They Came, They Went, They Are Missed

They left Virginia at 8 a.m. and arrived at our house in Missouri at 10:30 p.m., exactly one week ago today.  Then on Sunday afternoon, they got back into their black Equinox to do it all over again. My parents, brother and their wild cockapoo (no, I'm serious, he's wild -- my sister and I are considering writing a series of books called "Rudy's Adventures") drove 29 hours roundtrip, to see us for just a few days over the holidays.

If that doesn't spell L-O-V-E, I don't know what does.

We didn't do anything special while they were here.  We ate well -- an Italian feast of penne, sausage and meatballs on Thursday night, Chinese food on New Year's Eve and on National College Football Day When Lots of Creepy Business Execs Get Rich off of Public and Private Universities and Their Unsuspecting Fans  New Year's Day, John Madden's beef stew.

We rested.  Played Uno.  Built fires.  Worked on a puzzle.  Laughed a lot.

We stayed up until exactly 12:01 a.m. on New Year's Eve, at which point we realized we had missed watching the ball drop (note to self: in the Midwest the ball drops at 11 p.m.), and so we stumbled to our beds, shut our eyes, and snored our way into 2011.

On New Year's Day my family cheered me on as I competed in my first 5K in almost a year, and my first ever not pushing a stroller.  It was awesome to see Joe and the boys, my parents and brother cheering me on as I crossed the finish line.   Even Brandy Rose was there.  Despite a lack of sleep and MSG-induced dizziness, I recorded my fastest time ever (a 9:56 minute mile), most likely the result of trying to impress my brother. (Or it may have been the blue running tights, not sure.)

We watched a lot of football since, as I previously mentioned, it was National Get Rich Weekend for Tostitos, Capital One, Outback, Hyundai, Auto Zone, Vizio and Many, Many Other Companies  New Year's weekend and there were college bowl games galore on TV.

(Last week I relented and finally called DirecTV in anticipation of the Big Visit.  I couldn't bear the thought of my dad and brother being deprived of football during their stay at my house.)

Of course there are practical reasons, too, why it's nice to have family visit. Mom helped me pick out curtain rods, helped me think about how to arrange furniture, and informed me that I have Oak and Black Walnut trees in my yard, and two very tall Rhododendron bushes (not Magnolia trees as I'd once thought -- oops) in back of our house.   She even bought me the matching bench to our new table that I had been eyeing for the last three months. Thanks Mom!

Dad assembled the new bench, hung the newly-purchased curtain rods, fixed two doors that weren't shutting properly, and gave important boy-scout-esque tips for finding dry kindling when it's wet outside.  (Inspired, I think, by "Grandpa's" work ethic, Joe cleaned the fallen leaves off the back deck and fixed the faucet on our kitchen sink.)

It was especially good to see my brother, Uncle Ben, who played Hotwheels, basketball, football, baseball, and LOTS of video games with Christian. It was encouraging to see that he is doing well, and feeling better.

Well, sort of.

Wait a minute.

Ah.  There we go.  See?  Isn't he handsome?

Best of all though, seeing family provides a sense of connection, belonging and self-worth that nothing else in this earthly journey can.  Being with my parents and brother was an important reminder that even though I'm in this new place, out here in the middle of nowhere, where only a few people know who I am, and even fewer really know what I'm about, that there are people who care, who know and who love me.

I belong to them. They belong to me.

Even if no one else in the world were to care about us, we would still matter to each other.

But now they are gone (*sigh*) and it's back to Facebook, Twitter and this blog, as I attempt to reestablish and recreate the connection that is lost in their absence.  The connection that is deeply desired and yet will never be duplicated by comments, wall posts or @mentions (though these help and are much anticipated).

Virginia visitors -- you are missed.  Your hugs and help, presence and presents were hands-down the highlight of my holiday season.

{What was yours? And yes, I really do appreciate comments.}

The Fun is Just Beginning!

Some of you may have already taken down your Christmas tree.  Maybe you've unplugged your outdoor Christmas lights, too.  The holiday wrapping paper is put away and you're nearly finished with the fattening eggnog in the refrigerator and the cookies in the tins on your kitchen counter.  Christmas is over and you couldn't be more relieved.

I talked with my mother-in-law today and she told me with a good laugh that ten minutes after her final guests departed on Saturday night she was taking down her tree and tossing it off the back deck.  She was tired of the falling needles and mess and couldn't wait to be rid of it. 

I can relate.  Our Christmas tree is getting barer by the moment.  It stopped taking water a few weeks ago and has lost so many needles it's virtually invisible on the bottom half.  The fact that we had to remove all of the candy canes and decorations from this part of the tree, to protect them from our two year-old, only makes the barrenness more glaring. 

