Kissing is Disgusting

The kids were watching Toy Story 3 when I got home from work last night.  That movie is right up there with Terms of Endearment...makes me cry every time I watch it.  A real tear jerker, though I'm a cryer, so it doesn't take much. 

At the end when Andy and his mom are in his room looking around, I said to the kids, "One day you guys will be big like Andy and will go away to college and make lives of your own.  I will miss you!"

Lena continued to play, completely missing my attempt at creating a moment with my children.  She's only three...I shouldn't expect her to be ready for intimate mommy moments yet.  But Sammy caught on. 

"Mom, what's college?"

"Well, it's a school for big kids and grown ups where you learn all sorts of wonderful things and figure out what you want your job to be.  Usually you move away from home to live there.  And after that you can get married and have a family of your own, if you want to."

Very pensive, he replied, "Oh."  Then asked, "Mommy?"

"Yes, son."

"I don't want to go to college and get married.  Kissing is disgusting."

I laughed hard at that.  And it made me happy as I thought on it later.  He equates being married with kissing, which is very cool.  I know many kids see negative and much worse things from their parents.  And God knows Rich and I are very far from perfect.  But my kids see us loving on each other all the time and, while Sam thinks it's disgusting now, it will hopefully be a very lovely, healthy idea of love and marriage with which we send both of them out into the world.

His and Her Weekends

Last weekend was my annual GWA (girls' weekend away) in the Hocking Hills.  It was the absolute most beautiful weekend.  Warmer temperatures and sunshine every day, crisp and cold nights.  The group of girls this year was phenomenal, and we ate and drank and talked and danced ourselves into oblivion. 

Good times with good people. 

I love GWA.  It fills me up, you know?  Being with those girls in that place invigorates me, and I come back with a renewed sense of purpose, knowing I can be better at all the things that I am, all the things that I do.  If I'm being honest, while those things warm my heart and bring me ridiculous amounts of joy and pride, they can also sap my energy and, sometimes, even my spirit.  But every year, this weekend with these women reminds me that I am strong, and that I can push myself further to be better every day.  Better to myself and better to others.  Because these are strong women who live their lives unashamed and unafraid.  They inspire me to do the same.

Such a precious gift they all are to me...

And this weekend it's Rich's turn.  He and our friend Mark are going on their own weekend away in the Hocking Hills!  They've packed up half our kitchen, mountain bikes, gear and are heading to the Hills tonight.  Their weekend promises to be a little more productive than ours.  Where our weekend is focused on chilling out and visiting, theirs is all about activity.  They plan to bike all sorts of trails and hike and actually do stuff. 

They're such boys.  :)

We are truly blessed, aren't we?  Blessed by wonderful friends, by opportunities to get some time away to recharge, by the respect and understanding we have for each other that allow these weekends and these friendships to happen, by two beautiful fun sweet healthy kids who miss us when we're gone almost as much as we miss them...

Life is good.

Happiness

As the sun begins its slow descent down the building beside my office, its reflection glints through my boss's windows and shines on my face.

It warms so much more than my skin…

This makes me happy.

Trick or Treat

Halloween here and gone already. 

Wait...what? 

Yeah, that's right.  My head may still be lost in the warm glow of summer, but time is marching on, right into November. 

I feel jet lagged or something.  Why does time move so quickly? 

Anyway, trick or treat with the Wingers was fun, despite the 35 degree temperatures and the rain. 

Lori fed us a great dinner (best sister ever!), and we garbed up the kids with coats and gloves and hats and costumes, braving the remnants of the Frankenstorm to make memories for our kids. 

Rapunzel didn't make it much past the first two houses before she had a melt down and Rich had to take her back to Lori's house.  My poor little princess.  Matt and Dylan also pooped out on us, so it was up to Lori, me, Grant, Jack and Sammie to get the job done. 

My blue power ranger was a trooper.  He kept up with the bigger boys, rang doorbells, said "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" most of the time (I think).  We stayed out about an hour and covered a lot of ground.  Sam didn't complain once until we neared Lori's house. 

"Mommy, I may need just a wittle nap", he said to me once.  Then he came up with a great idea.  "Maybe if I eat just one piece of chocolate, I can make my legs go more"... such a bright boy. 

At Sam's request, we skipped the last few houses and made a b-line for Lori's, walking at a 45 degree angle against the wind that had picked up and was trying it's darndest to slow our progress.

It was a cold, rainy, fun night.  Lori and I had lots of good laughs and the boys enjoyed their spoils! 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumpkin Carving

Though not well documented via my blog lately (slacker mother strikes again), our family has been having loads of fun! 

Pumpkin carving and roasting pumpkin seeds was last week.  The kids lost interest pretty quickly and Rich had to finish both of their pumpkins alone, though I think he secretly enjoyed it.  He's so good at that stuff.  And the kids LOVED their pumpkins!

Can you guess who picked the spider and who picked the cat?  One guess. 

 

Preschool Parade

Tuesday was Sam's school's Halloween parade.  All the kids dress up in thier costumes and parade around the church (since the superstorm made parading outside a non-option). 

We had a crazy morning full of moody and boundary-pushing children, so amidst the chaos of leaving for school, I forgot to bring our good camera.  I'm really slacking as a mother lately...

But I did get some shots from my phone to document Sam's fun day at school.  He's a blue power ranger this year...the cutest blue power ranger I've ever seen, I should add.