Hey, You Never Know!

I didn't want to write about my kids all the time, but it looks like it may be hard to avoid sometimes. After all, I spend pretty much 14 or more hours a day with at least one of them at all times. Besides, they provide good material and are 'mucho funny' sometimes.

So today was a half day of school, AGAIN (the third day in a row!), and on the agenda for the afternoon was art. Paint, gems, glue, stickers...the works. My son, Peter went to town and churned out a prolific amount of art. He was really in a frenzy, for hours, and even when dinnertime rolled around and my husband was scraping sequins off the table to make room for the kid-friendly (aka fried) fish fillets, he still didn't want to stop.

"I can't stop. I just want to do one more (which really means 5-10). I HAVE to. They're for Aida!"

I looked at the huge pile of artwork beside him. I'm not kidding. It was 10-15 paintings and some projects he created for her to have fun assembling herself. One of them was a lacing project...he had two cutouts of hands, each hand painted very decoratively and holes punched all around the edges. He found a piece of string to go with it so she can have fun lacing them together.

Now, I have to explain who Aida is. She is my good friend's daughter, she is his muse, and she is his 'wife'. Did I mention that my son is 5 and Aida is 4?

Peter has always been in love with Aida since they were old enough to talk, and one day he finally asked her to marry him. My friend Carolyn and I witnessed the proposal. We were in the locker room at the gym after swimming.

"Aida, will you marry me?" he asked.

She thought for a moment. "Ok."

He was over the moon, and he and his sister spent the whole night planning the wedding. He even made a top hat for himself out of black construction paper. Then he told me the plan for their future.

"When Aida and I get married, can she live with us?"

"Well, she is only four you know. Don't you think her parents will miss her?" He thought about that for a minute.

"I know. I'm going to build a house for us, right next to this house. We'll have a tunnel that connects the two houses and inside the tunnel will be the swingset. Then I'm going to buy all our furniture at the furniture store, except for the bunk beds. I'm going to build those for our kids. Because when Aida's a grown up she'll have babies."

"Well I'm happy to hear that someday I'm going to have grandchildren!"

"Yeah, and Isabella and Clara and Katherine (their combined sisters) will live in our house, and her parents will live with you and dad in your house. That way they'll still be near Aida."

"Sounds like an interesting plan. Are you going to work?"

"Oh definitely. On Saturdays I'm going to be a scientist who works in a lab, and on Sundays I'm going to be a meterologist, and at night I'll be an astronomer" (I think he forgot about his ambitions to be an astronaut too at that moment)

"What will you do the rest of the time?"

"I'm going to stay home the rest of the week to be with Aida! Then when we have kids I can help her with the kids." (Yep, that's my boy! Can a mom be any prouder?)

A couple of weeks later we finally had the big wedding during our regular pizza night get together. He was so excited and respectably nervous, as any good groom should be. The happy couple walked down the hall, Aida in a fancy dress borrowed from my daughter Isabella, and Aida's mom and I presided over the wedding. Afterwards, the traditional kiss. Then the cake cutting. It was great fun for all. Now Peter calls her his wife. He gives her gifts, makes her things, writes her letters, and after he won a trophy at the science fair a couple of weeks ago, ran through the crowd, looking for Aida to show her. I think he'll be a great catch someday for some lucky girl. I wonder if it will be Aida for real? (Is it weird that I have changed Aida's diapers?) And I know I like the in-laws already so that would be good by me!

So tonight after I read to Peter, we were lying in bed talking for a few minutes. I said something about how he'll always be my little boy and I asked if he'd come visit us in this house when he was a famous astronaut/scientist/meteorologist with his wife and kids if he had them.

"With Aida!" He insisted. He was kind of mad at me for even suggesting it might be otherwise.

Hmmm. I may need to start prepping him for reality at some point. But maybe not. After all, when was the last time I laid out big dreams and didn't even give it a second thought that they may not turn out the way I planned? That kind of naive certainty is wonderful. I still think of big plans, but now I have that pesky reality thing that gets in the way. Maybe I need to take a lesson from a five year old who has no doubts about what and who he will be when he grows up.

The thought/fact of the day is:
Forget reality once in a while and go ahead and dream big. Why not?!

Geez, I have to get off these happy, sappy themes. But I can't help it right now...maybe you'll luck out soon and I'll write some pessimistic, depressing stuff. Don't hold your breath though ;-) (Note the little happy face thing...I couldn't resist!)

So chances are that Peter and Aida will NOT grow up and get married and live next to us with a tunnel connecting our houses, but who am I to say it couldn't happen? Chances are I will NOT write the next Harry Potter, or become a famous artist, or host a decorating show on HGTV, or win Dancing with the Stars. (Actually, you can pretty safely bet on that one not happening, as many will attest to.) But what's the harm in thinking about it? Or, what's the harm in believing it? I think when I figure out what my ultimate dream is, I'll try to be like Peter. I'll forget reality and just forge ahead, knowing it's going to happen. Because, hey, really, you never know!

This picture was taken from the fire tower at the top of a mountain. My 7 & 5 year old had no doubts that they wanted to and could get to the top of that mountain on a rugged trail. And you know what...they did it!

Heaven In My Own Backyard

Last night I was able to sleep with the windows open for the first time this year, and I just love this! I wake up earlier than normal when I have them open because the cool air and the sound of birds singing pulls me from sleep. It's one of my favorite parts about camping in fact. The warm sun and the shadows of the leaves waving on the canvas of the pop-up, that cool air biting my nose, and that early morning orchestra of birds just singing their hearts out. It's the best. However, I always have a debate with myself before actually getting up.

"You could sleep for another hour, you know." says bad me.

"Yeh, but you'll probably just lie here and think about how you should get up and do something. Then you'll be mad that you wasted that hour." says good me.

