Havin' a Great Day Here...

If you were to call my home today, I'd probably answer, "Hello, we're havin' a great day here at Sam's!" And...if you called my home today and I answered the phone like that, you'd probably wonder why I thought I was at Sam's Club.

I don't think I'm at Sam's Club at all, I'm just having a super day, but I really do like how the Sam's Club folks answer the phone when you call them to ask a question. They say (or at least they used to say when telephones and not computers, were used to acquire pertinent information) "Hello, we're havin' a great day here at Sam's Club, how can we help you?" It makes me want to go on down to Sam's and see what those crazy employees are up to and maybe buy a 5 pound tub of peanut butter while I'm there.

Early last week, when I was having a great day, I answered the phone with my Sam's Club greeting. I felt very safe doing so because the caller ID on my home phone indicated that it was none other than my Mom calling.

"Hi, we're having a great day here at Sam's!" said I cheerily.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were shopping! I'll call you back later."

"Mom...I'm not really at Sam's. I'm at home, where you called me," I explained quickly.

"Why did you say you were at Sam's?"

"Because I'm having a great day!"

"Oh, okaaaaay..."

And on went our conversation, which included me relating why my day was great.  Today is a great one too, for lots of reasons, the main one being that my kids have been outside playing for most of the day.

There are three wonderful things about that last sentence:

My kids - I love 'em. I'm glad they're mine and I'm glad they are still kids.  They'll always be mine, but they won't always be kids.

outside playing - I've been doing a gob of reading lately on the topic of "living intentionally." Sounds kind of weighty I know, but the subject is fascinating to me.  Part of what I've been reading has really gotten my attention about how little time children these days, mine included, enjoy unstructured times of play especially outdoors. 

In her book Organized Simplicity, Tsh Oxenreider quotes another author, Richard Louv who says, "It takes time--loose, unstructured dreamtime--to experience nature in a meaningful way. Unless parents are vigilant, such time becomes a scarce resource, because time is consumed by multiple invisible forces; because our culture currently places so little value on natural play." 

Mr. Louv goes on to report that between 1981 and 2003, children have lost nine hours of unstructured time per week. I'd like to hand my gang back a few of those hours this summer!

most of the day -after listening to a few chapters of a book on tape and helping me with a few chores this morning, the kids were released into the wilds of our backyard, and have been out there ever since. I've got to call them in soon to get ready for our evening activities, the structured kind alas. They are sweaty and stinky and dirty, but what a super time in the fresh air and sunshine they've had.

Other reasons for this great day include, but are not at all limited to:

A small nagging project that has been accomplished.

A major project that is well on it's way to completion.

Molly in this shirt and these shoes. 

She calls the shirt "my thunny thirt" (sunny shirt) and she lives in the hot pink shoes. 

What's not to love?

Megan's summer freckles are reappearing and I adore them, and her!

Molly took a killer nap and woke up calling for me and smelling so much like a baby again, I loved the walk sniff down memory lane.

I thrilled my outside kids with strawberry smoothies and since I already had the blender out...

I found a recipe for a cold coffee drink recipe that kept me cool while, from inside, I watched the children get pink and sweaty. I'm planning on spending many a summer afternoon with it.

Here's the recipe which I only tweaked a little...

FIRST, send your kids outside to play. Then...

Into a blender place:

5 or 6 ice cubes

1 cup of the left over coffee that remains in the pot after you've reached your morning limit

1 cup of cold milk, the colder the better

1 1/2 TABLESPOONS of Splenda (or sugar, but if you use sugar, you should probably dissolve it into    

      rewarmed coffee first)

Blend thoroughly and enjoy!

Book Notes:
Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living
I'm reading this one and loving it. In one word...inspiring.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder
This one is next on my list to read. It's been quoted by two very different books I've been reading.

A Blast from the Past

Ever play Husker Du?  My sisters and I used to play this game often.  I remember that my middle sister was the victor most of the time.  I do not remember how this odd game came to live at our house-- yet here it is.

Husker Du means "Do You Remember" in Danish.  (Toss that into your next conversation, folks will be impressed.)  It's a simple match game in which two players take turns picking up two game pieces attempting to disclose two pictures underneath that match. 

In Husker Du, the general layout is circular as are the red plastic game pieces.  After each game is played, the red pieces are replaced and a dial is turned which changes the picture positions on the game board thus insuring a different game every time.

My children discovered this bit of Danish (the country, not the pastry) fun on our game shelf and have given it much play this month.  As it happened, we discovered that one of the kids is an especially skilled Husker Du player.

This kid.

 

The glee with which she wins is just fun.  She is so happy when the momentum swings in her direction that she giggles out loud as she clears match after match leaving you to just sit there in amazement. 

I wish the camera could have captured the flick of her wrist as she removed game piece after game piece and the flourish with which she placed those game pieces into the trough on her side of the board.

I have never been good at this game, but I'd like to think when matching wits at anything with a four year old that I'm able to hold my own.  No so with Husker Du.

 

For most of the game, I felt much like the child in the picture above.  It became necessary to teach Kate about the phrase "you cleaned my clock" because that's all I could think to tell her every time she beat me...badly.

Know this, as you look at the result of the game, I DID NOT let her win.  It would've been a kind thing to do, I realize, but it was obviously not necessary!

Eventually, she tired of my lame efforts and took on a new victim opponent later in the evening.

She would later be heard saying, "Ha HA! I cleaned I your clock Daddy!"