Singing in the Woods

I'm going to have a busy week, and won't likely post anything, in spite of the constant churnings of my heart to express SOMETHING. (What IS that, anyway?)

Here's a little video from last weekend's walk in the woods. Amelia asked if I would "make a movie" of her singing a song. As I was hitting the record button, Evelyn said, "I'll sing, too!" and jumped into the picture.

What Evenly didn't realize until she was already in the frame was that Amelia was going to do her current thing of improvising an original worship song. I think Evelyn did a pretty smooth job of improvising, too :)

And speaking of Amelia's original, improvised worship songs, Tim and Diana were over this afternoon and we all about split ourselves trying not to laugh as she gave a very enthusiastic concert of them in the living room.

Someday

Someday there will not be toothpaste on the bathroom mirror, or food coloring splattered around the bathtub. I will not step on plastic Disney rings or spend time brushing the knots out of Barbies' hair. Someday I will be able to listen to something besides the soundtrack to "Annie" in the car, and the backseat will not be filled with enough crumbs to feed a homeless person. There will be rooms in this house that will be left undisturbed for days at a time, and there will not be entire drawers devoted to construction paper, markers, stickers, and glue.

Someday I will not be packing lunches or awakened by hungry people who can't yet lift the milk jug. The back yard will not be littered with plastic food and utensils, and there will be no more naked dolls lying uncomfortably on the basement floor. My front porch will not house scooters, strollers, or sidewalk chalk. Someday there will not be loud wails of "MaMAHHH!!" reverberating through the house, and I will not have that hot, overwhelming feeling of being needed far beyond my ability to meet needs.

All of this makes me kind of sad.. As tiring and crazy as life can be right now, I love it. I love these girls. With each new age they open whole new doors on life (and sometimes wacky things come walking over the threshold), and those little people take me on a very rich and adventurous ride. It makes me sad to think of it being over someday.

But there's definitely hope in spite of the sad feelings I have imagining our quiet, clean, empty house. The hope comes from our parents, who don't seem sad at all that we aren't living at their houses writing on their walls or using their ace bandages as harnesses to drag one another around. Both Alan's parents and mine seem to have weathered their empty nests by flying out of them--on trips to the British Isles, Canada, New Zealand, etc. They seem just fine with the facts that they don't have to do our laundry or wipe our toothpaste out of the sink, or that no one is picking the heads off their daffodils as soon as they pop out of the ground. They don't seem to miss vacuuming so much crud off the dining room rug that the vacuum cleaner sounds like a maraca, or that no one is walking into the bathroom while they're sitting on the toilet and saying with astonishment, "Mommy, you have a really big, giant butt!"

Thank you to both sets of our parents, for reminding me in your own ways to soak up every moment of these days, and for giving me hope that the days to come will have their own rich adventure and satisfaction, even if there's no one putting rocks in my purse.

Early Spring Hikes

Drawn out by the warmth, we ventured into the woods both Saturday and Sunday. It's one of those things that is just good for all of us. We explore, build, create, and collect. (My backpack comes home loaded with Amelia's "treasures," which inspired me to use our Andy Goldsworthy coffee table book as a bedtime story--how tickled I was to find them interested!)

So this was the first time in a long time I had the bright idea of letting them wear their "muddy boots" on the hike. It was fantastic, of course, until they inevitably waded into water higher than the tops of the boots.

However, the fun continued in spite of having to help Evelyn change into dry pants and socks in the open air. The hardest part after that was trying to keep her from announcing to fellow hikers that she was no longer wearing underwear (why did I stop at just extra pants and socks??)

These are definitely times worth remembering.

Playdate at the Science Center

I'm living it up for the last two Fridays of the MD Science Center's "Fridays After Five" program. It's kind of our winter hang-out on Fridays, and it's really fun to take friends. This past week we took church friend Cass & her girls, and Hamiltopia friend Jess's son, Ryan (who had no trouble being "The Man" on the trip.)

I do a much better job of spending time w/my girls if I get away from my house. My house has too many distractions and I end up multi-tasking (poorly) while trying to do things with them. Getting out to places like the Science Center, Zoo, playgrounds, or on walks or hikes is the best way for me to "be there" for them.

I'm not going to set aside my desire to learn how to be better at playing games, dollhouse, playing outside, making crafts, and cooking with the girls--I'm just going to enjoy ignoring my weakness at doing those things by getting away from the house now and then!

