To celebrate Penny’s fifth birthday she requested a “Frozen” party. Her expectations consisted of Frozen invitations, Frozen goody bags and a moon bounce. I decided to surprise her with a few extra treats…
A “Frozen” themed treat table complete with Olaf cake pops
Some like to think of life as full of mystery, surprises, the unexpected. While life will occasionally toss you a surprise or two; a pregnancy, a cross-country move, a divorce, a death you will find an incredible ability to absorb and adapt.
Guilt. It’s a never ending well that is easily available to all who want. No one limits our consumption as does no one lead us there. We willfully walk, trudge there and by the time we’ve arrived find our thirst unquenchable.
Laying asleep with her delicate locks strewn haplessly across her face, a tangle of legs and blankets and the steady slight snore of her breathing filling the room she was beyond the clatter and noise of the household. In her realm of reality mixed with impossibilities, at times providing fantastical experiences and at others delivering great terror, she drifted delicately. On this night she landed somewhere in between. No wicked witches chasing her nor did the skies rain candy. She was merely re-enacting an ordinary moment from the day but with different faces in similar places. It was during this night, in this most ordinary of dreams that something life changing happened. Through the crack in the window, the gods drifted in on the air and whispered the most humorous of jokes into her ear. When she awoke she would not recall the joke, only the humor and she’d carry a grin on her face that entire morning. When asked by her parents the meaning behind her grin she could not explain herself.
In the years ahead this humor will reside deep within her and in times of stress or anxiety provide great comfort. The warmth that contentment brings will radiate from her and affect those around her. She will grow up to be known as the girl with the infectious smile. But it’s more than just that. Much more must exist far beneath to create what we see on the surface. The humor left by the gods will affect her life, each long, full day.
September 14, 2011 was Penny’s first day at Lake Anne Nursery and Kindergarten (LANK). Within the first two months I received two calls of her biting her classmates. Apparently a third incident warrants some sort of “disciplinary action.” Luckily there was never a third. She befriended her lifelong LANK friends, Maddy and Kellen, and navigated the tough seas of strong personalities. Over the three years she learned her colors, shapes, letters, sorting, patterns and rhymes. She went from writing her name backwards to forwards and has added many more words to her writing vocabulary. She learned to share, to use her words and matured into a contributing participant in her class. After three nurturing years in a wonderfully supportive school this girl is ready for Kindergarten.
Our Everyday 