Saturday Soccer Fun

Pink V. More Pink

Sis on the Sidelines

GO PINK LIGHTENING!

Hmmm...how do we keep these shirts tucked in anyway?

Bow Heads

We took a three year respite from bows during our Portland years, but yesterday was Picture Day! at Central Elementary School so the big hair bows were resurrected.

And a good sign that life is returning to normal in the Little household is the active use of the craft table.  Rynn and Eleanor were so engaged in painting an egg carton together that they didn't even notice mommy snapping a few quick pics before school. 

One of the things we are really enjoying about living in Wilmette is being biking/walking/scootering distance from school.  Now that Rynn is confident on her own bike I can ride that crazy Xtracycle of Jason's and get Eleanor to school in no time flat.  

Rynn, our neighbor Eli, Jason & Eleanor on the way to school

Kindergarten Wisdom

"Daddy, it really isn't hard to make friends.  When you see a person, you just have to say, 'Will you play with me?,'  and then you have a friend." - Eleanor

Things I Saw

Things I Saw Today:

- Rynn riding her own bike to her new school, giggling with happiness the whole way there
- a maple red with the sunburn of autumn
- at least four paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago that moved my mind to consider my own humanity and the reflection of reality through art
- my dog leaping the waves of Lake Michigan in pursuit of a yellow tennis ball
- my husband's smile
- Eleanor sewing her own stuffed animal out of a lonely outgrown sock and then taking that stuffed "animal"/sock to cheer her on at soccer practice
- an invisible sailboat drawn on soapy skin in a warm bath

Things I Heard Today:
- "Mommy, you are so special to me. I love you."

Things I Thought Today:
I am richly blessed.

Chloe's Crew

"Mommy, I wish I could have known Chloe, " said Rynn, "I hope I get to play with her in heaven."

Tonight, we had the privilege of attending the First Annual Charity Event in honor of Chloe Sawma, a nine year old girl who died of a brain tumor this past spring.  I, too, wish I could have met Chloe. She fellowshipped with her family at our new church, Grace Presbyterian. Her life and legacy are an embodiment of Christian shalom, that grace and peace which we receive from God.  Her story reminds us of how powerful that shalom can be when embodied in a little child and lived out in a dark and dying world.

The following is an excerpt from her story taken from a website dedicated to Chloe's legacy:

After her diagnosis, Chloe did not change a bit. There were the chemo days at the hospital. Days that despite the incredible care and devotion of the highly trained medical staff at Children's Hospital, can best be described as awful. However, despite the knowledge of what lay ahead, Chloe's goal for the morning was to pack a lunch for a homeless man on Fullerton and to include a note of caring and a reminder that he was loved. And, on another occasion shortly after Chloe lost her ability to walk, she wanted to bring a gift to a little girl who was also undergoing chemo but was extremely upset because she was so sick. Chloe waited in her wheelchair for hours holding her gift. Finally, when the girl arrived, Chloe was so excited and couldn’t wait to get to her. She simply held out the gift, smiled, and said to the girl “I know how you feel.” 's
how you feel”. 
 Read more about Chloe's story at Chloe's Crew.

Rosh Hashanah

Happy Rosh Hashanah.  For us on Chicago's North Shore attending public school, that means NO SCHOOL.  What did it mean for the Little family?  A last minute dash to Illinois State Beach in a desperate attempt to go camping.  Our friends in Portland warned us that to really leave Chicago you have to drive three hours.  Nah...don't believe it.  Last night, after only one hour in light traffic, we went to sleep under a starlit sky listening to the sounds of nature-crickets, a gentle breeze, and two roaring power plants that framed each side of our campground.  After the camp director first assigned us to a "quite beautiful site" (his exact words) in a PARKING LOT (no joke), we requested to move a little down the road where we found some beautiful dunes, wildflowers, and only a few cigarette butts.  The girls were giddy with excitement to be eating S'Mores, sleeping in a tent, and exploring our small patch of nature that was delightfully void of any other people.

Sometime during the night Jason woke up to the sound of a zipper, only to see the backside of Roscoe trotting out of the tent into the night.  Our crazy dog somehow figured out A ZIPPER!!  While Eleanor and I slept relatively soundly in the tent next door,  Jason and Rynn had a more challenging night with our 95 lb dog doing pirouettes in their two man tent.

We woke up this morning to a sparkling autumn blue sky and tired but surprisingly happy children.  Jason and I felt mildly victorious that we had actually gotten out and gone camping.  I realized last night, as I lay awake in my nylon sleeping bag, that last night was the first night I have spent away from our new home since I arrived here over two months ago.  It was fun.  It was an adventure, and I am reminded again that it isn't always where you go, but with whom you travel that makes all the difference.  Rosh Hashanah is the Head of the New Year for the Jewish Calendar. For some Jewish traditions it is also a celebration of God creating the world or God creating Man.  I can't imagine a better way to have spent it.

And one more thing...  The last 48 hours have been filled with some special people who have been traveling companions at different seasons of our lives.  We got to share a beer with Troy & Jaimie Bash, some dear friends from HOPE in Portland.  That very night my cousin, Andrew Morrissett, in town for the CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) international conference, took the train up from the city to stay with us for the night.  We LOVED having you visit us!  Hurry back.  It makes Chicago feel all the more home.  I'm sorry we didn't get you long enough to steal a picture for the blog.  So, you have to come back soon!

