These Are the Days

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Two + 7

Woo-hoo, a monthiversary post (nearly) on time!

Dear Noah,
Our life continues at this crazy pace, and yet you don't seem the worse for wear. In fact, I see how happy you are at Trinity every day, and it puts my heart at ease to know that you are not only having fun there, but *loved* by your teachers. When I drop you off in the morning, you wave and sign "I love you" and tell me that you hope I have a good day. When I pick you up, you tell me you don't want to leave until you've had snack and played with your friends. So even though I would not say our situation is ideal right now, I couldn't be happier with the care you get from our friends at TLC.

Besides numbers (you can totally rock the A-B-C's), shapes (you know lots of them now), and colors (which you are still working on), you are picking up lots of stuff from your classmates. Potty humor is something preschoolers never seem to tire of, and we are working daily on trying to discourage you from calling people poo-poo or poop, and from talking about all things you want to pee on. Or calling people stupid.

We're also STILL trying to eliminate your not-so-friendly habit of hitting when you're angry, though it now seems to be reserved for only me and your dad. You are also testing our tolerance of your disrespect and disobedience these days, which doesn't make any of us happy. I am just hoping that as you make your way closer to three, you will begin to outgrow some of this.

But I don't mean to focus on the negative. Because there is SO MUCH AWESOMENESS in you, my little boy. You ride and you scoot and you run and climb, and kick and throw in ways that amaze us and make your dad and I give each other that conspiratory smile, knowing that in you, we have made something amazing. You make us laugh, and tell us jokes. You show such heart-melting empathy and compassion to others, and especially to Brynn when she is hurt or upset. You are deeply emotional . . . . you've got the high highs and the low lows - just like me.

I told some friends the other day that even though life feels SO HARD sometimes with you (even the simplest things can turn into a battle), that you have made me a better mother. You have made me temper my intensity, strengthen my patience, trust in your abilities, focus on the positive, and generally *calm down.* And just enjoy your wild crazy boyness, of which I'm sure we will never run short. :)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Summer Came . . . and the Summer Went

Oh, dear neglected blog! Has it really been FIVE MONTHS since my last post? Summer was intense, what with my internship. I had very little extra time or energy for blogging (not to mention that Blogger - the host of this blog - has changed their photo upload interface, and it is now nearly impossible to lay the photos out the way I want to, and it frequently loads the pictures sideways, which I can't fix . . . so what should take me 10 minutes takes like AN HOUR OF FRUSTRATION.... so I've all but given up on trying to post a lot of pictures).

That being said . . . a lot of cool things *have* happened in the past almost-half-year.

The kids got cuter and cuter, of course.

(See! Sideways!)

We went on vacay to the Great Smoky Mountains and Dollywood with Melia and her crew!

We took our first camping trip as a family! It was really fun.

Brynnie started KINDERGARDEN!

(Yes, y'all, she styled this look herself.)

And she learned to tie her shoes!

And she is just such a phenomenal reader now (fully reading chapter books) that she reads to me at bedtime these days. :)

She and Noah spent so much time out in our back yard this summer, making shelters (if you look closely or click on the image to enlarge it, you can see Noah's naked little body, covered with leaves.)

And Brynn made us some beautiful leaf bracelets.

The kids often entertain themselves, sometimes by writing all over their bodies.

Brynnie also learned to SWIM this summer! Such a huge accomplishment!

And she learned to blow bubbles with her gum, which was also a huge accomplishment in her book. :)

One of the coolest things that the kids did was learn to ride a two-wheeler!

Yep, even Noah is out there riding without training wheels. He's 2 1/2, people! Pretty darn amazing!

Happy dance!

Brynn was SO proud of herself!

We were super proud of her too.

Noah is such an awesome BMX'er.

More beautifulness.

We said goodbye to summer and ushered in fall by having a Mabon celebration, which included a campfire and roasted marshmalllows.

Now we are half-way through autumn, enjoying the cooler weather and pumpkins and beautiful colors.

Perhaps I'll add another update before the new year begins . . . ;)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Lucky Seven (and Brynn's five-and-a-half birthday!)

The blog has been silent for quite a while now, taking a back seat to real life happening at a break-neck speed for the past two months. But I had to take a moment to commemorate the very first day of my current real-life: mine and Jason's wedding. Seven years ago we stood at the altar and said our I-do's, and life has been amazingly blessed (lucky, even!) ever since.

We drove up to Bloomington yesterday and I couldn't help but return to the Unitarian Church where we were married, and re-create the scene - this time with the little people that have been born of this union as our companions. Kind of corny, maybe, but it was very special to me.

That was then.

I remember it like it was yesterday: the giddiness and utter joy at marrying the love of my life! It seemed like we had waited *forever* to have the luxury of being husband and wife. But it was so worth the wait.

Yesterday we also celebrated Brynn's half-birthday, which she has been anticipating for ... oh ... the past four months. ;) Before heading to Bloomington, we visited Brown County State Park. After a picnic and a hike, we took a splash in the *awesome* indoor aquatic center at the Abe Martin Lodge. SO. MUCH. FUN! Later we enjoyed a celebratory ice cream cone, after which Brynn declared that this was The Best Day of Her Life (except for how hot it was).