Now We Are Six

When I was One

I had just begun.

When I was Two,

I was nearly new.

When I was Three

I was hardly me.

When I was Four,

I was not much more.

When I was Five, I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever,

So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

now we are six - A.A. Milne

Daddy Daughter Dance

This doesn't happen often in the Erickson household. No. Not true. This has NEVER BEFORE HAPPENED in the Erickson household - Anna Rose asked if she could get a dress!

That's right. Self-proclaimed Tomboy-Farm-girl-I-don't-want-to-bathe-no-way-not-ever Anna Rose asked if she could get a new dress for the Adventure Princess Daddy Daughter Dance. 

To which Lia said, and I quote, "When Anna Rose asks for a dress, we get her a dress."

Not that Anna Rose always gets what she wants. She doesn't. (But more than I care to admit.)

Usually I'm the softee. Not this time. Lia was not going to miss this opportunity. 

So while I was up in the mountains at the Leader Retreat, Anna Rose and Lia went to the mall and picked our this:

Beautiful, right?

I said, "Wow! That dress really reflects your personality, Anna Rose."

Lia laughed. "That's exactly what Anna Rose said!"

Two Gigs

Man. I love that picture. Kenya circa 1997. Guitar. Singing "Amazing Grace," as I recall, in the middle of swarm of beautiful children wondering who the heck is this white guy?

There was clapping and tears and giggles and the one old dude. It WAS amazing.

Well, a couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to "teach" about my second home to Anna Rose's second grade class. What a blast!

Here is Anna Rose and I playing a little duet.  

We talked about the land, the animals, the food, the people…I was worried about filling forty-five minutes…that turned out not to be a problem (as you probably imagined).

Not to toot my own horn or anything but they already asked me if I'd give my presentation again next year.

Speaking of yearly events…We had our annual Young Life leader weekend up at the cabin. We set a record at 57! Holy Smokes! Tell the truth I think we could have squeezed in a few more (here's to lack of furniture!) As always - such a great time, which once again started off with a trip to my favorite place in the world - the Allegheny Jubilee.

Here is me in a Charles and Charlie sandwich.  

They named me an honorary member of the Rise and Shine Band! I'll tell you - life is good. 

2nd Graders and Mountain Folk.

Two gigs I won't soon forget - and won't have to if they become annual.

Change Of Heart

Yep. This girl right here has changed me. How you ask? I now actually look forward to Hot Yoga. 

What!?

That's right. You heard me. I used to be like this. 

Now, I'm like this. 

What's the change? I'm not entirely sure. People have told me about the magical "sixth time." They get real quiet when they mention it. Like it's a secret. Or like magic is supposed to be discussed in whispers, which it is.

Maybe it's the fact I turned 40 this year.

Maybe it's the simple truth that I can no longer do the things I normally could just do without first stretching a lot. 

Maybe it's the fact that an eight dollar foam roller was the best Christmas present I received this year. Thanks Hugh!

All I know is a year ago I wrote this post about the dangers of this pastime. Here I am a year later asking Lia when the next class is. 

Yep. That about sums it up.

Pass Me The Rock

A-Ro has started playing basketball this winter. Here she is demonstrating some of her mad dribbling skills. 

I must say we have totally lucked out with coaches. Libby Kelly is phenomenal. Her enthusiasm is contagious. I know she is a physician, but I totally think she has missed out on her true calling. (I think she knows it, too.) 

We took the kids to a Wake Women's Basketball Game a few weeks ago. Anna Rose asked for a pen and paper. She wanted to take notes to share with her team! Here they are.

Translation:

Get the rebounds

Put your hands up

Fast passes

Use both hands

Bring water

Move your feet

Reward your team

Fast goals

Put your hands up

Translation:

Don't get the ball when out of bounds

Get close to the goal

Cheer for your team

Talk to your team

Always dribble the ball

Love the ball

Have fun

Play hard

Steal the ball

No touching other team

Cheer for your team

Words to live by...

A-Ro missed the first game and the only jersey they had left was a Youth Medium.