"True. But it's nice and warm in bed here, and a whole hour of doing nothing. Think of it!"

Today good me won out and I got up and took a walk/jog. I knew I wouldn't regret it because I never do. As I was walking down our driveway one of our numerous rabbits in residence scuttered into the woods in front of me. At the end of our driveway my neighbor and her dog were looking intently into the woods.

"See something?" I asked.

"I heard a grouse. Do you know what they sound like?" she asked. I did not know what they sound like and she made a sort of quick thumping sound. Cool. I'll have to keep my eyes open for grouse I guess.

Then as I was walking up the road, still listening to the birds, I gazed at the mist sitting in the mountains. Further up the road two turkeys came running into the road ahead of me. They saw me and kept running ahead of me, in the road. All I could think of was the road race in my hometown every Thanksgiving called the 'Turkey Trot'. It made me laugh. Finally the worried looking turkeys figured out that they could just go back into the woods to escape me. "Whew. That was close!" they seemed to be thinking. That also makes me think of the other morning when I looked out my window and saw a flock of wild turkeys strutting around my car. They made their way through my yard, and what must have been the big kahoona (he was a huge bird for being a wild turkey), spread his tail feathers out just like you see pictures of on paper napkins at Thanksgiving. I've never seen that in person and it was pretty neat. I showed my 2-year old daughter and she squealed with delight. "Look at the chickens!" Well, close enough.

After that I came to the river and the birds in the marshes there were just going crazy. It was almost deafening! They were singing with a verve that made me think of Julie Andrews twirling on the mountaintop singing "The hills are alive with the sound of muuuuuusic!..." I almost broke out into song myself. That's the kind of morning it was today. Just me and nature communing. It was so much more uplifting than a cup of coffee. It was fuel for my soul. (Stop rolling your eyes...especially you, Annette!) Yes, I'm corny. Yes, I'm a nature freak. Yes, I love 'The Sound of Music'. And yes, I LOVE SPRING! Doesn't it just make YOU want to break out in song?! Well, you should try it. Go ahead, I dare you!

So, the thought/fact of the day is:
Go outside! Whenever you can.

In my humble opinion, there is no better cure for what ails you than being in nature. That is why I feel like the luckiest person in the world right now. I have a house in the country where I see rabbits, birds, woodchucks, turkeys and even bear. I was folding laundry on the screened in porch last night listening to the peepers, breathing in the dewy air, and I even heard a wild cat, probably a bobcat, screech. (That, I admit is a bit disconcerting since it was probably attacking something, but still. I like it better than the sound of sirens.)

We haven't been able to go any big vacations for years, but it's all worth it to have this house. I feel like I'm vacation 365 days a year! Well, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I truly always try to keep in mind how fortunate I am. I'm living my dream, and loving every moment of it! I'm definitely a country mouse, through and through! So, feeling blue? Take a walk down a country road or in the woods. You'll feel better in no time! I do.

These pictures were taken on a family walk last weekend. I wish I had some of our turkey visitors, but I wasn't quick enough.

Candy for breakfast? Forget about it!

Hoppy Easter! Wakey,wakey...it's 5 am and and time to eat 10 pounds of candy!!! Yes, one of the joys of parenthood is the 5 am wake-up call on all major holidays. Of course 'The Big One' being Christmas, but after that Easter is a close second. Then there's Halloween (more candy), Valentine's Day (more candy), Thanksgiving (just for the parade), St. Patrick's Day (the leprechans), Mother's Day & Father's Day (which for some reason involves waking up said parent very early to say "Happy Mother's/Father's Day"), and of course birthdays. Fireworks at 4th of July can go either way... super cool to watch or screaming/crying for your life.

Anyway, it's Easter today and my friend said, "You know you're old when waking up at 5am to eat candy for breakfast doesn't hold the same appeal." How true. The thought of eating all that candy in the morning makes me kind of sick now. Not that it stops me from sneaking a few pieces from the kids' baskets. As I'm popping my 5th handful of jellybeans, trying not to be seen by the Easter basket guardsmen, I'm thinking "Gross...I don't even want this! Stop it!" Then I stop. But later I take just a little nibble of a bunny ear. (Chocolate bunny of course, not the kind out back eating all my birdseed). It has to be a strategic nibble so as not to be noticed by the bunny owner. A little off a pre-nibbled spot, sort of spread out. No new chomps will do. That will definitely set off the kid alarms.

So I guess I'm a grown-up now since I'd rather have sleep than chocolate (most of the time). I also know I'm a 'grown-up' because of my, ahem, shall we say, slight loss of memory. I used to be able to roll through my finely tuned, highly organized rollodex in my brain and recall exactly where I placed that extra screw from the curtain rod I hung 2 years ago that I could really use right now. Now, I'm lucky if I can remember my kid's names without looking them up. I do that thing that my mother, and yes, YOUR mother did too, where I call them by a string of names, including the dead dogs' names, before I finally get the right one. My daughter even told me today that she wants to be just like me. (aw... I love my kids). Then she went on. "Because then I could forget scary things since you forget everything mom!" (anyone want a 7-year old?)

So the thought/fact of the day is:
I'm not old, I'm just a grown-up.

It's all in how you phase it. And after all, it's great to be a grown-up. Even if you don't want to, you CAN eat 10 pounds of chocolate, and it doesn't even have to be Easter. You're allowed. (Although I wouldn't recommend it.) I remember thinking when I was a kid, that when I was grown up and and living on my own that I'd have candy every day, because my parents couldn't stop me. Well, I guess I could. But I think I'll pass. It's more fun to sneak it from the kids anyway...and the calories don't count when you sneak it from THEM. It's their candy...their calories, right?