Chess is big at our house. All those with Y chromosomes love it. Those without? Not so much. I don't think we have any up and coming world champions, but the guys do all like to get together and play. Joseph, Steven, and Ryan have all participated in the Chess Club held at the elementary school on Wednesday mornings. Greg usually helps run it, so he and our elementary aged children have some fun together each week. Last Wednesday was the last day of the club. Friday of this week will be the tournament during school. Then Chess Club is done until next year. (Can you believe we're down to just a few weeks of school left?!)
As there was no chess club this Wednesday, Ryan and Greg had some extra time before leaving for school and work. Greg offered to play a little chess with Ryan if Ryan would go downstairs and get the game. Ryan got out the game pieces and timer, but not the board. "Too lazy" he said to go back downstairs for the board, Ryan set up the game on the tiles of our dining room table. It's 8 tiles long (just right), but only 4 wide (half right). The benches each are 2 tiles wide, but only 6 long. So, the "board" was set up with the two rows on each side being lower than the middle. The four end squares on each lower section were made by dividing a regular chair into 4 sections with rulers and a tie. They gave up using the timer because without black and white squares and with a two-level board, it was taking too long to figure out which square a piece moved to.
They ran out of time to finish before Ryan had to leave for school, so no body won. But, they had fun and got a good mental spatial orientation workout to boot. It even seemed to still be more worth it to Ryan than a quick trip downstairs for a real board!
Thanks to the school district for giving Erica and I some more fun mother/daughter time. The entire school district has Wednesday off for Thanksgiving, but for some reason, the highschool only has a half day on Tuesday as well. It worked out well for us, though. See, Erica turned 16 recently and her permit was expiring soon and she finished her driving course at school so we made good use of her time today and went to get her a drivers license. Woo hoo!
One Happy, Licensed, Young Lady
(When did we we get over training wheels?)
(Side note- It's kind of weird for me still. I'm not too excited to have her take the car out the first time alone. I think it's the control freak in me and a little paranoia sets in when I think what COULD happen, though probably WON'T happen. I've already explained to her I'll probably be a little weird about it and to just be patient and humor me when I don't want her to go farther than the church! She just smiled and said ok and then very wisely didn't ask to drive today. A nut case mom can only handle so much excitement in her life in one day! I got over driving in the car with her, I'm sure I'll figure out not driving in the car with her. Surely I was an older 16-year-old- not that she's a problem child, I just remember changing diapers and helping her learn to ride a bike. There was much more time between those things and driving for me, at least from my perspective!)
There was a miracle involved with this experience. School got out at 11:40 and I was 5 minutes late picking her up at school. It's a 15 minute drive, or so, over the the Driver's License Division from school. We were done and driving away at 12:24 on the van clock (which is set 3 minutes fast, so it was really 12:21). In case you don't want to do the math, that's 36 minutes from pick-up at school to finished at the DLD. Never, in my wildest dreams would I have thought a person could get a new driver's license in such a short time. Granted, she did both the written and driving portions of the test as part of the driver's ed class at school (finally found a good reason for that school fee!) so all we had to do was turn in paper work, pay for it, and take her picture. Still, I think that's pretty amazing. Here I was, hoping that the 3 hours I had before Steven and Ryan got out of school would be enough and we were done in 36 minutes. We ran a couple of errands on the way home and celebrated with Sam's Club deluxe pizza at the end. (I know, you're jealous!) Pretty fun day thanks, again, to the school district and their days off.
Tomorrow everyone (except Greg) is home. The kids are planning an all day Star Wars marathon and I'm starting the baking for Thanksgiving. If everyone shows up for the movies that has said they're coming, I may have to bake a bunch of extra goodies! We'll see!
"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."
Joseph turned twelve a week and a half ago. Because his birthday fell on a Monday, he wasn't able to get a temple recommend until the following Sunday, so today was his first trip to the temple. The last couple of weeks have been nice, but this morning there was a slight dusting of snow on the ground and it was pretty chilly- all the more incentive to hurry up and get inside. It was crowded today for some reason, but it was a great morning. I loved watching Spencer play the role of big brother beautifully and direct Joseph where he needed to be. Once again, I'm so grateful that Erica wanted to start this as a weekly experience and I overrode my own hesitations and agreed. The above scripture, 3 John 1:4, has been running through my head all day. I think there may be only one joy greater- to actually be able to see it.
Tomorrow is the big day. Erica will be driving permit eligible. Thankfully, the state of UT allows me to put my head in the sand for a few extra days. They switched to a 4-10 work schedule in August. So, no (or very few) state offices are open Friday - Sunday. That means I can put off until Monday what I'm both excitedly anticipating and nervously dreading today. All those years of little ones running around and feeling like they'd never grow up. I was warned that I'd turn around and suddenly the little ones would be gone. I couldn't believe it. No way would that happen. Guess what? It did. I used to dream of them being in highschool. Gone would be concerns of running into the street, or needing to be entertained, or having to worry about them at all any more. They'd be grown and I'd be well on my way to freedom (emotionally at least). I was partly right. I don't worry about them (generally) running out into the street, they're pretty good (most of the time) at entertaining themselves, it's that worry part that hasn't gone away. My grandma warned me about that, too. Once again, I had a hard time believing it. She told me that you worry even when they're married and have children of their own. What?! But, I'm beginning to understand. Think it's hard sending your baby to kindergarten for the first time? Try putting your somewhat controlling/perfectionist self in a car with one completely inexperienced driver and relaxing while she hits that pedal for the first time. Or worse, try the thought of handing said driver the keys to the car for the first time and relaxing until both (but especially the child) returns home in one piece. I do, at least, get to monitor the driving for the next 12 months. Haven't decided if that's for her practice or mine. I must say here that Erica is a great young lady and I really do trust her. I just have to learn to let go. Good thing it takes 16 years and a minimum of 6 months with a permit to be able to drive. It takes the parents that long to grow enough to handle it!
Life gets a little crazy at times. This is my chance to look for (and hopefully remember!) the little miracles that so frequently pop in and out of my life.
