Trying New Things

I like Sundays. I like that the pace is less hectic, that my family gets to spend time together. I also like not having to cook dinner, thanks to some fabulous in-laws . . . I also enjoy going to church (most of the time) and being reminded of the spiritual things that should take more precedence in my life. I don't enjoy wrestling kids, but they were pretty good today. In particular, I love watching Andrew hold his little brother during sacrament meeting: he wraps his arms snugly around Oliver, sniffs his hair, and rains little kisses on him. (Who can blame him? Oliver is pretty hard to resist).

On Monday, I was one of the judges for Andrew's school spelling bee. Andrew qualified for the 1st-3rd grade spelling bee, so he got to compete. I spent the morning praying that he would at least make it through the first round. He did; and got out in the second round (spelling "observe" with about three extra e's). Prepping for the spelling bee was challenging for me. I knew from experience that if you don't study the words, you generally don't make it very far (especially if you're seven and you're up against nine-year-olds). So I tried to encourage Andrew to study--I even spent several different times quizzing him on the words. But I also didn't want to make the spelling bee "my" thing, so I tried to let my actions be dictated by his--I helped him when he wanted and I backed off when he didn't want to work on the words. I knew going into it that he wouldn't win--he hadn't studied enough for that--but I was proud of him for working at something new, and I think that he might be motivated to work harder next year (this is one child who is seriously motivated by competition).

I also got to judge the district spelling bee on Friday, which was a lot of fun--even if two of the finalists both misspelled "rhetoric." I came home and tried to explain rhetoric to Andrew; if he ever makes it that far, that is one word he better know (you know, since I spent the first two years of his life writing my dissertation on the topic).

My mom came and visited us this week--thank goodness! I don't think I would have made it through the end of the week without her. Thursday and Friday I attended a leadership conference on campus (part of my Summit responsibilities), and the district spelling bee was Friday afternoon (as I mentioned). My mom was a good sport about helping with the kids--and it was so fun to have her.

Friday night I dragged her to a special book group meeting--Ally Condie (who grew up here in town) was in town and willing to do a book signing. It was fun to listen to her talk about her experience writing the Matched trilogy, especially since she was speaking to a group of people she knew (including her college roommate and her sister), so she was relaxed and open. I think my mom even enjoyed it--despite the fact that she didn't know anyone else there and she hadn't read the books.

In other news, Oliver has finally figured out how to eat solid foods without pushing most of it out of his mouth with his tongue. This week, we mastered rice cereal and carrots.