Lancaster (Lan-Cast-Er, as us Michiganders Say)
This week we’ve been vacationing in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area. It’s been our first real vacation in nearly two years, and we’re all feeling refreshed. We’ll post some pictures and videos after we’ve had a chance to sort through them all, but here’s some highlights in the meantime:
- The Choo Choo Barn - After years (literally) of watching Noah’s “I Love Toy Trains” videos, this was a sort of home coming. Lots and lots and lots and lots of toy trains. Just do a search for choo choo barn on youtube, and you’ll get a taste for the place.
- Hershey’s Chocolate World - Candy! And more Candy! And finally… Candy! The Chocolate World is basically a free 7 minute ride wrapped in an overpriced food court and overpriced Hershey’s candy. But it was still a lot of fun. And we truly enjoyed the trolley tour. It was eye opening to see the Milton Hershey School, both for it’s beauty and vision. The “free” candy on the tour didn’t hurt, either.
- Outback Toy Store - Hands down the most awesome toy tractor store. Ever. We all had that deer-in-the-headlights look when we walked in. Incredible. We’re lucky we only walked out with one new tractor.
- The Strasburg Railroad and Museum were stops on our last “day way” trip. I think the museum was a better deal (especially for the price), but riding a 100 year old steam train was pretty cool. All Aboard!
As Noah would say, “we’re a little sad” to be heading home, but we’re very thankful for family time we’ve been able to enjoy. See you back in Michigan!
Vacation Bible School 2009
Whew, what a summer! Seems like we’ve hardly had a chance to catch our breath lately. Not that we’re complaining.
Last week was Vacation Bible School week at our church, Holland Heights CRC. Amy played piano, Noah attended (his first year!) and Brian shot and edited a short video of all the fun. Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:
And here’s a “bonus” story for you all:
The other night Amy and I attended a wedding, and a few nights before the event Amy informed Noah that a baby sitter was coming, because “Mommy and Daddy are going to a Wedding.” Noah’s response was a bit interesting:
“No, no, Mommy, no want you to go to wedding.”
At first Amy was thinking Noah didn’t want us to leave him.
“It’s OK Noah, we’ll be coming back soon.”
Bu he was still distraught. After a few more attempts to console him Noah finally hinted at why he didn’t want Amy attending:
“I love you, Mommy. No want you to get married.”
We had a pretty good laugh, and we’re sure to remind Noah of this when he’s 15 or 16….
The Haps
Finally, I found a few moments to write my promised update on life here at the Tol House. Here’s a peek at what we’ve been up to for the past few weeks:
Adoption Update: There’s really not much “update” to offer, as we’re still waiting for our referral. But Bethany continues to receive referrals, and our name slowly moves up the list. We have been gradually stocking up on some new things for our trip: luggage, video camera, a baby carrier.
I continue to enjoy “meeting” other adoptive families through the Bethany web forums and adoption blogs. I never tire of reading about their adoption experiences. Many have walked this road before us, and it’s encouraging to hear their testimonies about God’s faithfulness along the way. We know there will be great joy in this adoption–but there will be struggles as well. God supplies what we need, when we need it. We continue to lean on that promise.
Orphan Ministry Possibilities: One of the things I’m very excited about right now are the possibilities for beginning an orphan ministry at our church. We are so very honored and excited to be called to adoption and I’m in awe how God is knitting our little family together. Yet, my heart is heavy for the many other children who will remain left behind in orphanages.
Now I know it’s a huge problem and I feel so very, very small. But over the past year or so, I’ve just felt like God may have a part for me to play. So I’ve prayed about it a lot. And then a couple months ago, I was contacted by someone else from church with a question: “Would you pray about and consider being part of an orphan ministry at our church?” Umm . . . yes! I’d been waiting on God, and that phone call just felt like confirmation that he does, indeed, want me to get involved.
So the wheels are starting to turn, slowly. We held a special lunch at our church a few weeks ago to share information about adoption and orphan ministry, and to recruit some other people who’d be willing to help launch an orphan ministry. The whole endeavor is very much in the “baby” stages, but I’m eager to see what God has in store. I’d really appreciate prayers about it all, as I feel very inexperienced and unqualified to be a leader in this. Yet despite my insecurities, God seems to be calling. I guess I just need to keep following and see where he leads.
