Wow, it has been a really long
time and a lot has happened around the Murray house.
Unfortunately on March 6 my
beloved grandfather, Big Daddy, left this world and met Big Mama in
heaven. Big Daddy was such a solid
figure in the family and it’s still hard to believe he’s gone. His health had been declining over the past
several years, yet his death still seemed too quick and came as a shock.
I have so many memories of Big
Daddy. He was very skilled with his
hands and could make anything in his wood working shop. As a kid we would spend hours upon hours out
in the shop with him. I would ask for a dog cut out of wood, and within minutes he would have cut
out a dog for me to sand and paint. I
would also often give me little bits of leather to stamp designs into. One of my favorite videos is of my brother
and Big Daddy in the 80’s. Curby was
very into break dancing and Big Mama and Big Daddy has a perfect break dancing
slat on their front porch. Curby spent
hours “perfecting” his moves and brought along his big boom box so he could
show off all his skills. During one
dance session, Big Daddy decided to show off some of his moves. He had the moves alright! Not exactly break dancing moves…or really any
kind of skilled dancing moves, but he had moves. Just thinking about this makes me laugh. Big Daddy had such a wonderful sense of
humor.
As is the case with all
funerals, along with the bad there is good.
We got to fly down to Texas and spend several days with my extended
family. We haven’t been able to spend
time with them since Ella was about 2 years old, so it was great to see
everyone. My parents, brother and his
family, and all of us stayed in the Bigs house on the farm. While I wish the occasion had been different,
it was wonderful to spend quality time with my extended family. Both Joe and I wish we could get down there
to visit more often. He loves all the farm
activities and hanging out with my uncles and cousins, and of course I love
being able to catch up with the family.
Ella loved being there with all
of her family and cried the whole morning we were set to leave. She decided that we should just move into Big
Mama and Big Daddy’s house since they were in heaven now and wouldn’t need it
anymore, and Aunt Nancy could be her kindergarten teacher (fortunately Nancy
really is a kindergarten teacher). She
kept telling us over and over, “I don’t want to leave my family! I like being here with my family.”
On March 21st we had
a big event in the Murray family…Ella went on her first field trip! And of course, I volunteered to go with her
as a chaperone. Ella was really nervous about
this field trip. First of all, she was
nervous that I would be late and would miss the bus and therefore, miss the
field trip (What? Me late? Never!).
Second, she was really nervous about riding the bus. She had never ridden a bus before, so the
idea was very intimidating. Every
Thursday morning for a month she would wake up and ask if this was the Thursday
they were going on the field trip.
Finally, when the day arrived she woke up ridiculously early and
strongly encouraged me to get ready just so she would be assured I would arrive
on time. Of course I got there in plenty
of time and we headed out on the trip.
The bus was way better than
Ella had anticipated. She sat next to a
girl from her class (no names mentioned, but Ella has decided that this girl is
her best friend…she’s also an only child so they have a lot in common) and they
chatted the entire bus ride. It was
mostly the other little girl talking and Ella listening or responding, but Ella
definitely participated in the conversation.
The field trip was to the
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
Most kids don’t get quite this elaborate of a field trip when they’re in
kindergarten, but it’s just one of the many perks of living in the Washington,
DC area. Once we arrived at the museum,
Ella’s teacher had divided up the class and each chaperone was in charge of
just 2 or 3 kids. I had 2, Ella and the
same girl from the bus. They had a great
time checking out all of the things the museum had to offer.
March 24-29th was
Ella’s Spring Break! WOO HOO!!! Joe also took this week off work, so we had
an entire week to just have fun and hang out as a family. In 2010 we decided to have our very first Staycation. We both took a week off work and just spent
the week doing fun things around Alexandria and Washington, DC. We had so much fun that we decided to do it
again this year. Each day we planned
different activities to do. It was so
nice being at home and able to sleep in, and getting out to do something fun
every day. We figure we saved a lot of
money by not traveling, so we went out to eat every day. Not every meal, of course, but at least once
a day we went out. We all three love
eating out, so that was a lot of fun!
Monday we went to Cosi for
lunch (I love that place but it’s kind of out of the way, so we rarely get to
go) then we hit up Ella’s main request, a visit to Paint This, a pottery place
in Old Town Alexandria where kids can come in and paint their own pottery. Ella absolutely loves this place! She is always coming up with new people she
needs to paint something for.
Tuesday we had lunch at our
very favorite restaurant, Hana Tokyo, then took Sabrina to PetSmart to get her very
first professional bath. They even put a
big purple bow in her hair! Sabrina and
the dog groomer had a rough time together.
In fact, we got charged an additional fee because they had to get an
extra person to come help with her bath and brushing. She’s still a puppy, so all of this stuff is
new for her. At least she’s clean, and
she kept the bow in for 5 days, which surprised me!
Wednesday Joe and I decided to
take Ella somewhere special…Chuck E. Cheese’s.
She had never been before and we both knew she would love it. We were right! She loved the pizza, but especially loved the
games. With the help of her parents,
Ella racked up tons of tickets for prizes!
Fortunately we were able to convince her to get an ice cream cone as we
were leaving, and to save all of her tickets for later so she could combine
them and get a bigger prize.
Of course with a trip to Chuck
E. Cheese’s came a load of stares and questions from kids who wanted to know “what’s
wrong with that girl?” I really WANT to
be understanding. I know they’re just
curious and interested in knowing why she looks different than they do. But the biggest part of me wants to say, “She’s
a kid, just like you, who’s just trying to have fun at Chuck E. Cheese’s.” My answers were short and to the point, “She
just gets boo boos really easily. Now go
back to playing.”
That said, it’s also in places
like this where I’m reminded how kind humanity really is. Toward the end of our visit a little girl
came up to us and handed Ella the rest of her tokens. She said she had to leave so she wouldn’t be
able to use them and wanted to give them to Ella. A few minutes later her mom came back over
and handed Ella yet another cup of tokens.
Their group was heading home so they decided to take all of their left
over tokens and give them to Ella. It
was so sweet!
Thursday was a relaxing day at
home. Ella woke up with an upset tummy,
so we decided it was a good day to just take it easy. Joe went and picked up some Moe’s for lunch,
and the rest of the day was spent hanging out in the basement watching movies.
Friday was Joe’s day. All week he’d been asking for one thing…go to
Bass Pro Shops. Luckily I decided to
post about our endeavors on facebook and a friend of ours asked if we wanted to
meet her and her husband for lunch. It
was great to catch up with them! After
lunch we headed over to Bass Pro Shops.
The ladies just sat and talked while the men looked at hunting gear. We made sure to stick around until 6pm
because the Easter Bunny would be making a stop and Ella definitely wanted to
meet him. We all got our picture taken
with the Easter Bunny, then Ella got to make some Easter crafts. We had a great time, but were all exhausted
when we got home.
Today we’re just staying
home. Ella is busy dyeing Easter eggs
and Joe is cleaning up the kitchen.
Tomorrow will prove to be a wonderful day of worship.
