oooooo aaaaaahhhh, little one

My high opinion of children has been restored, folks. It's a glorious thing.

Lindsey, Jess, & I walked down to Bryant Park to watch the end-o-festival fireworks. Unfortunately, they weren't so great... at all. But sitting right next to us was a dad and two of his kids. One of those kids was a toddler, 2-3 years old. According to dad, he didn't know how to oooo-aaaahh... and the little one was much more interested in watching three very enthusiastic young women be completely goofy. So, we set out to turn this wee one into a oooo-aaahhhing aficionado.

"Look, look!" We would exclaim. He'd follow our fingers just in time to see a firework errupt. We three would I all "ooooo" then "aaaahh." The first few times he'd look back at us like we were insane or a couple fries short of his happy meal, but we persevered....

And quite randomly our little buddy shouted out (and nevermind that there wasn't a firework in the sky at that moment), "ooooooooooo" Jess, Linds, and errupted in cheers. The dad about died laughing at us. (nevermind the lack of timing, we worked on that)

By the time the show was over we had an ooo-ahhhing expert on our hands. It was amazing. I'm so proud.

Taking pictures of fireworks is difficult. Not sure if any of mine shall turn out.

some people's children...

Remember all that earlier talk about how much I love children. Well, I actually found one I wanted to chuck out our front windows today. Instead I went and hid in the fitting rooms for 5 minutes. And breathed. His mom may not know it, but she should be very thankful that I excused myself from her son's presence for those five minutes. Her son was so unbelievably RUDE.

I have one other annoyance. This one from last night after interacting with some charasmatics at the well. I was so ready to yell at them. I controlled myself, don't worry. I'll write on that incident AFTER I've had a bit more time to breathe and process so I don't condemn others. condemnation kinda goes against the whole "do justly, love mercy, walk humbly" life-philosophy that I currently have. ha.)

On the upside of things, I treated myself to a Rockstar Energy Drink with the money I earned for signing people up for credit cards. And I found gas for the meager price of $3.33/gallon. And I'm going to watch the end-of-festival fireworks with some sweet people. (AKA Lindsey & Jess Sims)

peace out brussel sprout.

Kids

I have a gifting that seems to have risen out of nowhere. I am pretty stinkin' good with kids. And I love being around them.

Anytime there's a kid in Old Navy I talk with them. I acknowledge the parents, of course, but not a moment after I'm interacting with the cuteness on a level that they can appreciate. And, in general, kids love me. My coworkers have described me as kind and authoritative. I found a toddler the other day that had been seperatated from his dad. He was one of the cutest things I had seen, sheepishly walking around the baby department. He looked scared, so I started talking to him before I got to him:

"Hey Buddy!! How are you?"
*whimper*
"Are you lost?"
*nod*
"Okay. Well, let's see if I can help you, okay? What's your name?"
"Luke"
"Luke? Wow, that's a great name! My name's Asher. It's VERY nice to meet you, Luke!"
*shake hands*
"Let's go find mommy & daddy, k?"
*nod*

My new friend took my hand and I walked him up front & a manager reunited him with his daddy.

And tonight, while eating dinner with Lindsey, there's a little girl, maybe 4 or 5, seated behind Linds. She catches my eye, so I flash her an animated smile. Maybe I shouldnt have, because this girl commanded my attention after that, and Linds and I were talking and eating. Miss Blue Eyes (for she had very blue eyes!) begins a game of hide-n-seek. So a endulged her a bit. Soon Miss Blue Eyes was wanting converation. Normally I wouldn't mind but my time with Lindsey is very precious, so after about 20 minutes of assure Miss Blue Eyes I'd talk to her when I was done eating, I finally tell her (very kindly, mind you) that she needed to sit down and eat dinner with her momma. The mom seemed grateful, as she clearly had no control over Miss Blue Eyes, and thanked me for my help. Miss Blue Eyes then sat down and ate dinner with her momma. Lindsey looked at me, confused. "I don't know," I shruged.

Aza and I were talking about this tonight. And it seems that kids really do respond well to boundaries. They first need to know that you care, that you get them. It's interesting, and I don't really understand it. But I do have a growing and insatiable desire to be around little kids. I'd love to be a momma, have six kids, and raise them well.

Yesterday

The snow melted, incase you were curious.

Another great day with Justus. He really is a good kid. Since we couldn't go to the park and burn off little boy energy, we built a fort and played hide & seek. I did end up using time-out twice. ick.

Mind you, my only source of energy was coffee, so when we got to dinner night, I was shot and really glad Justus had other playmates. Unfortunately, he spun out of control. Auntie still feels bad for the way his parents treated him, so he gets away with a lot.

Also, we had a completely mellow group last night, and for once, the guys out numbered the girls, 2:1. After dinner I laid down and we read psalm after psalm, 20 of them in total. By then, it's just me and a few guys, and they all completely cleaned everything on their own, letting me rest. It was amazing and my home looks fantasic. Thanks, guys!!! You really helped me out last night! Gold stars for everyone! =) THAT is what it looks like to serve one another in love!

-Asher

Justus...

(proof of his superior cute-ness)

Okay, see why? He has a banana-face in this pic. All I could get him to eat today was bananas (he loves bananas...) and cheese and a few animal crackers. Look at those eyes! Sooo adorable!

Auntie-Ashley stopped by between classes... but he can't say auntie-ashley.. so it's "dee-dee." He hasn't figured out what to call me yet.

Cuddled up watching Tarzan 2. This might be my favorite pic.
That and the first one.

I was trying to get him ready to go outside and was shutting all the lights off in the house. (he loves turning on light switches) After I was done I found him using the "brew-brew" to clean my laundry room. Yes, I need to do laundry.

____________

We went to the store today to get some bananas and apple juice and while in the store he was fascinated by EVERYTHING. It was so much fun to witness his wonder. Everyone was telling my how adorable he is. And then we got to the check out lane and he saw more "can-can" (candy). He did the typical 2-year old thing, laid down in the aisle when I told him "no." (we had already gotten some m&ms for him to keep at my house). It was a silent protest, hehe. I had to pick him up, explain that he needed to stay on his feet when in the store. He snapped out of whatever it was that had him grumpy, smiled, said, "okay" and we were on our way.

Later we went outside and rolled around the yard together. Fun times, fun times had by all.

Kevin, I'm sorry, but um... I still contend that Justus is the cutest boy ever.