Here's to a good week for everyone! Enjoy your friends, families, and chew on a truth for good measure. I'm going to chew on God's love today. :)

Most Recent Obsession

I was telling a colleague at Battle Monument School about Evelyn's love of her wedding dress Christmas present, and she reminded me that two of our teachers were getting married this coming summer. "They might have wedding magazines to pass along," she suggested.

Well, they did. And for a while my dining room floor looked like this. The girls have meticulously cut out every bride from every magazine, glued or taped them to construction paper, and (get this) numbered them.

I've overheard the most adorable (but very serious) conversations. They usually start with questions such as, "Amelia, which one do you like better, #24, #41, or #73?"

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

I’ve got another icky sinus infection/cold. Alan and I forgot to set our alarm this morning. Good thing the girls had gotten up, dressed and were playing in their room. I threw on yesterday’s clothes as they grabbed their backpacks, then raced them off to school.

I had to keep putting out of my mind my HORRIBLE bed-head as I walked each of my girls to their classrooms. I kept hoping if I smiled really big people wouldn’t notice my hair. It was rather like one of those awful dreams I tend to have—where I realize I am naked in public and maybe I can keep it under the radar if I walk down the street and subtly step behind things like stop signs (???) and trash cans as others walk or drive by. Sometimes in those dreams I even find a cardboard box. (Because it draws NO attention to see a naked person holding a cardboard box around her while walking down the street.)

When I got home, Alan (waiting for carpet installation people to come "anytime after 8 am") had an unusually goofy grin on his face. He handed me a cup of coffee and said, "Have you seen your hair?" Obviously I had stopped smiling.

Okay, tell us what you think!

Here is our Home Exchange listing--feel free to let us know what you think. So far...no hits. But I'm an eternal optimist!

(Update 3/16/11--we have a hit! However, I'm not sure we can afford to fly all of us to France in August...)

Trying to Travel on a Dime!

Our friends, Mindy & Raleigh, who live in beautiful, rural upstate NY in a huge, renovated farmhouse w/wrap-around porch, joined a Home Exchange website hoping to trade houses w/someone in the Portland area for as many weeks of the summer as possible. Lots of people do this kind of trade-houses-for-vacation idea and it got me and Alan excited--so we joined a Home Exchange website, too! There are people all over the world looking to vacation in other places while you vacation in THEIR place.

We still have to work on our website page, but here are a few pics we put up to advertise our very cool, pedestrian neighborhood and our nearly-100 year old house. Now...if only the lady in Versailles would want to come HERE! :)

We'll keep you posted, and I'll share the link to our house on the website when it's ready.

Happy Birthday, Alan!

Today Alan (and his twin sister, Becky) turned 40. I think he did most of his agonizing about it already. This afternoon he drove up to RVR with the girls after school and we all rode the triple zip line as a family. (He and I got our own, single rides first.) Each girl clipped in with one of us as we slid down the line. Hopefully I'll be able to upload the video of our "grownup" ride.

Then we celebrated "Alan style." We fed the kids first, put them to bed, ordered Chinese, and ate while watching "House Hunters International" on our laptop. Oh--and we ate some ice cream cake.

Now he's at a local restaurant with a few of his musician friends (and Sung) for a brew. I love giving people what they want! :)

Happy birthday to my husband--I look forward to more years of celebrating your birthday YOUR way, of making memories with these beautiful girls, and of going through life together sometimes with our feet on the ground, and sometimes flying through the air. :)

(Many thanks to John Zig--our girls' "other Uncle Johnnie"--and Matt Merson at RVR, along with interns Odessa and Jennifer, without whom the zip line ride would never have happened!)

We knew it was BAD to eat at McD's!

My friend Jody lives in CO and shared this w/me yesterday. Thought I'd share w/you all!

On another note, today is Alan's 40th b-day! We won't be going to McDonald's, but we will be going to RVR to ride the zip line as a family! Stay tuned for (hopefully!) videos!

The Peace, Love, and Joy Assembly

I tried WAY too many times to upload the video of Evelyn in a dance last week, but I think it was just too long. It didn't matter that Evelyn was in the back row, quite obscured (I kept my eyes peeled for glimpses of her bobbing ponytails), and that I had a hard time even seeing her--I was so proud! She was selected to participate in it for the "Peace, Love, and Joy Assembly" and I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. (It also makes me smile to write "Peace, Love and Joy Assembly." You gotta love charter schools.)

The most moving segment of the assembly was a little 1st grade boy who read--w/amazing feeling--the most famous parts of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. That speech is SO powerful. The place erupted and rose to its feet at the end. I cried big, boo-hoo tears of wonder sitting in that very diverse crowd--"sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners" sitting down "together at the table of brotherhood...."