11 o’clock hour

About this time last Thursday
Luke faintly called
‘mama, mama’
and proceeded to
vomit for hours.

Tonight he called again.
‘mama, mama’
and I dashed up the stairs.
‘mama, can we hold hands?’

yes.
forever, please.

Sledding!

There is a great hill to
sled down right behind my
parent’s house.
Swing open the back gate
and bam,
you are at the base of the hill.
Luke took his first turn
down the hill this afternoon.

On Sleding

I bundled up my two sidekicks
to explore the snow.
Together we took on a mild hill.
A kind neighbor ran across the street,
abandoning his snow thrower,
to take a photo.

Astounding

The piles of laundry
are astounding.
Astounding, baby.
I will not be undone
by laundry.
Repeat.
I will not be undone
by laundry.
I’m going to brew some
coffee and watch
Downton Abbey.

Ok.
I’m going in.
Wait.
Did I tell you that on
Sunday afternoon we lunched
at Baja Fresh after church?
No I sure didn’t.
Which means I also didn’t tell
you that Luke belted out,
at the top of his lungs,
“HOLY HOLY HOLY
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY”
and then took a bow.

On Mothering

Last night in the car alone
I listened to a fascinating
author interview and then a
less than fascinating discussion
about the author and the book.
A woman has written a book
on why raising children
the Chinese way is better.
Read about the interview
and listen to it here.
Or just read this article on her.

You will have strong feelings
about the topic.

Wildness

Early this morning I went to
fill our birdfeeder. As I approached
the birdfeeder, a cat dashed out
from underneath the small green tree
next to it.
It frightened me.
Deeply frightened me.
Are there wild cats in my backyard?

And just a few short hours after that,
as I was sitting on the floor
next to the couch,
my three year old son
jumped on to my right shoulder,
as in I want a ride on your shoulders
kind of jump and placement,
except he landed only on my right shoulder.
The pain.
All day.
I almost wept.
And I gave birth naturally, twice.
I almost weep now.
Six Motrin and not even a dent.
But like most mothers, I carry on.
Baby on hip
Kid on leg
Passing out snacks
Sipping coffee
Handing out drinks
Breaking-up scuffles
Cheering kindness
Tickling
And so on.

Hip Hip Hooray!

It is a joyful time of year, friends.
Masterpiece Classic is back on.
Hip Hip Hooray!
And did you catch the first installment
of Downton Abbey?
I’m going to watch again tonight.
Check your local PBS listing or
watch online for a limited time.

Introductions

I’m not sure who he was talking to this morning
but Luke introduced his family to a fake
person/animal in the following manner:
“This is my family. This is my little brother, Nolan.
And this is my mommy. She makes me dinner.”

Faris was faithfully serving his family at work
so I guess that doesn’t warrant a fake introduction.

For the Birds

Update: this morning there was a kitty by our backdoor. i instructed the people in my family to move away from the window and leave it alone. we were not opening the door, feeding it or anything else of that nature. and yes, it was only three degrees this morning. mean? no. i don’t think so. that kitty should thank me for the dead bird it hauled off. and i’m sure faris was thankful to not have to deal with a dead bird.
wait.
am I talking about dead birds and a kitten hauling it off?
oh, man.


Finally both boys are asleep and
I’m eating my own personal lunch
and I looked out the window.

Immediately you are wondering what kind
of crazy wildlife did Camille spy in her backyard, right?
I don’t blame you.
Wild turkey, again?
Deer?
Turtle?
Bald eagle?
Not any of those.
But I did see a fox on Sunday morning, twice.
And a hawk this morning.
Did I see a bear?
No.
Did I see an emu?
No. But a man shot one last week in my county.
It escaped from a neighboring county.
I saw a woodpecker at our birdfeeder.
And I paused.
Our birdfeeders are new.
So this bird feeding thing is new.
Luke & Nolan gave Faris two birdfeeders for Christmas.
And you know what, we are all enjoying it.
Anyway back to the woodpecker.
Lo and behold, there was a woodpecker.
You see, I bought two bags of birdseed yesterday
Different kinds.
One bag attracts several kids of birds, woodpecker included.
But I scoffed.
Woodpecker, really?
Really?
A woodpecker is going to come to my birdfeeder
because of this food?
No way. You people think I’m going to buy
this birdseed because it says woodpecker on.
(really, i’m buying it because it says cardinals on it)
Please. Woodpecker.
Don’t even try to be backyard fancy bird food.
More scoffing.
Who even sees a woodpecker?
I rolled my eyes as I put the bag in my cart.
And then I was humbled at my kitchen table.
It’s woodpecker city around here.
And I’m wondering where the cardinals are.

I’d post a picture but my dad ran off with
my computer cable. I guess I could take the
time to learn to download with the memory thingy
but who has time to learn something new
when dirty dishes, laundry, and other stuff
demands my attention.
So blame my dad.
I am.

(don’t be calling me with instructions, dad!)

AND JUST AS I WAS ABOUT TO POST THIS
I hear two bangs and go running.
A bird smashed into a window and a door
and now lays dead.

Rapid Fire

I know you want to know
so here it goes
rapid fire style, baby.

1. Mercifully I no longer covet or lust after a minivan. It was phase. Phew.
2. I’m so tired my eyes are burning. My baby doesn’t sleep through the night. No sir he sure doesn’t. Well, he has slept through the night eight times but clearly that was just by accident. An oversight on his part.
3. Last night, say around 3am, Luke called me. I went. He asked me to snuggle him. I said ok.
4. An hour later Nolan woke and was serious about something but was keeping it a secret.
5. I still cannot find my camera computer cord. I haven’t downloaded a single December picture I think. My mom told me to buy a new one. Maybe I should.
6. Nolan walks. Has been for a few weeks.
7. I wish somebody would make me coffee. Or at least bring me a hot cup of fancy overpriced coffee.
8. I’m starting to think I should allow grammar rules to apply to me. Like some traffic rules that clearly do not apply to me, I decided grammar rules didn’t apply to me.
9. Today in the car Luke told me the story of how Lindy and Papa Joe brought him to the hospital to see me and how he saw Nolan and I was on a bed with buttons and then I told him Lindy and Papa Joe would take him to Chik-fli-a for dinner and then they did take him there for dinner and then home where they gave him a bath and put him to sleep until his Baba came home.
10. Did I tell you that since the end of November at least one person in my family has been sick? Usually it was Nolan. Kid had a double ear infection at his own birthday party.
11. I hear Faris in the garage. I wonder if he got my message via the Force to bring me coffee. I’m going to find out.

Thirsty?

During story time tonight
Luke tried to get me to open
my mouth so he could give me
the water in his mouth.
All under the guise of sharing.

And I’ll be honest with you.
I was reading a story and not
paying attention to what he was doing
so I was about a millisecond away from
opening my mouth when he asked me to.

That is either a mother’s instinct working
in favor of the mother
or
a mother being on the receiving end
of gross sharing more than she is willing
to admit to.

My name is Camille
and I’m not thirsty
thankyouverymuch.

Happy New Year!

Peek-a-Boo
Here I am!

-silence-

Gentle Readers, are you still there?
Hello?
Buller?
Buller?

-silence-

Hello?
Tap tap.
Is this thing on?

Oh, there you are!
And here I am.

We are back together!

I have so much to tell you.
So much to confess to you.
So much to update you on!
(including many 2010 events I know you want to know about!)

Now I’m off to find my camera cord to download pictures.
I’ve been looking for it for two weeks at least.

In the meantime enjoy these delightful boys.