A Dreamy Day

Happy Anniversary to my main man and me.  We were romantically betrothed twelve years ago.  It was sweet.

Today was sweet too.

My dear, dear mother-in-law gave us the day to go.  To go away and be just us while she spent the day with three high-energy boys.  It's a strange feeling to just be he and me.  And we loved it.

We went to Turkey Run State Park and hiked trail 3 to trail 10 to trail 5 to trail 9.  It sprinkled a bit, but the thick forest worked as our umbrella.  Two hours of talking and holding hands and just being he and me.

Then we went to the inn there for lunch.  Pot Roast Melt.  So yum.  Tender beef, swiss cheese, grilled onions, rye bread.  With mint M&Ms Debbie gave us just before we left.

Part three was spent in the lodge.  We, being uberly nerdly, sat on a couch with our shoulders snuggling... and read.  No one was trying to crawl up on our laps, or pull us into another room, or need... anything from us.  We could just be, you know?  Parenting is great.  It's special and fulfilling.  But a break from parenting is also great and special and fulfilling.

So on to part four of our dreamy day...  As we left the lodge it started to rain so we drove to a shelter house with a picnic table to share our annual bottle of Martinelli's.  The rain turned into a thunder storm, but we were very dry and snug in the shelter.  Paul tried to use the cigarette lighter from our car to start a fire in the fireplace, but it wasn't hot enough.  But you could imagine how cozy that would have been.  We sat on the table sipping from wine glasses we brought from home and enjoyed the sound of the rain and the little peeks of sunshine that came and went.

And then we drove home.  Charlie and Reuben, who had not seen us for seven whole hours, came running and squealing to us at the door.  Sweet boys.

And sweet Debbie for caring for them.

And sweet man who loves me abundantly.

When I Was Adopted

The other day Reuben asked me about when I was adopted.  I think he wanted to know where I lived after I was adopted.  I don't remember exactly what he asked because I was trying to quickly take in the idea that he thought I was adopted.  Which makes me wonder if maybe he thinks everyone was once adopted.

I replied to him, "Remember, I grew in Granny's womb.  Granny is my mom."

Rube - "Oh, yeah.  Then where did you go/who took care of you when you came out of her womb?"

Me - "I lived with Granny and Granpa.  They were my family and took care of me."

I think his five-year-mind moved on to something else and our conversation ended there.  But what a realization for me - to know what he is thinking and how he is trying to figure out the world.

He was adopted, not being raised by the woman whose body he came from.

He knows that Peter grew in my womb, that the doctor cut me open to retrieve him, and that he still lives with us, his birth parents.  I guess that's why I was surprised he was globalizing adoption.

I hope he will continue to verbalize his thoughts to me and that I will be able to help him make loving sense of his world.

Merhaba, As It Were

Hello!  I miss you.  How are you?  You could tell me.  I would listen.  And respond.

Oh.  As I reread that upper sentence I wondered if my subconscious psyche was revealing the shallow sadness and loneliness I sometimes feel in this space because most of the time this is a one-way conversation.  Wow, that's pretty deep for a rainy Saturday morning.  So let's make this Say Hi To Stacey Day.  Fab ideas you have.

In other nonessential news...

My hemoglobin is up to 13.5, which is cause for a jog around the block or a dusting off of the workout videos because that's back in the normal range.  I should be feeling great!  But I'm not.  But one day I will.  Let's say... Thursday.  Thursday will be the comeback day.

This day, in one point five hours, we will drive north one hour to a university town to meet up with some manti-cooking Turks.  I have a pic of actual manti I saw once...

Peter and Reuben have their Turkish soccer jerseys on, Paul is walking around speaking random Turkish phrases to himself, and I... I am looking forward to making new local Turkish friends and eating their delicious food.

But first I must go dry my hair.

And tell you that, although it is 40ish today, it will be in the 80s by Wednesday.  Aha!

What's Going On

Reuben lost his second tooth last night.  First one has almost grown all the way in.

Will put one-year-old Charlie in the toddler bed today since he refuses to stay in the crib.  Exhibit A: Charlie sleeping in my bed right now.  Not because we put him there, but because he stealthily maneuvered his way in while we were unconscious.

Oops.  Awake now because he heard me hit the computer monitor.  It's old and wiggin out.

Bought a new camera, thanks to the Consumer Reports magazine Paul's dad lent me.  Now I have to buy a new computer with an up-to-date operating system to support it.  Back to Consumer Reports.

Charlie has about ten words now.  Let's see... Tractor and car are by far his favorites.  Down, no, Mama, Dada, bye-bye, juice, Nana, thank you, more, ball, and baby are other essentials.

I am not at the Homeschool Event of the Year this weekend.  I'm too tired.

Paul is handsome.  And I like him a lot.

Peter did a poetry recitation last night at the school's Rockin' Writer's Theatre.  It was cute.  I served refreshments.

I've been eating a Greek gyro 2-3 times a month.  For the sake of my iron.  And because they're so tasty.  Made by actual Greek man in C'ville.  I know, who knew?

Peter recently purchased a safari vest.  For adventuring.  It has 26 pockets and he would like to show you what he has stowed in each one.  Got an hour?

