Flexibility. Something that I, Sally, have and Phil does not. We're talking the physical kind. I can still do some very flexible things. Not as much as I used to be able to as I now notice when I teach gymnastics, but still I can touch my nose to my knees while sitting with my legs straight out in front of me. Phil, on the other hand, can't even sit that way. We are hoping that flexibility is genetic and that the kids got mine. Jakob can still do the sit in reach in school and do really well. Ethan is double jointed in some joints, I think (did you know that Michael Phelps is too and that is one of the things that makes him such a good swimmer? Future plans for Ethan forming in my head--actually probably not because this kid has no natural buoyancy, which means he works really hard to stay afloat during swimming lessons. I'm thinking diving because he has no fear). Sophia can lay on her stomach and touch her head with her feet. Not sure about Clara yet, but she loves to eat her toes and to stick them in her ear as the kids in the back seat told me today on the way to school. Maybe she'll be flexible too.
During Phil's 'vacation' we had a cook out at these quiet picnic shelters in Warner park twice. It started because the kids wanted to go camping, but we don't have a big enough tent for all of us yet. So we settled for a camp fire and then came home so the kids and dad could sleep in the tent in the yard (not having a car that seats 6 yet is a problem too). After hot dogs, smores and banana boats, the kids had fun walking around in the semi darkness, looking for little critters. The second time around we were more organized and invited some friends. Here's Sophia with her friend Elise looking for something in the grass. It's good to have good friends...
While Clara has gotten on a fairly good schedule-except when she likes to make sure to keep us on our toes and wake up at 1am a couple of nights in a row before going back to sleeping 8 hours-she does stay up till 9pm. I would like her to be in bed before the others go to bed at 8, but she stills needs that 3rd nap in the early evening and I need that time to get dinner on the table so that means she's up a little later. She usually lays on the floor while I'm reading a chapter or two to the kids in bed (our current read is "The Mysterious Benedict Society" and it is a good one). Then I go out and put her down. On the nights Phil is home (not many of those), he keeps her out with him. This is how I found them the other night:
She's learning the ways of the computer early.
So now here's my rambling, we've been getting a small taste of what it would be like if something big happened to the global economy and how things get around. Nashville is out of gas. It's supposedly a "presumed" shortage, meaning people are just panicking and filling up more than they normally would, but still we have one car on empty and one pretty close (I did find a gas station this morning with gas finally, but they were charging $5 a gallon so I only got a couple of gallons to hopefully tide me over). It started with hurricane Ike shutting down the 2 major pipelines into TN. Some stations ran out, people started to panic, some more stations ran out and then people really started to panic and are now filling up too much. Hopefully, it gets back to normal soon. Not very many stations have gas. Could you imagine life with out gas/cars? I started wondering if that's an excused absence from school, given the circumstance here in Nashville. At least we could always walk to the grocery store.
My little baby, who welcomed the world with a ready set of lungs, making sure his presence was known to all, is now a decade old. He has enlivened my life like I never thought possible. As my firstborn, he introduced Phil and I to parenthood, making sure to always keep us on our toes and never quite doing things "by the book". He's our guinea pig in this experiment of parenthood and I thank him for it. He will always hold a special place in my heart for being so willing (most of the time) to allow us to make mistakes on him. He is one smart cookie, a great big brother and a great debater. Life is good because he is a part of it. Here's to Jakob on his special day! May life always be wonderful!
On a different, much sadder, but not any less a celebration of life, note, I wanted to let you know of the passing of Phil's brother. Matt was a jovial soul with a ready smile. He died last night of a fast growing cancer. He leaves behind a wonderful wife, Crystal, and 6 amazing children. While it is in a different way, I celebrate his life today. May your prayers be with his family. 
