Mason says . . .

Mason: "Mama, my tummy hurts. I ate too much food at the restaurant."
Me: "My tummy hurts too, Buddy."
Mason: "Why?"
Me: "I don't know why, Buddy. I have heartburn."
Mason starts blowing hard, then says: "Do you like that I'm blowing on your heart, Mom?"
Me: "Yes, Buddy. It feels much better now."

And I wasn't even lying. I love that kid.

Sad News

This morning I got some sad news. My dad's dear friend, Ralph Brown, was killed yesterday. He was helping a friend, and there was an accident. It seems, at least, that he didn't suffer, which is always something for which to be grateful.
Ralph was a good man. He worked very hard, was generous in helping others (he even bailed Landon and I out one time when we accidentally ran out of gas on our way to my parents' house), and was incredibly funny. He was a good friend to my father, which is why I'll always remember him fondly.
My favorite Ralph story. . . Ralph was a mechanic extraordinaire, and certainly looked the part. He had rough hands, always seemed to have some grease on his hands and clothes (or maybe that's just because when ever I saw him, he was helping my dad fix something), etc. Ralph was also missing a few teeth, which he pulled out himself as he was averse to paying the dentist to do so. One day, Ralph was helping my dad disassemble a large metal building my dad had purchased to house his many tractors. They had hired a couple of other men to help because it was a large task. One of these other men was not particularly smart, and he asked Ralph what he did for a living. Ralph told him he was a gynecologist. The not-so-bright worker believed him, so Ralph kept that story line going. I can't even imagine showing up to meet my new ob/gyn and finding Ralph there ready to perform the pelvic exam. It still makes me laugh.
I am grateful to have known Ralph before he passed and grateful for his friendship with my father. You will be missed, Ralph.

Father's Day... a little late

Father's Day came and went over the weekend, and even though it was my intention to write a post about the fathers in my life, I didn't. That's how life goes sometimes, right?

Part I: My Dad

My dad is truly amazing. His own father took off either before my dad was born or soon thereafter (I can't remember that specific detail), and his mom wasn't winning any parenting awards. His early years were riddled with abusive step-fathers and/or live-in boyfriends who would come and go like the seasons. Before my dad hit puberty, his own mother deserted him to chase after some man, who, like the others, was just a memory soon enough. After his mom walked out, my dad lived with his maternal grandmother until she died when he was 16. After that, one of his aunts took over his care. While my dad was fortunate enough to have a grandma, an aunt and several men in his community who took him under their wing, he had been abused, beaten down and abandoned by the people who were supposed to take care of him. He never had a good example of parenting, much less of being a decent human being, until he was a preteen.
Yet, my dad has always worked hard to do the right thing. Despite never being very book smart, my dad went to college and earned a degree. Despite growing up on food stamps in stark poverty, he worked hard his entire life and provided extremely well for his family. Despite the lack of a strong male influence at home, he grew up to be a man -- one who never shirked responsibility or hard work. He is the very definition of a self-made man; he came from nothing to be a successful business man an entreprenuer, a loving husband and devoted father.
Like any parent, my father made mistakes with us kids. He was hard on us, especially my older brothers and sisters. His job as a traveling salesman meant that we didn't see him much during the week. He has always been quick with criticism and slow with praise. But, we always knew we were loved. We always knew we would be taken care of. We never went without. And, I think most indicative of what an amazing man my dad is, we all have tremendous respect and love for our dad.
Thanks, Dad, for being a good example to me. Thank you for loving me and for seeing my talents and strengths in me when I couldn't. Thank you for wanting more for your family than you had been given. And thank you for the way you choose to live with gratitude in your heart.
I love you.

For These Moments

I'm grateful for moments like this:and this:
because they remind me how lucky I am to be a mom.

I am grateful for the opportunity to go places like this:

with this guy:
because few people have the chance to see and experience the world with such a fantastic partner.

Life is good. I am blessed.

complementary

I like to think that I'm a well-rounded person with many talents. I'm reasonably intelligent and I do quite a few things pretty darn well. But, like anyone, there are plenty of things that I'm just no good at. Do you want some examples? Here goes:
I lack self-control, or, in other words, I'm totally impulsive. This applies to food, shopping, and pretty much anything else you can think of. I have to completely cut myself off from temptation because otherwise, I'll end up eating a whole bag of candy or drinking all the soda in the fridge in one day.
The filter most people have that sorts out the thoughts that are not appropriate to put into actual verbiage is mostly absent in my mind. I'm really good at saying totally inappropriate, insensitive, and/or private things at all times, and I usually don't even realize that it wasn't okay for me to say it.
I am not so great at following things through to completion. At any time, I'll have between three and ten projects I am "working on" in various stages of completion. It is unusual for said projects to ever be as finished as I intended them to be when I started them.
And that's it. Those are the only three weaknesses I have. Everything else in the entire world, I am really quite good at. For realz. *wink* Anyhow, the point of this post isn't for me to bag on myself (though I am quite good at that), but to talk about something for which I am grateful... today, that happens to be: the way Landon's strengths complement my own, and vice versa.
I picked those three particular weaknesses highlighted above because those are three areas in which Landon is strong. He has stellar self-control, is impeccably tactful and sensitive, and never leaves something unfinished. Like myself, Landon is a very well-rounded person with many talents and strengths, yet somehow, there is little overlap in our weaknesses. We are fantastically complementary, and I think that strengthens our relationship. I know I can rely on Landon to be strong where I am weak, and I know that I can be of assistance to him when he is facing his own limitations. We work together to fill in the gaps, and that is totally okay. In fact, it's great to know that I have that ace in the hole when ever I need it!
So today I am grateful that Landon is my complementary counterpart who strengthens me and makes me a better woman.

