Magic Moments

Yesterday was nearly perfect.  I feel the need to document it in some way to remember how good it can be to be a stay-at-home mother during the summer months.  The whole summer so far has been going really well so far, actually.  I don't think I would have imagined saying that a few months ago, but yes, we are really having fun.  

The day started out with a bang:  JB whipped up some carnitas and tomatillo salsa in the morning before work.  Dinner done.  

One good choice for the summer:  membership at the YMCA.  Yesterday morning I got to exercise for about 45 minutes all by myself (lifting weights too for the first time since early grad school!).  For much of this time I can see my children (If I want to!) through a window in the childcare room.  Awesome. Ben likes going because we either get to swim or do the playground after I exercise.  And ever since I told him that I feel happy when I get to exercise, he asks me if I feel happy when I get back.  I always am.  

E loved seeing me on the TV at the museum.  So dear to see her so excited.  

The kids didn't nap very well (I did say nearly perfect), so we went ahead to the children's museum for the afternoon, and they did great.  I love to see Eliza's developing interests. Auntie Karen will be pleased to hear that animals are huge.  The swimming turtle, the life-size plastic horse, even the tarantula, were obviously her favorite parts of our visit.  

B didn't show up on TV very well with his green shirt.  

On the way home, E fell asleep, so when we stopped to get tortillas for dinner, Ben and I got to eat some ice cream together (with E asleep in the car carrier next to me) at the Mexican ice cream place next door to the tortilleria.  

Some sort of magic happened when we got home.  Ben sat down with some play dough for a full hour by himself.  Eliza Jane found two little cups, a wash cloth, and a capped washable marker and played with them in one spot for a full 30 minutes.  I chopped some mangoes, avocados, tomatoes, etc. for a salad and got supper around while talking to Ben a little bit about his creations.  And every few minutes I stopped just to watch.  I think pictures would have broken the spell.  When JB got home, dinner was amazing, bed time was a breeze, and I got to talk on the phone with a dear friend for a good while.  

From a few weeks ago at the zoo.  

That was a lot of good stuff for one day.  Today was definitely marked by some tiredness and less than magical things.  Morning at home, afternoon trip to Lowes (failed to find what I was looking for) and a stop at the library where poor Ben was disappointed when we brought our stack of books to check out and I didn't have my library card.  The play dough and cups were not quite so magical, JB came home feeling a little sick, Ben conked out on the floor before he had eaten his dinner while I was putting Liza to bed, and the leftover carnitas were good but we were more rushed eating them.  Sigh.

But it was ok.  Even a day like that is not really so bad.  A friend stopped by with fresh flowers from her yard.  Eliza laughed most of the way through Lowes.  I got to read a few good books with Benjamin.  But the reality is that none of these incidental things (good or bad) matter as much as how I handled them.  And all I will say for now (the summer is not half over after all) is that I am doing ok.  I pray for the grace for this to continue.  

Also from a few weeks ago  on a trip to the farmer's market.  

A previous trip to the museum with dinosaur tail.  

happy father's day

This mother got to go out all by herself on Father's day, and this is what I came home to.  Benjamin was asleep upstairs in his bed.  I attended the baptism of a friend's baby and JB stayed home to take care of a sick Benjamin and a fussy baby.  JB can get her to sleep during the day much better than I can.  

I guess Brazos got some too 

The highlight of last week was grandmommy's visit, of course.  She played with the children and cleaned the kitchen while I did the cooking and got considerable work done one a furniture painting project I've been trying to do for ages.  And we all had homemade cream-sicles.  There is nothing like being able to zip around a store or a kitchen or up and down stairs all by myself without children under foot.  

On Saturday, JB and I got to take Benjamin to the water park all by himself while grandmommy watched Eliza (dad's get in free for Father's day!).  It was great to be able to spend time with just Ben.  Grandmommy is so good to us.  Next time I will make sure the tonic water is not flat : )   

Another summer day

A morning at the park

An afternoon at the Suspension bridge.  Our children standing where we
got married over 5 years ago.  

This looks like a picture of a little girl's confidence running
free across a wide open space.  What you can't see is her
mother's anxiety as she runs faster than I can keep up with
while trying to wrangle her brother.  I will never take these
two on the bridge without help again!  

Moon pie snack in a moon pie shirt with a herd of thundering cattle.
We have granddad to thank for the first two and our city to thank that the
cattle aren't real.  

