Lives With Laughter

So we took the kids to the lake on Labor day and had a fantastic time. We took the older three out on the boat pulling them around on a tube – I have never laughed so hard watching them hang on for dear life with the biggest smiles on their faces – even went trout fishing and you wouldn’t believe the size of the one Austin caught. As usual – Zoe and I were allowed some alone time when the bigger kids did things she couldn’t do. So… we are towards the end of a little nature walk and I am carrying her because she is tired. I squeezed her really hard and said “God I love you Zoe!” (being out of breath – it evidently sounded like Gotta love you Zoe) – and she squeezed me back and said “Yep – you gotta love me!”

And you really do.

the evilness of school and schedules and dragging them outta bed in the morning… no more lazy days of going straight from pj’s to swim suits and right back to pjs.

Hrumph….

Slowly sliding by. Running here and running there – kids are running everywhere!

Madison is in the dining room doing homework with a cast on her right foot.
Zoe is taking a nap with a cast on her left arm.
Austin and I are sitting on the front porch eating honey suckles and watching the sprinklers…

Life.

and things happen everyday.  The kids are growing so fast.  Zoe has flourished.  She never stops talking – and together with Austin – they are an undeniable force.  Zoe does everything he does – and seeks nothing more than his approval and friendship.  We have waited so long to watch them run together and ride bikes and climb trees together – it’s just been a simple bliss that hasn’t allowed time for me to sit and blog. I don’t want to miss a minute of it.  Zoe is in gymnastics now and ballet/tap and loves it.  Austin is an amazing baseball player and loves it too.  Madison is her true to artsy-fartsy self.  We just got back from a weekend in NY together (much needed time).  Lauren continues to climb the academic ladder of success at Woodward…Randy and I just try our best to keep up with them all!

 But I promise to try and be better about sharing with you guys.  Much Love.

I met an incredible woman today.  She has 10 kids – all but 2 are adopted – and she is a single mom.  She showed me their Christmas card and it was the most beautiful card I’ve ever seen.  The kids were of every nationality and of every age – all with HUGE smiles on their faces.  She said the 11 year old told her he was so happy to have gotten what he wanted for Christmas.  She was confused as she knew everything on his list wasn’t fulfilled – he smiled and told her he had gotten a family and that was best of all.

Amazing.

I got a taste of it today.  So maybe my ‘grandaughter’ was a plastic baby doll – it didn’t matter.  I was putting Zoe in her crib for her nap and she had one of her beloved baby dolls with her – cradling her in her arms -

“Mommy… I want her to sleep in my arms.”

“Ok, Zoe.  That would be sweet of you.”

“Will you sing us twinkle twinkle, both of us together?”

“Of course I will sweetheart ….”

So there we were, my head down and to hers, hers down and to her baby’s – and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star together – me to my baby and her to hers.

I could have cried.  If all she ever becomes is a sweet, caring and loving mommy – just like that moment right then – I will have done my job.

“Dipping down the stream….Melanie, Melanie, Melanie, Melanie – Life’s a bongo dream.”

Or at least that’s how Zoe sings it – and I am certainly not correcting her.

At least for a split second my rational brain thought it must be.

Austin and Zoe are home sick today so after the ordeal of getting them into the doctor, prescriptions picked up etc., they had just climbed up to the counter to enjoy a cold bustin’ lunch of Chicken & Stars Soup and PB&J sandwiches (crust off of course)…  when out of nowhere and without any warning …. high in the air and straight from Zoe’s diaper appear four olive green fingertips - quickly my brain searched for split second logical explanations… did I give them avacado with lunch?  Wasn’t that grape jelly and not some green chunky kind??? 

Then it hit – just about the time Austin’s “Ewwwwww!!” reached my ear drums I realized there was no way to think of it as anything but what it was -

 

So Zoe has been prancing around the house for about an hour without her diaper on – practicing using the pottie.  Randy gets home from NY and all the kids of course go nuts and run and jump and open their gifts… lovely moment – until they sit to watch a movie and Randy smells poop… we discover Zoe’s butt has poopie smeared all over it – hands too – when we ask her where her poopie is she says matter of factly “In the pottie!!” – but it’s not there… the only thing we’ve found so far is a dog very happily licking its lips…

gross.