Day 218.

Thursday, August 6, 2009.

I finished teaching my last Bradley class tonight of this series. And while I love it and am so grateful to be doing it, I am also in need of a break.

I am grateful for a month of vacation.

I am taking a month off of teaching and will resume in September. And while I will miss seeing the wonderful couples each Thursday night, I will also enjoy having one more night free. Life is seeming to get too busy around here, and I just need to revel in having one less thing on my to-do list.

Day 217.

I made dinner tonight, a typical dinner I would say, and I knew going into it that it might be touch and go whether or not the kids would dig in. It was Sweet and Sour Lentils on brown rice (with a little cheese sprinkled on top to look more enticing), Green Bean Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Parmesan and Pluots. Yes, pluots (have you had them? SO GOOD!)

Anyhow, I knew the pluot was a shoe-in, but the other dishes, questionable.

I am grateful for "The Harbey"*

How to make The Harbey:
1. Rip up your green beans and parmesan and put them on top of your lentils, rice and cheese.
2. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top.
3. Take your fork and mash it all down together so it makes one smashed mess.
4. Eat and enjoy.

Honestly, I'm amazed at The Harbey's power. Dylan kept saying (and Noah kept following), "Look, I'm making "The Harbey!" Noah wouldn't TOUCH the green beans by themselves. In The Harbey, they not only got touched but eaten and LIKED! "I like these!" he told me.

Thank you Harbey, for getting my kids to eat healthfully.

*Note: The Harbey was created one night about a month ago when my mom was here, she and I were talking a lot at dinner and Dylan got bored, started mixing everything on her plate together, and actually started eating more than she would have otherwise. This was it's second appearance, I think because the last time the Harbey was here, I had made this same Green Brean Salad with Parmesan.

Day 216.

Dylan has been making up songs for as long as I can remember - at least a couple of years. Noah has made them up on command - "Ok Noah, YOUR turn to make up a song." But it was never by choice or independent thought. Until today...

I am grateful for Noah's original compositions.

As we drove the 4.5 hours back to Chicago from Iowa today, we got to hear a special gem coming from the backseat. Noah made up quite the little ditty. And of course I can't remember one word of it now, just his sweet little face is imprinted on my mind, beaming and singing and not worrying about a thing in the world. So simple. I hope there are more Noah songs to come.

Oh yeah, and don't think about looking at him or smiling during this musical moment, or it will be abruptly over...from embarrassment.

(Note: Dylan was also listening to Noah's song, and was quick to chime in, "My song is even better than that song." Oh geeeshhh...it's not a competition! We had a little discussion about how all the compositions have merit...)

Day 215.

Monday, August 3, 2009.

Iowa sunshine is the best. Out here at Mo & Dwight's house in the middle of the cornfields (literally, their backyard is surrounded on two sides by the natural fence of CORN), you just feel more at peace with where your food comes from. Today was the perfect hot. It was low 80s I think, and so we played outside, went swinging (what is the past-tense of swing?) on the big wooden tree swing, and then hit the pool post-Noah's nap. It was delightful.

I am grateful for an afternoon at the pool.

For a summer that has been relatively cool and mild, it felt nice to be hot enough to take a dip. I loved seeing my kids in the water - and it reminded me how much they need swimming lessons. Dylan is a fish at heart, and Jason always attributes that to her waterbirth. :) We all had a great time, and unfortunately, I did not bring my camera, so no pics. I was too busy having fun.

Day 214.

When you meet new people, or spend time with old friends or relatives that you don't see very often, you want them to see your kids like YOU see them. As the creative, intelligent, free-spirited but well-mannered children that they are. You want them to see their fabulous-ness and not their whiney-ness.

I am grateful for letting go of behavioral expectations.

My kids were tired and cranky for the duration of this reunion. Granted, they had been sick this week, and are just not at the top of their game. But, I'm going to stop making excuses for them and just realize that's part of who they are. No, they aren't this whiney usually, and yes, I was embarassed a few times when Dylan talked to me like I was a 5-lb. bag of dirt. But, I don't have to come across as the perfect parent, nor they the perfect children.

At some point (maybe it was when Dylan was five months old and I desperately tried for her to do "So Big" for others - and she would never perform in front of an audience) - I realized...it wasn't about me showing her off. Oh yeah, remember how they aren't circus animals, dogs for us to train, or robots? They're actually little people with minds of their own, decisiveness, crankiness, and bad moods included. They aren't perfect, nor am I. And if family gets to see THIS side of them instead of the other more charming side, well that's just life. And the great thing is, family loves you both anyways (even if they are talking amongst themselves how whiney and needy and clingy and annoying Hilary and Jason's kids are...) :)

Both kids fell asleep last night in my arms at the end of a long reunion day. Unheard of. They were O.U.T.

This picture is kind of self explanatory. How cranky!

Another good example of the weekend.

Day 213.

Reunions are fun. Even though this is the Rhodes Reunion, and is technically not my ancestors, but my husband's, it still gets me all excited. Afterall, now that I have children, this is THEIR heritage, their ancestry. It's fun to show them how families are connected, and how they specifically fit into this larger family tree.

I am grateful for the Rhodes family.

Even though these are not my blood relatives, I have been whole-heartedly accepted into this family. I belong now, and not just because I have the official last name. Thank you to all the Rhodes who have opened their arms to me and told me I fit in. It is an incredible blessing to be loved (and love) your in-laws.

Day 212.

Friday, July 31, 2009.

Noah has a fever today, and I'm sure it's from the cold that he's been battling all week, which he got from me, which I got from Dylan. She had the fever on Wednesday, and now I guess it's his turn.

He's so miserable, clingy and hot. And so I'm hot, as he clings to me miserably.

I am grateful to be called mommy.

In his miserable voice, sniffling his snotty nose, he calls out "mommy...I want YOU." I've heard that about 85 times today, and I can't always oblige. I'm trying to get ready to travel to Iowa for the Rhodes family reunion. But I'm trying to stop what I'm doing and just sit with him a little more. And I carried him around in the Ergo for awhile...something I haven't done in a long while - and he use to LIVE in that thing!

It's good to baby him a little bit. Lately I'm not sure if we'll have another kid, and without going into details why or why not, I'm finding myself really enjoying these two that I already do have. So, if I have an excuse to bring out the baby, in what may be my last baby, heck, I'll do it.