the great skate event

we had some high points and some low points this week. let's breeze through the low points (some of them... not all....) but we'll pause to point out God's goodness even in our low moments.

sunday afternoon nathan went to play racquetball with a buddy from church. as he was leaving from the racquetball courts, he couldn't. the car has a mind of it's own. lately it's been losing what mind it has left. so, there nathan sat in the parking lot for 20 minutes.... 45 minutes... 1 and a half hours.... trying desperately to start the car. nothing was working. so connor and i started praying. it was a little difficult to drag him away from the cartoons he was so deeply entrenched in, but that made for a good lesson in priorities. so it worked out quite well, i'd say. praise the Lord nathan was able to start the car... and it was, indeed, a work of God's goodness b/c the part that had gone bad was the fuel pump. our neighbor/mechanic told us it was amazing that it ended up starting b/c there was such a low level of fuel being pumped through. also amazing was that b/c of some business nathan had just completed, we had enough money to pay for the repair... a hefty one no doubt.

later that week we decided to give our skating skills a try. we went with some friends to a local rink. this was connor's first time on the ice. i told him it would be slippery but that i'd hold his hands so he could get the feel for it. we stepped out onto the ice and he FREAKED. his legs were slipping out in a v-shape and he was having none of it. he started crying, "I DO NOT WANT TO ICE SKATE! I DO NOT WANT TO ICE SKATE!" so we got off the ice and i tried desperately to calm him down... he was ok, but just kept saying, "but mom, i think i just want to watch." so i had him call nathan to see if that could boost his spirits. that helped, but i still had my doubts about getting this kid on the ice without a meltdown. so we prayed together and i told him i would not let him go. amazingly, he got back out on the ice and we slowly made our way around the rink. after we finished our first lap we took a break off the ice to call dad. he was so proud to tell his daddy that he didn't give up... the family mantra. :) 5 laps and one sore mama later, we had successfully conquered the fear of ice skating.

the next day was absolutely beautiful, so i thought it would be a perfect day to get back out on the ice. there's a community park by my parents house that freezes their fountain for ice skating in the winter. the sun was out. it was not too cold. NO ONE else was at this little rink. it was one of the most fun family times this winter. and it was FREE. :) we even scammed molly into coming down to help give connor some pointers. she was fabulous! she had connor skating BY HIMSELF before she left. he really enjoyed it. we even got our own private show from molly. she's still got it. but josh was being super protective boyfriend and kept telling her to be careful and not to try certain jumps. it was hilarious to see my cousin be so protective and worried about a girl. who knew he had a heart? :) kidding, jodgy.

sunday we had lunch with friends from church. it's always so nice to hang out with other believers. i hope i never take that for granted. it's so refreshing to know that, if nothing else, we have a bond in Christ.

i forgot my camera when we were skating, but i have some pictures from my phone. enjoy!

this was the first time he let go of her hands. he made it around the whole rink without even realizing it. she just kept asking him questions and chatting the whole way. it was perfect.

with our favorite molly. when she was whirling around he said, "whoa, mom! molly can REALLY skate!"

our first skate.... a true bonding experience.

i totally forgot about this until i found this picture.... tuesday night nathan ended up staying in troy with his boss. so i decided to have a campout in the living room with con man. we watched monsters, inc. and had a blast. that kid stayed up until 11:30p! i fell asleep twice only to be awakened by him tapping me and whispering, "mom. mom!"

feeling brave... b/c we had yet to step foot on the ice.

nathan snapped this one sunday before church. note the sparkly shoes. she LOVES them. i tolerate them. (but secretly, i think they are adorable.)