this moment

it was really nothing out of the ordinary tonight.

we were having dinner.

we have dinner every night.

but something was different tonight.

as i looked at my plate with fresh, tasty ingredients,

and as i looked around the table with pete & my boys eating & talking with all of their "dinner guests" (will's stuffed monkey & sam's 2 dozen stuffed friends joined us for dinner tonight),

i realized how important these moments are.

i believe these are the moments i will take with me...

the flavors of our food,

the way the light shines in the window every night at dinner,

the way sam & will set the table with glasses half full of water and forks hidden almost anywhere,

the way will picks over his food looking mostly for chicken, cheese or noodles in every dish,

the way sam eats everything on his plate and the way he always asks pete when he is going to start liking tomatoes,

the way we talk about our day,

the way we all talk about how happy we are will has his highchair to sit in so he won't wander around,

and just the way we enjoy each other.

i know our meal time isn't always perfect.

many nights kids are grumpy,

things get spilled,

the food isn't wonderful,

and our dishes aren't fancy,

but tonight this moment was perfect.

"enjoy the little things in life for one day you'll look back and realize they were the big things."

date night

i relish the time that i get to take each of my boys on their own separate "mom date".

today was that day.

they both use this opportunity to be themselves,

not the lost in routine or in the shadow of a sibling self,

and i love getting that reminder of who they really are.

both dates with each of them were fun,

but will really stuck with me this time around.

we went to keva juice and great harvest and then to the park.

he wanted to sit out front and enjoy our food.

he really let loose there.

with hip hop type music playing over the loud speaker,

he couldn't contain himself.

he just started dancing and couldn't stop.

he had some great moves,

especially his break dancing type moves.

i didn't get to see all of them.

when he realized i was watching he asked me to stop to looking at him.

thankfully i had the camera in my purse and was able to catch a short secret video.

i love this kid.

i hope he is always so free to move how he's feeling.

friday book review: llama llama red pajama

llama llama red pajama

by anna dewdney

suggested reading level: 3-8

a sweet rendering of the trials of bedtime & separation anxiety,

a familiar theme with younger children.

after baby llama gets all tucked in he gets worried after his mama leaves.

when he calls her and she doesn't come immediately he begins to wail.

mama llama has to reassure him that she's always near even if she's not right here.

this story has a simple rhyme scheme and boldly colored pictures.

we love this book!

it is a great representation of what happens at bedtime often around here.

both of my boys enjoy reading it over & over.

it's one i like reading, too.

we talk often about why this baby llama is scared;

that gives my boys the chance to substitute what they are really scared about at night.

it's also a sweet reminder that i am always here for them, too, and that it's ok to go to sleep.

that's what cousins are for...

cousins are great for lots of things.

like...

a guaranteed play date,

someone to paint jungle animal faces with,

being willing to lock you in the bathroom when you had an accident in your pants to help you get cleaned up before anyone even found out.

cousins are also great to teach you important life lessons.

i caught one of these lessons today.

sam & emi were in the shower together today,

and i happened to walk by just at the right time to hear emi say this:

"sam, how come it's not ok to pee in your shower?"

to which sam responded:

"it's just not ok."

now really, who would teach you this lesson if you didn't have a best friend cousin?

this is sure a great group of cousins we've got.

i hope they continue to know that they will always have a friend in their cousins.

at the rate these guys are going,

i think they will always know that.

keeping it real

every room in my house looks as if a tornado has hit.

breakfast, lunch, snack, & dinner messes are still on the counter, table, & sink.

i have 2 baskets full of clean clothes, a load in the dryer & a load in the washer.

my garbage cans still need to be taken to the curb for garbage day tomorrow.

not to mention that i think every garbage can in my house needs to be emptied.

my floors are so sticky that i think of my grandpa complaining about floors being so sticky that it pulled his socks off walking across them.

oh, and the bathroom.

i did clean that yesterday,

but you wouldn't know that today.

my laundry/sewing room looks like i've done 9 projects without cleaning up once.

you get the point.

time management has never been my strongest skill.

hence, blogging instead of cleaning.

i'm wondering if that's why things never get done around here.

or maybe it's because i have 3 kids ages 4 & under.

(i know there are many who have more and who know how to do it better)

but for me i have to remember that this is what life is like for me for almost a year after having a baby.

i'm thinking i will just go to bed without worrying about it tonight.

don't worry, this is not a complaint about my life.

it is just a reality check,

a reality check that i will appreciate if i have another child and find myself in the same spot again.

17 minute mile

sam loves running.

he has wanted to run in a real race for the last 9 months.

we promised we would find a kid race in oregon this summer.

it didn't happen.

his dream came true yesterday.

he got to run a kid race.

it was a little longer than a little kid race.

it was just over 1 mile.

but he did it!

in only 17 minutes.

he is a competitive little thing.

he won 2nd place.

a close 2nd to 10-year-old boy.

i'm glad we came prepared.

i brought one of pete's medals to award him.

he was certain he would win a medal.

there were no official prizes,

but the finish line race worker was kind enough to award him the medal we brought.

he was so happy;

i thought he would cry.

he was proud, too,

and he is still proud.

i think the medal has only been off of him for 6 hours since he "won" it.

if it's not around his neck,

then it's hanging by his bed.

i've caught him laying and staring at it on several occasions.

i'm proud of him, too.

i think it's quite an accomplishment.

i have a feeling running could really be his thing;

mother's bias aside, he has some real natural talent.

i'm grateful he has had this confidence building experience,

but i'm more grateful to hear him talk about how everyone that started the race was a winner.

that's the most important lesson i hope he always carries with him.

i hope he knows he can always be a winner at everything he attempts.

i hope he knows that he is not more of a winner because of someone else's loss.

he will always be a winner for trying.

p.s. sam asked me last night if i would write on the blog about this. he wanted me to write that his dream finally came true.

a few other thoughts...

*he asked me the day before if i would say a prayer to help him with his race. will said the dinner prayer the night before. just as he was finishing up, sam interrupted him in a whisper asking him to say to help in his race at "sugar" park. will didn't understand, so he kept whispering back "at sugar park?" it was so touching! he finally understood the request and sent it in.

*i got him a new pair of "racing" socks with lightening bolts on them. i also got him a racing shirt that said "born to be awesome". after the race he thanked me for the shirt because it helped him run AWESOME.

*he wanted to take some pre-race photos with his race number on his shirt. he immediately posed himself in a running pose and a starting pose. :)

will's race

will wanted a race, too.

he was a little too small for a mile,

but we let him run a short distance with pete through the finish line.

that was just perfect.

he was proud, too.

and so were we.

he was perfectly prepared with his new running socks and flip flops.

he knows he won the 3-year-old division.

i'm glad he got the spotlight, too.