*If you live in Chicago, check out this park!  We discovered it on our drive home through Waukegan.  It was unbelievable.  Not only is it a park built in a beautiful, hilly setting, but it has this amazing climbing structure they call "the spider web."  We all had so much fun climbing all over this two story rope web.   Even the swings were different!  Find out more @ Bowen Park.

Go Fly a Kite

With crisp fall temperatures and bright blue skies, today was a day of beauty, peace, and joy.  We truly are blessed to be in this amazing place, to have each other, and to have the love of a God who forgives all our (ok..i'm mostly guilty here) spoiled whining and ingratitude.  

Jason, not to be deterred by living far from mountains, white water, and oceans, is determined to find his latest and greatest adrenaline sport.  What better way in the 'windy city' than kiteboarding!  If you are unfamiliar with this sport which combines flying a kite with either surfing or snowboarding, check out this YouTube video www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjrzKaGki14&feature=related.   

The kite that Rynn and Jason are flying in these pictures is a trainer kite, a smaller version of the one used on the water, which is meant to teach the skills necessary for understanding and manipulating the wind to send you soaring over waves or snow.  It is way more challenging than I thought kite flying could be, and with a really strong gust can send you running to keep up with it! Jason was like a little boy with a new toy.

Eleanor and I relaxed watching the sailboats and her latest bug collection of pill-bugs and ladybugs.

An open field next to Northwestern's soccer fields proved a perfect venue.

The waves were really rolling on Lake Michigan today.  Rynn said, "It should be called The Michigan Ocean!."

Our picture perfect afternoon came complete with a soundtrack- part of Northwestern's Marching Band practicing along the shores.  Fall is here.

SOCCER TIME!

THe day kicked off with two soccer games.  For the first time ever, the girls are involved in organized sports.  I signed them up with our Parks & Rec teams in hopes of them meeting some children from their schools.  In reality, they are more interested in looking for lady bugs, practicing their cartwheels, and eating the after game donuts than actually playing soccer.  After their first game, the comment was, "You mean we have to play another one next week?  Do I have to come back again if I want the trophy?."   yeah, babe, that's usually how it works.

Wisdom

Moving Sucks.  I know.  Get a grip, Caroline.  You just moved to one of the greatest cities in America AND you are living in one of the greatest parts of that city.  The world is at my fingertips, right?  I should be happy.   My dear family who has been with me through the ups and downs in my life know I process things with my emotions, an open book lacking much mystery.  I mean, geez, I even started a blog to throw my emotions up on the internet for all to read. But, it is one thing to deal with my own emotions and quite another to understand and be patient with my children's.

When we relate to someone we often project our own emotional personality upon them, assuming that they are like ourselves, processing the world, understanding it, and relating to it in the same way that we do.  We gravitate toward people who understand our emotional grid.  Creative personalities find each other.  Organized personalities affirm and uphold one another.  Exclusive people find comfort in baptizing their behavior with other elites.  Or perhaps you are different than most.  Perhaps you are drawn to your opposite- an introvert finds comfort with the extravert, the emotional one finds comfort with the stoic and stable, the reflective intellect finds companionship with the carefree 'carpe diem' personality.  Sometimes we are not afforded to freedom to relate only to those we understand or those who reflect our own way of processing the world. This is the case, for example, in PARENTING and THE CHURCH.

This move has not been our easiest.  My children are older now than they were three years ago, and so are their emotions.  Because I process pain, fear, and disappointment through tears and words, I guess I assumed that my daughters would be the same.  I realized this morning through prayerful tears crying out  to God for wisdom that we are different.  Rynn has skipped through this move with barely a tear, and so I, projecting my own emotional way of dealing with pain, assumed she was just fine, rolling through these changes unaffected.  But, I have noticed an increasing amount of anger building in her which is set off at random times by things as small as what shoes she will wear to school or what water bottle should go with her to the classroom. This morning she begin hitting and punching me in anger because I asked her to put her shoes on.  I left her alone in her screaming anger to go upstairs, (cry), and pray out loud that God would give me wisdom in mothering these children.  When I came back downstairs and quietly sat next to her, saying nothing, she leaned into me and said without tears, "Mommy, I miss my old school.  When I asked a girl to play with me, she said she didn't want to be my friend.  My teacher keeps telling me I wear the wrong shoes for PE.  I don't have anyone to sit with at lunch.  I just want to be back at Richmond learning Japanese." And then she was finished.  And I had an "ah ha" moment.  Open your eyes, Caroline.  See her anger and her outbursts at me.  This may not be the way I work through my hurt, but it is the way she feels.

What relationships are you in which you assume the other person should be responding to the world in the way that you do?  How are you shutting them out because they are not like you?  How can you be present to be with them in their difference?  Pat Roach preached on  Psalm 139 (see Hope Sermons, right sidebar) and spoke of how God knows us.  He formed us and made us.  How do we run from others and in that running run from God?  How can I help Rynn?  How can I be patient with her?  Perhaps the answers to these questions will be answered in our cries for wisdom.

One of the blessings God has given me here is a new friendship with someone who recently lost her daughter to a brain tumor.  She reminded me how much we parents want to protect our children from pain, hurt, or failure. Yet, it was in suffering that she saw her own daughter's faith blossom and minister to not only her but hundreds of others.  Starting a new school in a new city is hardly cancer, but I pray that the lessons we learn in these light trials may also draw us to the source of wisdom, truth, goodness, and life- Christ Himself.