Clear Skies

Can you deny there’s nothing greater, nothing more than the traveling hands of time? ~Tear Stained Eye lyrics

We had a fun weekend.  It ended with Dan’s birthday on Sunday which we celebrated with coffeecake muffins for breakfast and a cookie cake after dinner. 

I was so pleased to have the company of both of my kids on a run too.  We went four miles and they were fabulous.  I wouldn’t have preferred to be any where else in the world.

 

The Heart of Things

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace. ~May Sarton

We met Ellen half way between her house and ours, at her parents farm just south of Terre Haute, Indiana.  It was a journey to the soul of the heartland.  And wonderful, every bit of it.  Mostly it was wonderful to be with Ellen, who is a dear part of our family since she was in our home many hours each week for a huge part of Grace’s early years and my first years as a parent.   It was an honor to get to be a part of Ellen’s family for a weekend, in the place she spent her childhood, and to get to know her parents.  It was such a treat to get to learn about what life is like when farming is your “job”.  I was most impressed that Ellen’s mom grew and sold over 7,500 mums.  The ones we saw were absolutely beautiful.  We came home with a wild assortment of gords and a 77 pound pumpkin, all from Slater Farms.  You might guess that the best moment for me was making dinner with Ellen and her mom.  All of the vegetables were straight from their fields.  And we made a blackberry cobbler!  On a farm!  I was in heaven.  I think Max’s best moment was seeing Ellen’s dad pull up on his tractor and to get to ride around on it.  Grace’s best moment was being with her dear Ellen, she just lights up in her presense.  And Dan, well, I’d have to say his favorite moment was checking out the train tracks.  It was so relaxing to be out where activity is in pace with the sun and moon.  Thank you Slater Family!

 

We Fall Down

For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life. ~William Blake

Thanks to mercy, we are back on our feet after the trying week of last: mercy from the weather gods and the saints of health. The sun has been shining for six days in a row without a drop of rain. Dan kicked his flu, Max rebounded from his ear infection and the lump I found!! checked out to be nothing (I’m still wondering if the mammogram smashed it to smitherines and set it free to float around my entire body, but will let that thought go).  Things are mostly put back in order on the shelves in my head and the walls are no longer closing in.  We’re looking forward to a FUN and busy weekend: the Son Volt show friday night; a kids show Saturday afternoon, cocktails and dinner out on Saturday night and Dan’s birthday Sunday.  Emphasis on fun, that will feel good.

Max and I shared the most peaceful moment at the park today.  He wanted to be pushed on the swing and both of us got lost in the moment: the trees, the crisp air, the leaves, kids playing.   He peacefully swang back and forth for over ten minutes, without one word.  It took me back to the feeling I had being with him when he was a baby, he was so peaceful and quiet.  I was filled with love for my little quiet boy.  And it reminded me of how I love his quiet Dad. 

I have a recurring thought about being like a tree.  In the rain and storms the trees get kind of beat up and they sag and their limbs get moved and pushed and swirled all about by the wind.  But trees continually do their best to hold their limbs up, reaching and growing towards the sky.  When the sun comes back out they perk right up.  We’ve weathered a little tiny storm and are standing tall and strong with our faces soaking up the sun. Sometimes we fall down, but this is the good life and it is all holy, holy, holy.

 

Not a Banner Week

We have seen better days. ~William Shakespeare

This week was trrble (think Charles Barkley’s voice). It started out really great with a trip to our original nanny Ellen’s family farm (post to come shortly).  Then it went to poo.

Next is the top ten list of things that contributed to the yuck.  If you are reading this and didn’t take a vow to love me in sickness and in health, you are free to go.  Otherwise, keep reading.

10. Max feels bad: Max got a botched flu shot at walgreens from the meanest nurse in the world, wouldn’t walk for an entire day, then had a fever, and then an H1N1 shot a couple of days later.  This all made him very crabby.

9. Single parenting: Dan was out of town for three days and nights for work at the Mayo Clinic so I had the littles alone.

8. Getting nothing done: Bridget was on her honeymoon so we didn’t have our regular sitter for Wednesday; Dan called in a backup.  Backup sitter smoked, talked on her cell phone and generally ignored Max.  Her first question was “does he like cartoons?”.  She was disappointed for about 3 seconds when I said he could watch 2 shows, then she must have decided that this would leave the tv free for her soap operas, which she watched all day long.  Needless to say, this wasn’t a good environment, Max cried most of the day, and I didn’t get a lot of work done before I sent her home.  He kept saying “I love her, but I want her to go to her house.”  Sweet boy doesn’t even know what it feels like to not be comfortable with someone.

7. Rain, rain, rain: It rained over 12 inches in St. Louis this month, while the average for October is 2.84 inches.  3 of those12 inches were in the last two days.  It is the wettest October in history and one of the top five wettest months on record.  The guy laying our carpet called it a “world record”.  Gloomsville.