Pie: We continue to enjoy helping out with youth group. This winter, we launched a special project called “Rice Bowls.” It’s an organization that works with orphanages in India, South Africa, and Haiti to provide food supplies. One of their fund-raising projects is to send out small plastic banks shaped like little rice bowls. Groups can hand them out, then collect spare change in them and send it back to the Rice Bowls organization. (You can learn more at http://www.ricebowls.org.)
To motivate our teens to collect change, we made a little competition involving pies: If the guys collected more change, they could throw a pie at one of the female leaders, and if the girls won, they’d get to throw pie at one of the guys. We added one more twist: Any student who collected at least $60 in change could throw a pie at anyone.
Well, the motivation seemed to work, because we ended up having seven pies getting throw around at youth group this past Sunday. Prior to the big event, several youth group kids (and leaders!) had threatened to throw pie at me. I feigned great offense and concern about this, so we had fun joking around about it. At one point, it looked like I’d be taking five pies! In the end, I only had to take one pie. (I wasn’t surprised by this: Because, really, once someone is completely covered in pie, isn’t it more fun to choose a clean target for the next pie?)
It was all great fun–and the best part is that we raised over $900 to help feed orphans!
Noah: Noah continues to be a busy, active little boy. Never a dull moment with this one, that’s for sure! He’s been loving the new barn Grandpa Leep built for his birthday, and the many trucks and tractors he received for Christmas and his birthday. I’m continually amazed at his great imagination and the creative ways he uses his toys. (Why not build the GeoTrax railroad right through the Little Peoples barn? Great idea, bud!)
As the weather finally has gotten warmer, he’s been spending some quality time back in the sandbox and out at the park. As the mommy, I’m thrilled to finally get outside again for walks and playtime. Noah’s also jabbering like crazy now. (Hmm… I wonder where he gets that trait from?) We’ve had many interesting “conversations” lately. Here’s one of our recent chats that has me a little worried about his involvement at church:
Me: Do you like Children’s church, Noah?
Noah: Yes! Fun.
Me: What do you do there, buddy?
Noah: We have big fire.
Me: Really. What do you have a big fire for?
Noah: Put toys in fire!
Well, I’ve rambled on quite enough for one post! I guess that’s what happens when I don’t update anything for so long. Thanks for reading.
Ahhh!!
This is how I feel about the Tol Family Blog at the moment. Because I’ve been so terrible about updating it, and now there’s so many things to write about I don’t know where to start. In my defense, we did switch to this new blog format, and I just got the new log-in procedure from Brian yesterday.
Anyway, I apologize to our readers and promise to give a real update soon. But to keep you entertained until then, check out this live puppy cam I ran into on the WoodTV website this morning. Bernese Mountain Dogs are my dream dog, so I couldn’t resist taking a peek when I noticed the link on the Weather page.
Just look at that cute puppy face in this picture. Sigh. I wish he were mine. I’d probably name him after a famous book character or writer (Sawyer? Will? Lord Byron, perhaps?) and then let him sleep on the end of my bed. . . Oh well, I can live vicariously through the web instead, I guess.
And who are we kidding? I may come up with a few funny posts here and there, but I’m no competition for live puppies! Enjoy.
http://www.woodtv.com/subindex/marketplace/pets
EDGE-y Wisdom
I guess my posts have gotten a little too reflective and serious lately. Brian has commented that I need to lighten up a bit, for fear that our faithful blog readers will fall asleep while reading. (Okay, so he didn’t say the sleep part, but I think it was implied.) Well, always wanting to be a faithful wife, I have decided to attempt a more light-hearted post. And where do I turn when I when I need funny material?
Well, I’m a youth group leader. Enough said.
Brian and I have been helping out with EDGE–the youth program at our church–for almost a year now. This stint began with a youth group trip to Colorado last summer. At that time, I shared a post about the top ten things I learned from a week with teens in Colorado. It was mind-blowing, really.You should read it.
So just imagine how much wisdom I’ve gleaned in the months since. Without further ado, I present “The Top Ten Things I Have Learned As An EDGE Group Leader:”
1. Seeing teenage males in their mother’s Christmas sweaters is the stuff horror films are made of. Sure, it guarantees them a win in the Ugly Sweeater Contest. But it can also haunt dreams.
2. For some reason, the concept of throwing pie in my face is a very strong motivator for many members of this group.
3. During youth group retreats, its important to withhold Mountain Dew from certain female members of our group after 9 pm. Unless, of course, you really enjoy hearing conversations about the science of coughing at 5 AM in the morning. Or you like functioning on 1.5 hours of sleep.
