Survivor: The Week Without Dad - Day 2 (& Mama Braggin' Monday - Lord's Supper)

Day 2 - Sunday

We slept in a little on Sunday morning. But then, the big event of the morning was talking to Daddy. He had landed in Beijing (yes, that's in China) and had not slept a wink on the 13 hour flight. He sounded exhausted. But he was there and was about to settle in for bed and would take a train to Tianjin the following morning.

We found out once we got to worship service at church that we were celebrating the Lord’s Supper that day. This was Sarah’s first Lord’s Supper to participate fully in. Wonderful worship service with both of them. I hated that Mike couldn’t be there for that first with Sarah and I hated that I couldn’t spend more time talking with her during the Lord’s Supper, but I needed to focus on Nathan most of the time.

And no worship service is complete without the stress of getting a quarter for the 4 year old to give for the offering, finding an offering envelope, dropping said quarter, picking it up, trying to get the envelope open and the quarter inside... all with the usher standing right there waiting while smiling and nodding with a knowing look.

After church, the kids wanted to go to a local Mexican food place that has really been a favorite in our house. However, I think we have discovered that it is no longer our favorite. They have opened up a bar next door and it seems that most of their efforts have been put there rather than having good food and service in the restaurant portion. It’s too bad, really. We have enjoyed having a nice little locally owned place to go.

It was, again, another rainy day. So we decided to use this recipe and make cookie play dough. I was working so hard to let the kids help, so I put Sarah in front of the computer reading off the ingredient list with amounts. And you know what? The difference between ¾ cup of flour and 2 ¾ cups of flour is pretty big. Fixable, but bit. Unfortunately, I planned poorly and the dough needed to refrigerate for at least two hours. So we didn’t really get to do a whole lot with it.

It was still a nice afternoon in spite of the rain. And it was perfect for a nice long Sunday afternoon nap… in a tee-pee.

Let me explain.

On Saturday, Sarah was playing in her “play-hut” style princess castle thing and did not want Nathan in playing with her. So I finally pulled out the tee-pee that my mom made for some of my nephews several years ago that my sister passed down to us. It has needed some sewing repair that I just haven’t gotten to which is why I hadn’t pulled it out before. But this week, with dad gone, and rain with no end in sight… it seemed like the perfect time to me. And he enjoyed it so much that he asked and I agreed to set it up on his bed so that he could take a nap in it. It was the cutest thing and I hate that I didn’t get a picture of it.

I am sure that you have learned that, in life and parenting, some fights are not worth fighting. Well, that is the conclusion I have come to when it comes to Nathan and Mission Friends. Mission Friends is the preschool Sunday night activity at our church that is centered on teaching kids about missions locally and around the world. It's a great program and he has a good time when he goes, but he is off and on about whether or not he wants to go. Tonight he did not and I didn’t have it in me to make him. As I said to Mike, there are so many things that are not negotiable. School, after-school care, and coming up this week, BSF. I hate for there to be another when there is no need. So, he didn’t go. Sarah when on to her thing, G.A.’s, and we went home and played with cookie play dough.

But not before Mike called while we were still at the church. It was Monday morning in Beijing and he was getting ready for his day and a train ride to Tianjin, which is like the 3rd largest city in China. The kids had talked to him that morning, so I took this time just for myself to hear his voice. He had rested pretty well overnight and sounded much better than he had earlier in the day.

As the day ended, it ended poorly for me with a killer headache. It was to the point where I couldn’t even sing to Nathan at bedtime. They went to bed, and then I did.

The end.

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So, nobody even tried to guess where he was headed based on the picture in yesterday's post. I think that most of you already knew, but I gave you the answer in today's post anyways - China. So, now the question is:

Where in China was the picture in yesterday's post taken?