Emily has started the sweetest little game that just melts my heart. We have a rocker that has been repainted and the cushion has been recovered but we’ve never secured the cushion back on to the rocker. Yes, I realized that’s not safe, but it’s not the point of this story.

So Emily has started getting the cushion off the chair and putting it on the floor. She then gathers her two blankets and her milk. First she lays her head down on the cushion like a pillow and says night night while patting her back/butt. This is my prompt to cover her with both blankets, pat her butt and tell her goodnight. After she’s done this a few times she motions for me to lay down. She then covers me, pats/rubs my back and tells me night night. She works extra hard to make sure her tiny baby-sized blankets cover as much of me as possible. And sometimes, if I’m lucky, I get kisses too. When she started this it was acceptable for me to lay on my side but the second time we played I didn’t understand why she kept pushing me. Until finally I realized, she wanted me to roll on to my stomach because that’s how she sleeps so she was just trying to shove me over.

The amount of effort she puts into covering me and the loving gentle way she pats me and kisses me just gets me every time.

Over the weekend we went to Walls Family Farm to pick out our Christmas tree. This was our second year to go and I was very surprised with how much Brenden remembered from the year before. As we were making our plans to go he told me he wanted to go on the hayride and play in the little red house. I really didn’t remember that the tractor that drives you out to the trees had hay on it, but he did.

We were a little worried about going this time because Brenden had a bad cold and pink eye in both eyes. His eyes looked terrible the two times I woke up with him in the night, but by morning they drops had started working their magic. He said he felt ok to go so we decided to try it, especially when we realized the next time we’d all be free to go was Dec 18.

The kids had a great time exploring and playing with sticks, but eventually got a little tired of my hunt for “THE TREE.” Eventually, we found it. Of course I had remorse the second Patrick made the first cut, but I think we made a good choice. We took the tractor ride back to the barn with our tree and the kids played in the red house and on the swings. We took a cookie break while waiting for Patrick to pay for and secure the tree. And Patrick of course got into a discussion with one of the owners about what else, iphone apps.

Side note: Brenden has changed the words of the title song to the following lyrics: “O books o books your pages are so made out of diapers.” The good news: He loves making up creative songs. The bad news: He’s such a boy!

We’ve all been trying to get in better shape around here so we’ve been working on taking more walks. Patrick goes for a walk every weekday morning before settling down to work. The kids and I aren’t exactly in a routine yet, but we’ve been trying.

The first week we started the kids decided they wanted to take the wagon along. First Brenden pulled it and Emily did’t want to sit because she wanted to pull it. So they switched. Then Brenden was upset that he wasn’t pulling it. Of course neither of them was really strong enough to pull it with the other one inside so I was helping them both. When I could see that who pulled the wagon was quickly becoming a problem, I offered to let them both get in and have a ride while I pulled. And there they stayed happily riding through the long version of the walk until we got to the duck creek. When we got there they both got out and to take a closer look at the ducks.

With no one holding the wagon down, the wind decided to have a little fun with us whisking the wagon off into the duck creek. I’ll take the time to point out a few things. 1) Ducks live in the duck creek. 2) Humans frequent the duck creej. 3) Humans don’t always pick up after themselves. 4) Ducks don’t either. Add these facts up and it makes for some pretty nasty water. And while I grew up swimming in ponds and I’ve seen people in this creek, I have no interest in ever swimming in it. And the last two facts, 5) Brenden always has to bring a toy with him where ever we go, this time, the toy was his beloved WallE toy that can fold up into a little box. 6) WallE was in the wagon.

So to recap: Nasty water. Wagon in the water. WallE in the wagon. Wagon in the middle of the creek. Just sitting there. In the middle. Kids panicking and running right up near the water. I knew I was going to have to go in. As I was working up my courage to wade in, having no idea how deep the water was, I thought maybe I should take a look at it from the other side of the creek. So we all crossed the bridge to have a look. It really didn’t look any better from that side. But suddenly the wind started to blow again. I could see that if I waited, it would blow the wagon right in my direction. And it did. I was saved. I only had to get one foot wet.

I gotta say, if WallE hadn’t been in the wagon, I would have been tempted to just leave it. But it all worked out, and Brenden was excited to come home and tell his daddy the story.

The kids enjoying the ride there:

Wagon overboard:

Walking home with a wet wagon and a wet foot for me:

This past year I’ve found myself facing a lack of energy. I’m sure I could come up with a list of reasons that have contributed to this feeling, and they’d all be true, but I’m not sure any one thing is to blame. And some days this lack of energy has lead me to feel like I’m not being the Mom I’d like to be. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sitting around being lazy. Ever. I’m always doing something, but I’ve found it hard to focus on any one thing for too long. And I’ve found it impossible to sit and play with the kids for any stretch of time. I’m constantly jumping up to do something else really quickly before settling back into play time. And I’m over-sharing all this to say, that the kids and I had a good day today.

I found that having a few activities planned ahead really helped me stay focused. This morning I mixed up some cool whip and food coloring for the kids to paint with. They had a great time painting on their construction paper. Somehow, all the colors seemed to have mixed into one. And amazingly, Emily figured out the stuff was edible and licked the plate clean when done painting.

While Emily was taking her nap and Brenden was having quiet time, I gathered ingredients to make pumpkin bars. I measured everything out and put it in small dishes as if setting up for a cooking show. Then I called Brenden out of his quiet room time and we mixed up the bars and put them in the oven. I finished up by making the frosting while Patrick took a quick work break and took Brenden out for a little baseball. And I must say, they are delicious!

After Emily woke up and we all had a snack the kids and I went for a walk. We even got homework, a family dinner, TV time and baths in before bedtime stories.

Nothing big. I just felt like I got it right today. And as an overly critical of myself person, that actually IS a pretty big deal!

Notice how intently they are both concentrating:

Yummy:

Our creation, which really was yummy: