Pool Diaries

Day 1:
Unwrap the new blue plastic wading pool. Scrub it very clean. Wipe thoroughly with Lysol. Add clean water. Put new Nemo swimming diaper on Sam. Play "This Little Piggie." Put on swimming trunks. Sing, O Do You Know the Muffin Man? Slather on several coats of SPF 50. Explain in reassuring voice about the water. Lower him slowly into pool. Nudge exciting tupperware towards him. Watch. Hover.Get splashed by Sam. Laugh joyfully.

Day 15:
Roll plastic wading pool off fence. Spray it to remove mud clods. Fill. Wrestle Sam into swimming diaper. Glob SPF 50 on nose. Put him in pool. Bark "sit down" many times. Scold him for splashing. Argue about whether or not he can get out.

Day Who Cares?:
Roll filthy pool off fence. Fill. Locate Sam who is tasting a rock. Strip him down except for diaper. Point to pool and grunt. Squirt SPF 8 in his general direction. Watch numbly as he places muddy truck, garden sprinkler, and sticks into wading pool. Ignore the fact that he is uninterested in getting into wading pool. Watch his Adamic nature bloom as he trots around the pool shouting bossily at his truck and the garden sprinkler.

The Interruption

So I've finished making dinner and, sighing heavily, am attacking a heap of dirty dishes. I dislike washing pots and pans. There are pots and pans.
Sam cruises in on his red car--one hand on the wheel, the other brandishing his sippy cup. I wonder mildly about the location of his pants. I return to scrubbing.
Sam interrupts again, this time jabbering. He pauses to strike a pose and swig noisily on his apple juice. Then he points at me and and says, "nanananana."
Silly boy.
We hang out for awhile.
Thank you, Sam.

Sam

And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor
with the LORD and with men.

Sprayground

Morning News

Sam and Daddy read together about another mortgage lender going bankrupt...

Maybe Sam should worry more and Dad should have a bottle of milk.

Pazzyyy!

How absolutely wonderful to catch my dear friend Patsy and baby Esther for an hour before we left Michigan. Patsy and I had many adventures in upstate New York, Chicago, and of course Kenya (where I turned 21). We were not able to make it to each other's weddings on opposite sides of the world, so it's definitely hard to imagine each other married... and being moms!

Vrooom!

At Camp Maranatha Sam discovered... vehicles!!! His ultimate favorite was the car. Even though the front tire was twisted and the car wouldn't move, he would run right to it and sit there for a looong time, opening and closing the doors, punching the dashboard, getting out and in. He also learned to put a play fuel hose into its gas tank. (Parenthetically, his "John Deere" shirt was bought in Cambodia at the Russian Market for about 50 cents. Go figure.)

Josh

Josh is Sam's wonderful cousin. He's 10 years old and he loves the sand.

Grandpa Ed

I took the plaque off the wall so Sam could inspect his great grandpa Ed's achievements in science and life. Known as "Dr. Glue," great grandpa Ed worked in the field of coupling agents and died with 94 patents in his name. One of his accomplishments was inventing an adhesive that keeps the tiles of NASA space ships in place amid the roasting temperatures of take-off. He was voted into the Plastics Hall of Fame in 1988 and he authored a book called, Silane Coupling Agents. The "Edwin P. Plueddemann Award for Excellence" is still given annually to worthy chemists.

Great Grandpa's version of John 3:16: "Before he created the world, God knew that humans would foul things up and make heaven and earth incompatible, so he proposed to send his Son to act as a coupling agent between earth and heaven."

GG Plueddemann

Sam visited his very great grandma Plueddemann who lives in Midland, Michigan. At 91 years young, she is very witty and smart. Here are 4 generations of Plueddemanns from Mary Margaret to Jim to Danny to Sam. Welcome to your great heritage, Sam.