We are munching on our spring garden.  Radishes, spinach, lettuce, and arugula.  Carrots and peas will be ready soon.  Fresh green smoothies with spinach picked just moments before.  Lovely.

Reuben started a family joke about his "bucky."  We all laugh when he talks about it because none of us, including Reuben, know what his bucky actually is.  He just randomly says things about his mysterious bucky and we all crack up.  I suppose Paul and I are laughing because of what his bucky could be, you know.  Which takes me to this last bit of news...

Reuben's three o'clock playground injury yesterday:  He fell off a structure and was not getting up and was crying pretty fiercely.  As I ran over I called out, "Does your arm hurt?"  His arm was hanging all limp and awkward and I was sure it was broken.  But he yelled out, "NO, MY PEE-NUSS!"  Oh.  Now all the parents who were also there waiting to pick up their children from school are aware of the issue.  Then he lowered his pants to get a visual.  No shame here.

Charlie has brought me his shoes and is ready to go out.  Reuben has requested a trip to the Children's Museum and when I turned him down he gladly changed his plans to going to the store to buy candy to fill a pinata.  So...

Chase and Carly AND Reuben and Candy

Once upon a time my cute sister and her manly man came to visit.  And we went bowling...

 

A natural

So sad my sister is blurry here.

Soon-to-be-a-dad Chase chillin' with Charlie.

I think he's bowled before.

Here I go...

I could not find a ball light enough with finger holes big enough.
So heavy.

Thumb up! Thumb up!

The stealth bowler, giving a silent shout-out to Encinitas.

Valentine's Day snuck up on us while they were here.

Chase, Peter, and I put together pixi stick cards during breakfast the morning of.

Valentine's Day is what led me over the edge to declare No Sugar March.  It seems like we have had a constant stream of candy since Halloween.  Reuben is a sugar maniac and pesters me constantly about wanting to eat candy.  No mas!

No Sugar March was so fabulous we are extending it to all the other months.  Welcome to No Sugar April.

Paul's mom created a very fun candy-filled egg hunt for all the kids yesterday.  I told my boys that they could eat all the candy they wanted before we left Nana's house, and then leave any that's left at Nana's to eat when they visit her again.

So this morning what does Reuben ask?  "Mom, when can we go to Nana's again?" Ha.

Foggy Brain

In case you noticed my error in the last post, Gigi is not actually five yet.  I thought her birthday was February 7, but really it's May 7.  So we'll welcome her into the Five-Year-Olds club next month.

That's all.

And I looked up plane tickets to California last night.  So that's fun...

Rambles

Really?  You don't have any camera suggestions for me?  This blog is quite dull due to the lack of photos, which is a result of needing a new camera, which I'm going to fully accredit the blame to you because you haven't told me about your camera.  "We came here to meet girls and dance.  And we can't meet girls until we dance!"  You know what I'm saying?

I want one with a viewfinder and a rechargeable Lithium battery.  It doesn't exist.  Except for the one I currently own that is not for sale anymore because I bought it seven years ago.  Most just have a screen on the back, but it's impossible to see what you're taking a picture of when it's sunny.

But maybe they have fixed this faulty feature.  Maybe you have a camera with a screen that doesn't go black with the sun's glare.  Maybe you should tell me which camera it is so I can buy it and thus improve your life with photos on my blog.  See?  Win, win.

In other news... I am sitting at home with a fevered baby whilst Paul, Peter, and Reuben are spending the day in The City.  Oh, I love going to the city.  I've been looking forward to this Spring Break Day of Family Fun... visiting with friends, exploring the new exhibits at the Children's Museum, holding hands with my man, going out for dinner, and a little clothes shopping.

Instead I've done laundry and dishes, wiped Charlie's nose twenty times and given him Tylenol, picked up the mail and eaten leftovers for lunch.  Ho hum, twiddly dum.

Next topic... I enrolled Reuben in school for fall.  It's my backup plan in case I never feel the opposite of tired again.  Then last night I wrote out what our day of homeschooling would look like with Peter doing 4th grade and Rube doing Kinder/1st grade.  It can be done, of course... by a mother with full stores of iron.  So we'll see.

Peter is going to take part in a summer science enrichment course sponsored by the Gifted and Talented program in our school district.  It's led by a high school science teacher and includes a trip to Chicago.  I'm not convinced that Peter is "gifted and talented", perhaps he was just given an excellent academic foundation by an extraordinary teacher in the perfect educational setting.  Ha ha ha, I crack myself up.

If I don't keep writing, what will I do next?  Get a drink and watch the latest episode of The Amazing Race, I guess.

But first, a Happy Birthday to Riley!  Welcome to the Five-Year-Olds club.  Current members are Reuben, Samuel, Gigi, and now Riley!  I would show you cute pictures of them all, but, you know... that whole camera thing.  And to be fully truthful, these cousins live in four different towns in three different states and have never actually all met each other.  But you can imagine how cute they'd be playing ninjas and princesses all together.

Okay, good-bye.  Hope you're having a more thrilling, less lonely day than I am.