Today, while I was walking into the gym I prayed that she would score. I didn't believe at all it would happen. She hasn't gotten close to even shooting. "I'm a passer dad," is the way she explains it. Which is true. She's a pass first, shoot second kind of player. She just hasn't gotten to the second part yet. But late in the second quarter, she got the ball along the baseline about six feet from the net. I don't know what exactly went through her mind, but there was no one to pass to. And so she went for it. SWISH. Nothing but net. The crowd went crazy! Seriously, everybody, not just me. 

She was a bit embarrassed by my enthusiasm. 

But here she is after the game with her BFFTLE, Olivia. 

(Best Friends For Totally Like Ever).

The Farm Life

I don't know if this is true for all dads, but it's true for this dad. Life seems to bring it's own kind of pressures.

These pressures come from unexpected places. Like when Lia, as she walks out the door to go to work, asks me to remember to bring home the cookie sheets that were left at the office after our staff Christmas party. It's the memory pressure, the camel breaking straws - the ones that are not so difficult when considered on their own merits. The challenge comes from the fact that they are add-ons. I already had a list of ten things to remember, and now I have to remember this. How in the world am I going to remember cookie sheets?

There's another kind of pressure: these usually come in announcement form. That's why I call them "The Announcement." Lia goes "the dishwasher is clean," meaning can you put the dishes away? Or Lia proclaims "the garage door won't stay down," which means that it better be down when I get home. Well, actually it means, "Ned will you stop 'fixing' the garage door and hire a real man to do it." Something like that. Those pressures get me, too. The out of the mainstream of life ones that need to be dealt with - like the fence that looks like it might fall down this year. It might fall down if I don't do anything about it. Then again, it might stay up another six months. I'd rather not real with it. I've got other things to think about, thank you. Crash! Guess those other things can wait.

Finally, there is what I refer to as "The Dripping Faucet" (which, when dripping is a pressure all it's own). My daughter has mastered this technique. Right now, she wants a farm. That's right, a house attached to a barn with animals. She has talked about it for weeks. It all started when we visited a few this fall. 

Ginger Top Farm, owned by our friends the Halls.

  Nomad Farm, owned by our friends the Nicholsons. 

Then, by accident, I took our family to visit Rob Mangum's pottery studio/estate just for fun. 

After thirty years, he's selling it. I believe it could be turned into an incredible retreat center. If you are interested in getting this idea off the ground, contact me. But Anna Rose has another idea for it. She wants to own it. 

Can you picture us here?

In her mind, it's been decided. She's been working on scale drawings, thinking through the necessary renovations, researching what kinds of goats we should get. It's all very fun. And incessant. The dripping faucet. The worst part is that she knows the technique works. Three years of asking for a dog - she get's Summer. 

Six months of asking for a turtle - she gets Squirt. And there is no one to blame for her boldness but me. 

I cave to pressure. I remember the cookie sheets (I forget my favorite hat, but I remember the cookie sheets). I fix the garage door. No handyman needed (yet). But so far, no farm. I'm standing firm on this one. Although I haven't stopped her from making plans for the chicken coop she wants me to install in our backyard. 

Oh boy. 

Here's to 2015. The year of no pressure...seriously. None. 

Anybody interested in living in Sherwood Forest? I know a house that might go on the market soon...

 

Cielo

My friend Steve Geyer is a pretty inspiring guy. He is funny and full of life. And he has a great way with a camera. He caught Lia at the perfect moment. Have you ever seen her more alive?

Who is she admiring? His name is Gabriel. He is 8 months old. He is a child of *Cielo, once a slum now an oasis in one of the poorest parts of the Dominican Republic. Lia met him on her first trip to the area last Spring. He stole her heart. And before leaving, Lia made up her mind to help him. See, he was born with a cleft lip and palate. Lia asked his mother about it. His mother, a beautiful Dominican (they are all beautiful) said that they had talked to a surgeon but the price was too high. Well, Lia made it happen. 

When we arrived in November, Gabriel and his mother surprised us. Look how good he looks. 

He wasn't as grumpy as he appears in this picture (blame Steve Geyer), but grumpy or not the transformation was amazing. I was looking in my archives for a before picture. We have one. When I find it, I'll upload it. 

