Baby cries, mom sighs
and mummy bag adds a third
Owl calls long and loud
Haiku. 5-7-5. How can I capture this moment? A snapshot of my night counted syllabically on fingertips....
That is what rumbled around my head from about 3-4:30 am while the boys slept peacefully all around me, and the owl made it's second round of the morning through the campground. The kids with the gym whistle finally stopped at 11pm. The baby woke at 1am along with the owl. David had already made his way into my bag and Lucas followed. There is nothing like a howling baby in the dead of night, in a tent, at a crowded campground. Hmmmm. Good times.
To be fair, there were some tender moments between Lucas and I as he listened to the bird, then the airplane, and then a late night diesel engine rumbling by. Several times he looked up at me with a clear, intense gaze, while his fat cheek pressed against the warm sleeping bag. Occasionally, he'd reach out and touch my face, as if to see if he was really awake. A few minutes before he fell asleep, he sat part way up, looked close and deep into my eyes, spoke something profoundly intelligible (to him), leaned in for a kiss, sighed, and fell quietly to his dreams. That moment alone was worth the cold, the noisy owl and the snores coming from everyone but me.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Too cold for words
Well, I'm not crazy for complaining about the weather! Check this out....more later, when I warm up.
http://www.adn.com/life/story/473786.html
http://www.adn.com/life/story/473786.html
Friday, July 4, 2008
Sabbatical
Sabbatical as defined by Webster's is: "A period of rest that occurs in regular cycles." Originally referencing the seven year interval of rest in which Hebrew law required land to go unplanted and the forgiveness of unpaid debts, sabbatical as we think of it now, often means a year long break from professional duties.* Well, this mommy can't take a year off, but I did allow myself to let some thing go untended for the last month....this blog, my running schedule, library story time, and to some extent, the endless housework.
A combination of flying solo the first two weeks in June while Kiel was in Fairbanks and the return of dad into our 24/7 life spurred this mini-vacay from our routine. I put out the ultimatum this week though, that things had to get back on course for the sanity of all involved-particularly, me.
Flying solo went well this year. The boys and I had fun on play dates, going to the zoo, and biking to our local parks. Oh, and we played a lot of Frisbee golf. David, I am proud to say vastly improved his throw during the 2 weeks dad was gone. He now says that, "Frisbee golf is one of my favorite places to go!" I was able to improve enough to play two of my best games ever when Kiel came back, scoring my first 3 over par on our local course, which is 2-3 strokes off of my average. The women's record is 2 under par, so I have a ways to go. I figure if I can par it, then I'll enter competitive play.
Kiel's return from Fairbanks was met with delight all around. The boys missed him a lot this year, and I did too towards the end. I like my quiet time in the evenings to be sure, but it is nice to have someone to share that with too. After a week of daily home life, Kiel looked across the dinner table and declared this profound revelation, "It's really hard to plan activities when Lucas takes two naps a day." The welcome-to-my-life look he received prompted this follow up response, "Oh. You probably already knew that. I feel a blog coming on about this already." His second revelation came yesterday after lunch:
"So, what's on the schedule for the rest of the day. We already went to the library, what should we do next?"
"Well, Honey, sometimes we do this thing called clean-up-the-house. Once Lucas is down, I play a game with David, then I clean something afterwards. There is laundry, dishes, bathrooms, garage..."
"Oh. Yeah. Okay."
Oh, the joys of having someone else experience your life for awhile.
It's all good, and by the end of summer, I predict he'll be glad to get back to work. Right now though, we are really enjoying watching our boys grow.
David is reading well enough to pick up new books and read them outright, as well as real world reading when we are out and about. He is also getting better at using manners unprompted, trying new things, and exploring his social side at the playground. Lucas is running and climbing and trying to do everything his brother does. He is sleeping better, learning to self feed, and acquiring new skills all the time. Lucas has already entered the tantrum stage-so we are dealing with that a little earlier than expected. He's always been an opinionated kid and I fully expected to be having some battles, just not quite this early. We'll get through.