4. If you leave a message on a teenager’s home phone, you’ll be lucky to get a response within a month. If you write on their Facebook Wall, you will likely hear from them within minutes. And I suppose if I actually texted them on their cell phones, I would enter a whole new realm of warp-speed response. But you have to put your foot down somewhere.
5. Surprisingly, guys don’t do much trash-talking when playing fantasy football. (Well, unless you lose your starting QB in the first game…but that’s another story.) I say, what’s the fun of playing in a league if you can’t casually remind the other players when, say, you happen to annihilate their team by more than 40 points. (Yes, I’m talking about Alden here.) Come to think of it, this might explain #2 above.
5. Mountain-top romances last a lot longer than you might think. They also require some unique retreat rules such as: 1.)no pillow sharing allowed, and 2.)no, we are not going to let the guys and girls sleep side-by-side in Meeting Room #2.
6. Apparently, there is barbed wire at the top of the Ladder of Love. (Don’t worry, you get a key to remove the wire when you get married.) When dating in high school, it’s better to just carry a step stool.
7. The youth have led me to some arithmetic principles I was not aware of before. As in, “a girl must be at least 3/5 hotness in order for a guy to ask her out,” and “I’d rather be 7/3 funny than 3/5 hot.” (Is this part of that “new math” I’ve heard about?)
8. Lest you think all we discuss at youth group is dating/sex/love, let me just say that I’ve learned a surprising amount of color theory as well. For example, black is not in our youth pastor’s color palette. Apparently orange is a girly color for a video camera. And being nick-named “grandma” makes me feel blue.
9. If any female members of our group mysteriously disappear, I will look for them wherever the Grand Rapids Griffins happen to be playing. But really: Hockey players, girls? You know they don’t have teeth, right?
10. Being an EDGE leader is eerily similar to my high school experience: I often hang out with a large herd of teenagers, I consume large quantities of caffeine (although I’ve switched from Mt. Dew to coffee), and I’m constantly harrassed, picked on, and teased. At least there’s no homework or tests . . .
As you can see, helping out with EDGE has warped molded me in many ways.
But seriously, God has blessed me through these experiences. It’s such a privilege to know these teens and to watch them grow in God. And of course, to share lots of life and laughter along the way.
The Wait
It’s a rainy and quiet Saturday afternoon, which has put me in a reflective mood. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this adoption journey we’re on. And in particular, this time of waiting and wondering that we’re in.
Everyone in the world of adoption is familiar with “The Wait.” It’s that lag time between handing all your paperwork in and the day you are matched with a child. I remember back to last summer, when we were scurrying about gathering various documents and notary signatures, when we heard one person comment: “Just enjoy this phase where you can actually DO something. Because pretty soon all you can do is sit and wait.
Well, we are smack dab in the midle of the wait right now. This week, it will have been seven months since all our paperwork headed to Ethiopia. Seven months! And I have very mixed feelings about this time. There are many moments of impatience, of course. Sometimes I wonder if we’d be better off doing a domestic adoption, or if we should have changed our age requirements, or if . . . well, there’s lots of “ifs” to wonder about when you’re wishing for a speedier adoption process! Yet time and again, God reassures me that we are on the right path, even though it is a longer wait than we’d like.
Mixed in with the impatience are moments of wonder. I wonder if our baby has been born yet, or if she’s still in her mommy’s round belly. I wonder what kind of family she will come from–what kind of difficult circumstances will lead her to an orphanage. I wonder if there’s another mother on the other side of the world, right now, worrying and fearing about the future of her child. And I pray that God will give her peace about His plan. I wonder what this child will look like. What personality she’ll have. What hopes and dreams and purposes and plans God will wrap into this little person.
It’s strange how these feelings of impatience, wonder, anticipation all mingle in with my everyday life. We are “expecting,” but in such an unconventional way. There’s no constant physical reminder, like the kicks and rolls I used to feel when I was pregnant with Noah. Yet it is a constant thought on my heart. I’ve heard people talk about children of adoption being “grown in their mother’s heart” instead of grown in her stomach. And there’s such truth there. Thoughts of this sweet child poke at my heart each day.
So I keep waiting. Trying to remain faithful to God’s timeline. Trying to find the grace and the growth during this sometimes frustrating wait.
And you know what? God is so good to fill the wait with good things and good purposes. I have an energetic son to keep me on my toes. Dear friends and family who fill my life with laughter and support. A church that feels like a true spiritual home. Wonderful teens God has called me to disciple and love. People and possibilities for starting an orphan ministry at my church. Opportunities to grow and develop my writing career.
