Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was a very tall boy and a really petite girl. They went to the same big university and ended up at the same party. The girl, who really liked to drink wine, realized she had no corkscrew and must make a trip to the store and get one at once. She asked if anyone wanted to go to the store with her, and the boy said yes. Although she really didn't know the boy, she agreed. So they made the trip to the store, drank (all) the wine and decided they liked each other.

The boy and the girl proceeded to spend all their time together. Now the girl realized how silly they must have looked walking around beside each other, for the boy was much, much taller than her, and she was quite sure people were saying how funny they looked together. This bothered the girl quite a bit for awhile, and she decided she should probably not walk around with the boy any longer. But before she got a chance to say anything, she forgot about it.

The boy and the girl spent the next three years at the university together, and they decided to get married after they graduated. They had a nice wedding, went on a great honeymoon, and became husband and wife. They went on to have real jobs, and buy cars and houses, and travel too. After a few years of being married, the husband and wife decided they would like to have a baby. They waited and waited and waited, but could not have a baby. They cried big tears, and went to doctors, and years later, were blessed with twins, a boy and a girl. The husband and wife were so happy to have a family that they always wanted! And then, before they ever caught up on their sleep, they were blessed with another surprise baby girl. Now the house was running over with little people, and they liked it.

The last baby will celebrate her first birthday in a few days, and tomorrow the husband and wife will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. They've learned a few new things about each other in the past 10 years. For instance, no matter how hard the husband tries to change her, the wife is still messy and always leaves papers laying on the counter. And as much as the wife wishes otherwise, the husband doesn't have a spontaneous bone in his body. He has never planned a surprise, booked a trip, or brought home flowers just because. The husband refuses to make phone calls or pay bills. The wife will never take out the garbage (it's not her job).

But whatever shortcomings the husband and wife may have, they do seem to make up for in other ways. The husband's extreme patience and calm nature certainly compliment the wife's short fuse and excitability. The wife is enthusiastic and a dreamer, and helps to inspire the husband to do big things he might not otherwise. He's a good cook. She bakes great cakes. He digs gardens and fixes things. She does the photo albums and sews nice things. He lets her sleep in on the weekends. He makes coffee every morning. She lets him mow the lawn for hours on end. She lets him buy expensive man toys.

He knows how to piss her off at the touch of a button, and sometimes seems to find pleasure in it. But he can make her laugh like no one else. So hard that she is crying and gasping for air. She knows she sometimes annoys the hell out of him, yet she doesn't stop. But she has brought tears of sheer happiness to his eyes on more than one occasion. He knows that she loves him more than anything, because she tells him. She knows he loves her too, he shows her.

They agree on most things and don't sweat the small stuff. Fortunately they have the same taste in furniture and cars. And they both like to look at antiques, and garden, and visit the river. They are lucky to not have to fight about kids or finances. They like to bicker of course, but don't let things get out of hand. They are really good at talking things over.

Ten years has gone by so fast, and no doubt the next ten will go by even faster. The boy and the girl look forward to watching their children grow, turning their dreams into realities, and of course, bickering with each other. The wife will still leave papers all over the counter, and the man will still refuse to make phone calls or plan vacations. But somehow. It works.


Happy Tenth!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Parks and such

So today I decided to get the kids to a park since we're having lower-than-avg temps and a bit of a breeze to boot. We won't be having many more days like this for months to come so I had to take advantage of it.

We ended up finding a nice small park in a new neighborhood near us and spent a nice hour there. On the way home, I decided to drive through another neighborhood to see if they had any nice parks, for future reference. So we did come across a park in this neighborhood as well, but it was gated. It was a large area that required one of those HOA cards to get through the gate. So I told the kids sorry but we can't get in, the gate is locked.

And Lilly says "wait a minute mommy, we could use a pogo stick to jump over the gate if we want." I love it when my kids can truly make me laugh out loud for real. And I did. This isn't the first pogo-stick reference to come out of her mouth, and it just always makes me laugh. We don't have a pogo-stick, and she's never really seen one or read about one that I know of. My guess is it came from some show we watched. But my girl is clever isn't she!

In other news Baby Ginger has been taking many first steps. She can walk across a (small) room holding my hand, and she has also taken a few solo steps to count. I'm pretty sure she'll be a "walker" by her first birthday. She is SO proud of herself :) One of her current favorite pastimes is hanging out on the bottom stair, where she likes to sit, then stand, then sit... and perhaps lay on it as well. She thinks it's pretty fun. Like all soon-to-be toddlers she's fearless and has a few bruises to show for it.

And last but not least, my lil guy Owie. Owen hasn't been as fast with his speaking and enunciation as his sister, so he has referred to himself as Owie for quite some time. We have followed suit. Cause it's cute. Well last week every time I called him, he said "no mom, OWEN." Ah, break my heart! My little man is getting so big, and would now like to be called Owen :( Owen has developed quite a fear of carwashes. The drive through kind. I've only taken the kids through one a few times. Lilly thinks it's quite fun. Owen, on the other hand, I thought was choking on his chicken nugget last time we got near one. But no, he was just convulsing. The boy is terrified of car washes. No matter how hard I try to talk it up and explain it to him. If we approach the intersection where the car wash is, you will quite likely see him tearing up. He even gets quite upset in parking garages and don't get him near an elevator. So for now, my car is dirty (er). I hope this is a phase.



These are a few pictures from our day trip to Brenham, TX. It's only about an hour from us and a great little town. The drive getting there is really scenic too. We visited a really nice park (lots of shade!) and then did a tour of the Blue Bell Ice Creamery, a Texas institution. It was organized by the twins' club I'm in. It was a fun day.








Hanging around home. Tea party.


Another park. Sisters :)


Ginger's current fave hangout.

It was 95degrees today. Boo. The kids have one more day of school left until summer. Boo. I see lots of Candyland in my future. But that's OK.


And this is why I worry. One minute she's wearing a pretty pink toddler dress. The next...
And she shrieks with delight when Tik Tok comes on the radio. The party don't start til she walks in.