Perseverance…with a capital P

I made a major mistake with this child back when she was 5. She wanted a dog.

Bad.

I mean really bad.

I told her when she was 10 we would get a dog because let’s be honest…I was going to be the one to tend to it. She campaigned for a dog for an entire year.

Around a year into it, into the constant questions about dogs, books about dogs, discussions about dogs, I broke. When she was 6, we got a dog.

Lesson she learned, I work at them hard enough and long enough I will get what I want.

PJ=Perseverance

Perseverance = noun
in a competitive environment, perseverance is an invaluable asset: persistence, tenacity, determination, staying power, indefatigability, steadfastness, purposefulness; patience, endurance, application, diligence, dedication, commitment, doggedness, assiduity, tirelessness, stamina; intransigence, obstinacy; informal stick-to-it-iveness; formal pertinacity.

This form of stick-to-it-iveness she has surrounds her, embodies her and ALWAYS has.

From the days when she could hardly talk she would make her needs/wants/desires known and then throw herself at them until whatever “it” was, was met.

Now at 11, it’s no longer a dog, it’s a phone.

It doesn’t matter how many discussions about phones and the fact she is not getting one until she needs one and that will be determined by her parents, not by her, we have. She will not give up. Again, we are at the year point, maybe more of this endeavor.

Yesterday when discussing her reasons for wanting to go shopping on Black Friday she finally told me she wanted to buy herself a phone. I launched back into the same conversation we had had 1000 times, then I got mad (as I usually do around this topic).

And then I tried to find the positive in this and I looked at her and said, “PJ, I really appreciate your determination.” Then I proceeded to tell her the story of what I always said to her when she was 2.

I would look at you, get right down to eye level and say, “Someday PJ THIS is going to serve you well, just not today!”

PJ’s response to that little tale, “Well, apparently it won’t serve me TODAY either!”

Double sticks

Dear PJ,
11…tween…spicy…smart…cute… feisty…hard as nails and fragile as a soft petal all in one. Yeah, that about sums it up.

I love watching you grow. Your petite frames creates a facade of gentle and delicate all the while masking the dynamite inside.

Dad and I only slightly joke that someday you will cut across the lands and oceans, stand tall, and rule China.

You amaze me on a daily basis.

Honestly, you scare me to death.

You challenge me to my very core and then you love so deep it’s sometimes hard to keep an even keel.

How very blessed we are to have you in our lives. May this year be filled with all sorts of epic domination.

Happy 11th Birthday!

Love Mom.

xoxoxo

Day #5 ~ 30 Day’s of Biking

Suck it up Buttercup!

Yes it’s snowing in April, mama doesn’t care…get on your damn bike and ride.

It’s called commitment.

Day #4 ~ 30 Days of Biking

“This is the ONLY time you should ever be sitting on a railroad track! Got it?”

Said me with my camera.

Day #3 ~30 Days of Biking

Day #3 brought us to my very favorite place on the Cedar Lake Trail!

Day#2 ~ 30 Days of Biking

30 Days of Biking with my little but mighty

PJ and I decided we would take up the 30 Days of Biking pledge. What does that mean you ask for those to lazy to hit the link. It means we will get on our bikes (together mind you) for 30 solid days. Everyday in April we will hop on. We don’t have to go far, we just have to do it.

Day #1

Today we learned that tomorrow we will dress warmer!

One year later…

Ohhhhh and Happy Easter!

The kids have grown (some much I think CT has turned into a man), life has been a whirl wind (I can’t tell you how many times I have recently uttered, I am so glad I am not training for an Ironman this year) and my hope is to take it down a notch (literally have a moment to breath deeply) and find a little more time to jot our life’s adventures back down.

I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Easter and…

How on earth did these kids get so big?

This photo says it all to me.

CT in control.

PJ with the side-ways smirk.

KP…doing what he does.

Little Lady-bird

PJ handing me a piece of gum…

PJ:  You owe me.

Me:  What?

Me:  You owe me.

PJ gives me a sideways look, brow furrowed.

Me:  I gave you life!