My good friend Karen was up to visit her family and stayed a night with us early last month. Tekle and Ikenna will be coming in the next two weeks, and Liz and her girls will be here at the same time. (It's nice to have friends whose parents still live here!) It will be great to see them all and have the kids get re-acquainted. The yard looks great, the flowers are finally blooming a bit and if we could eek out a bit more sun, we might get strawberries and look a little less pasty in another two weeks. Sweet!
* Websters New World Dictionary, Second Edition, 1986, pg. 1250
A combination of flying solo the first two weeks in June while Kiel was in Fairbanks and the return of dad into our 24/7 life spurred this mini-vacay from our routine. I put out the ultimatum this week though, that things had to get back on course for the sanity of all involved-particularly, me.
Flying solo went well this year. The boys and I had fun on play dates, going to the zoo, and biking to our local parks. Oh, and we played a lot of Frisbee golf. David, I am proud to say vastly improved his throw during the 2 weeks dad was gone. He now says that, "Frisbee golf is one of my favorite places to go!" I was able to improve enough to play two of my best games ever when Kiel came back, scoring my first 3 over par on our local course, which is 2-3 strokes off of my average. The women's record is 2 under par, so I have a ways to go. I figure if I can par it, then I'll enter competitive play.
Kiel's return from Fairbanks was met with delight all around. The boys missed him a lot this year, and I did too towards the end. I like my quiet time in the evenings to be sure, but it is nice to have someone to share that with too. After a week of daily home life, Kiel looked across the dinner table and declared this profound revelation, "It's really hard to plan activities when Lucas takes two naps a day." The welcome-to-my-life look he received prompted this follow up response, "Oh. You probably already knew that. I feel a blog coming on about this already." His second revelation came yesterday after lunch:
"So, what's on the schedule for the rest of the day. We already went to the library, what should we do next?"
"Well, Honey, sometimes we do this thing called clean-up-the-house. Once Lucas is down, I play a game with David, then I clean something afterwards. There is laundry, dishes, bathrooms, garage..."
"Oh. Yeah. Okay."
Oh, the joys of having someone else experience your life for awhile.
It's all good, and by the end of summer, I predict he'll be glad to get back to work. Right now though, we are really enjoying watching our boys grow.
David is reading well enough to pick up new books and read them outright, as well as real world reading when we are out and about. He is also getting better at using manners unprompted, trying new things, and exploring his social side at the playground. Lucas is running and climbing and trying to do everything his brother does. He is sleeping better, learning to self feed, and acquiring new skills all the time. Lucas has already entered the tantrum stage-so we are dealing with that a little earlier than expected. He's always been an opinionated kid and I fully expected to be having some battles, just not quite this early. We'll get through.
My good friend Karen was up to visit her family and stayed a night with us early last month. Tekle and Ikenna will be coming in the next two weeks, and Liz and her girls will be here at the same time. (It's nice to have friends whose parents still live here!) It will be great to see them all and have the kids get re-acquainted. The yard looks great, the flowers are finally blooming a bit and if we could eek out a bit more sun, we might get strawberries and look a little less pasty in another two weeks. Sweet!
* Websters New World Dictionary, Second Edition, 1986, pg. 1250
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Magic Bullets II
One of the things I like best about being a Domestic Diva is that you can wield awesome power phrases like "New Rule" and "It's Tradition" at will. Having these two phrases in your daily arsenal is like having John Wayne and Clint Eastwood getting your back. You don't mess with the Diva when she's whipping these babies out. Once in awhile, I give my husband a head's up before instituting a New Rule, and if I'm feeling really good, he gets a choice of options, for a New Tradition. Once, he tried to make his own New Rule and I laughed out loud at his lack of vocal conviction and fortitude. You don't pull these bad boys out unless you can stand behind them.