E is ready to go.  She'll get the hang of it before long.  

This is sort of a morning ritual right now.  E is just so delighted when B
pulls the wagon. 

Eliza at 1

One-year-old Eliza Jane.  Isn't she starting to look like a little girl already?  Hard call on this photo:  do I  insist that she sits down in the wagon or go ahead and take a picture?  She was just so delighted with herself, with the wagon . . . with Benjamin's socks. . . 

A photo with the coreopsis, below, should have been better, but the sun was quite glaring.  

We spent Eliza's birthday weekend in Sulphur Springs combining the celebration with JB's dad's 70th birthday.  Here's just a few pictures of a fun weekend characterized by excellent food, great music, and delightful company.  Of course I could say that of all our weekends in SS, but the birthdays added a little something extra.  

E danced along with the music...especially when her grandmommy was
playing her violin.  

And with such a gracious and capable dance partner...

It is getting too late for me to reflect much on my little girl tonight. I am so proud of my little one-year-old, and I truly delight to think of her presence in our lives in the year ahead.  She's her own person, this one.  Strong-willed and confounding at times, but that is all part of the greater joy in getting to know her little spirit.

And two more photos back at home. One of E's first words
has been "backpack."  She loves Benjamin's so much that
we got her one of her own.  

But perhaps her favorite gift is the card Ben
made for her glued all over with fuzzy balls.  

Four years later

Four years later, and I've still got it!  Such as it ever was anyway.  I have never been a fast or even a dedicated runner, but I have been a runner.  Well, let's just say jogger.  

Jogging is about the only form of aerobic exercise I enjoy doing regularly.  It started when I accidentally signed up for the cross country team in middle school and stuck with it for a whole season.  (I meant to sign up for track, not distance running--oops!)  I've enjoyed running much more without the races.  One day I ran about 9 or 10 miles up in the Shawangunk mountains, and remember feeling so full of life and strength, connected to nature, energized by accomplishment and potential, content with being alone.  That is truly one of my favorite memories.      

So after having two children and living daily in the chaos of caring for the wee ones, jogging feels different.  Not just physically--yes, my knees could be better and I have never been so SLOW--but also mentally and emotionally.  Getting out for half an hour to run by myself is precious alone time now. A good morning run has a way of setting me up for my day emotionally.  The time away from the house in a different environment gives me a little perspective and allows me to gather to my thoughts.  The endorphins get going, and I return to the house feeling energized, centered, ready to face a demanding 11 month old and a daydreaming 3 year old.  I am better able to care for and teach the kids when I start the day with a run.

My 33-year-old self no longer sees running primarily as an accomplishment, and I think this is good for me.  My life is not much about accomplishment right now and I need to learn to live with that.  When I don't exactly feel like running, I even tell myself that if I don't make it very far, I can just stop at the St. Albans episcopal church courtyard and enjoy the morning quiet for a few minutes instead.  That has only happened once so far, but there is something about having that as an option that is so freeing.

With all of that said about accomplishment, I did run a 5k out at the Lake Waco Wetlands a few weeks ago, and it felt great.



A "prediction run" was perfect for my current state of mind (and body!):  the winner is the runner who comes closest to running his or her predicted time.  So even at the back of the pack, I actually came pretty close to winning, having predicted within 30 seconds of my finishing time.

It was really just a fun family outing.  We all managed to get out the door at 7am, and the kids enjoyed playing around the marshy grassland while I ran.



Eliza Jane enjoyed her backpack ride, and Ben came back with lots of bug bites from lying in the tall grass.



I had an absolutely lovely time running.  I especially loved having my family there to cheer me on at the end.  And I felt proud to be running again.

A visit to Bonnie's

Eliza Jane chased the guinea hens all around the soggy grass at our favorite greenhouse 

Bonnie's is the best garden store in Waco.  A trip to Bonnie's is an
 all-Saturday morning outing for us.   

Early summer

lovely Eliza rests in the hammock

The tree house continues and the roses bloom 

Watermelon is eaten

Kite festival attended. Kites flown and sun hats worn. 

And then all of a sudden, Benjamin is ready for college. 

...or just too sick to go to school but not sick enough to
keep me from bringing him to Baylor so I can put the finishing
touches on my students' final exam.  

And Eliza inspects the four-nerve daisies.