Buried Treasure

Chris came home some time ago to a huge hole dug in our backyard. Now, the history of our backyard is important here....we've been trying to make grass grow since we built the house. The size of the hole was big enough for Chris to crawl into and sit down. This is the scene that followed: 

Chris (looking out the back window): "Baaabee!! Why is there a hole in our backyard?!?"

Me: "What? I don't know."

Chris: "Was someone in our backyard?!"

Me: "No, not that I know of...."

Chris opens the back door and walks outside....his yard shovel is laying next to the hole. A few minutes later me, Chloe, and Ava join him. With all four of us standing around looking down at the hole, I notice the girls making eyes at one another...almost as if to say, "we aren't saying anything..." 

Me: "Girls, do you know about this hole?!" 

Ava: silent, looks at Chloe....Chloe shakes her head

Chris: "okay girls...what happened"

Chloe (with an extreme sense of urgency and speed in her voice): "Before you get mad, there might be treasure down there and we won't know unless we look for it" 

Ava: "We were playing pirates" 

Chloe: "Or, or, or, there could be dinosaur bones down there. Mama! How will know unless we look?!" 

Chris: "So you took my yard shovel and dug a hole in the backyard, to look for buried treasure or dinosaur bones" 

Chloe & Ava: "Yep, but we didn't find any" 

Ava: "Yeah, and then we got tired so we just came inside." 

Me: laughing hysterically

One day...when these two girls win the nobel peace prize for some extraordinary discovery, they will totally say it all started looking for buried treasure and dinosaur bones in the backyard. 

And that daddy helped them fill in the hole they dug. 

The F Word

It has been forever since I sat down to write. Given the major memories we have had recently (my graduation, applying to Grad school, summer time with my kids, etc.) I wish I had a life-altering, philosophical writing to offer you.

I got nothin'.

Instead, I am gracing your presence with a phase my child is going through.....replacing every possible verb with the F word. Yep, the F word. The worst thing is that every time she says it, her sister laughs hysterically while I go into a hysterical fit as why it is inappropriate and disgusting. It is inappropriate, disgusting and I'm certain my disapproval only makes it more appealing.

Fart. It is a disgusting word. And it has become Chloe's word for everything.

In the backseat of the car, she will sing songs replacing appropriate verbs with the word Fart...."I fart those days as they go by, oh, nothing sweeter than fart time"

When she is frustrated you will hear her say, "FART!"

When she's happy...she will repeat over and over, "oh yeah, fart!" "oh, yeah, fart!"

She has discovered a way to irritate the ever-loving hell out of me and she is using it.

As we are driving home from the dentist today, I am listening to my beautiful, amazing, wonderful daughter sing....her voice so sweet. And then she starts, "oh yeah...fart....fart....fart". The wonder and beauty fly out the window and I resist the urge of climbing in the backseat. Mean time, Ava is laughing so hard, she's crying.

I am ready for this stage to pass.

The past 30...

Okay. I have finally come to grips with the idea that tomorrow I will be 3-0. I know, it's just a number, 30 is the new 20, you are only as young as you feel, 30 is a piece of cake....blah, blah, blah. I have heard it all.

I have had my bouts of emotional responses (crying mostly upon hearing songs that talk about getting old, my children growing up and leaving, or being young...so pretty much every country song), deep thinking about the past/future (oh my god, is that a gray hair?! and when did my rear end start to get that 'look'?!, oh no...do I sound like my mother???) , I have been up and down processing my way through this idea....30. It's really not that big of a deal, right? 

I have spent some time thinking about the past 30 years...and the next 30. I decided to make a list of things that I have learned over the last 30 years and things I want to accomplish in the next 30. I will save the goals for the next 30 for another blog. So what have I learned??? Here goes nothing....

What I have learned:

*money doesn’t grow on trees

*true love is more work than fantasy

*the more work you put into true love...the more fantasy you can have

*saying “yes ma’am/sir”, “thank you”, and “please” really does matter

*the things that are worth the most, require the most work

*some things are better left unsaid

*when you speak to someone about business, make sure you write down the name/time/and number of the person you spoke with

*routine maintenance is a MUST for every new toy you own

*pay extra for the extended warranty

*be extra kind

*you can say just about anything (and get away with it) when you smile

*walking away from an unnecessary argument is a sign of maturity

*send hand written thank you cards, it still says so much

*saying “i love you” can’t wait--and its always worth it

*trust is earned

*trust can be lost

*family dinners are important

*the way you dress says a lot about you

*God’s voice gets quieter when you refuse to listen to it

*saying “I’m sorry” is necessary

*true friendship is a rare find

*Ladies: If your showing off your cleavage--cover your legs, if you are showing off your legs, cover your girls up...otherwise, you look like a hooker

*there really isn’t anything constructive to do out past 11 o’clock

*being comfortable being yourself takes time

*life really is short

*I’m not invincible

*make promises you can keep

*you will never understand the love of a parent, until you are one

*this too shall pass

*never resort to praying...try it first

*popularity is over-rated

• when possible, learn by observation in life...experience usually costs a lot more

* it really isn't all about me, actually it isn't about me at all

Over your years, what have you learned?? 

