Giving Thanks

For These Guys...healthy, beautiful, creative individuals.   Love them.

For the Sun, Sky and beautiful views.

For doing things you love, with people you love.

For not being afraid to dance to the beat of your very own little drummer.

Yes, that is a mean White Man Overbite impersonation.

Thankful we have family to spend time with, an abundance of food to share and memories for later days.

What Did You Say?

My little people are already in the Christmas spirit.  Of Santa, that is.
On the way home from our mountain trip, they decided to pen a note to the Man In Red.

Apparently my driving was not conducive to writing a note to Santa.

My driving had no effect on GoGo's letter-it's mostly hearts anyway.

D's take on a cottage in the mountains - to be mailed along with the list to Santa.

GoGo's gift for Santa.

This morning two Walks With Purpose things happened.

She's in bed with hubs and I and she toots.  She whispers "Tree Frog".  

She toots again.  She whispers "Again".

Happy Weekend!

Later, she has taken her diaper off for the 6th time in approximately 30 minutes.  

I ask her WHY she keeps taking it off.  She tells me "cuz Baby is on my  butt".  

I look and yes, there is her baby doll on her butt.  

Nice.  I couldn't bring myself to photograph that.

You Learn Something New Everyday

We went to the mountains this weekend for a long and relaxing stay.

It was cold, a lot of the time.  But beautiful. And fun.

My little people saw snow being made, kind-of-cold.

Most of the leaves at the higher elevations were gone but it was still so pretty.  

We mined for gem stones, watched the snow blowers at Appalachian, putzed around downtown Boone, played at the park when it was 26 degrees outside, hiked, shopped and had roaring fires every night.

I learned that GoGo will probably never go to App State.  

She is not a mountain/hiking/lots of clothing kind of girl.

She is a sunshine, beach, flip flop kind of girl.

D, on the other hand, was totally in his element.  If App State had a building program, he would be there tomorrow I suspect.  He loved the hiking, the trees, the dirt, the vibe.

Walks With Purpose was happy regardless.  She had french fries, room to run and her big bro and sis.

Where To Start

Let's see.

Walks With Purpose told me something was "super cool" for the first time.  Cracked me up.
She is really talking so much more now and the things she says either crack me up or make me cringe.
No in-between.  She is getting much better at saying Please, Thank You and You're Welcome.
She has also told me I'm stupid.  Nice.  Wonder where she heard that one?

Which brings us to D and GoGo...

My older 2 went fishing at the beach this weekend.  That was the longest I've ever been away from them and I really missed them.  Although the quiet was nice too...
They caught 3 baby sharks and you know that made Gogo's year.  I have a picture of her waving a filet knife that I am saving to use on her when she's 15 and knows everything.  She informed me that "they didn't rip the shark's tooth out because he was just a baby."  How merciful.
My father-in-law gave the kids these cool geodes from Mt. Saint Helen's and now I wonder if D is re-thinking his plan to become a builder. He's so into this rock and crystal thing now, I see him at a dig site in Egypt in about 10 years.  He also made his first "balls" joke yesterday to me.  Good times.

Meanwhile, I think I am in the midst of an early mid-life crisis.  Is that possible before you even reach 40?
Lately I have had this incredible wanderlust - I want to take about 2 months off from my life and follow Van Morrison and Mumford and Sons around the U.K.  I want to close down the pubs while enjoying a beer and some live Irish music.  I want to rent a car and trace the steps of my great-great grandparents in Ireland and Wales.
All of which, is tough to do with 3 little people.  Not to mention Hubs.
I am hoping this is a bad combo of PMS and the anniversary of my mom's death and not a full-blown crisis.
I can't afford to take all of us on my 2 month journey to insanity.

On a brighter note, we visit the mountains this weekend and then Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  Everyone says it each and every year but Where Did This Year Go?
I've no idea.  But Christmas is Coming!  And that makes me very happy.
Maybe Santa will stuff my stocking with a bit of sanity.

Instant Gratification

The Sickness is upon us.
A stomach bug, head cold and strep throat swept through our house over the last 5 days.
First hit was Walks With Purpose, then D, then GoGo and finally, Mom.
There is only so much vomit a person can clean up and not actually get sick as well.

Hopefully everyone is on the mend.
Beautiful weather is here this week and I hate for us to be inside breathing each others's cooties, instead of running through the leaves.

