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Six
Boy turns six today. Six.
Isn’t this the small fry who surprised us by letting his presence known in Disneyland over six years ago? The little thought? The little dream? That little dream-thought has grown up into his own person. His own very smart, very wise, very kind person.
As he’s getting older, Jude is starting to make some plans about his life. I had a sit down with him the other day to inquire about his future. He definitely wants a wife and children, which is nice to hear. His wife will be tall, not too ‘husky’ (Jude’s PC word for ‘fat’) but not skinny either. She will have a ‘juicy booty’ and, well, let’s just say he likes a girl who is kinda juicy everywhere. He has also informed us that he will live in our house for always- and not the apartment. He wants to live in the house with us. I think that is terribly sweet. As for a career, he wants to write comic books about Pokemon when he’s not performing his duties as a stay at home dad. It sounds fairly familiar.
Five was a big year. Five was four lost teeth, learning all the letters and sounds, learning to count to 100. Five was Minecraft, Pokemon and Marvel Lego Superhero. Five was slimming down, becoming active, learning to love broccoli, cauliflower and trying strawberries at last. Five was saying goodbye to the troll at the vacant lot and hello to kindergarten; five was singing Mario Kart Lovesong and all the songs from Frozen. Five was tickle fights and vulgar songs, hugs and kisses, late night wrestling matches, potty talk club, rubber band guns and swimming in the ocean. Five was new friends, best friends and learning to love family more than anyone knew how. Five was the best yet.
Six will be better.
I love you, my sunshine boyo.
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Glow Party
Oh my. There was a glow party at my school last Friday.
It replaced the beloved Sock Hop- since the people who hopped in socks are now the grandparents, the sock hop was confusing. It was funny to watch the little second graders dressed up in their tie dye and hippie skirts or neon workout gear with the shoulders cut out for fifties day. Eventually we gave up and called it ‘Decades Day’ so no one was wrong and anything fit in! But I digress. The Glow Party, as the name suggests, was dark and glowy and the perfect scene for any kid looking to get wild right under their parent’s nose. And boy did they. It was a mad, good time for all those little bodies!
As a relatively old person in the crowd, I couldn’t see anything! Remember- these are elementary aged children, I’m not being insulting. An 18 year old is almost elderly in that crowd. But seriously, first, it was dark, then all this dim glowy stuff was everywhere and eventually it was like there was a white, gauzy cloud shimmering in front of you. It was trippy- not the effect they were going for. I couldn’t see anyone or anything at all, and eventually just stumbled over to a wall and stood there watching for Jude. Seriously, only 40 here.
But still, for the kids? A mad success and so fun. It was epic! Were I eight, (or ten or five) I could have died a happy death that night. There was glow swag- hats, necklaces, wands and more- along with pizza, soda, tattoos and a comprehensive array of good candy. Not just the tootsie roll bag, if you know what I mean. The good stuff. My kids walked out loaded down with enough glowy goodness, gum and candy to last the ages… And, lest we forget, they had the best time shaking it.
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Kites Are Fun
02.18.14 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Kites Are FunIt’s been great kite flying weather…
We are bananas about kites now.
I am not kidding. If there is no wind the boy storms around as though it’s personal.
Kites are fun!
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Valentine
02.16.14 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Valentine
Valentine’s Day this year was lovely. We planned a simple, stay at home kind of evening centered on making everyone feel important and loved. It started out in the morning with the Valentines in the picture above. Each of the kids got some coupons for snugly, lovey things to do with their Mama as well as a Valentine themed snack or lunch. The day itself was exhausting for their Mama, so I was glad to get my lovies to them early!
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Jude and Guinevere each took their teachers flowers. Frankly, I would have melted if I received the ones from Jude. His handwriting is so terribly earnest and sweet. Bradley got to find little pink hearts all over his office all day. A reliable source says there are still many hearts to find…
The day ended with a candle lit bath for each kid and champagne for mom and dad. It was a beautiful day, full of love and kindness, just like Valentine’s Day is supposed to be.
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This collage was made for my other website and the picture of me is included to show my tired face at the end of a Valentines Day spent with 25 eight year olds during the full moon the day before a four day weekend. We had a great day, but I was TIRED when it ended! 🙂
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Salad Days
02.15.14 | Permalink | | Comments Off on Salad DaysLately I look at our website despondently and bemoan it’s lack of new content. I simultaneously say to myself that we are so busy that I don’t have time to write on the website and that we haven’t been doing anything so there’s nothing to report. Both are true.
Our January and February have been busy- full of the day to day, in and outs of everything. I went through the texts that Bradley and I have shared over the past few weeks and mined out a beautiful life- the one I always wanted. The pictures and stories we share back and forth so prove that we’ve been busy and that our tapestry has been woven from the mediocrity of the day to day. The irony is that I love it.
Throughout the day, I’m messaged with the this and that’s- my daily hug picture as Gigi peels away from the fold to step into her classroom. I see the antics of my boys when I check in at lunch- I see their daily walk, their meal together and sometimes some of the things they get up to. I feel connected to them until we can rejoin ranks and be present in one another’s life again.
Our nights are simple but full. We are committed to our collective health, so we often work out and get some cardio activity as a family, then, while the kids do homework, play games or watch something, Bradley and I finish up with an extended weights workout where we process our day, chatter and act like parents and grown ups together. Add making dinner, clean-up, bedtime stories, tooth brushing, nose rubs, tickles, jokes and wrestling matches, our days are full of simple pleasures.
I call these our salad days- where everything is at it’s best. These mundane, ordinary busy days are the ones we will look at with tenderness and warmth as we age. These days are golden and bright in their normalcy. I feel lucky that this is my normal, boring life. These are the days. The ones that are exhausting and end with our Lj version of Baby Beluga sung to a sleepy five year old and reminders to the ten year old to wash her face and tuck in by nine- these are the days will be missed more than any others. The salad days.