Mommy Monster

(A game where I chase the boys around the house growling and trying to catch and tickle them.  Usually someone gets hurt, head-on collisions typcially, when one boy rounds the corner and finds himself face-to-face with the other boy, and running too fast to stop.)

Last night at the dinner table...

Christian:  Mommy, can we please play mommy monster tonight?

Me: No, honey, mommy is too tired to play mommy monster.

Christian: Aw, mom! 

Then, after some thought, Christian: Let's just play until someone gets hurt.

{Why are four year-olds so funny??  Share your kid's most recent funny line.}

A Successful Thanksgiving?

It's Monday and I'm back to work.  The sky is nearly black outside my window.  The rain is pummeling the pavement.  Puddles are overtaking parking places.  But none of that matters.  Nothing can darken my spirit today.  I am filled with light.  I just spent four days at home with my boys.

Yes, we ate homemade stuffing and green bean casserole.  Yes, we went shopping.  Yes, we raked leaves, decorated our blue spruce, made leftover turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce, broke the wishbone, made fires in the fireplace, baked sugary, buttery desserts and were really, really thankful.  But it is not any of these Thanksgiving-related events brightening my heart right now.  

It is instead the little moments, the unexpected, unplanned events of the long weekend, that are inspiring me today.  Like last night, and my four year-old in his blue striped pajamas standing next to our dining room table after his third bedtime snack (and way past his bedtime) giving me a private performance of his upcoming school Christmas program.

Dependents

This morning, while dark shadows from the magnolia trees behind our house still shook and shivered across my bedroom window, I heard the soft shuffling of little feet in my room.  In the quietness of the early morning hours I heard a “flump.” Four year-old fingers, I figured, flipping on the bathroom light.  Then another “flump,” followed by the steady whirr of the bathroom fan. 

I went right back to sleep.

It is not unusual for Christian to wake up in the wee hours of the morning to, well, wee-wee.  And lately he has preferred to use our bathroom, rather than his own. Ours is a few steps closer.  But I suspect there is also another reason.

An Unexpected Treat at Work Yesterday ...

Ok, so I when I started this blog, I was hoping that it would be a kick-in-the-pants for me to write, and an avenue for me to share my thoughts and musings about life as a working wife and mom living far away from home.  I did not set it up to be, necessarily, a "baby book" of my kids.  Not that there's anything wrong with this type of blog.  Actually I love, LOVE reading my friends' family blogs.  It's just not what I was trying to do with this blog. Plus, since this is a public website, I wanted to be careful not to "overshare" things about my children that might embarrass them or invade their privacy later on.  

BUT, (and you knew a 'but' was coming didn't you?) this was way too cute to pass up.  And even though it makes for the second mushy-gushy post about my kids in one week, I thought this would be a nice, uplifting follow-up to my Separation post. 

Some background information on the forthcoming video.  Christian spent about an hour with me yesterday at work, after his dad took him to a doctor's appointment in the morning and before my lunch break when I was going to take him back to school.  I set Christian up at one of the computers in the writing lab on the Thomas the Tank Engine website.  Christian sure brightened my day ... 



... I wish he could visit me at work every day.  

Of course this video, so publicly shared, may embarrass Christian in about eight or nine years.  And I suppose, being the responsible, respectful mother that I am, I will have to do something about that then.  But until that day, I am going to enjoy this clip, every second of  it. And I hope you do, too. 

God's grace is never ending.  His blessings come in all forms and sizes.  Shortly after I took this video, Christian came along with me as I ran several errands on my lunch break.  We went to the pharmacy and the Verizon store before I took him back to school.  Nothing fancy, but we had fun.  After Friday, missing Christian at work as much I had been, God gave us some special time together.  It was exactly what I needed. 

BOO!

I won't be sharing any intimate thoughts today.  Just some fun photos of our Halloween in The Bluff ...

Our Fireman and Dalmatian posing on the back of a fire truck Saturday night.  The college hosted a Halloween event in conjunction with a local radio station and an estimated 4,000 parents and children showed up.  It was wild!   

Henry kept being mistaken for a girl all weekend.  I guess he does look kind of pretty in his costume.

Ok, before we go any further with Halloween photos, I need to defend myself for a minute.  I ordered these costumes online. I ordered Henry's and I was actually afraid it was going to be too big because it was labeled 2T-4T.  Whoops!  Guess not! And Henry is a small two year-old!  I can't imagine a four year-old in that costume...