For three days while the weather was nice Brother took himself outside and played with his imagination and a rope.  It was a snake.  It had been used by bad guys to tie him up.  It helped him rescue a friend who’d fallen over a cliff.  I’d tell you what else it was and did except that’s all I know.  Each time I ventured into hearing range, Brother would, in a most polite way, pause his game and say, “Mom, could you go away, please?”  And so I have no more information BUT I have pictures surreptitiously taken.

I don’t know what was so fascinating about this method of gun retrieval but whatever it was it was worth repeating at least a dozen more times.  And oh what I would have given to hear the running commentary I could tell his lips were making.  To peak into the mind of a little boy would be a great adventure.

Today I am thankful for
    A baby that sleeps through the morning chatter.
        Morning chatter.
    Bathroom hand towels rakishly askew.
        A little boy with things to do and scant time for neatness.

Today I am thankful for
    Room on a bed for fifteen stuffed friends piled high
            ~ guardians against monsters and other scary things ~
        and the growing little girl underneath it all.
            Also, a home with no monsters.

Today I am thankful for
    A man of fierce commitment.
        A love that is steady.
            Strong arms and character.
        Blue eyes and 11 years of weak knees.

But mostly
    this Thanksgiving
        I am thankful for outstanding friends
    who are doing all the work.

I know God cares about me.  I am blessed in so many undeserved ways I can’t even keep track but every once in a while God sends an extra little reminder.  A gift that only He could know I wanted and that only He could orchestrate so perfectly.

Last year on my birthday Will gave me a knife … a really nice (read: expensive) one.  For many wives that might rank right up there with vacuum but I was delighted because it was the first quality knife I’d ever owned and it made such a difference in my cooking experience.  After using it for about a week I knew I wanted the whole set.  Unfortunately the price tag meant it was either buy knives or pay the mortgage.  It was a tough call but “roof over our heads” won. 

Fast forward to yesterday evening, I’m chopping an onion with my still brilliantly sharp birthday present and think to myself, ” You know, self, you don’t really need the whole set.  All you really need is this one and a good Chef’s knife.  …. but even that isn’t in the budget right now … oh well, maybe next year.”

Forward again to tonight, Will watches the kids while I find myself wandering about TJ Maxx, a store I have never entered before.  I walked in on a whim and walked out with this:

Maybe you can’t tell because the picture quality is not that great BUT it’s a knife … a chef’s knife and more than that it is an exact match to the birthday present that I like so much.  Apparently, TJ Maxx is one of those closeout stores and apparently, they were closing out Calphalon Chef’s knives because this was the sticker on the box.

Isn’t God good?

**from November 11th

A tour and ice cream ~ what could be better?

Brother:  Where are you going, Mama?  Are you going to Target? (ie my favorite store in the whole world because I totally associate it with Lego’s and the getting of Lego’s which is my very favorite thing in the whole world.)

Me:  I don’t know where I’m going.  I just need a little mommy time.

(beat)

Brother:  Well, I could use a little Brother time.

Dora can sit!  Today at approximately 2:34pm, Dora sat unassisted for a continuous 10 seconds!  And these are not just the crazy declarations of a proud mommy either, I have witnesses!

Um, k … that’s all.  You can return to your regularly scheduled life now.

We used to have a YMCA membership and we used it … regularly until we didn’t and we didn’t for so long that I finally wised up and decided that perhaps we could re-appropriate those funds to something else which we would use.  And we did.  And everybody lived happily every after except Sister who asked about every other week when we were going to go to the Y again and me because I had to listen to her.

I can’t blame her for the question though because I know why she asks.  Since we’ve moved we have occasion to drive by the local Y and as we drive by we can see a big yellow water slide wend its way out of the building and back in.  A big yellow water slide is like the call of the Sirens to an eight year old.  And the call of the Sirens, it is strong.  Also, the call of my fat jeans taunting me.  So, today we went.  We signed the papers gave monthly access to our bank account and we were in…again.

The yellow slide wasn’t open today yet we still managed to have a good time.  Kids + Water = Good Time.  Who knew?

.

This picture reminds me of another one from a few years ago.  I was taking shots of my, then baby, nephew while his parents made every effort to extract a smile.  The baby was cute but the parents were even better.  I couldn’t help turning the camera on them instead.

One year for a birthday long, long ago I got Will a magnet of a special sort.  Mostly it sits in a drawer but every now and he takes it out to amaze the children.

The amazing floating top.

Attack of the amazing floating top.

This is what happens when Will has extra time on his hands.  It’s why we try to keep him busy.

*edited to add:

Could this writer possibly have used the word “amazing” any more in this post?  She needs to get a thesaurus. (I always talk in third person when admitting my faults.  It makes me feel less … um … faulty.)

.

Somehow I never posted my Buckaroo haiku on the front page ~ not certain why.  Anyway, today I found the perfect picture accompaniment from Dora’s early days and had to share.

baby in the house

bleary eyes for tiny toes

a worthy exchange.