Cool Cats

*
You'd think being a native Californian that I'd bundle up extra cozy in the frigid cold. I don't. I believe in t-shirts. I'm inside most of the day anyway and it gets toasty--all the kid chasing, stair-climbing and cleaning. My friend Ginny always laughs at me when I run out to do carpool and she's in Uggs and cute sweaters. Maybe next winter I'll rock some cute winter duds. As for right now, I'm holding my breath for spring and summer goodness.

*I do have 2 or 3 sweaters, though I realize--even the one I'm wearing in this pic is only 3/4 length.

Interview

I'm not sure if many of you know, but when Travis and I were dating I put him through a series of question sessions. When I told my dad about this recently, he said--with a bit of man fear in his eyes--"Wow, how'd he feel being interviewed?" I replied, "Most important interview of his life!" I realize not all suitors would be so willing, but I'm grateful for Trav's willingness to communicate with me (then and now).

I feel like if you can't talk openly about things with a prospective husband, what success can come of the relationship? Anyway, I came across one of my 'lists' so I'll share.

This is dated January 27, 2000.
Favorite movie star? Female?
Famous crush?
What sport do you hope your children will play? Musical instrument?
When have you felt out of control?
Your daughter has her first boyfriend. How do you treat him?
Your 9-year-old refuses to go to church. What do you do?
You find your wife locked in a room, crying. How do you lure her out?
Your wife is mad at you. You don't know why and become frustrated because she refuses to talk. What do you do?
Your brother has just discovered he can't have kids and asks you to 'donate'. What do you do?
Your best friend (according to your wife) has been hitting on your wife. What now?
One of your friends claims your wife flirts with him.
What is the one quality you hope for most in a wife?
If your wife could do one thing every day to make you content, what would it be?
What makes a good husband?
How do you deal with criticism?

Some of these now make me giggle, and I assure you there were multiple lists, but I gotta say, I feel it sure paid off! As an effective 'interviewer', I was not only listening to his answers, but observing his willingess to go the distance and his ability and desire to communicate!

Happy Valentine's Week!

Juicy

Okay, so I have a lot to blog about: birthdays, Christmas, visits, etc. but that'll have to wait. I sent the kids off to one of their favorite sitters this morning (no school today in our district!) so I could make a few phone calls and cross a few items off the to-do list.

Mr. Beckett is now 9-months-old. He has captured my heart in a different way than my other two. Not sure how that is or if I'm just finally out of the sleepless funk, but he's just so squishable and delicious. The back of his head, oddly enough, is even so adorable--beautiful silvery blonde hair and a rolly neck.

He is the busiest little critter ever. He's always on the move. He's been crawling for a couple months and has been cruising for about a month. He pulls himself up and moves along with focused determination. Travis swears he heard him grab a toy from the dog the other day proclaiming, "No!" He's speedy in his crawl and no matter where I put him with a pile of toys to buy myself a little time, he'll find me, sit on his knees, flap his arms like a bird and make his presence known with his loud yells.

He rarely cries, but he 'talks' and yells almost incessantly. He's a snuggler (in 5-second increments), an eater (anything and all the time, but preferably food he can shove in his mouth by himself), and a little social butterfly. I love him like crazy. He's just so cute. Boston and Cassidy love him too. They love that he's less fragile now and they enjoy playing dead on the floor and letting Beckett tackle them.

20 pounds of yum.

Do you have the Bountiful Baskets co-op in your area?! Amazing. I got the organic basket this week.

Heaven

Sometimes as kids, my siblings and I would lay in my parents' bed for bedtime stories and my dad would sing, "Heaven, I'm in heaven. . ." My mom and dad have always loved us loudly--with passion, loyalty, and adoration.

Tonight I watched Christmas cartoons with my kids before bed and had that feeling of heaven. I also had to tell my kids that their precious Emma dog needed to go to the less metaphorical and more literal heaven tomorrow. They've known it was coming, but somehow that doesn't make it any easier. Through this I hope to teach them that it's always worth it to love and lose than to not love at all. We talked about how Emma was going to run in heaven without her 'fat paw' and chase our black kitty.

We love our Emma. She has been a part of our family: baby births, parties, park days, camping trips, baseball games, car rides, daily visitors, hikes, visits to grandma's house, sledding, fishing, gardening, and errands around town. She's always been content to just be with us. I never knew I'd be such a dog person! So tonight I thank my Emma for enriching this little family with such accepting tenderness. We will miss you, but we know you'll be in a better place. xoxo

Grateful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Travis made a culinary masterpiece (yet again). We had fewer guests this year but it was bustling with noise. We had Patrick and Emily here which was fabulous--the kids have all become fast friends. At one point after Patrick and Emily had come back with the kids from an outing, Cassidy and Spencer embraced and exchanged 'I love you's'. Aaron also came with his kids (Brandi was working) and of course Dad and Renita. Emily's parents even popped over for pie--just in time for our annual tradition of each saying something we're grateful for. Mostly what came up was the love of family, friends, and country. And some of us discussed how thankful we are to have risen above challenges and struggles. It's very true that we grow from hard times and are more able to recognize blessings after we've been through difficulties. We realize our strength and, for some, we learn to have faith and trust in our Heavenly Father.

I have an amazing family that is openly affectionate, readily communicative, and real. We've been through a lot but we don't hide things and we enjoy so much closeness as a result of relentless persistance and enduring love.

I have friends who see my heart and accept who I am at different stages of my life. They are enduring, talented, beautiful, and some of my greatest joys.

My husband adores me and works so hard every day. When I'm crazy, he tells me (lovingly!) and encourages me to dream. He believes in me and appreciates the different facets (and they are many) of my personality. We just have so much fun together. And, as if I haven't bragged enough, he gave me these sweet angels.




*Boston, Cassidy, then Mr. Beckett, all at about 4 months of age.

Reality Check

Some blogs might depict a perfect life. I hope that's not what I do, and if it is, perhaps I'll share that I was not my best self last weekend. Yelled at my kiddos, had 'words' with the hubby who really is the angel of angels, ate junk (and not the delicious stuff--the filler you put in your gut to stave off hunger), and was queen grouchy pants.

Have you ever known you were grouchy and that it was likely hormonal--yet when the mood passed and the happy version of yourself returned you were hesitant to let it show right away because then you'd not only be beasty but a roller coaster as well? I do that sometimes.

And since I already admitted I'm not a perfect parent, I'm just going to put this out there: Doesn't Beckett demonstrate a slight resemblance to Goonies' Sloth in this picture?


*I can say this because he is sooooooooo adorable!

Dracu-Cheer-Pea

Yeah, didn't even get a picture of my kids all together. I swear the more kids I have, the quality of some of my parenting skills goes down. I'm sure there's an economic theory behind it. Look at Octa-Mom.
It was a great Halloween. There's a subdivision nearby called Sleepy Hallow and every year a 'headless horsemen' on a real horse rides around the neighborhood. Travis saw him earlier in the day, but sadly we missed seeing him Halloween night. Beckett was a trooper. He loves being out and about and is much happier when we're on the go. Cassidy and Boston were fearless and loved the spooky houses--even an elaborate one complete with a spook alley. And btw, Travis picked out Cass' costume when he was in Indiana on business. She's more a puppy or other animal than a rah rah spirit fingers gal!


Note: I couldn't take this popsicle away from Beckett. I thought it was mainly intriguing to him because it was cold and squishy on his teething gums. Later I realized he had sogged a hole in the popsicle wrapper and was enjoying some grape artificial goodness. No wonder he had a crazed look in his eyes.