Conversations with Chloe

Sometime ago, while riding in the car just me and Chloe, Chloe popped the question. Mommy, how do babies get in your tummy? She wasn't done...I mean, do you just pray and ask God and then he just puts a baby in your tummy, like magic? 


I wanted to throw up. Acting like this is a normal, everyday question I showed zero fear...No babe, it takes a man and a woman to make a baby....


Yeah Mommy, I know that. So do you just pray together? Does God put the baby in your tummy while your asleep? 


Okay...so this has conversation has the potential of confusing her for a lifetime. I had to bite the bullet...and just do it. (no pun intended) Practicing my "I am not shocked, this is a normal-part-of-growing-up question face".....

Me: No, not exactly, God designed our bodies to fit together to make a baby. 
Chloe: umm...what parts exactly? 
Me: well, your private parts....
Chloe: She interrupted me....okay, that's enough. That sounds gross and complicated. (I thought..actually, it can be...)


That was it. She moved on. Thank God!

Yesterday, while cleaning the playroom she revisited the conversation simultaneously asking questions and working it out in her mind.....Mommy, how does it work to make a baby? If it takes a husband and wife to make a baby, how come I have friends that only have a mommy? How did their mommy make them? And Mommy...you just fit together and then you make a baby--so mommy's and daddy say I want a baby and that's what they do? So is that what you and daddy did to make me and Ava? You only did that twice right? 


I am pretty sure I stopped breathing.

Me: um, well babe...you asked a lot of questions, let's see if we can answer each of them....
Chloe: Mommy? 
Me: Yes, love? (inside I was thinking: act normal, act normal, act normal)
Chloe: How come Pluto isn't a planet anymore? 



Okay parents, what conversations have you had with your kids that have stopped you in your tracks? I would love to know how you answered these questions! 

Ava

This week I am home with Ava. She had her tonsils and adenoids taken out on Dec. 28th and her post-op orders are to stay home and drink fluids. She is doing well. She gets an extra week of Christmas vacation, so she is super excited about that.

I started this week with gusto, thinking I was going to accomplish grand things. I had a list organized by the importance of the task.

Let's just say....I am a tad bit distracted....

Instead of tackling my to-do list...I have constructed a town of littlest pet shops and dressed polly pockets....

Turns out...my to-do list can wait.....

Full Steam Ahead....

For most New Years Eve is about looking back...remembering what was in the year past...good, bad, exciting, and toilsome. For whatever reason, I can't look back. It's not that I don't count my adventures in the year before to be valuable...but my heart does not lie in the previous year. My heart lies ahead, in the journey before me. Looking back, for me, occurs in a brief second before I move on. Some attribute this to a gypsy heart or an impatient mind...I attribute this to hope. No matter how realistic or cynical I become in my years I still believe in the ability to dream, to hope.

Like every hopeful person I have things I want to accomplish in the new year. Some time ago I quit making resolutions and changed my language to "goals" for the new year....inside I know it's the same thing, but the language is different and for whatever reason it's different. The word goal implies a working process, something not yet obtained. Resolution imply something that is already changed. No matter how much hope I have in the new year, I know I am not that resolute.

A new year before me offers a fresh start, a new beginning, a chapter in my life that is unwritten....moments to discover, emotions to feel, problems to solve, a new adventure waiting.....I love the feeling of new.

My goals for the new adventure that awaits me:

1. To enjoy the moments that I am in, in the present. (this tends to be difficult for us dreamers and future dwellers)

2. To laugh more (this, in part, requires my friends to be more funny) ;)

3. To take it step by step (again, something difficult for me...I tend to excel in taking it all on at once)

4. To listen for God's voice in my everyday (His voice tends to be quiet and easily missed. I long to hear it in my everyday experiences, daily to-do's)

5. To take time for myself...preferably at the gym (yes, this includes the ever so popular "lose weight"...but this is more than that. I tend to work non-stop and never take a break...I need to break more)

6. Start a dream journal (not a journal filled with my night-time dreams, but the dreams in my soul that keep me awake at night....I need to write these downs, maybe I will do that here...maybe not)

7. Dream irresponsibly. (Because not dreaming seems more irresponsible)

8. Dance, sing, and smile...just because I can.

9. Look for true beauty in the moment

10. Live the life I dream about...be the person I admire....love the way God does (I will spend the rest of my life trying to achieve this one)

So here's to 2011! Full steam ahead.