this moment

{this moment} - Joining Soulemama's Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

two hikes and a bonfire

busy, busy times it has been... i owe you lots of updates, for instance the birthday handmade's from may... yikes! but for now i'd like to say happy 2012. it's been a red letter year so far. i'm not one for resolutions, i don't really have anything i'm not already trying to do. and i abhor the "starting on monday" thing. once i want to do something i'd just like to get on with it, why wait?

since procreating, there's not a lot of time alone with my man. we've been trying to get a bit more in. just a bit. we like being with our kids all the time. we know it goes fast and we really enjoy it. it's the kind of parents we wanted to be, it's the kind of parents we have been for 6 years. we were married for 7 years before we had kids and we knew each other for 6 before we got married. we've lived in 3 states and in our car, the wanderlust runs deep in us. we waited a long time for our kids, and they are really fun to be around. so it is a rare occurrence that in three days we had three dates. very cool, very us and very fun.

for one hike we walked out of our house, up the street, to the end of a court and into the woods. up the mountain, down, then up, saw our neighborhood from the top, then around, came out through the botanical gardens and then walked back home. so very cool.

for another we hiked up and then around a lake. a hike we've been doing since we were teenagers. we did it when i was pregnant, with our nephew, with friends, by moonlight, with the kids on our backs. it's nice to be somewhere you know so well. when i am near trees and water i know who i am and where i belong.

new year's eve we had the kids in bed and asleep by 9. which if you know us, you know is a magnificent feat of daring, mixed with an ounce of know how and boat load of luck. we made a bonfire in the back yard, the sky was crystal clear, the stars were bright, the lake sparkly. at the stroke of 2012 there were bursts of color in the sky set off by folks around the neighborhood. it was exactly where we wanted to be.

cheers! to doing what you love this year with who you love to do it with.

this moment

{this moment} - Joining Soulemama's Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

this moment

{this moment} - Joining Soulemama's Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

this moment

{this moment} - Joining Soulemama's Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

this moment

{this moment} - Joining Soulemama's Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

the march of the stupid soldier

first lemme say this post is not intended to offend anyone, my dad, granfather, cousin are all soldiers whom i admire and they would all agree that a good soldier marches without question; regardless of the effect on the being.

second lemme say this is what my son says to me sunday night at 10pm as he's jumping on his bed, and in general nowhere near calm and seeming to be ready to sleep. he is starting kindergarten on tuesday, he met his teacher and class at school on friday. i've had a year week filled with anxiety, he had appeared to be showing textbook signs of his anxiety before or during a change. i wasn't sure what to expect, he hadn't really wanted to discuss the topic. ok, you have the scene.

he: (jumping) "i'm so excited! excited! woo hoo exciiiiited"

me: "oh?"

he: "yes for sc hooooool, to go to sc hooooooooool"

me: "hmmmm"

he: "uh huh, i'm gonna jump right into line and march like a stupid soldier"

me: nothing, i had nothing. i laughed like i was 13 and my BFF just had juice come out of her nose. he's not really allowed to say stupid (thanks roald dahl) but i just laughed. called in tree from which apple fell and more laughing ensued.

seriously? i can't even take it. all this worry, all these years of him clinging to me and me standing up for his right to stay home with me till he was darn ready to go. smiling sweetly at the ass wipes who wanted to tell me how flippin good it would be for him if i just dropped him off and let him cry, cause you know, he'd get over it. no, he wouldn't have and no, i won't and no, i didn't and hell yeah he's spent 5 years 9 months with me learning and absorbing and becoming a whole human being with an awesome  vocabulary  and now? well, it seems as if he's ready and as if he's pretty much nailed it. you go perceptive boy, you take your analytical, curious, assertive, tenderhearted self and you go march on in and steal their secrets. cause if there's one thing i'm pretty sure of? it's that you'd make a crappy soldier.