Sometimes staring is okay.

I don't know about your kids but my kids love to stare, or should we say, observe others.  Whether it be in the line at the grocery store, on public transportation, or at a restaurant, they love to stare at people.

Now mind you, I do try to teach my kids that staring can be rude but often times their staring has led to some great teaching moments.  Questions like, "Why does that person look like that?" or "Why is that person acting that way?" have been spring boards for discussing God's creation or how our actions (good and bad) testify to others.

One such staring episode turned into an AMAZING opportunity.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I took the girls ice skating.  At the end of our time we were sitting in the stands preparing to leave when Selah walks up to me and says, "Momma, why is that lady crying?"

I looked around and sure enough, the lady sitting right next to me was just sitting there with tears coming down her face.  Selah has a very sensitive soul and in this moment I could tell that her staring was being done with more concern than curiosity.  Her concern encouraged my soul.  I leaned over to the lady and asked if she was going to be okay and if there was anything I could do.  She looked at me, smiled, and said, "You just did.  Sometimes life is just hard."  She also looked at Selah and said, "She's a good girl."

The Lord prompted me to pray with Pam and He provided me with words when I didn't necessarily know what to bring before Him.  After praying in Jesus's name, Pam simply went back to texting and the girls and I picked up our belongings and headed home.

We are still praying for Pam.  And before you tell your kids to stop staring because it's rude, look and see what they are observing.  :)

Ice skating = patience and fun

The girls terribly wanted to play outside in the snow on Saturday.  I didn't think it was a very good idea being that the temp was in the teens with the windchill factor dropping it down to single digits.  The kids might have had fun but me the momma would have been FREEZING!!

Next best idea:  ice skating.

Kevin gladly volunteered to stay home with Isaiah (being that it was his naptime) while the girls and I headed to the local ice rink.  Now mind you, I personally haven't been on ice skates since my freshman year of college.  So what was that?  Almost 25 years ago.  Yikes!!!  Anywhoo, the things you do for your kids.

On the way over, I told the girls there were two words we were going to keep in my mind.  Patience and fun. I don't know if this was for their sake or mine but needless to say these were words that kept us going.

Patience was needed right off the bat as we took our time taking off shoes, getting our skates on, then putting away our belongings.  It must have took a good 20 minutes to do all of that.  Then onto the ice.  Oh boy!  I don't know who was more nervous, me or the girls.

Thankfully it was a special promotions day at the local rink and they were offering free lessons.  YEAH!!!!!  A most wonderful, patient coach, Miss Katie, instructed us on how to move our feet and how to use our arms and knees for balance.  She was also kind enough to accompany us around the ice our first time out and she was so proud of the girls that she game them a "trophy".

After a couple times around the ice, Sofia was confident enough to venture out on her own.  Selah did quite well herself but preferred that mommy be right by her side.  No worries.  Going slow was just fine by me.  And every time one of the girls fell, we just said to ourselves, "It's okay, we are still having FUN!"

The snow finally came.

For many locals they have been quite fine with the fact that we've had a mild winter.  By mild, I mean, temps (for the most part) have been in the high 30s, low 40s and no snow.  For those of us from CA with young kids, we would rather have snow.  You see, 30 degrees is cold but nothing to do outside and nothing pretty to look at.  Cold with snow means fun and beauty!!!


So on January 12th there was much rejoicing in this home when the first real snow of the season finally came.

Snow began falling around 11 a.m.  

Selah spent quite a bit of time playing outside that afternoon.

Pretty nice snowangel she made.

The bus stop.

Lots of play took place after school.

Girls to the city.

I wanted to do something fun as a family on Sofia's first day of Christmas vacation.  Unfortunately Isaiah was battling a cold and was pretty grumpy.  But I was determined to do something fun.  So, while Kevin stayed home with Isaiah, the girls and I headed into the city.


We took the 2 p.m. train and the girls enjoyed people watching, sitting backwards, and enjoying the scenery during the one hour and 15 minute ride.  

From Union Station we caught a taxi and asked our driver to take us to Macy's on State St.  Being this was the girls first ride in a taxi they were pretty giddy.  A few minutes after being in the taxi, Sofia leans over to me and says, "This is like the 'Amazing Race'".  That gave me a good laugh.


Macy's was quite the festive and crowded place.  The girls enjoyed observing all the decorations and especially loved the trees in the Walnut Room.  After walking around for a bit we went to the Food Court and shared some onion straws and a vanilla milkshake.

We then headed over to ABC's news studio which is caddy-corner to Macy's.  They have a glass wall that allows you to observe the news live.  Sofia is currently really intrigued by weather forecasters and likes to pretend she is one so I thought this would be fun.  Of course, both girls loved it.  We wanted to wait it out until the end of the news when the camera pans the outside viewers but being that it was raining and cold, I thought it best not to do so. 


So around 4:45 p.m. we caught another taxi back to Union Station.  Because of traffic our ride back took longer.  No worries for the girls.  They simply engaged in conversation with our driver.  He was from Ethiopia and the girls asked him many questions.  


We made it time to catch the 5:12 train and at 6:30 p.m. we were back home.


I'm so glad we did it and can't wait to take the girls into the city again.