The girls buried their horses in the mud while I walked around.

Now I’m doing laundry. We had a nice moment snuggling on the couch while watching Planet Earth about forests. Laura was very snuggly. We all laughed at the camera man filming the trees smacking into the trees in a hot air balloon.

Laura is going to be a why girl. I always waited for Sara to ask persistent why questions. That phase never came. Sara was curious, just not in an annoying way. Laura has decided to start at 2. Today she asked me why we didn’t have our upstairs bedroom TV. It took 5 whys to get to the fact the TV had been recalled because it caused 25 house fires. She was interested in the fire part.

I seem to be blogging a lot this weekend. It feels like an important time somehow. Wayne’s asleep (as should I be) and I just finished up watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind again.

In 3/04 I wrote this:
The movie was wonderful. It a flowing, gentle romance with a jagged timeline and camera shots that keeps your interest in a Memento like way. There’s a scene that I think will stick in my head for a long time. At the end, when faced with a relationship that failed but couldn’t die, Clementine (Kate Winslet-well acted) says, “I’ll just end up bored and you’ll just end up disillusioned, we know we’ll end up that way.” (paraphrased) Jim Carrey reponds in a sheepish Truman like way, “Ok.” It’s the acknowledgment of humanity’s weakness and our ability to love around and through and despite that weakness. It’s a moment that reminds me what it’s like to be human.

It’s still true. That’s the same moment I went, “Ahhh” about. 5 years and another child later, it’s still the same thing the resonates. I’m still me. It’s interesting to see how I change and how I don’t. Fearfully and wonderfully made.

I’m looking forward to beginning Romans tomorrow in church. I read the chapter this week. Yeah!

You’ll hear about the opposite of this title in a different forum. Wayne took nice photos of Dinosaur Live. I just used my iPhone. I took Laura to the Children’s Museum, bucking the fact we don’t have a membership. I took Sara on her birthday and was curious to see how Laura would enjoy it with me able to devote my full attention to her. Though she begged for the zoo (I bailed on that because of the rain). She had a blast. It’s exercise keeping up with her.