31 Days of Saying, "Yes!"...Day 2

31 Days Challenge

Saying, "Yes!" to an afternoon of go-karts at the park.

Saying, "No" to an afternoon of yard work...namely picking up sticks.

The go-kart races come our town's park every October, but we have never, ever gone to watch them.

You can even hear the engines roaring all the way across town.

On Saturday afternoon, when Paul got home from work, we all packed up into the truck and headed for the park.  One of the really neat blessings from that day was seeing Alex.

Alex was just a little boy when we moved into our home.  He lived right next door and was just about Matthew's age.  

Life stuff happened, and he moved away.  

He is now 19 years old! 

It has been years since we have seen him.

Had we said yes to stick-picking-upping, we would not have seen Alex.

And we would not have enjoyed a really fun day at the park!

Matthew and Josh enjoyed playing, "Kick the Can."

Isn't it fun to watch little guys make their own fun?

Because of the sun's brilliance, 

the shadows were absolutely sharp.

So defined.

Another example of a little guy making his own fun...

The kids decided that they want to drive go-karts.

I decided that I want to be the flag guy.

What a cool position!

Notice the glove below.

Something else that I finally said "Yes" to on this day was getting out the hats and gloves box from the garage so that Josh could find my black gloves.

Can you guess why?

He wanted to be Luke Skywalker.

He realized later that Luke actually lost his right hand...so he has retired the left-hand glove 

to his Lucky Drawer and is now wearing the right-hand glove.

My man.

Because he is my man and I know him so well, 

I know that he is secretly wishing he were racing 

one of those go-karts around the track too.

And here's my swirling, whirling, Joshua Skywalker playing "chase" with his shadow.

I am so happy that we didn't spend the afternoon 

picking up sticks.

Enjoying the "yeses" of life,

Staying Camping

Two weeks ago, we were going to go camping.

A trip that we had all looked forward to with much anticipation...southern Indiana...Lincoln State Park...Holiday World!

The last time we had gone to Holiday World, Josh was just a wee little thirteen-month-old.

(Oh!  What is the rule on the dashes in this word?!  I cannot remember!)

Josh was so excited about going!

The morning before we were to go, Thursday morning, Matthew crawled into William's bed.

Maybe I should have seen it coming.

On Thursday afternoon, I took a picture of us before we went into our homeschool group classes.

Maybe, just maybe, if I had looked at this picture sooner, I would have seen it coming.

At the beginning of class, this is what I saw.

But by the end of class, Matthew was in my lap, red-cheeked and blood shot-eyed.

We went to the doctor right after homeschool group.

Matthew had a fever and was given a breathing treatment.

The doctor sent us home with instructions to continue the breathing treatments.

Before we left, she said,
"Holiday World probably isn't a good idea."

I agreed.

It's scary enough to be at home in the middle of the night when Matthew has trouble breathing,
but in the camper in the middle of nowhere?

Paul and I agreed...not worth it.

Oh, but Josh's little disappointed face. 

The next day, the day we were to leave, the boys were outside riding bikes.

I thought, "Did we make the wrong call?"

And then came Saturday morning.

The weather report was sunshine, sunshine, and more sunshine!

The boys began their day with another bike ride.

Even my Travelocity Gnome
was questioning my decision-making skills.

(Sorry, he's so doggone cute that I just had to include his picture and his opinion.)

But it was after this bike ride, while making breakfast, that I noticed Josh's red cheeks and droopy eyes.

His eyes are notorious for telling on him when he is sick.

Fever...101.4 degrees.

The rest of the day was spent on his couch bed
resting and napping.

That evening, we decided to have a campfire to soothe some of the disappointment.

Grandpa, Grandma, and GG joined us to make
for a special evening.

Still smiling.

Campfires are special no matter where they are built.

Our neighbor, Alex, came over to hang out, ride bikes,
and eat with us.

Josh gave it a winning try.

He ate some supper.  He rode bikes.  He did some swinging.

But in the end, his favorite place to be was in his orange camping chair looking at his ToysRUs catalog.

He just wasn't "up to par."

Isn't this a beautiful thing?

I didn't fall to the flu like the littles did, but I know that I was pretty bleary-eyed from taking care of a couple of sickies.

And, as much as I love camping, I was very happy to drop into my own bed each evening...
rather than my camper bed.

Ohhh yeah.

You know what I mean.

Training in Progress.

See what I mean about his eyes?

Our barn light.

Someday I will tell you about how much I love our barn.

Because Paul built it all with his own two hands.

Charlie got about a half a hot dog and a couple marshmallows out of her camping trip.

My prayers were that I wouldn't have to clean up a mess in her crate the next morning.

Thankfully, my prayers were answered.

We didn't sing any campfire songs.

So, what did we do for entertainment?

We took turns riding William's Monkey Bike down the hill.

You will never see the video of Paul and me riding down.

Let me rephrase that.

You will never see the video of me riding down.

But for now, I will leave you with William's ride.

Enjoying campfires and healthy kids...and runs down the hill on the Monkey Bike,