Words from J

I love coming across old emails. Often times they are the ones I keep because there's something about them. I came across one of them today. 

J wrote these words on a Friday before he was going away for an annual boys' weekend. They're never my favorite weekends because he's gone. I'm completely spoiled like that because he doesn't travel for work. I always wonder how different life would be if he had a different job. It would be part of our life-his leaving on business trips and such. But for now, that's not how it is, so our family isn't used to having him gone. Clearly he felt the love before he left...

It is very humbling and heartwarming to have your son hug you like that when you're going to leave, not to mention so many hugs and kisses from your wife ;)

The abundant love you 3 give me on a constant basis makes me incredibly happy.

Just wanted to tell you that you all mean the world to me, and I feel so very blessed & lucky.

I am also blessed and lucky. Every. Single. Day. Because of him!

I am a mom

I am a mom because of these two.

Because of these two.

Because of these two.

I am a mom because of her.

Because of her.

Because of her.

I am a mom because of him.

Because of him.

Because of him.

I am a mom.

And I love every second of it.

Good or bad.

Happy or sad.

It's who I am today.

And forever.

 ...some photo credit to M Photography...

She's only 6.

I have to remind myself of that sometimes. She is only 6. Sometimes she may seem like she's 6 going on 10 or even 16, but really, she's 6 going on 7.

Tonight we tried a sleepover. One of those milestones, really. You know, the, "You're such a big girl now!" kind of things. It was her first one with a friend. It was just the 2 of them. She went to the friend's house early evening and was ready to go. See?

Yes, pillow in hand, dolls ready to play, blankie, Friendly and Pinky all ready to snuggle. Everything was set. And then the phone rang. Just before 10:00. Sobbing on the other end. "Mommy...please come and pick me up! I just want to come home. I want you and Daddy to pick me up and then I can be with you and sleep!" Reasoning with a sobbing 6 year old on the other end of the phone, on a Friday no less, is impossible. Both J and I tried talking to her with no avail. Lori tried coaxing her back into bed for another 15 minutes and then another phone call-we were on our way to pick her up.

I kept going through the situation in my head. Did I do that when I was little? How old was I the first time I slept at a friend's house? What does Lydia think? What does Lori think? I didn't prep her enough. We never talked about what to do if you're scared. It didn't even cross my mind that she would react this way. Think about her personality: outgoing, loud, talkative, social, happy...all things that would direct a parent into thinking she would be fine at a friend's house. A good friend's house, no less. Lydia is someone who we practically spent the summer with at the pool. It seemed like a logical first sleepover.

But maybe she wasn't ready.

Maybe my 6 year old wasn't ready. My spunky, outgoing, fearless honey wasn't ready. J started taking a different angle...think about her and nightmares, movies, scary music, scary characters in books...and it makes a little bit of sense. I suppose there are those things that at night, when you are cozy in your own bed, they don't seem quite as bad. But if you're at someone else's house where you don't have a fan or a sound machine (oops), you hear all of the different noises in the house. You hear your friend breathing. You're not so sure about where you are anymore. Maybe that was it.

It's a tough position to be in as a parent. You want to be gentle so as to not scar your child for life. You want them to want to have sleepovers with friends. But on the other hand you also want them to understand how it feels on the other side; to be able to say, "I'm sorry it didn't work this time."To think about the other person and their family too.

But then again, she's only 6.

*sigh*

This certainly isn't the first parenting moment when I go crazy with scenarios. And it certainly won't be the last. All I know is I have a sleeping 6 year old girl who hasn't moved in her bed since I tucked her in, kissed and hugged her, said I love you, shut off the light and closed the door. I hope Lydia is doing the same right now.

And we'll definitely "try it again another time, (Mommy)." Love you sweet nugget.

Ride your bike!

That's what we did today. We rode our bikes. But not just around the neighborhood. We rode them to school! It was national ride your bike or walk to school day. What a great thing to do! It was a big deal where I teach. Over 300 kids participated. There was the Wellness Committee waiting with stickers and oranges to give to the kids and adults participating.

My own kids rode their bikes to school too. We got there are hadn't realized that the bike rack wasn't even out yet! We had to lock our bikes up against the fence. I even considered leaving them by a tree without locking, but we were advised not to.

But here you'll see locks weren't really an issue.

There were so many bikes EVERYWHERE! Love it. I think we're going to try and do this once a week until school's out. Doable, I think. Don't you?

