Look, an orange cloud

Aidan has a soccer jamboree tomorrow. If you ask me what a jamboree is I will tell you just what I told him this morning when he asked me..."I don't know?" They will meet to have their pictures taken in the morning and there will be "some songs" and "some food to buy" from what we have been told. It is the official kick-off of the soccer teams, but how "some songs" and "some food" are going to take up the time from 8:30 am-"afternoon" I don't quite know.

He got his soccer uniform last night and is very happy to have it. It is his favorite color, red, but #2 and not number 5 which is his favorite number. His favorite number just went from 4 to 5 as it is always his current age. Thankfully the favorite color is much more important to him, and the red covers up the terrible-ness of the 2.

Alora is so funny about her favorite color. It is usually the color green that she likes...thankfully not red too, as we only have one red plate and one red cup and one red pillow and one red several other things, that Aidan always claims to his possession. Last night at soccer practice she was standing in my lap looking at the clouds. One happened to be orange as the sun was setting and she noticed it..."Look, an orange cloud!". We were discussing colors and I asked her what her favorite color was and she said, "orange". I asked her what other color she liked, expecting her to mention the green that is usually her favorite and she said blue. Fickle, she is!

I am really hoping that they make the soccer fields a no fly zone on the days when we have games...every Tuesday and Thursday the whole month of October. Every time a small plane from the local airport flies over, eight little faces and fingers point up to the sky to look. They forget everything they should be doing and stop to look. Alora last night at practice asked if the plane going overhead could touch her finger. I told her no. It proceeded to fly across the sunset sky and as it disappeared from view she said she wanted it to come back to her. Such a little ego on her...she thinks the planes fly in the sky for her, the clouds turn orange for her enjoyment and the sky is blue for the same purpose. And she is partly right. God made all that wonder and beauty for our eyes, our eyes to see it. What a wonderful gift and blessing.

Let Them Eat Cake

Aidan’s 5th birthday was a blast! We had a wonderful time celebrating this day with his friends and family. He has been so excited about turning 5. It is a magical age to him for some reason. He thinks that he is faster and stronger and so much wiser now that he is 5, and it has been great to see him so excited about it.

I thought that I would totally bawl like a baby when he turned 5. It just seems like so much of a “big boy” age to me. It is definitely not a baby age and not a toddler age either. It is now a big boy age and I really thought I would be handling so much worse than I am. I think his great excitement about it has held me in check. It is so hard to be sad about “loosing” my first little baby to boyhood when he is so happy to be there.

I was most worried about Aidan’s cake. Since his first birthday the cake has been my arch nemesis for every birthday in this house. I just fuss and worry over it. His first birthday we had decided to have a party and invite almost everyone that we knew! It was so fun…and such a busy time. I debated going to the local bakery to have a cake made, but I just decided that I could probably do a cake that I would like just as much myself and it would be special that I had made it. I was very ambitious and decided to make an alligator cake. I found the pattern and made it and it turned out to be really cute…even if my whole kitchen was green for days afterward.

So, this year, Aidan wanted an Incredible party…not just a great, magnificent one, but Incredible…as in Disney/Pixar Incredibles. He told me exactly what he wanted his cake to look like, and I decided to try fondant for the first time. It turned out just like he wanted it…at least that is what he told me. It made my day to see some other kids ogling his cake like it was the neatest cake they had ever seen. While the cake isn’t so important really, it is important to me that I take the time to make this sweet treat that is the center of the birthday table. I will always have pictures to show him of the creations that I made for him and hopefully he will enjoy knowing that each birthday I took the time to make his birthday extra special for him! I love him…my little superhero, my sweet first baby, my beautiful son, Aidan Joel.

Speechless

I have been unable to blog about the terrible things happening to portions of our nation at this time. Hurricane Katrina was horrible, flooding was horrible, but I am much more concerned with what is happening now. Finding a way to make it day to day for lots of these people is going to be a bigger struggle than surviving what they have already endured.

I am sickened by the terrible role the media played in creating chaos, confusion, and fear in the first few days of the aftermath. There are enough problems to be sorted out and plenty to do besides try to blame a natural disaster on leaders or individuals or organizations. It accomplishes nothing and only seems to hinder any good that is trying to occur. Focusing on the good things that are happening, the enormous response of so many to help where they can in what ways they can, and uniting as a nation to take care of the weak and helpless at this time are the best ways to ensure, after all the water has receded, the damage cleaned-up, people fed, clothed, housed and reunited, that we will be stronger for it and not weaker.

Adam and I talked about what we can do. While monetarily there really isn't much we can do, a few dollars really don't seem like much when thrown at such a large problem, we can pray. There will be people who can give tons of money and supplies and hours of their time to the effort to clean-up and help in ways that we just won't be able. But, we can ask of God to do what our own hands can not. God loves these displaced, wounded, suffering children of His and knows best how to soothe them. May His hands be ever present in the days, weeks, months ahead to make sure that things run smoothly and justly in providing relief. May the money and supplies and people to help go where most needed and may those that have thoughts of profiting from this disaster think better and do what is right and good. May we as Christians all across this nation be His eyes, His hands, His feet, His love.