I am grateful for these “distractions” from the wait. But also grateful that they are not mere distractions, but an important part of the journey I’m on. We had quite a “wait” before Noah was born too, and I know that as those days and months went by, God was molding me, transforming me into a different kind of person than I would have been without the wait.
When I grow frustrated with this wait, I try to remember that God’s hands are still here, shaping me and our family through this long process. And so I guess more than anything today, I’m just grateful for a God who walks with us. Who never gives up on us. And who works all things for our good. Even the wait…
Stitchery
A few months ago, I admitted to my little habit of cross-stitching, and since I just finished up a recent project, I decided I might as well make a full disclosure on the blog today.
Now let me start by saying that I know how very unpopular cross-stitching has become. It’s not exactly a “cool” hobby, like say, scrapbooking. It doesn’t have the allure of those trendy ink stamps or the color-coordinated ribbon and cardstock collections out there. Most likely, the cross-stitch section at your local crafts store has shrunk in proportion to the size of your supermarket’s RAVE hairspray selection from the 80s.
But somebody has to stick up for this time-honored tradition. People have been stitching for centuries. In some eras, it was a sign of refinement when a young lady could handily use a needle and en embroidery hoop. In another time, stitching was used to teach the alphabet to the pioneering young girls of our young nation. Things took a decidedly ugly turn when the 80s kicked stitching into questionable territory. (Sweatshirts. Purses. Decorative wall brooms. Really?) But despite its abusive use a couple decades ago, stitching is a noble pursuit that doesn’t deserve to be shunned. And I have hope for a comebac
k. Just look at knitting.
My own journey with cross-stitching goes back to my girlhood. My mom taught me how to stitch when I was still in grade school and it’s a hobby I kept up with until the busy years of high school and college came along. I stitched quite rarely during the early years of my marriage. But then I became pregnant with Noah. And suddenly, I had to stitch. Perhaps it was a nesting thing. I don’t know. But I just had this unexplainable urge to stitch something. And so I did. I made a little bear train scene to hang in Noah’s room. I like to imagine that it will be a family heirloom, hanging in my grand-child’s nursery someday. More realistically, it should at least fetch a decent price at a garage sale someday. I’ve also stitched a couple of pillow designs for my nieces (the opening image of this post). And my current project is a pattern that will hang in our adopted child’s bedroom.
So now that you know my stitching history, let me share the reaons why cross-stitch has become my hobby of choice:
1. It’s relaxing. I’m a rather indecisive person, so even though the design aspect of scrapbooking appeals to me, I would get sick of the constant questioning. (”What color paper to use for this page?” or “Should I use stencils or stickers?” etc.) Once you’ve picked a cross-stitch pattern, you just roll with it.
2. It’s very portable. It’s easy to pack up and take on a vacation, or just a craft night with my girlfriends. And if I need to put it away because, say, a toddler comes storming in the room and demanding that I play horsie with him, it’s easy enough to toss aside until a better stitching time presents itself.
3. You can’t get “behind.” See, I’d be a lousy scrapbooker. I can hardly keep up with putting my pictures in plain, old photo albums, much less embellishing them all. But with cross-stitch, you can just leave it for weeks or months, and you’ll never really need to “catch up.” (Well, unless you happen to be stitching a pattern for your niece’s birthday, but that’s an exception…)
4. I can stitch in my arm chair. No stiff-backed chair at the kitchen table for me. I can just kick back and enjoy a comfortable chair, even with a cozy blanket to keep me warm in these cold winter nights. (Yes, I know this makes me sound like an 90-year-old grandma. I don’t care.)
5. It’s inexpensive. Supplies for a project usually cost somewhere around $10-$20. And that project will last me for months. (If not years, in some cases!) Compare that to scrapbooking or cardmaking, where people may easily use up $10 of supplies in ONE NIGHT! It’s defenitely a good recession hobby.
Well, there you have it. One woman’s quest to bring cross-stitch back. I’ll be the first to admit that finding appealing patterns is a little difficult. You have to wade through a lot of memories from 1987 before you find some patterns with a more contemporary feel. But that should improve as the number of cross-stitchers swells across the land and demand for updated patterns grows.
So if you’re looking for a new hobby — something crafty, inexpensive, that doesn’t require high commtiment — just think cross-stitch. Really. We can bring it out of the dark corners and revive it as a socially-acceptable hobby. It just takes a few brave souls to start the revolution.