6. Poop: Grace alsmot pooped her pants while we were driving home in a downpour on Thursday.  I had four kids in the car because we had just picked up two little friends who stayed with us while their parents were traveling for work.  She had to go so bad, we pulled quickly into the grocery store and all five trudged through the rain to get her into the bathroom to avert crisis.  She was literally holding it in with her hands as we ran through the rain.

5. Max feels really bad: Max got an ear infection. He started every sentence today with a very whiny “But Mommy.”  By the end of the day he started every sentence with “But Mommy, you never, ever, let me ___.” (Fill in blank with – eat cupcakes for dinner, play in the basement, stay up past bedtime, eat candy for bed time snack, read books). 

4. Cooped up: Grace, Max and I couldn’t leave the house all day today while carpet was installed in the basement.  I snarked and snapped and whined at them almost all day out of tiredness, cabin fever, rainy day blues, general irratibility and bad parenting.  They snarked and snapped and whined too, but was it the chicken or the egg?

3. We missed fall: The leaves seemed to all have fallen down with the rain.  There is no crunch, no beautiful leaves drifting down, no blue sky.  There is just a soppy mess of wet leaves all over, including inside the house.

2. More poop: Max decided he was potty trained while we were in the drive through window at Walgreens to get his antibiotic.  As they were getting his perscription, he started yelling “I have to go potty.  Get me out of this seat.  Get me out of this silly seat, right now.  Right now. I have to go potty.”  He was wearing a diaper.  I had my head in my hands and actually forgot where I was.  The man at the window interrupted my wallowing with “sounds like fun in there.”  I always wonder if they can hear everything in your car the whole time or just when they are actually talking to you. Oy.

1. More illness: Dan returned from his trip late last night and now has some kind of flu; I think it is H1N1 and our doctor agrees.  I hope it is that and not some fancy mutant flu brought in from the Mayo Clinic.  I hope he gets better soon and doesn’t miss too much of the fun around here.

This probably shouldn’t even be posted.  It is isn’t funny, just icky and blah blah blah and I am sorry for that.   It feels good to write it down and have the freedom to say that is was, in fact, a pretty crappy week.  No runs, no quiet time, just mess.  

BUT, we are safe, I’m prayerful that we will be healthy soon and that the rain will stop.  Here’s what’s needed around here: sunshine, a run, some grace, a really good laugh and a good Halloween.  All in one day will be fine.

 

Leaves

The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living. ~Russian Proverb

Our little cottage is covered in yellow leaves.  The kids and I are waiting for a special fall day to come: the day when the magestic trees on Monroe (street we live off) start to shed their leaves en masse.  It is a sight to see when so many leaves fall from the huge trees that meet in the sky above the street.  It will be any day now, I’m just hoping it is a beautiful blue sky day because it won’t be so great if it is still raining.  When this day comes, we’ll walk, we’ll take pictures and we’ll drive up and down Monroe with the sunroof open in the minivan.  We’ll hope that our heads and inside our car get covered in leaves that blow in.  We did it last year and can’t wait.  To honor the season, we made tissue paper, paper plate, tree puppets?! I always dreamed of living in a cottage in the forest.

 

Wedding Joy

There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends. ~Homer

Bridget got married this weekend.  The wedding was beautiful.  The kids did such a great job as the flower girl and ring bearer.  I was so impressed with how they carried themselves and smiled and danced and played out the overall joy and carefree-ness of being kids.  You can rent them if you need a perfect flower girl and ring bearer.  Thank you Bridget for including us in this most special day.  We were very honored to be a part of it!

 

A million things to do, you know that there are

“Well, if you want to sing out, sing out; And if you want to be free, be free” ~Cat Stevens lyrics

We have had a million things going, hence the lack of posts in the last couple of weeks.  In addition to work and work related travel for both Dan and me, and all the everyday stuff, we’ve also had some bonus stuff.

We had a nice visit with Dan’s parents that included Fallapalooza at Grace’s school and a myriad of other fallish activities.  The kids loved the crafts that Grandma Barb brought!

The next weekend we had a great visit with the Fish family, including a fabulous chili supper at the Robson’s home.  The highlight of that weekend was baking cinnamon rolls with Carolyn, who really is a professional baker (I will always remember the day in 1992 in our dorm room in Ford 7 that she declared she had chosen her major: bakery science.  Jen then-Harlow was up on top of the loft in our room making all kinds of quips, including, “you’re going to make so much dough!”)  You should see her hands go with that dough.  I was in heaven.  And the rolls were so good.

 In the midst of the Fall visits, we also got the basement remodel going, after waiting a year to assess the water situation.  The progress is good and the timing is perfect for the cold weather that has descended.  We WILL have a mouse house down there, you have to come see (the mouse house was inspired by a friend with such creativity and free spirit; when I saw hers I knew I had to have one if I ever had the chance! Yay.)

