Family Day...

Sam and Connor came over for the last time today before we leave to China. Maddie simply loves them and they are soooooo good to her and for her. She just beams. I'll tell ya something... there are almost 12 years between her and Connor and there are nearly 12 years between me and my brother, Mikey. (I think I'm the only one in the world that still calls him that by the way.) When I was a little girl, I remember being in absolute awe when Mikey would shuffle cards. I remember being in absolute awe when we would make pudding on the stove together and he had the strength to push that flexible wire whisk to the bottom of the pan so that it did not burn. I really looked up to my big brother and Maddie is starting to do the same thing with Connor. He can do no wrong in her eyes.

Today we all went to the park to run around a bit. I love to see the joy in Maddie's face when she is on the swings. I caught her singing "our" song today when she thought nobody was looking or listening. I sang it to her when she was a tiny little baby in Saudi Arabia and we had a red Little Tykes booster swing on our front porch. I'm amazed that she remembers the words and sings it without any prompting.

Swingin', being, good as pizza pie...
Swingin', being, I could swing all night...
I close my eyes...
I count to three...
Now let me tell you...
What I see...
My toes up to the sky!
I think I'll swing all night!
Swingin', being, good as pizza pie...
Swingin', being, I could swing all night...

Aunt Susan and Elena came over in the afternoon to give Maddie an early birthday present. Elena is the girl in Maddie's family that she strives to be. This summer Maddie has "informed" me that we must stop trimming her hair because she wants long hair like Elena. She wants to wear Elena's dresses... she wants to be Elena. This Maddie Anna is one lucky kid - let me tell you.

After "the boys" and Maddie went shopping they came home and we invited Grandma Barbara and Grandpa Earl over for dinner at our place. Andy made a great feast of smoked ribs, pork chops, salmon, spuds, broccoli... it was kind of a potpourri feast! In other words, we were cleaning out our fridge! After dinner we sat around the table and played cards. It was great fun for Maddie to sit there and listen to all of us chattering at the same time. We were all talking and listening at the same time and she sat there desperately trying to follow. Before we knew it, she started talking very loud in tried to grab our attention with her own story. She was very serious and was thrilled to be a part of it!




Thanks Connor for showing Maddie was a good hand in poker looks like... she listened and learned! Of course, all she learned from me most of the night was how to say, "I fold!" I guess that's what big brothers are for though...

It's All About Connections....

TCK.

It seems as if it's THE buzz phrase in international education these days. Expat children are growing us a Third Culture Kids. We saw this when we lived in Saudi Arabia for four years. Most of our kids were from Pakistan and India, yet they attended an American curriculum school and talked like they were from the Midwest or California. They didn't belong in their "home" countries, yet they didn't belong in America... they belonged in a third culture which seemed very ambiguous.

Maddie's dad an I are always talking about how we are choosing to raise Maddie. We want her to grow up internationally to have first hand contact with other cultures on a daily basis, yet we recognize the value of what we grew up with. Looking back, we both value all of the connections we made when we were growing up. Andy values the time spent with family when they went camping every summer. I value all of the memories I have with family growing up. Growing up means family. Maddie has us when we are overseas, but there is nothing quite like the connections that she nourishes when she comes home for the summers.

When Elena, Maddie's cousin, walked in the door today around lunch time, Maddie's eyes just sparkled. I was curious if Maddie would remember Elena as it's been almost a full year since seeing her. Maddie clearly recognized her as she didn't hesitate to start telling Elena about her world. Maddie downright SHINED when she realized that both of the them were calling grandma just that..... "Grandma, can we make some cookies" they almost said in unison. Now that doesn't happen everyday!!!!

Elena took great care with Maddie and in my mind showed an amazing amount of patience with my jet-lagging three year old daughter. Even when Maddie used the bubble solution to water the flowers, Elena was brilliant. They built trains together and Elena even taught Maddie how to throw a Frisbee for the first time. The greatest find was when they were in the crawl space and found a wooden rocking chair about Maddie size. They soon found out from Grandma Barbara that her dad had made it for her. Amazingly, Grandma Barbara said that Maddie could take that rocking chair to her new bedroom in her new house. I had to run upstairs and shed a tear for a minute (I am pregnant after all) because that's a connection for Maddie - a connection that I pray she never takes for granted because not all people are lucky enough to have those connections.

What a joyous day!!! It really is all about the connections....