I'll say it again

I am so very, very lucky. 
I am sitting here at work eating yogurt and sliced peaches.  I never actually told Tony that is how I like my yogurt these days, but he pays attention.
The nastiest of nasty stomach viruses hit me hard yesterday.  Like, out of no where hard.  Like, stuck in bed until my tailbone was on fire hard.  Like, 3 saltine crackers were all I could manage for an entire day hard.  Like, breaking my 4 1/2 year strike on pop because all I could imagine keeping in was some lemon-lime soda hard. 

But even with all of that sucky dumb tummy ridiculousness, I know I am lucky to have Tony as my partner.  He busted his butt around the house and checked on me in regular intervals.  He took the kids on a bike ride and packed our lunches. 
I am lucky and I freaking love this man. 

'they would box me up and tell me to change'

Our little Nadia has always been a little 'up in the clouds' but she is also the most grounded being I know.  I wouldn't change one little thing about her.  Even when I am at my wit's end in a fit of parenting what-have-yous she is exactly the kid she should be.  She is a little bit sassy and a whole lot messy and every bit the balance between staying out of drama and being the biggest advocate of those in the middle of it all.  So, in keeping with my theme of writing down the little things that I never, ever, ever want to forget because I know some day my sweet kids will ask me what they were like at 10 and I will only be able to tell them the big moments not the every day conversations, I am writing this one down. 

(truth be told, this was one of those moments where I tore a scrape piece of paper out of my lesson planner and wrote while we were driving because I had to get her depth inked down)

I had a late meeting so our schedule was backwards which meant I got to spend a little extra time with her.  My mind was tuck in our old routine which had me taking the long way around to get us back to dutch brothers, and brought us by an overcrowded school bus stop loaded with children who looked a little like an ad for hands across America.  A beautiful mix of beautiful children representing the diversity of our growing hometown.  There were some children wearing traditional hijab, jumping and skipping around.  Nadia said out of no where, that she thought they were beautiful and that no one should make fun of them ever.  She said she had two kids at her school who wear those scarves.  I asked if kids do make fun of them.  She said no, but she knows people can be mean.  She knows that sometimes they do in other places.  Then she said that people are not perfect and it is good that we aren't because if we were no one would learn. 

Seriously, people! 
NO ONE WOULD LEARN IF WE WERE PERFECT! 
Will you get a load of that? 

 

Rest easy tonight, my loves. 

She is not perfect, but she is perfect for me.....and I am convinced she is perfectly suited to change this world in her silly and lovely little way. 



leave it margo

For all of your slobber and your ridiculous barking at airplanes and your hatred of the vacuum, we love you all the more. 

Sometimes we just have to work real hard to remember that. 

i take one step forward, you take two steps back...

please tell me you are singing it?  You know, the Paul Abdul song Opposites Attract and I certainly hope you are picturing that creepy cat dancing up and down the stairs. 

We are not exactly losing ground.  We are just sort of hanging on.  Let's just agree to pretend that we am keeping our heads comfortably, measurable if only slightly above water, ok?  Not to say that we are sinking, but we sure have been diving deep and holding our breath while trying to balance all of this stuff in our crazy paced life. 

And stuff has happened people.  Lots of stuff.  Stuff I should remember but I don't.  Not in any sort of systematic way anyway.  Some of it has been pretty freaking awesome.  Most of it has been more of the same.  But in all of this there are some stories that I need to get out because my head is too full most of the time to remember them for any length of time (and especially not when I need them most). 

But here are some highlights. 
we went to the fair:

It's not the same as when I was a kid.  We spent all of our time in the animal barns.  We enjoyed it.  My kids just want to hang out with the carnies.  Although Aidan humored me by checking out the reptile guy and Nadia milked a goat, but still, it's not the same.

As per tradition, we went to Sausage Fest.

And the Gravel Pit Championship to get our annual dose of rivalry sporty stuff out of the way. 

Aidan loves middle school.  Whatever they are doing there they need to keep it up.  There have been a few hard lessons but it has been mostly smooth and pretty fantastic to see him liking school again.  Ok, not mostly smooth but not the bumps I thought we would have.  He is loving Scouts too, especially when they go on campouts. 

 

Nadia is hitting her groove in 5th grade.  She has started orchestra and is enjoying playing the violin.  She is in choir...for the moment...annnnd the moment passed.  It has been tough giving up every recess to balance the two.  She is on the Girls on the Run team mostly because they have awesome coaches but also because she has great friends on the team too.

Tony has been Tonying. 

Tinkering and building and working overtime and being SAHD every Friday that he can because our kids love him to pieces. 

I ran my second half marathon.  I didn't do as well as I wanted but the training was way more fun this time because of the one and only Lindsay Bates! 

AND there is more, people!  Much, much more. 

Like stuff with friends ...

and birthdays that were celebrated ...

and weddings...

 and fun stuff and stuff that should have been boring but wasn't because of people we love. 

An loads more every day stuff.  The real stuff I want to remember.  The funny stories and the important moments and the conversations ...

(because WHOA, we have had some real conversations as these little people are becoming big people) ...

the moments that someday my kids will ask me about and I won't remember because I was too frazzled. 

So I am going to catalog more frequently.  Even if it is just a picture that helps us remember.
No really.  I am.