A Little White Boy and a Little Brown Girl

Last week Marley and I had our first visitors from Michigan. 

My dear friend Ashley left two of her three children in the gracious and capable hands of her husband and made the trek down to stay the weekend.  After the long drive, it felt so nice to have her get out of her van, give me a big hug, and greet each other with a happy "Hello, friend!".  This was a daily greeting amongst the Kindergarten teachers and students where I taught for 12 years, and there was something so familiar and comforting about it.  It was quickly followed by a

"You two are SO BROWN!", which is funny if you know how

NOT BROWN Ashley and Landon are. 

Marley and Landon were born just a few months apart, and have attended the same daycare since they were tiny babes.  Ashley and I have worked together for several years.  Last school year she and I met weekly when Jim was so sick so that I could "piggyback" lessons off her (I did many of the language arts, math, and centers activies the week after she did.  She was kind enough to take the unit planning and coordination off my hands and allowed me to just come to work and do my job, without much of the weekend/after school prep hours that go into Kindergarten planning.)  During this time, I was encouraged by her new and fresh ideas as well as her unwavering faith.  All of my Kindergarten coworkers were such a great blessing to me!  But I digress...

Anyway, we waited all day for them to get here on Friday.  Marley and Landon haven't seen each other for quite some time, and they were so excited!  The nice thing about my friend Ashley and I is that we parent in much the same way.  And we have an understanding that our kids are young and still quite egocentric.  My daughter is bossy amd chatty, and Landon just isn't buying into her theatrics.  She tried her best to manipulate and work him, and he called her bluff.  It was funny to watch!  We were both encoraged to find that since they've last seen each other, they seem to be moving more from playing alongside each other to actually playing with each other. 

Our one full day was spent playing, eating, and going to see Winnie the Pooh at the movie theater.  It was Marley's first time in a big theater, and Landon led her through the procedure with cool ease.  He also brought her a shark toy, complete with little fish to swallow,  for when we went swimming.  And Marley taught him how to wear princess shoes like a pro!  (No, Xav, I'm not going to post the photo!)  In the evenings they had a bedtime snack and chilled out to some cartoons on NickJr.

Then it was bedtime for the kiddos and chatting for the mamas.  The next morning was Sunday, and it was so WONDERFUL to have them join us at church.  It felt right to stand and raise our hands in worship together. 

Here are our two munchkins all decked out for church:

And I had to include this one, even though it's blurry, cause their grins are beautiful.

All too soon, it was time to send them off to Michigan again.  Marley and I were both so blessed to have them here! 

Here's one more photo, just for fun...

We love you! 

We miss you! 

We'll see you soon!