When I left the workforce as a full time drone, I discovered the power of instituting "New Rules". I think I was mostly trying to come to grips with my new 24/7 reality, where previously, rules might be suggested and not really enforced. As the first few months shaped my inner Diva I often found myself increasing my vocal range as I lectured the fam: "New Rule: We always rinse our ice cream bowls! New Rule: We don't scream with delight while running down the hallway in our underpants until after 8am! New Rule: If either one of us hasn't showered in the last day...forget about it!" It worked. NR's wer my new BFF's. Three years later, I can honestly say that the quantity of NR's has decreased, though I have had to revisit a few of them: "Um, remember the rule about mommy needing coffee before anyone speaks in the morning?" I'd like to think that my family has finally recognized my supreme Diva wisdom; what's more likely though, is that they behave so that the Crazy Diva stays on vacation.
"It's Tradition!" (BTW, this must be said with the most perky voice you can muster) is another great tool afforded to the Diva. I'm not talking about being traditional in a red plaid sort of way, but of introducing those lovely get out of jail Diva gems called family traditions. In our house, we have one that is firmly entrenched: Popcorn Sunday's. This means that every Sunday we have popcorn for dinner. Lots of it. I carry this one over from my mom. Her mom had Sandwich Sunday's. Can you see the beauty of either one? Because I think that pizza should be it's own food group, I'm slowly sneaking in Pizza Saturday's (also from dear ol' mom). And the other one I declared this year is: Frisbee Golf Mother's Day, in which no one has to get dressed up, eat out, wait in line, or fight over jello salad at the buffet. I'd love nothing more than a deserted course, my family, and nine baskets of fun for Mother's day. (Okay boys, this Diva is sending a big hint your way....) What traditions do for me is get rid of the meal planning, event planning, and day to day life planning that I endlessly do. Traditions also help moderate expectations and are great for creating consistency, which means this Diva doesn't have to contingency plan either. Score!
Now, I'm a gal that works well with rules. I like things defined and orderly and so all of the above works for me. It wouldn't however, unless I tempered it all with a healthy dose of love. I think me and the fam are on to bigger and better things, but I'll retain users privleges on these babies for awhile yet. After all, A Diva is not a Diva without a few magic bullets up her sleeve.
When I left the workforce as a full time drone, I discovered the power of instituting "New Rules". I think I was mostly trying to come to grips with my new 24/7 reality, where previously, rules might be suggested and not really enforced. As the first few months shaped my inner Diva I often found myself increasing my vocal range as I lectured the fam: "New Rule: We always rinse our ice cream bowls! New Rule: We don't scream with delight while running down the hallway in our underpants until after 8am! New Rule: If either one of us hasn't showered in the last day...forget about it!" It worked. NR's wer my new BFF's. Three years later, I can honestly say that the quantity of NR's has decreased, though I have had to revisit a few of them: "Um, remember the rule about mommy needing coffee before anyone speaks in the morning?" I'd like to think that my family has finally recognized my supreme Diva wisdom; what's more likely though, is that they behave so that the Crazy Diva stays on vacation.
"It's Tradition!" (BTW, this must be said with the most perky voice you can muster) is another great tool afforded to the Diva. I'm not talking about being traditional in a red plaid sort of way, but of introducing those lovely get out of jail Diva gems called family traditions. In our house, we have one that is firmly entrenched: Popcorn Sunday's. This means that every Sunday we have popcorn for dinner. Lots of it. I carry this one over from my mom. Her mom had Sandwich Sunday's. Can you see the beauty of either one? Because I think that pizza should be it's own food group, I'm slowly sneaking in Pizza Saturday's (also from dear ol' mom). And the other one I declared this year is: Frisbee Golf Mother's Day, in which no one has to get dressed up, eat out, wait in line, or fight over jello salad at the buffet. I'd love nothing more than a deserted course, my family, and nine baskets of fun for Mother's day. (Okay boys, this Diva is sending a big hint your way....) What traditions do for me is get rid of the meal planning, event planning, and day to day life planning that I endlessly do. Traditions also help moderate expectations and are great for creating consistency, which means this Diva doesn't have to contingency plan either. Score!
Now, I'm a gal that works well with rules. I like things defined and orderly and so all of the above works for me. It wouldn't however, unless I tempered it all with a healthy dose of love. I think me and the fam are on to bigger and better things, but I'll retain users privleges on these babies for awhile yet. After all, A Diva is not a Diva without a few magic bullets up her sleeve.
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