Silver linings

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things." Philippians 4:8

Yesterday, Jackson, Selah, and I made trip #2 to Firestone to get Jason's car repaired. Last week's trip went well, but was it too much to hope for two consecutive good trips? I was really afraid that the novelty of the mall had worn off and I would be getting a "this place again?" reaction from Jackson. I didn't know how long we'd be there, but I was hoping for the best. Well, it took SIX HOURS for the car to be fixed. This is in no way a bad report for the good guys at Firestone. They are awesome. It's just that, to put it delicately, our car sucks that bad! At the end of the day, I decided to focus on the positive things, the things that I'm thankful for. Here they are in no particular order:

1. A mechanic we can trust. In the past when I've taken my cars to the shop I leave feeling like I've been tricked into spending money that I really didn't need to spend OR second-guessing my decision to not have the recommended work done in effort to show that I can't be tricked into spending money that I really don't need to spend. You know? It's priceless to have a mechanic you can trust. Our friend Jason is the manager here, and he's as good as gold!

2. Free public restrooms. If we were in Europe there's no telling how much money we would have spent using the public restrooms yesterday, including 2 false alarm poop trips. And I have to say, the ones at the mall were pretty clean. =)

3. Play area in the mall. Also really clean yesterday, and it's the only place Selah could get out of her stroller and crawl around. Did I mention we were there for 6 hours? We needed a place for her to take stroller breaks.

4. Free entertainment. Jackson had a blast "riding" all the rides in the mall (you know the ones you put quarters in for them to rock gently back and forth for 30 seconds). He made his own fun by playing pretend going from the ambulance to the helicopter to the car to the ice cream truck, etc. as he was a superhero on a rescue mission. We never put a quater in a single one. Also Hungate's has changed their store to be primarily kids toys (like Toys and Co. in Friendly Ctr.), so they had a great train table that they graciously let us play at for a while.

5. Places to nurse. Motherhood Maternity actually WELCOMES nursing mothers to use their dressing rooms to nurse. It's so nice to have a place to go that's private, quiet, and relaxing. Sometimes nursing in public places can be so awkward and makes me anxious. I'm not anxious for my sake, but I'm always aware that I could be making other people uncomfortable. Motherhood is a safe haven for a nursing mother.

6. New experiences. After we had been there for 4 hours I let Jackson ride the jumping ride he had been begging to do. It was $6 (the only money we spent besides lunch) and it only lasted for about 2 minutes before he declared "I'm all done with this." Jackson is not too crazy about heights. He never wants to swing very high. That's why I was surprised he even wanted to try the ride. I try to encourage him to be adventurous, so I think this experience was worth $6. Selah also found the perfect place for her to start cruising!

7. A new vacuum! I used our credit card points to score some Sears gift cards so I could get a new vacuum. Our old one decided it was tired of cleaning our carpets, although it doesn't mind sucking up ants and cleaning our hardwoods. Anyway, Jackson was equally excited about the purchase and helped me put it together. It's nice to have clean carpets again, especially with a crawling baby who likes to explore her world by putting everything in her mouth!

8. Air conditioning at home. After a very hot ride home in the car that has no a/c I was so thankful to come home to a cool house. We have 2 friends right now with broken a/c in their homes, and it was 90 degrees yesterday! Air conditioning is a luxury that we have, even though we think of it was a necessity. I am thankful that we have so many luxuries, and I hope we don't take them for granted. Even though I complain about Jason's car, having 2 cars is also a luxury.

God has blessed us so richly with health, family, friends, and all the things we need. How can I not be thankful?

On a completely separate note, Jackson explored color mixing with his teaching tray today during Selah's morning nap. Inspired by his painting this morning, I filled 3 baby food jars with colored water (blue, red, and yellow). I gave him a dropper and an empty egg carton to use as mixing wells. I asked him to mix specific combinations and journal his findings (I helped). Then I let him explore by himself. He eventually emptied the jars, and made all the wells black. Then he used the dropper to put all the black water back into the jars. Then he droppered the water onto the tray to make a "swimming pool". I was amazed that he stayed focused on one activity for so long. I was able to empty and load the dishwasher!