Lake Tahoe, the First

Summer is here.  And summer means vacation, right?  This year we were blessed to be able to take a longer vacation than normal, and it worked out that we could go just as soon as school was out.

There's something about water, just about any body of water, that speaks to my soul.  Perhaps it's the peaceful movement or the reflection of light, the sound of lapping waves or the sense of cooling refreshment. Whatever it is, there was plenty of it to be had at Lake Tahoe.

The place we stayed was on the northwest shore of the lake in a little town called Homewood.

See that chair there in the corner?  Great place to curl up with a book or take a nap.  

Ask me how I know...

Kimberly and Lindsay enjoyed some quiet reading time in the evenings.

And we never saw a bear on the back patio, though we were warned they like to stroll through that part of the woods.

One of our first excursions was hiking down a mile long trail to visit Vikingsholm.

It has probably been twenty years since I have been there, and I commented to Kimberly and Lindsay that the estate had seemed so much bigger when I was a little girl.  It is still an amazing piece of architecture, built in six months!

After our tour we enjoyed the beach at Emerald Bay...

fought off the geese so we could eat our lunch...

watched the ferry come around the island...

then enjoyed our hike back to the top.

The scenery was so breathtaking, so awe-inspiring, so vividly reminiscent of our God. 

We have an amazing Creator!  

Happy 5th Birthday Lindsay!

Five years ago:

Two days before Lindsay's birth

May 27, 2008

Connie Hasley, my doula

With big sis

Starting those smiles early!

Lindsay, it's hard to believe you are five already!  You are a beautiful little girl, full of fun, zip, and excitement.  Giggles announce your arrival, and smiles your departure. 

I love your excitement about the small things. 

Things like bugs and tree blossoms and pajamas.

I love your compassionate heart that wants to heal hurts and bring smiles to our faces.

I love your sharing nature that willingly gives to all and makes sure to divide

 your last stick of gum into three pieces.

I love your voice that almost never stops talking.

I love your spontaneous nature that wants to drop everything and have a tea party.

I love your creative energy that pirouettes around the room in a pink tutu.

I love your sense of humor that tries to scare me from behind the bed.  Every day.

I love your imagination that 'I spies" white clouds in a clear blue sky.

But most of all, I love YOU.

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

The Countdown

You know that feeling when you are playing Boggle and the sand is running out in the hour glass?  You are sure there has to be at least one more word you could quickly jot down that would knock the socks off your competition.  In the anxiousness of the moment you miss the simple word "CAT" staring you in the face, the one no one else saw either. It would have been the winning point.

I'm staring down that timer right now.  Only it's not Boggle we're playing here, it's the beginning of kindergarten for my youngest.

Only a short time ago (it seems), Kimberly was setting foot out into the great big world of school.  I shed two tears as I pulled away from the curb in front of the school.  She was too busy playing with her newly made friends to wave.  Apparently she didn't need me anymore.

Life did settle down into a nice routine, and it was amazing how quickly Kimberly needed me again... right when she got home and was hungry for lunch!  While the transition took some getting used to, it was time for the change.  Kimberly was ready to move on in life.

For some reason, thinking of Lindsay setting out on her own is completely different for me.  

Maybe because she is the youngest.

Likely because I fear the adjustment, the unknown of a quiet house every day.

Definitely because I know she will change, grow up, be more inhibited, and less innocent.  

She might even realize that she is not everyone's best friend...

Already I'm envisioning the notes home stating, "Talks too much in class",  and dramatic renditions of real (or imagined) joys experienced and hurts suffered.

Friends are reassuring me that all will be well.  Thank you for your encouragement!  When I think about the future it is easy to fear and find tears threatening to spill.  But when I bring my thoughts back to the here and now, I know my Lord has given me strength for today.  I don't have that strength for tomorrow yet.  Or the strength for August 21st. But when I get there it will be waiting.  His mercies are new every morning.

So as these last few grains of time before school slip through our fingers, my aim is to be grounded in the present.  Every dish left unwashed due to a game of Trouble or Sorry, every moment of sleep lost to an early morning snuggle, every sore muscle from teaching balance on a two wheeled bike will be but a memory to smile over in the days to come. They may be obvious, and they may be small, but they are the experiences God has honored me with.  These will be my "winning" moments.  

Six Little Ladies for Tea

Should we choose the teal dress or the red velvet?

Pearls or beads?

Silver shoes or none at all?

Then the waiting... who will come first?

So many questions when you are almost five.

The guests have arrived!

Clockwise from top left: Claire McWilliams, Lindsay Whaley, Corrine McWilliams, Alexia Anastasia,
Olivia Whaley, and Kendra Perry

Let's have tea.

And cupcakes, and cucumber sandwiches, and chocolate dipped marshmallows, and cookies, and deviled eggs, and olives, and strawberries.

Then we'll play for a while.

And while we're at it, let's celebrate Lindsay's birthday a couple weeks early.

She's quite the little lady!

Blessings and the Exodus

My cup is full and overflowing tonight.  It's one of those evenings when I sit down after the kids are in bed  and am thankful and thrilled by the undeserved blessings God has showered on me.  It's been a lovely day...

Coffee and laughter with sweet friends.

Feeding the ducks with all my Whaley nieces and nephews.

Snuggling a certain nephew with the cutest rolls you've ever seen!

An afternoon siesta.