Once all the attention finally ran its course, Gabriel was sitting on his mother's lap while she and Lia discussed his health and future. His thumb went to his perfectly repaired lip and he started sucking it. No one saw it I think but me. Perhaps that was the reason it was only me that cried. 

The little miracles are sometimes the most profound. The little child who can suck his thumb now. The change that can come over a woman just because she had a part to play in it. Those are the things worth remembering. The things that remind me of the great God we have. 

*Cielo means Sky in Spanish. It can also mean Heaven. It might be Lia's.

If you ever want to come with us, let us know!

Things Are Not Always As They Seem

Silence on the blog does not necessarily mean that nothing is going on. In fact, what silence most often means is that TOO MUCH is going on.

I am embarrassed, astonished, and slightly amazed that I have not contributed to this careful-attempt-at-not-taking-myself-too-seriously in two months! Yikes!

No excuses. This trend needs to stop and fast.

So some highlights and reflections...and at the end, a pre-new-year's resolution...

This year we bought season tickets on the Hill for Wake Football. Though Wake did not have the most stellar of seasons, we sure had fun. And at $110 for four for the entire season, we would have enjoyed ourselves even if they lost EVERY game. Go Deacs #alwaysnextyear

Anna Rose and I had a rootin' tootin' time at the Adventure Princess fall outing. Yee-haw!

I headed off the following weekend to Windy Gap with my high school homies. Perfect weekend. Family Camp in April hint hint to all you people out there with families. Come with us!

The Halls had us over for a gourmet dinner and fun times with goats and alpacas at Ginger Top Farms. Anna Rose was in heaven! Plans for her future have taken a drastic turn to the rural. 

We Celebrated Ned's Birthday and We Run For Them with a check presentation and a party. How about the double entendres in that cake!

I was actually out of town for Halloween and missed this: 

Meanwhile, I almost had this tree land on me (I'm not kidding. While on a run, this tree fell about fifteen feet from me!) 

Oh, then Lia and I spent a life-changing weekend in the Dominican Republic. 

I jammed with the locals and was honored to be the first person to escort Nairboi down the recently completed ramp at Cielo. #MissionEmanuel #Mostcementinoneplaceanywhereonearth

We're heading back in the Spring if anyone is interested...another hint.

We had spectacular weekends at the cabin with friends and family. 

including the a muddy corn maze with the Amrich family.

 Thanksgiving was full of family - 18 for dinner on the festive day. So grateful for my parents who drove down and for the breakfast we shared on Tuesday. Wednesday Dave Dave and ARO watched The Princess Bride for the first time. A true passing of the baton. Friday we celebrated the memory of Kent Welch. I can't believe it's been 10 years. #neverforget. And Saturday we chopped down our Christmas Tree and were treated to an afternoon on the Mangum estate. We are only a million dollars away from it being ours!

This weekend we ran the Mistletoe 5k as a family. Dave Dave finished officially second (we thought it was first, but turns out a Chermak beat him (those darn orthodonist kids)). I was tremendously proud of both our kids. On the way home we crashed a private Santa Claus event. Ho Ho Ho!!!!

And last night, Lia and I danced into the evening at the Young Life Yule Ball. 

#StanVoth

What a fall! I'm remembering a half-dozen more blog-worthy moments...

I need to write about Lia and Gabriel down in the D.R. This week?

I also need to write about doing Leadership Winston-Salem this year! Man, if there ever was something I was made for, it was this!

Oh! I almost forgot. I need to tell you about two new books that will be hitting the shelves soon! (am I a marketing genius or what?) We were hoping to have them out by Christmas. Production has slowed a bit. Stay tuned!

I'll tell you, this is what happens when you get lazy on a blog. Happy Holidays friends! I will return later this week. Promise.

Happy Holidays, friends.

My first Podcast!

I was recently interviewed by the good people at My Big Jesus about CLAY.

Check it out!

You can scroll to 34:36 if you don't want to listen about animal killings and ebola. (Great line-up, huh?)

http://www.mybigjesus.com/#!podcast/c3ho