that'll be safe

Today I was going through iPhoto getting ready to order some prints and came across these pictures of Abby. She's a girl trained well by Mike for safety. Too bad he can't apply the same principles to driving. :) I'm not sure how he arrived at being so cautious and protective after hearing some of the stories of his teenagerhood. Usually when he divulges stories about wreckless driving, dangerous activities, and plain ol' boy idiocracy I say,"Please don't finish telling me this and don't ever tell me anything like this again. I don't want to know and I'm just thankful God spared your life in spite of yourself." Although you wouldn't know it now, he was quite the daredevil. Speaking of which, I love Matt Parker's blog about taking chances! Check it out, he is hilarious and has some great points.

But now, Mike is all about cautious. Maybe it's because he's a little older and wiser, maybe because he and I saw too many videos in college about Traumatic Brain Injury and the likes preparing us for our professions, maybe because he sees how vulnerable life really is, maybe because he has precious girls in his care. Who knows?

These pictures make me chuckle because they are so Abigail. Her Great Grandma Doris sent a "big girl bike" for her birthday in November and she loves it. Somehow Grandma knew the purple one was just for her! One of her first rides on the driveway she, of course, crashed and burned. I was shocked beyond belief that she would even get back on the thing after that. But she did... and crashed again the next time. So, Mike decided to surprise her with her very own princess helmet and pads. This is the "trying on and adjusting session". She was so happy that she practically wanted to wear them to bed.

Her quote comes from the park (a couple of months ago) yet again. I overheard her friend Adelyn say, "What do you want to do, Abby?" Her reply (not knowing I was listening): "Let's go swing in the bucket swings, that'll be safe, Adelyn!" This is word for word what she said, no kidding. No living life on the edge in the real swings for this 3 year old! I smiled knowing that Mike would have been proud!