Seen and Heard: Mason Edition

Heard
Me: "Mason, how are you feeling this afternoon?"
Mason: "Well, my hands are hot."
Me: "Why are your hands hot?"
Mason: "My hands are hot from working so hard at school today. They were, like, on fire."

Seen and Heard
Mason was sooooo excited about the dustbuster I got for my birthday, he was rather eager to get a chance to use it. When I forgot to charge it while he was at school, I didn't hear the end of it. "Mom, it's not fair that you didn't charge the battery while I was at school! You said I could use my new vacuum!"
Then after it had a couple of hours to charge, he eagerly sang it's praises to his dad on the phone. "It's a good sucker, Dad. And Rissa and I can use it!"
If I had known how easy it would be to convince him to do the vacuuming, I would have bought a dustbuster years ago!

Heard (as told by Landon)
Landon: "Mason, what did you do at school today?"
Mason: "I don't remember."
Landon: "You don't remember?"
Mason: "Oh. I remember now. I focused and concentrated on my work and picked challenging jobs and only worried about my work and not about what the other children were doing."

Heard
He's been using the terms "fair" and "not fair" a lot lately, although he seems to understand "fair" to mean anything that is favorable to him. Example: I was divvying up a box of raspberries for Mason and Marissa to share. He was very concerned that I wouldn't be "fair". When I was finished, I showed him the two bowls and asked if they seemed okay. He said, "Yes, but you could be fair to me and give me more berries." When I tried to explain that if I gave him more than I gave Rissa, it wouldn't be fair to her, his face went blank.

Seen and Heard
As we were gone for 2 weeks and I have been playing catch up since then, our yard has been ignored for the better part of 3 weeks now. There are some tall weeds in the lawn. Mason declared them "tickle sticks", picked one and chased his sister all over tickling her. Listening to him declare, "Watch out for the tickle stick, Rissa!" and then hearing both my kids scream with delight and laughter together is probably my favorite sound in all the world.


I sure love that kid. He makes me smile and laugh, and he's an incredibly good boy. He is eager to please me and his dad, he is a conscientious caretaker of his sister, and he really loves having fun. I've said it before, but I am so grateful Mason came to live at my house!

Yikes!

Sometimes, it's April. You're having allergies. You're a little stressed about finances and taxes. You're trying to get loose ends tied up so you can take a two week trip without your kids. Et cetera. Then all of a sudden, it's June and you haven't blogged in two months. Yikes!
That's what feels like happened, anyway.
Much has happened in that two month accidental hiatus, but I'm not going to cover all of it. I'm more interested in writing about what I'm grateful for today and pretending that I never skipped two months worth of posts.
Today, I am grateful to be reunited with my kids. Landon and I took a two week trip to the UK, which was super awesome and really fun. We had a blast traveling all over the country and seeing everything we could fit in (which ended up being a lot), but I missed my kids hard. I ached for my kids. I might have cried once or twice 'cause I missed those two people so much.
One day, in London, when I happened to be sitting near an adorable family with kids the same age as my kids, I was feeling real lonesome for my children. Landon, who is generally a very sensitive and sympathetic person, was feeling a little irritated with my inability to appreciate what is happening in the here and now. He told me that while I was missing my kids at that moment, it would only be a couple of weeks until I would again be feeling ready for a break from them. It was a good way to remind me that I was in LONDON, for pete's sake, so snap out of it and have a good time!
I am happy to report that Landon's predictions of frustration with my kids hasn't happened yet. I haven't felt annoyed when Mason has come into our room at 6 am for snugs and conversation. I haven't felt overwhelmed with frustration with Marissa's refusal to lie still so I can change her diaper. I'm still just so pleased to have them near me again that dealing with the day to day annoyances of raising children seems easy and totally manageable. Being able to kiss on them and snug them when ever I feel like it makes all the difficult stuff totally worthwhile and seems more than fair compensation for my efforts. Having Marissa declare, "I love you Mama!" or Mason snuggle in close reminds me how incredibly lucky I am to be their mom, and missing those simple moments for 12 days was an excellent way to gain perspective on how to deal with the frustrating moments that inevitably will come.














After all, who can stay frustrated with someone as adorable and wonderful as these two cuties??

I love you Mason and Marissa! I'm so glad I get to be your mom!!