It's been a long time . . .

There Was a Child Went Forth

There Was a Child Went Forth

There was a child went forth every day;
And the first object she look’d upon, that object she became;
And that object became part of her for the day, or a certain part of
That day, or for many years, or stretching cycles of years.

Snapped peas from the garden became part of her,
And piano lessons, and the backyard swing, and sleeping on Grandma’s hill on the
Fourth of July, and kisses behind the ear,
Walking to cousins houses, and laying by the fireplace after sledding on the snow,
And playing tag around the whole cul-de-sac, fun-machine,
And homemade chocolate chip cookies, don’t spill the beans, tying shoes, and uncles
Living in the basement downstairs – all became part of this child.

And her parents, loving and kind,
Their hard work ethic and service became part of her.
Their example rendered, in this child, a strong testimony of right.
Her mother’s humor and comfort and support
And her father’s unwavering steadiness,
The knowledge of the absence of green in her hair,
And the peace of having unrelenting love all became part of this child.

Then S. Elementary became part of this child
And walking to school with sister, and creative writing about toothpaste,
Reading Franklin and Berenstein Bears to mom, and running on the big hill at recess.
Then moving to Texas, and attending B. Elementary became part of this child
And spelling tests and bees, and riding bikes to school, and reading Harry Potter and
The Borrowers at night, and trips to the emergency room and orthodontist,
Long bike rides with dad and fifth grade strings became part of this child.

Then K. Intermediate School became part of this child, new friends, honors classes,
Private viola lessons now and then, UIL for orchestra, and a fun trip to Galveston.
Volleyball and swim team, athletic class, riding the hot stinky smelly bus to and from
School, chain reactions in Mrs. E.’s class, a new language of spanish, and lots
of maps continued to mold this child.
Summer swim team became part of her, every Saturday at a swim meet, and babysitting
jobs every weekend.
Spending time with Heather at every spare moment, and a new found love of Target
became a part of this child.

Then came early morning seminary, and high school that followed became part of this
child.
Learning how to deal with different people, discovering the snooze button, and life long
lessons discovered before the sun rose.
Dance classes, hours and hours of orchestra –enough to last a lifetime, but her love of the
viola held deep, AP classes, cat dissections, never being tardy, new friends, and
old friends moving, pointless projects, new information, eye opening experiences,
PALS, and discoveries that would change her outlook forever.
After school came work, first at N. Books by K., then moved to T.I.T.P. by R.,

three to eight and weekends.

Getting a driver’s license and deeming the 92 Honda Accord, "Curbie," flooding, toilet
paper, curbs, eggs, car paint, no air conditioning, and two blown out tires.
Family trips to Disney, camping weekends, EFY’s, conquering Enchanted Rock,
fireworks in Wyoming, Youth Conferences, Jack Black, Princess and the Frog,
American Idol.

Carefree childhood silently left this child and was replaced by going green, ozone
depletion, and demolition of the rain forests.
There was a constant war after one heart shattering September day, followed by unity,
Various service projects of care packages, letters, and support.
Soon ipods, itouches, iphones, laptops, gps’, internet phones, wifi, digital cameras,
kindles, blue-ray dvds, high definition tv, and wireless computers, evolved
around this child from a time when a camera phone was rare.

These became a part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will
always go forth every day.

-C. Merrell,
class of 2010

C. wrote that poem for her Senior Project. It still makes me cry every time I read it, but it also makes me realize how every choice a parent makes affects the child. Many of the things she mentions were things I had forgotten, but they still shaped who she is today.

Ya, I'm proud of her. :)

Family Fun (Surprise) Day

C and I wanted to surprise the kids!!

And we actually pulled it off!

For the last week or so we've been telling the kids that we had big plans for Memorial Day--and to not plan anything else. They hounded us with questions-- Do I need to shave my legs? Will we need sunscreen? How far away is it? --but we did not crack!

J even threatened with--"Mom, you know how you don't like surprises? Well I don't either and if you don't tell me what we're doing, I'm going to throw you a surprise party on your birthday!" Ya, that one really scared me. Silly kids.

Monday morning we woke them up at 7 am. We told them to put on comfortable clothes and walking shoes. Once we got in the car, we gave them the first clue:

B figured it out first! and away to IHop we went for breakfast!

When breakfast was over, I pulled out the clues for the next destination. I thought this one would take a little longer, but soon J had it figured out and away we went to the H. Zoo. We used to go to the zoo quite frequently, but the kids started getting older and the price started getting higher. (When we first moved here, it was 50 cents to get in, now it's $11.00.) It was sad but true to realize that J and B don't ever remember going to the zoo before!

Here are a few more pictures of the day: B laying in the tunnel that goes through an aquarium.

Month-old Baylor peeing. (what??)

This mandrill loved the camera.

After the zoo, we went out to the car and ate a picnic lunch and the kids were handed one more clue. It meant Iron Man 2. We were all so tired but loved sitting in the air conditioning for a couple of hours. We were home in time for dinner.

It was a great day and I loved how we surprised the kids!