One Year Ago

Curious to remember what my boys were like
just a year ago I hunted down this photo,
taken in early November last year.









Look at Nolan.
Not walking in the photo.
Now he runs, leaps, jumps!
And he has curly how now.
(did i ever tell you how his hair went from straight to curly?)
And Luke...in preschool and can apparently do everything for himself.

About Those Seven Years

I’ve been thinking a lot about
the last seven years of my life
as our anniversary neared.
And here it is.
Seven years.
Just like that.
I’m less sentimental about this anniversary
maybe because my thoughts have
naturally turned towards how life
has been different these last seven years.
And here is what I’ve got to say
about seven years of marriage.
1. I started thinking about the last seven years
of my life but quickly realized that my life was
not accurate. It is our life that I think about.
2. I still don’t like living in themiddleofnowhere.
How much longer until we can move?
3. I always thought it was romantic that
my onetruelove would bring me my favorite
coffee drink. Now I think it is romantic if my
onetruelove asks me if I’d like him to bring me
some Advil when he is getting himself some.
4. I still like to wear my tiara.

Seven

Storm Clouds

A note about Halloween
At first Luke wanted to be the Doppler for Halloween.
Mercifully, he changed his mind and requested a storm cloud costume.
With a button for the lighting.
Button…glow sticks…same happy effect.

I've Been Benched

My newly minted four year old
can now do everything by himself.
Or so he tells me.
You should see him lecturing me
on what a big boy he is
while he combs his hair in four
different directions.
And now the big boy’s little brother
only wants the big boy to help
him take off his shoes and jacket.
I get called in off the bench to
assist with a pesky zipper
or to give some socks a pull but
really I’m left to freak out and panic
about toddlers becoming big boys
and big boys turning to…well I
won’t even say it.

And as I was driving my boys home
from music class and lunch out together
I thought that life feels like sand falling through
your fingers. Life is moving quick-
sometimes hard to tell if you don’t have
little things growing right in front of you—
but it was a sweet reminder to work hard
because soon my time raising my boys to
become good and godly men will be over.

Crossing Lines

There are times in your life
when you cross over imaginary lines
that you made up in your head.
(but probably you didn’t know you had
the made up line in your head until you crossed it.)
In my experience there is almost no going back.
It is happening to me right now.
I have time to type this because I’m
waiting for my brand spanking new glue gun
to heat up. I have to put the last touches
on the couture homemade Halloween costumes
for my two boys.
(wait until you see what Luke asked to be!)
But before I plugged in the glue gun,
I made treats for Luke’s preschool bake sale
tomorrow. They are cooling. I’ll slice them up
and individually package them with festive Halloween
ribbon when I’m done with my glue gun activity.
And I’ve got a chicken pot pie in the oven
while I wait for the glue gun to heat up and finish the
costumes. Oh, and my oldest boy has croup. So
probably we won’t be at his preschool Family Fun Day
but I signed up for a bake sale goodie and I don’t want
to be the mom others talk about…oh, she couldn’t manage
her bake sale treat because she had a sick child and
so we didn’t have enough treats for all the families…
can’t you see them now, flat iron hair, black sunglasses,
draped in Stella & Dot.

I think my glue gun is ready.

Express Yourself

Wandering around a craft store
gathering supplies for Halloween costumes
I stopped to get my bearings in the
the unfamiliar territory.
Where in the world would spray glue be?
Where is the spray paint?
(ohmygoodness, did you know they have glitter spray paint?)
And then Nolan started grooving to Express Yourself by
the one and only Madonna and so of course I had to
break out a little groove too.
For a brief moment I forgot myself right
in an aisle of a craft store, dancing with your
child to a song that belongs to your generation
can cause a woman to forget herself.
The song ended.
Nolan asked for more.
And that is when I saw the old man at the end
of the aisle staring at us.
Exactly how long was he watching?
I have no idea.
And frankly I don’t care,
it was an awesome moment with my youngest son.

Apple Picking & More

Early yesterday morning we
made our way to an apple picking farm
and we picked and picked and picked apples.
And we picked broccoli and spinach too.
We were too tired to hunt down cauliflower
and all the other stuff you could self-pick.
What a treat!

Wednesday Afternoon

Lots to do.
Laundry to fold, of course.
Calendar maintenance,
maintaining the calendar for a family
is serious business.
Sorting thru stuff that won’t stop
coming in the house.
How do you stop stuff?
I must clean ketchup off the sole of
Nolan’s left shoe.
And I need to find that list I made
of all the stuff I need to do.
But really I just want to snuggle
with a napping child and enjoy
this moment in our lives.
This morning Luke stopped what
he was doing and ran over to hug my leg.
Said he was glad he got to work with me each day.
Me too, buddy. And together we gave thanks
that Faris works so hard so we can stay home together.

Thanks, myonetruelove

During music class this morning
Nolan wouldn’t stop doing somersaults
and jumping on the backs of other children’s mothers.
Thank goodness he didn’t show-off his new spitting skills.

Fall

Our first Fall Festival of the season.
The coldest day since April.