Playing with my girls on the living room floor.

Laughing and tickle fights.

Enjoying being home and being together.

After dinner Kimberly asked if we could continue reading in Exodus where we left off this morning.

"No, that's not right," Lindsay piped up. "We're reading in Letticus!"

Teasingly, I told the girls we were just getting to the good part (the genealogy of Aaron and Moses.)  After about four verses of names, Lindsay suggested that this was a little boring because there were no pictures, and that maybe we should just play trains.  

"What's wrong," I asked her, chuckling. "You don't like hearing names like Phinehas?  Maybe I should have named you that.  Phinehas Michelle Whaley.  Or maybe you would have liked Lindsay Phinehas Whaley better.  What do you think?"

Looking thoughtful, she replied.  "Well, actually, I think I do want you to call me that.  Yes, but just you.  That can be your special name for me.  Phinehas.  Yes, that's just right."

Oh dear.  

I'm thinking I should have gone for Carmi or Mahali instead.

Butterfly

...needles, that is

We had a lesson in phlebotomy recently...

Nothing to worry about, just a routine check up, but Kimberly's first experience with any type of lab work.  I must say, she was a champ!  On the way home we discussed how everything works, from needles to tubes, from alcohol wipes to veins. 

 And it reminded me of this not-so-lovely day 4 and 1/2 years ago...

It all started with a UT infection at 5 and 1/2 months old.  Lindsay couldn't keep the antibiotic down, and a visit to the doctor resulted in an emergency room visit.

And then an ambulance ride.

And three nights accommodation in the children's ward of French Hospital for both of us.

Describing the event to my children was like walking down the sterile, dingy halls of the third floor, pushing open the door to the dim, cramped children's ward, and feeling the lump in my throat as the doctor announced, "We need to change her IV."

My mind had been whirling since the ER doctor first asked for Lindsay's car seat and promptly strapped her, and it, onto a stretcher and wheeled her to a waiting ambulance.  As we were whisked off into the night, my heart ached with the knowledge that I was unexpectedly leaving Kimberly behind with only a hug and a kiss. I continued the prayer I had started earlier in the day.  

Well past her bedtime when we arrived, Lindsay was in hysterics, and the nurses proceeded to undress her in that cold, heartless room.  And poke her.  And take her temperature.  And splint her arm so she wouldn't yank out the IV.  I put her to sleep in a "crib" that was just about as welcoming as a cage at the zoo.

I slept in my clothes that night.

The next day we woke to more tests and feeding issues to deal with.  Of course there was also waiting, and a hurting, unhappy baby.  Some lovely folks came by to visit, and a friend brought me iced coffee.  I'm not quite sure why she thought I needed it?!?  Then the blood draw.  Three nurses and myself couldn't keep Lindsay still enough to get the needle in.  One itsy-bitsy butterfly needle turned into five or six as they repeatedly missed her vein.  My whole being shivered and cringed at her screams.  Tears threatened and I will never forget it.  Or the paci-shaped sucker that finally made her calm enough to relax.  Thank goodness for sugar... and prayer.

Some tests were scheduled for the following day, so we settled in for another wait.  Kimberly came to visit, and we played with Little People at a small table by the window.  She told me today that she remembers playing with me, and then begging me to play some more when I needed to go check on Lindsay.  "I was missing your attention," she said. "You were all paying so much attention to Lindsay."  My heart hurt all over again.

That evening, with the baby in bed, we squeezed two chairs into our little cubicle behind the curtain for my parents, and I sat on the bed, knowing we had two more nights in the hospital.  Without warning, I knew I needed to throw up.  Gross, yeah.  I had the full-blown stomach virus.  In my mind I can still clearly see the yellow sign posted in front of my bed while the janitor cleaned up the floor.  Caution: Contaminated Area.  I sort of felt like a roach.  On second thought, maybe that was just part of the "bug"...

There were 37 steps from my bed to the bathroom past the nurses station.  I know because I visited it six times that night.  

I felt better by the first morning light, and we made it through the last day with flying colors, though I chaffed to be home with my daughters, wished for a daily shower, and prayed that the tests would come back clear. They did.  And we went home.  

Looking back, I remember being worried about Lindsay, the emotions of seeing a child in pain, the fear of the unknown.  But trumping those feelings is the reality of never feeling alone.  My Savior was right beside me the whole time.  Especially when I thought things couldn't get worse, and they did!  All the love and support shown to us in our time of need was His provision for us.  God truly uses people in amazing ways.

Even the janitor...

Lemonade Days

Ever since she could write, Kimberly has been using her entrepreneurial skills to 

drum up business and make a few cents.

Sometimes it's lemonade and cookies, 

sometimes it's hot cocoa and cupcakes.  

One time it was water...

And then there was the time we had lemonade and cups on the driveway, far back from the busy street, and sweet handmade signs offering "Lemonaid for 25¢".  No yard sale, no event taking place nearby.  Just a lemonade stand on the driveway in the middle of a hot summer day.  A discreet phone call to a kind neighbor lady produced some business, coins rattled in the money box, a slightly sticky cup of warm Country Time lemonade exchanged hands,  and there was happiness all around.

There are life lessons to be learned in lemonade.  Lemons and sugar.  Some sweet, some sour.  Lessons designed by God that teach us to glorify Him with our lives.  And that is my goal in sharing some of our lovely days here.

To bring honor to His name.