quote of the day

I walked outside to get something out of the car to the sound of little yellow dumptrucks racing on the gravel driveway. 

"Mama....I need to tell you something." 
"Yes, Caleb?"
"Well, we're probably gonna be skippin' our naps today, because we're playing ouside and we love to play."

The Hunt

Life has been busy lately - really busy.  Tonight, for the first time in a long while, Jason was home by around 6:30 and no one had plans to go anywhere.  Shortly after dinner, Caleb announced, "Maybe we can all go outside as a family!"  Everyone agreed that was a good idea, so as the dusk began to overtake the day.....we headed outside.  Anna Ruth was contentedly snuggled into the Ergo on Papa's back. "What are we going to do?" we asked Caleb.  "We're going to hunt!" he proclaimed.  Caleb and Emet handed out weapons.  Our arsenal included 2 Nerf swords, 1 short red plastic stick, and a wooden ping-pong ball gun. 

We set out with Caleb in the lead.  Around the outbuildings, past the garden, down to the woodpile and behind the shed, across the creek, to the far corners of the property, along the blackberry bushes, alongside the creek, up over the hills and through the long grass......we trudged on and on.  Often stopping for a "Shhh....I hear something!"  Our instructions from Caleb were clear, "If you see something, kill it." When Papa asked "What if it's a good thing we see?"  Caleb clarified, "If you see something and it's bad, kill it."  Well, we never had to use the weapons.  Somehow, we made it through the dark night unscathed. 

When we returned, Caleb and Emet wanted to play games. After some fencing matches, He and Emet agreed we should race back and forth from the cedar tree, and so we did.  A few tears were involved as the winner was contested, but in the end everyone had a chance to win at least once. 

We headed inside for family story time, then upstairs for night time routines, where Caleb asked if I could be his helper tonight.  Anna Ruth went to bed, but we and the boys snuggled on the bottom bunk for a while, all the while Caleb asked questions such as "Do angels have bones?" and..."Is Satan a kid?" and..."How much does he weigh, do you know?".....and "Where do they hide bodies once our spirit goes to heaven?" :-)

As I consider my life, the things that keep me "busy" are wholly unmemorable.....processing the laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making meals, picking up, racing around on this errand and that, yet they consume most of my time.  I can count on one hand the number of times I have recently made the time just to stop and make memories with my children.  Time is passing so quickly.  Given a typical life progression, of which one should never take for granted, over a quarter of our time with Caleb at home is gone....and for at least another quarter, he probably won't want to spend the time with us he does now.  So, the days of begging for our time and attention, of wanting to play family games and cuddle at night asking endless questions are fleeting. 

Jason commented tonight, "It's funny how very little it takes to make their day shine.  They'll probably always remember this."  I hope they do, and I hope I can remember how very little time it takes to make memories that will last a lifetime.

.......like tonight and The Hunt.....

I love you snowpants

What led me to blog on this particular night, I'm not sure.  This event happened most of a year ago, but it's one that's been on my heart many, many times since.  There are just those moments you do not want to forget....

We had gone up into the Oregon mountains to Diamond Lake, not too far from Crater Lake. We stayed in a little cabin with some friends for the weekend for what they call "Snow Camp".  This particular year, however, there wasn't much snow at all.  In fact, the biggest amount of snow was that which had been piled up from clearing the roadways just outside our cabin.  The dads spent most of the days outside with the children playing, the moms inside with the babies drying dripping wet snowclothes as quickly as possible in front of the woodstove.  However, the children didn't seem to mind wearing their wet snowclothes and sludging through the rain so long as sledding, shoveling, and snowballs were involved.

All packed up and leaving the mountain resort, I must say that Jason and I were a bit tired and ready to head back to our warm, dry home.  As we were driving out the road, I said out loud "Bye bye snow camp.  See you next time."  Silence followed for a minute or two, then, in what may be the single moment Jason and I remember from all of Emet's childhood, Emet cried out "Bye bye snow pants, I love you!" Then, "Bahahaha" he burts out in tears in his very first wail of expressed sadness.  Jason and I looked at each other and nearly cried too.  It was the sweetest thing we'd ever heard.

Here we are seven months later.  Emet has grown in leaps and bounds, both physically, mentally, and verbally.  Next year, he will be in a whole different place and have a whole different experience.  It reminds me that time passes so very quickly.  That stage for Emet has passed, and thus, it has passed for me too.  I miss it.  He is still only two years old, so a part of what we saw then is still with us.....but not for long.  Even as I welcome the beauty of what may be ahead for my children, I cling to what was passed.....to what is now.  That's human nature, I guess.  We can't just seem to trust and grow. We're always afraid that what we have clenched in our fist at this moment is better than what could be to come.  In a sense, it's the opposite problem of seeing the glass half empty.

So....from my end...."Bye Bye Snow pants. I love you.  And, I'll miss you too.  But, you'll always be in my heart."