But tending to little people when they are ill leads to instant gratification, in a weird way.  We snuggle, I dole out meds, we watch cartoons and eat noodles in our jammies.  Voila!  Everything is better.

Many days as a parent I wonder if what I'm telling them, showing them, etc is sinking in at all.  It may be another few years before I see the fruit of all this labor.
Sure, there are lots of moments with spontaneous hugs, smiles, hand-drawn pictures and such.
When Walks With Purpose says "Awww...poor Dommie" because he is sick, when I see D congratulate GoGo on something at school, when I hear GoGo talking about her great her big bro' is to her friends...then I know I'm doing something a little bit right.   I'm raising empathetic, family-first people here.

But the big stuff may not reveal itself for quite a while.  The choices they will have to make daily as they get older, when it really counts.  Decisions that will affect the rest of their lives - friends, college, lifestyle.  I can only hope all my "nagging" about choices and consequences will have sunk in by then.  So no instant gratification - just a wait and see.

Sick, but still cute.

I know, right??  She thinks anytime I get my camera out, we're doing a "shoot".

Love that she is managing it all - driving, sippy cup and her baby.  

Also, GoGo was awarded the Star Student for her class last week - so proud.
Her teacher noted "Margot is always considerate and kind to her classmates".
Her teacher let her call me from school and tell me which I thought was way cool.  So did GoGo.
D congratulated her and it sounded sincere.
Walks With Purpose gave her a big hug.

A little bit of instant gratification...love these guys.

Sounds of Silence

The last few days I feel like I need to be cloned in order to handle all the little people requests of me.
More than usual, I think.
There is so much they want to show me, tell me, do with me.  And it's exhausting.
Sometimes the din is so loud with all of them trying to "out-loud" the next one that I want to scream.
Instead, I grab a Blue Moon and go with it.

But later when the house is quiet as they are all tucked safely in their beds, I ponder.
On how quickly the day will be here when my house is quiet with them here because they won't want to talk to me.  I know this will be a phase but it could be a doozy, while it lasts.
They won't burst in the door yelling for me to come look at what they've just make in the backyard.
They won't draw me pictures telling me how much they love me while I cook dinner.
They won't want me to read the same book over and over and over again to them.
They won't make a hundred different requests of me anymore-tv shows, snacks, playdates.

What will I do then?
I try really hard not to lose my mind when I'm feeling overwhelmed or frustrated with them, but I fail often.
Instead, I want to try and enjoy even these crazy days where I feel like I'm drowning.
Because I will miss this crazy when it's gone.

In the midst of all this chaos from the past few days, a few funnies.

I found some huge cardboard boxes in the attic and I gave them to the kids to make a fort with on a rainy afternoon.  We got duct tape out, markers to decorate, blankets for the inside.
All was well at first.
Then GoGo got a wild hair and started messing with the somewhat fragile design.  D yells at her to stop.
I ask her to stop annoying D and to leave the fort alone.
D says "I Told You Mom.  She's Butt."  Just butt, nothing more.

At dinner the other night there was a bit of silence while everyone chewed happily.
A random toot was heard.  Eyes lifted, scanned each others' faces to determine the culprit.
A wee little voice from the end of the table says "twee fwahg!"  Walks with Purpose...

I am putting books away in GoGo's room the other and I spy her recently purchased Sharks book.
It is open to the pages with the Great White and I notice she has circled the picture with the gnashing teeth and gaping mouth, wrote YOU ROCK and put a gold star sticker on it.  Jacque Cousteau wannabe...

Bend an elbow, here's to The Crazy.

Fall, Meet George of the Jungle

Fall finally decided to show up this weekend and it was fantastic.

We took the kids to the high school's Homecoming game.  We were not dressed for the chilly temps but it was fun anyway.
We made home-made chili, played outside, built a fort and enjoyed the sun and cool blue skies.  In jackets and boots.  Love.

Walks with Purpose learned the appropriate time to say "Tree Frog" and sang "We Will Rock You" while feeding the birds (although her version is more like "We WHIL WoK U".

Hubs and I went with some friends to do the Canopy Tour at the National Whitewater Center.
It was awesome and I can say that with confidence, now that I am on the ground again.
I am not really a wuss when it comes to heights or "mildly adventurous things" but I was a bit freaked for probably the first hour.  I was several platforms and zips into it before I could actually look around me and take in all the incredible scenery.  Up to that point, there was a lot of wild-eyes and cursing.
I would highly recommend it to anyone not afraid of heights or peeing their pants in public.  Wear black.