Steady As She Goes: Never Grow Up: Blurb+Octoberness In Pictures [pt. 3]

(i know, it's november now. but these pictures were from october. promise.)

seems like the more time i spend with kids, specifically my girliess at church, the more reminiscent and nostalgic i feel about my childhood. so much of what they say and do remind me of what i used to be like when i was in elementary school. elementary school. fourth and fifth grade, when you thought you were the "big kid" now and didn't wanna hang with the tots. when you wanted to be "cool". when you didn't understand the meaning of "spam" and thought sending an email that contained the two letter word h-i to the same person at least five to seven times a day was fun (i must say this has taught me the virtue of patience. forrizzles.) and putting things like "hey wazzzupp" followed by seventeen exclamation marks and twenty question marks in your status was the coolest thing ever. whew.

as annoying or funny (however you look at it) kids may be, i really wouldn't trade anything for the time i spend with them. they are sweet and above all else, very naive. i don't say this in a degrading way, but i mean they are just so oblivious to the nasty stuff out in the world at this point. and it's when they start to see more of what's out there, seems like some of that obliviousness and innocence just gets stripped away. i've noticed sometimes they unconsciously pick up stuff i say and they're always watching how i react and handle certain situations, what comes out my mouth...as much as i love them looking up to me like this, it can be a little nerve-wracking, and sometimes i catch myself doing what i tell them not to do. on a better note, it really is a good time to shine and be a good role model. if i've learned anything from being with the girls, it's not about showing them how "perfect" or right i am all the time (which i most certainly am not). it's letting them see that i make mistakes too, and am just part of the learning process together. it's not just telling them what they can't do and so-and-so is wrong, but giving them reasons too. word of advice if you have young'uns around you: don't abuse your status and give them the "because i said so" junk. it never works. i'm not a parent obviously, but being with these kids sometimes gives me just the teensiest glimpse of what future parenting could be like. heavenly? ehh, that's debatable. we'll see. all i will say is i have to say it's a humbling process and i wouldn't trade any of my time for these kiddies. they're precious, and sometimes i wish they'd never grow up. :)

and even though you want to...

...just try to never grow up.

that aside, our church had a baptism on sunday. as you can see from the picture above, some of the kiddies were a little entranced. i was too, but i was leaning toward amusement. i'm fairly certain our church is the only church that baptizes people in jacuzzi/spas.