Ordinary Miracles

SK found him this morning.

"Mama, Cheech is dead!" he shouted across the house.

"Are you sure?" I replied. Silly question, I realized upon seeing him. There was no mistaking it.
So, not only did I get the fun job of disposing of our sole pet, I got to, once again, try to explain death.

"He needs to wake up!"
"He's not going to wake up."

"He's hungry. Let's feed him."
"He's not ever going to eat again. He doesn't feel hungry, he doesn't feel anything."

"Make him go. He doesn't want to be dead."
"He's not going to go anymore. He doesn't know he's dead."

"Let's go to the store and get another one."
How do I respond to that? Hmmm. "Not right now."

I don't think he's really broken-hearted. Mostly, he's just confused. There are a lot of things confusing about his life right now. I wonder how he'll remember this?

Like my brother once said, I'm just glad it wasn't a horse.

Alright, Grandparents, you've been exceedingly patient about my getting pictures up from your visits. Thank you, and may I please beg some more time?

This is just an update on the miscellany of the last few weeks.

WB is highly mobile. He's a fun mix of speedy, curious, and persistent. He is so proud to be able to get wherever he wants; I think his arms get longer every day.






I think I forgot to add a picture of him in the swing on my post about the swing set. He took to it with no problem--all squeals and smiles.





























We went to the local zoo with a friend and her daughter. We joke that her baby is WB's girlfriend because she is only 10 days older. They like to bat at each other and take toys from each other.

It's a small zoo--smaller than from where we moved--but that doesn't matter when you're three. The elephants are just as big, and the gibbons were going nuts.

































SK got my Dad's pale blue eyes. He doesn't wear the sunglasses for fashion; he tears up anytime we step into bright sunlight. The caps, though, well they are just pure mama fun. I love it when little kids wear hats.








Here are a couple of pictures of WB's dentist visit when he pulled on his tooth. SK had just had his cavities fixed the week before, and it was the same hygienist. They are wonderful there. SK just lay on the chair and watched the movie playing in the ceiling while WB was getting checked out as I held him in my arms. He still got a prize.

They've done this before.

KiSA turned a tractor tire from Freecycle into a sandbox. Then, our neighbors across the street gave us their swing set. The backyard is quickly becoming uber fun.


Also in this post: WB's first grits, SK diggin' into watermelon, and both boys playing in the crib.

WB is truly a wonder at eight months. He eats and sleeps only to sustain his explorations of this big, exciting world. He crawls very fast, and pulls up on pretty much anything. He likes to explore new foods and feed himself finger foods. He gets excited about bathtime, outside, empty water bottles, and his family. We are having a lot of fun with him!

(I couldn't find the picture bear on his actual birthday, so the green one stood in.)

My man, is Renaissance man, who also happens to be a Handyman, and a Strongman. He can talk about the difference between Baroque and Classical music as easily as the difference between Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash. He can fix just about anything--really, anything--and only sometimes look at the directions. He brings out the best in me, and always encourages me to be my strongest. He plays tickle and wrestle with our boys, and they look at him with awe.

He fixed me coffee this morning. What else is there to say?

Yesterday, August 11, was the eight-year anniversary of my graduation from college. I have been out of school for twice as long as I was in. I could have earned 2 more bachelors' degrees by now. Or four Master's degrees. Or a Master's degree and a PhD. But why in the world would I want to do that?

Instead of being at a University for the last 8 years, I've been going to the school of Life. I earned an M.R.S. and two M.A.M.A. degrees. Highly honored and hard-earned titles, those are. There are a lot of things you don't learn in school--balancing a checkbook, for instance--that make for a richer life.

But oh, at times, I do miss sitting at a coffee house and discussing the meaning of life. Well, come to the think of it, I still do that. Now I just do it over screaming kids at playdates.

I'm deeply thankful for the opportunity to have received a formal education. Would that all women--all people--were afforded the same.

At the end of June, I took a road trip, just me and the boys. My very dear childhood friend was visiting her family in Kentucky. That was the closest she and I had been geographically in three years, so I made my way West.

On the way out and back, I spent the night at my cousins' place in Tennessee--Buzzard Holler, they call it. I had never met them, but very quickly felt at home and among family. Woof, Pooh-Bear, Heather, Patches and Barney extended us a most warm welcome.

It wasn't far to the Bible College where my great-great grandfather was an professor, and where he and my great-great grandmother are buried.

Now I know why my grandfather speaks of those hills with such fondness. It is an enchantingly beautiful part of the country.

I also stopped along the way to spend a couple of hours with a friend from college, whom I had not seen since then. She is featured on an earlier post.

I enjoyed staying with my friend at her aunt and uncles' home. My visit overlapped nicely with one of her friends' visit from Chicago, whom I had been wanting to meet for years. It was also nice getting to know her uncle, a very warm and kind person. She and I had a lot of catching up to do, which is apparently why I didn't take any pictures of us!

WB knocked his bottom front tooth out at a 90-degree angle tonight. He was attempting to pull up on the entertainment center and snagged it. He squalled mightily, but some good 'ol Rescue Remedy, prayer, and playing peek-a-boo in the mirror helped him regain his composure.

When the after-hours dentist and pediatrician numbers weren't answered, I called a friend who is a dentist. She happened to be at the Target near us and met us there to look at it, presumably to let us know if we needed to go to the ER or not. One well-placed push later, and she let us know that she'd put it back in place and he would probably be fine. It was good, she said, that it was replaced so soon after the injury, within 30 minutes.

We have one tough baby here. He cried, sure, but took it exceptionally well and dried up quickly. Relieved, we came home and got him as comfortable as we could, and now he is sleeping well.

What's more, this was not our first adventure of the day. While eating dinner, the restaurant's fire alarm and burgler alarm were tripped. I took the boys out front because it was so loud. We were in position to watch the fire trucks careening down the street and into the parking lot right in front of us. Then the firemen piled out with all their gear. SK said "Hi," to one of them, and he looked straight down at my wide-eyed boy and said, "Hello." God bless him, that fireman just made the little guy's day. "He's so nice to me," SK said with a giggle, like a school girl who'd just seen her favorite rock star.

We also played in the sprinkler tonight. It was a balmy 80 degrees this evening, and even cooler once we were wet. We played chase and pretended to be airplanes and rockets and kicked the beach ball and generally raised a ruckus.

No wonder I'm tired. All in a day, I guess. And tomorrow is another. I can only wonder what it may hold.