Growing Pains
I love it when God shows up in the everyday moments of my life. Of course, I know He’s always there. But sometimes certain experiences, sights, or people will show His presence in a special way. And as a parent, I’m amazed and thankful for all the many ways God “shows up” like this through my interactions with Noah.
This week has been a big one for our little boy: We said good-bye to the pacifier. (Is it strange that I got a little weepy when I saw him with his pacifier for the last time? When did my little baby turn into such a big boy?) Actually, Noah’s done really well. Of course, he misses his paci and has asked for it when we put him to bed, but he hasn’t cried inconsolably or thrown any tantrums over it. Without the pacifier, it’s been taking longer for him to settle down in bed. But all in all, he’s doing great.
The experience hasn’t been without it’s heart-tugging moments, though. I’ve been prepping Noah the past few days about giving up his pacifier. I’d say things like “You’re getting so big and strong now, you don’t need a pacifier anymore” and “It’s not good for your big, strong teeth to keep having a paci in your mouth.” Apparently, some of my logic got through, because the first night we went up to bed without the pacifier, he kept saying “I don’t wanna get stronger! I don’t wanna get stronger.” Those words really pricked my mommy heart and brought a few tears to my eyes. I was so tempted to give him his pacifier back, yet I knew this was an important step we had to go through and I couldn’t back down.
And it was somewhere in those moments that I saw a picture of myself in my little son. Sometimes, when God gives me challenges or struggles to fight through, I don’t want to get stronger either. There are things I cling to and it’s hard to give them up, even though I know it’s the only way to grow in my faith.
I remember a moment, several years ago, when I was in the midst of our infertility struggles. Looking back on those four years, I have a lot of general memories of sadness, tears, lonely grief. But one moment stands out especially vivid in my memory. I was listening to some music in the living room, trying to pray and sort out all my churning emotions. As a pounding melody played, I literally fell to the ground in tears, beating my fists against the carpet and crying out to God that I couldn’t take it anymore. It was too much. Even at the darkest, I knew God was using my infertility to shape me and give me a deeper, stronger faith. But my desire to be a mom was intense, just like Noah’s love for his pacifier. And on that particular day, my heart’s cry was just like Noah’s: “I don’t want to get any stronger. I don’t want to give it up.”
Now, as I reflect on all this from the other side of infertility, I sometimes see it from God’s side. In moments like this week’s struggle to let go of the paci, I think about what He must have felt as he watched his daughter wrestle through infertilty. I imagine it broke his heart a little bit to see me that day, laying on the floor in tears, begging for him to give me my dream. I imagine that a part of Him wanted to just give me the baby of my dreams, right then and there. Yet He knew that I needed to grow up. To get “bigger and stronger” in my faith. And so He held his ground, though it probably made his heart ache to do so.
Early Tuesday morning (4:44 to be exact), I heard Noah whimpering a little.”I want my paci. I want my paci.” He repeated this for several minutes, and I debated getting out of bed to check on him. And then it grew quiet for a minute before he said something new: “I want mommy. I want mommy.” In less than a minute, I was snuggled in his bed, hugging him close and telling him that even though his paci was gone, his mommy was still here and loved him very much. It was one of those sweet, quiet moments that every parent understands–when you feel as though your heart can’t contain all this love and so it bubbles out into a stronger hug and another kiss to your child’s forehead.
I’m in awe of how much God loves me. Despite my toddler-like selfishness and my tendency to get attached to the things of this world. I can get so fixated on my own ideas or desires, and I I’ve cried out so often to have it my way, on my terms. And there God has always been, just waiting and longing for me to cry out for Him.
I don’t talk about my journey through infertility very often. I guess mostly that’s because I don’t want to be a downer by talking about a difficult chapter of my life. But then again, maybe I should. Because it was on that hard road where I started growing up. Infertility changed me. It changed my faith, my view of life, my way of coming to God. I look back and yes, I remember the tears and the deep sadness that ached in my heart. But I also see grace upon grace that God showered upon me through the storm. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I stopped seeking my own way and just asked for Him–and that is when I experienced the peace and joyof being held tightly in his loving arms.
I want to remember this. I want to keep growing up, even if it hurts a little. I want to see things as they really are and realize that nothing in this world is worth holding onto so tightly. No matter how convenient, how comfortable, or how familiar, there is nothing that compares to the peaceful surrender of letting God pull me toward him.
I love it when God shows up in the everday moments of my life.
