So I was wrong. I called the flowers stupid a month ago. “Why are they starting to bloom…stupid flowers?” was, I believe, my exact quote. Then I proceeded to rant for a minute about how a frost was going to kill them all and I wasn’t going to have any flowers to enjoy when it was really spring. And now, it’s really spring. And I have lots of flowers to enjoy. And my ugly forsythia bush is brilliantly yellow. And the cherry tree beside my house as leaves on it already. Of course, I’m guessing the weather will tank back into “normal” spring weather someday soon. But still…I will give the flowers credit. They were, in fact, not stupid. At least for another week or so…
Actually, being a solar powered person, this weather is just plain lovely. Okay, so I can’t bring myself to turn on the AC, and frankly, 80 degrees in March is a little nuts. But still, I can take my kids outside. I can exercise outside. I can open the windows and let the fresh air sweep through my house (no allergies here, thankfully). So yes…lovely.
My kids are lovely, too, for the most part. We had a very busy weekend at the farm, so they played hard and ran hard and had a marvelous time climbing on the piles of dirt and aggregate that currently surround the under-construction barn that my brother in law is building. They were filthy. But they do love their “mud boots” and my MIL will do all our laundry twice in two days if necessary, so it works out for all of us.
We then spent Monday with my mom and dad, playing outside, finding golf balls my dad hits into the field, and playing with cousin Abby. Again…lovely.
And then we came home. And we’ve spent the last two days readjusting to “normal” life again. That hasn’t been as lovely. “We” are overtired and the heat makes it hard to sleep well. So we’ve had lots of meltdowns and whining and boohooing. And we have lots of laughter and cuteness and fun times. Erin and Alex have both had splinters (their first ever) and minor cuts and scrapes from bikes turning over and sudden falls onto the driveway. Megan has been trying to stick her head, face-first, into any puddle of water she can find, be it an actual puddle on the driveway or the water side of the sand table. Seriously…for half of her first year of life, I was certain she was going to choke to death on some random item I couldn’t stop her from putting into her mouth. Now it seems I will be constantly worrying about her drowning because she can’t NOT put her face in the slightest bit of water. Sheesh!
And speaking of weird habits…it seems that my Erin has a habit of chewing on wood. Her bed had a wooden side rail that Eric created for her ages ago…I found her with pieces of it on the floor and in her mouth after nap yesterday. So I bought a fabric bed rail. And today she chewed apart a popsicle stick and started gnawing her her actual bed now. I have no idea how to break her of this habit (any advice is more than welcome).
On the other hand, she cracked me up today when she came running to me while I was making lunch. Alex was howling because he’d just hit his head on the wall, Megan was yelling at me from the table (“Hun-gee! Hun-gee!”), and Erin suddenly needed a hug so she threw her arms around my neck and cried, “I’m just having a rough day!”
So really, things are pretty normal. And tiring. And constant. And good. And I’m working harder again on being present with my kids because I’d been slacking off in that area. And I’m finally reaching some conclusions on the mess of deep-thoughts that have been holding some Wrestle Mania style match in my head (perhaps I’ll be brave enough to blog about them, but no promises). And I am so grateful for my husband and my sister and my mom and my kids and the wonderful, messy, so-much-better-than-I-deserve life that God has given me.
And I’m going to bed. Good night!