And this coming weekend is our nanny, Bridget’s, wedding.  Grace is a flower girl and Max is the ring bearer.  We are so honored and can’t wait to participate.

We’re living high and free and thankful for it.

 

Change is in the Air

It’s a beautiful day in this neighborhood. ~Fred Rogers

 

It was a gorgeous day in Kirkwood today.  One of those days when the sunlight shines perfectly through all of the trees in this forest of a town, all day. It illuminates the big old houses in our historic district, highlights the charm of a place that has grown over 150 years and sparks an old time simple feeling that I adore. 

Max rode his bike all the way to the Farmer’s Market to play in the little ramshackle pumpkin patch play area.  The amtrak went past as we played.  It could have been 1952.  I adored the neighborhood and my child the whole way.  The air was crisp and wonderful. 

And once again, the blustery autumn wind has blown something new into our house.  Grace decided to ride the bus to school today and joyfully rode it to and from school.  I offered to follow the bus to school and still walk her in (this is what most parents do on the first day of school, according to the principal, and I thought it fitting since it was her first day ON THE BUS).  You should have seen the frown on her face when she saw me standing at school to greet the bus.  She waved for me to go back to my car and did not want me to walk her in.  Ok then.  Wow.  All I can say is, Wow.

These children raise themselves to a degree, and she has risen a bit. Go Gracie, Go Gracie, You’re a Bus Rider, Go Gracie.

And to top that off, Max restarted a soccer class today at the Soccerdome, and loved it.  He did not appear to need to go straight to sleep, like he did last winter when he was in soccer.  He ran around doing soccer drills for 45 minutes and still didn’t take a nap.   Go Mackey, Go Mackey, You’re a Bid Duy, Go Mackey.

I’d say we made the most of the day in this beautywood.

 

Fall Kickoff

Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.  ~Henry David Thoreau

Fall is now officially here.  We kicked it off with one of our very favorite St. Louis activities – The Great Forest Park Balloon Race (and Balloon Glow).

The existence of this event changed our lives: It happened when I lived across the street from Forest Park in a little apartment that I shared with myself .  One absolutely gorgeous, blue sky, crisp air day, Dan and I went outside and noticed hoards of people sitting on the golf course in the park.  We wandered over to see what was going on and became aware of something called the Great Forest Park Balloon Race.  We couldn’t believe we weren’t aware in advance of this activity! We vowed on that day to never again be unprepared for a fantastic picnic!   And we have lived up to it.  And the Great Forest Park Balloon Race is how we have kicked off fall ever since.

Thanks to everyone who joined us.  Next year I hope to kick it up a notch and go all out with a big party picnic tent!  Happy Fall.

 

Independence, some day.

Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day. ~Winnie the Pooh

Max asleep hugging a polar bear. Grace asleep on a chair. We found her like this after she'd been in bed a couple of hours and we were upstairs!?

Grace and Max are getting more independent, although their souls are still so little.  That is obvious when they are sleeping.

Max is growing up (again).  He still wants to try to help with most everything and a lot of it he wants to do himself  (me-self, he says).  We think he’s pretty tough.  He is now riding a little 12 in bike and wipes out in the street sometimes.  He fell today while chasing a soccer ball down the street; he just tripped over his own feet and face planted.  Dan was putting ice on his lip and said “Are you a tough guy?” Max said “No. Jeffrey is a tough guy.” Jeffrey is in his class at school.  Dan asked if Max was tough too and with one of his huge professional frowns he said “No.  I miss Mommy.”  Adorable. Fine, he’s not tough then.  That’s fine.

On another note (no pun intended), he told Bridget that he thought he had an elephant in his diaper the other day.  Our nanny was quite confused until she figured out that he’d had a major toot that must have sounded to him like an elephant trumpeting.

Grace is changing too (again).  I think she’s getting tough.  She and her friend Lillian asked if they could ride their bikes around the Ursuline parking lot by themselves yesterday.  I let them because I was glad they wanted to.  It won’t always be so easy to allow independence, will it? This is a huge change from our little one who mostly wants to curl up in our laps on the couch and doesn’t want us to be further than 5 feet from her bedroom at night.  She also got invited to go home with Jen after the half marathon and she didn’t miss a beat in saying “yes!”.  She didn’t even ask if I would come too.  If she learns nothing else in kindergarten but to be sure of herself venturing into things, that is fine with me.  Hooray!  Wait a minute, does that mean she’ll want us less and less?  Oh boy.  She is officially spending more awake time in the company of friends than with us. I am sure this is for the best but I still wish we were on a farm in the Netherlands waiting to start school until they were 7.  Or 14.

On the way to school this week Grace was asking Max whether or not he remembered something.  He said he didn’t and she asked “Mama, does Max have a very little brain, like Pooh?”.  I laughed and laughed and the kids were cracking up too.  I said that Max is very smart and that I hope he is like Pooh because Pooh is so happy.

I could meander on this river with them forever.