Thanks a lot, George
We’ve been having a few plumbing issues around the house lately. Some have resolved… others remain. Here’s the scoop:
Brrr…..It’s Freezing in Here!
As I posted earlier, we enjoyed some time away visiting Brian’s family last week. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend and we had a great time celebrating both Christmas and all our winter birthdays. (We coined the term “Birthmas” for this January celebration.) But we returned home to a problem: No running water.
Those of you who live in the great North know that it got quite cold last week. And, you guessed it, while we were gone, our pipes froze. It was quite puzzling to us because we hadn’t turned our heat off in the house, but just turned it down to a mild 58 degrees. Guess what? Apparently 58 degrees upstairs equates to less than 32 degrees somewhere down in our basement!
We’re still not sure where exactly the freezing took place. But it took about a day of various heating methods (including me, in the basement, with a book in one hand, and a hair dryer pointed at our pipes in the other) before they finally “unfroze” and the water started running again. Fortunately, there doesn’t appear to have been any damage. And the water was kind enough to start flowing just an hour before the plumber was due, so we avoided the cost. So, after a day of fretting and puzzlement, we were back in the water business.
A More Serious Concern
But there’s more. Another significant plumbing problem has developed in our tub. It involves a toddler and a sudden and strong fear of taking a bath in the tub. It started a couple weeks ago when Noah started throwing his toys out of the tub like a madman whenever we drained the tub. Apparently, he was scared that one of his precious choo-choo toys might go down the drain. And this has grown into a full-blown fear that he himself could be sucked down the drain as well.
Yes, we’ve tried to explain the laws of physics surrounding drains and the impossibility of a 30 pound toddler getting squeezed through. No, we have not managed to convince our little drain-a-phobe that he and his toys are completely safe. After some nights of skipped baths, and some nights of screaming through his bath, we’ve struck a compromise with Noah: We Cover the evil drain with a large washcloth during bathtime and scrub as quickly as possible to minimize time in the tub.
And you know who we can thank for all this drama? PBS. They broadcast a Curious George cartoon that Noah likes to watch from time to time. A few weeks ago, a curious George episode feature George taking a bath, and deciding he wanted new tub toys. He went into his bedroom and grabbed a box of small toys and brought them into the tub. And when he drained the tub, of course the tiny toys got sucked down the drain and created a colossal clog.
Now I understand, the cartoon writers were just setting up the plot so the plumber could come and Curious George could learn all about how pipes and plumbing works. Nice concept, that. But unfortunately, it has scarred Noah with a fear of any and everything getting sucked down our drain. And to think, my tax dollars have actually funded this phobia…
So, thanks a lot, George. Your cute little monkey antics have given our son an irrational fear of drains. Do you suppose PBS is planning a new episode to deal with this particular problem?
Snowy Travels
I’m sitting in South Holland, IL as I write this, happy to finally be here after a long ride. We’re here to celebrate Christmas with Brian’s family, and the snowy, cold weather is creating a true holiday feel! The roads were alright, but our journey–which usually takes about 2 hours–lasted over four hours instead. A few accidents slowed things to a crawl for a few miles, but thankfully we were stocked with plenty of truck/train/car videos to keep Noah entertained.
So here are the pressing questions today’s journey has conjured in my mind:
1. Why can’t we just put a snow-melt system under the highways? I know it’s expensive, but really–isn’t year after year of salt trucks and snow plows and anger management seminars for inpatient drivers kinda pricey too?
2. Why do some people refuse to slow down in slippery, snowy conditions? We saw a semi pass us earlier in our journey, clipping along at a dangerous pace for the conditions. Interestingly, we watched the same semi getting hoisted onto the back of a tow truck a little farther down the road!
3. How do you explain to a 2-year-old that no, Mommy really doesn’t have the power to “Make cars move. Make us go grandma’s house!” (Said with great earnestness and intensity)
Well, thankfully we made it here safely. And Noah’s patience was rewarded with a strawberry shake from McDonald’s, so he’s forgiven me for my lack of traffic control superpowers.
Now we’re enjoying a little peace and quiet at my in-laws house, as we wait for the rest of the crew to join us. Brian’s parents are out to pick up Jason & Steph from the train station as I type. Which leaves just me, Brian (who is working at the moment), Noah (down for a nap), and a laptop that was just begging to be used.
But now I smell coffee…. (thanks Brian!) So that’s my que to set blogging aside and refuel. For those of you (like me) who haven’t managed to escape the clutches of northern winters, I wish you all safe travels and warm homes!