weekly mouse

this is ava going down the driveway. it's not everyday you see enthusiasm like that.

weekly guy

this week we spent a lot of time riding bikes down the driveway. seth watched ava do it once, pushed his little car up to the top, climbed on and pushed off. i was both terrified and impressed. he was thrilled.

cinnamon rolls

it is during seth's naptime and ava and i are making cinnamon rolls. this thrills ava. she asks lots of questions, insist on pouring everything, asks more questions, repeats everything i am saying, etc. finally, to get a few moments of peace, i hand her a lump of dough and let her have at it. this does the trick, the girl child keeps her mouth shut and concentrates very hard. after a few moments, i glance over to see how she's doing. well, she's eaten her dough. and now, having nothing else to do, she is casually dumping handfuls of flour on to the floor. THE FLOOR.

"ava!" i shriek, "what are you doing? you are making a big mess!" grumpily, i get her down and sulkily, she watches me from the other side of the room where she will stand long enough for me to know that being mean thing? that stopping her from doing whatever her little heart wishes? SHE IS NOT FORGETTING THAT.

finally i finish, put the rolls in the oven to rise and turn to the enormous mess of flour across my kitchen floor. to drive a point home i say, "now i have to sweep this up because SOMEBODY made a huge mess."

ava is interested now. she eyes the floor without emotion and then asks, "you mean me?"

i have no words. only thoughts. none of which are polite.

uh, yeah. i do.

some early morning thoughts

things were quiet this morning. i sat in the middle of the couch in the middle of my clean living room and i got to read and write and think. everything was so still around me, even buddha was sleeping. of course, every five minutes i heard ryan's snooze alarm go off and then the sound of his repeatedly pushing the snooze button and then quiet again.

and then, suddenly, everyone was awake. ava was dancing naked in the hallway, singing a song and cheering for the new day. ryan was calling out for her to pick up her overnight diaper and throw it in the trash. the shower was starting. seth was crying because i wouldn't let him take his blankee into the bath. buddha was protesting ava's attempts at getting him into the tub, i was calling out for her to "stop! leave the cat alone!"

just two children is so noisy, so active. i can't only imagine what my mother was doing with six children (well, i can remember hearing the sound of my brothers running down the hall laughing and screaming at 6 in the morning, labrador in tow. and then WHAM! all of them hit my bedroom door with all of their weight because apparently, it is more fun to slam your body into a door than to simply turn and continue running toward the kitchen).

the other night we were having dinner and somehow, in order for me to tell ryan about my day or the other way around, we had to yell over ava and seth. you'd think that with all that food to put in their mouths they'd be quiet and concentrate on that, but somehow, that isn't the case. and the noise is impressive. it reminds me of a family dinner at my parents house where recently my mother was placed between two of my brothers. suddenly she stood and shouted, "the volume! the volume!" all the while moving her hands in a gesture that i can only describe as being the opposite of raising the roof. everyone stopped, blinked a few times, then continued right on with the yelling.

so those rare mornings when i'm actually awake enough to brave the cold and slither out of bed and into some very attractive knee-high socks, i feel like a lucky girl. it is quiet and i am alive to hear it.

112

hey look! another old building!

ladies and genteleman, may i introduce you to. . .

the wrath of a 3-year-old. you parents of children who are wide eyed in amazement at the wrath of your 2-year-old? SIT DOWN. seriously. YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

so we go to a local pizza place to have some fun monday family time and when we have to go, ava freaks. like, she's really mad. the most amazing part of this story, however, is the fact that once we got home, she was still mad. as i went to open her door she fiercely reached over and held it shut saying through clenched teeth, "i'm. not. getting. out."

and i just stood there, trying to figure out what was going on. then i threatened to remove her myself. then i carried out my threat and she pedaled her legs madly in the air (as if that would stop me!). and then, once in the house, she stayed mad. perhaps there are parents out there who are laughing at my innocence, but let me tell you, she's never acted like this in her life. only a week ago i would have described her as easy going. but now? i don't even know where to begin! when asked to describe the girl i simply say, "she has blonde hair and blue eyes." because that, at least, is true no matter what is happening.

naturally, once indoors, ryan and i documented the moment with camera. because when you're child is holding a grudge toward you for the first time, what else are you supposed to do?

kids these days, i tell you what. . .

raise the roof, he was born 28(!!!) years ago

this man.

and may i just say, at the risk of boring you to death, that this man is my favorite thing about my life so far?

it's more than love. it's more about your sweetheart being your best friend or your best friend being your sweetheart, it's more than "because two people fell in love", it's more than feeling butterflies when i see him, or laughing at all his jokes. . .

it's that steadiness. that manliness. it's his inability to shut the closet door, or hang up his own towel and yet be bothered by the fact that my towel is on the floor. it's the fact that i can trust him implicitly. it's the fact that i hold him in the highest esteem.

he is a good man. and i can lean on him.

and also, he knows all three seasons of arrested development by heart and can find a quote to apply to any situation we may be in and that always makes me laugh.

manly, happy birthday.

and chris and kristine? well done. seriously. you raised a doozy of a man. and that's why, when you're really old and senile and you're constantly loosing your teeth and trying to wander the neighborhood in only your diaper, i'm going to take care of you. with a smile on my face. although, if you're also shouting at your neighbors about conspiracy theories and accusing them of attempting to take down government, that won't be too hard (maybe that won't happen).