First of the Season

We were here today for the first time this spring...

and we loved every minute of it! I picked the kids up from school and offered the idea of a picnic dinner if they finished their homework first. They were all for it. We were on our way 30 minutes later, picnic packed, ready to go.

We walked a bit at first to get to our usual spot. We forgot a blanket so we had to settle for a table. But it wasn't too bad, with a view of the lake and all. We watched the ducks, all of the dogs and puppies going for walks, and I watched as A & C scarfed down their dinner with the promise of ice cream to come.

The ice cream did come soon after-

and we had our first casualty of the summer. C licked his ice cream right off his cone and onto the ground. Boo-hoo. Really, he was very teary-eyed and almost started bawling right there. It can be hard for a little boy to lose his ice cream. Clearly we are out of practice.

After many licks later, the cones were gone and we were off to the playground. Not too bad for a school night!

They love the climbing net they have. I can't even begin to count how many times they went up and down. C even turned down the opportunity to play capture the flag with another little boy. That's how much he loves to climb!

On our way back to the car we were prepared to buckle up, start driving, and be on our way. That is until we saw a fox! A and I saw it first, walking across the road to the lake. She said, "C! Did you see that?! It's a fox!" Nope. He didn't see it. He was already in the car. So she climbed in, told him to get out, and he and I ran to see where the fox went. People were gathering by where it should have been. We kept a bit of distance (never encountered a fox in the open before) and waited. Pretty soon it comes trotting up the little hill, onto the walking path, then the bike path, with dinner in the mouth. We think it was a duck or a fish or something. We're not quite sure, because it was trotting in our direction. Needless to say, I turned around quickly and walked back to the car, looked back to see if it was still following, as it crossed the street. Quite the adventure as we were leaving!

The kids watched it in the woods as we drove slowly along the side, watching the crows begin to circle, hoping for the fox to drop said dinner. Then it disappeared.

All in all it was a great first visit to the Lake! We can't wait for many more to come...visits to the fairy house, bike rides, concerts to see, more playground time...the list is endless!

Rough and Tumble

Those could be the nicknames for our kids today!

A & C had a birthday party for an old neighbor who turned 7 today. The party was a Twins party (fitting), so all of the kids wore their Twins gear, brought their glove, and they played a little baseball. They also brought their scooters to ride around the driveway and cul-de-sac. Fun party!

We dropped the kids off, talked to the parents, said our goodbyes and were just about out the door when I see C on the grass, off of a bike he has borrowed. I dash outside..."Are you ok, Buddy?" "Yup. I fell of the bike! Thank goodness it was in the grass." I look down. "And you tore your shirt! Must have been a good fall!" He's ok-I go back in to finish the goodbye, and A comes in...

"I fell off my scooter! I'm all bloody!" Yes, she was. Both knees had blood dripping down them and hands were scuffed up a bit too. This is our first skid of the season, seeing how we had snow covering the ground on Tuesday. It's Saturday. She was one brave girl as we cleaned out her wounds, put on some ointment, and bandaged her up. She was off and riding her scooter (slowly) again in the driveway before we left.

So there you have it...Rough and Tumble. I suppose it would be the other way around, being the way I wrote it...C was Tumble and A was Rough. But you get the idea.

I'm sure this won't be the last time this year! Being that they're basically not afraid of much anymore. Let the season begin!

Sleeping

I love watching the kids sleep. It's always been something I've loved to do. Especially when they were babies and they were actually sleeping (yes!).

Now that they're older, I look at them sleeping and see their baby faces. I see their cheeks. I see their noses. I see their lips.

The other thing I think is crazy about sleeping is how 2 kids can be so completely different. Take tonight for example.

A: tucked in tight; sheet, blanket and quilt snuggled right up under her chin; all of her friends tucked in just so next to her; even her friends are wrapped in their blankies; she's holding onto her favorite blankie, like it's a stuffed animal

C: sprawled; legs hanging off of the bed; hotter than hot; less "friends" because, "otherwise I'll be too hot, Mommy;" no covers; such a hot body

Now mind you today was the first day we hit the 70 degree mark. C still claimed, as he climbed into bed, that he was still so sweaty from playing outside. He already proclaimed that he wants the snow back. Clearly his body had to adjust.

I just find sleeping kids so cute, funny and interesting. Cute because they're my kids. Funny because of how they sleep. And interesting because they are 2 totally different kids when they sleep! Love them, little snuggle bugs!