Autumn

I love this time of year. I don't think I can put my finger on why, exactly...
maybe it's because of the memories
of bonfires and the sound of quads echoing through the air (that's the band geek in my talking..) and football games...
of parades and cross-country meets and long runs in sunny, crisp fall afternoons
of bringing home our firstborn son to trees just beginning to turn to gold
Maybe it's because I'm a child of the autumn (I turn 27 on the 27th of this month!).
Maybe it's because the crisp nights and warm days bring with them an anticipation of the holidays...which I adore.
Maybe it's because of the little-girl who comes bursting out of me
when I see carpets of red and gold leaves begging to be jumped in (confession: I use my 3-year-old as an excuse to be about 8 again when I see leaves on the ground...)
Maybe it's because it was this time of year- 7 years ago- that I found myself falling in love
with the wonderful man who would become my husband.
Or because 4 years ago (in about 2 weeks) my then-boyfriend proposed to be in the middle of a beautiful Colorado autumn.
against the backdrop of a autumn-blue sky (as only Colorado can do an autumn-blue sky)
Maybe it's because of the insatiable hunger for color inside me
that the reds and golds and greens
satisfy like no other season does.
Maybe, this year, it's because I don't know if, 2 years from now, I'll be in a state that "does" fall like Colorado does.
Whatever it is--I'm reveling the fall this year. Can't wait to go hiking tomorrow to see more beauty. And am seriously considering another trip to the park this afternoon, where I spied a fresh blanket of gold on the grown last night...
anyone want to join us for a jump??

Wordless Wednesday

To our Small Son

Every once in awhile, I look at him and think...how did this happen?
how did you go from being our sweet, tiny little bundle of surprise
to being our high-energy, train-loving, talking-a-mile-a-minute, people-loving little BOY?
Because you are not a baby any longer.
I can't, in good conscience, even call you a toddler...not that you ever really toddled. More like skipped straight to flat out running.
BUT.
I wouldn't have kept you a baby for the world
for if I had, I would have missed out on this.
The sweet little smooches on my cheek
The little arms around my neck
The "snuggle me, Mama."
The (oh-so-serious!) discussions about trains and tracks and coupling rods and tenders and shunting cars and "bein' an engineer when I grow big...you can drive the diesels, Mama. I'll drive the BIIIIG steamies!" (don't know all those words? You must not have a train-obsessed boy living in your house...)
I would've missed the stubborn fits and "I don't HAVE to!"s...which I may or may not have been happy about. Ask me in a few years...
But I would've missed the sheer joy on your face as you run or climb or swim
your sweetness with your baby sister (although "gentle" doesn't seem, somehow, to have translated...in French OR English)
your help baking cookies
and building track
and the sweet times in the evenings when you snuggle up in my lap
and we read story
after story.
Although I miss your sweet baby face
I love your inquisitive little-boy face
even more
and each day with you in our lives is a blessing
Small Son, your Daddy and I love you very, very much...
We didn't know it. But God knew
we needed you in our lives.
You made me a Mama, and him a Daddy
and taught(teach!) us so much about God
and his grace towards us
everyday as we learn to parent you.
Happy 3rd birthday, Pax William...October 2nd, 2010.
Sorry about all the pictures...I couldn't choose!!

Road trip!

No, not us...although that may be coming up in the near future. This time, it was Adam's grandpa who made the road trip. Now, mind you, Grandpa is 90. And his road-trippin' (and driving) buddy will be 80 this week. Which is, in itself, slightly frightening. What may be even more frightening is that they do this at least once a year, all over the country, going to visit relatives (Grandpa) or to motorcycle gatherings (his buddy John). And both of them wear hearing aids that seem to help only marginally...and they both attempt to use cell phones but can's leave or receive voicemails...
About 2 weeks ago, we got a call from Adam's mom that grandpa was heading their way, and might possibly come up our way too on his way back to the mid-west. On Friday, she called again, to let us know that Grandpa and John had left and were headed to the Springs, then up our way Saturday morning. Now, mind you, we hadn't actually talked to Grandpa at all...but that's kind of how he rolls. About noon on Saturday, we got a phone call from John that they were "here"...but which here? You see, rather than at a hotel, Grandpa was going to stay at my parents' house, since they were out of town. That's where we were waiting for them. We figured they'd call when they left, or at least when they got close. But they didn't. So, they somehow found their way to our house, Grandpa wandered around for awhile-didn't find us there, so they made their way to my parents'...they knocked on the door-we were in the backyard, so didn't hear it. Finally, they called. Adam ran out front, telling them they were at the right place...and watched them drive away. That's what happens when you're 80, can't hear, and try to use a cell phone.
Long story short-they got here, we had a nice visit, Small Son was SO good & mellow (well, for him...John still remarked on how "high-energy" he was. Oh, if only he knew :) and it was great to see them. Pax got to meet his great-grandpa for the second time; Blythe for the first; and I got some pictures, of course!
It's always nice for me to see Grandpa- I never met any of my grandparents, so he's the closest thing I have. I got to meet Adam's grandma-a tiny, sweet little lady-on a quick trip out there after our honeymoon. She died literally the day after we left, so the fact that we got to see her one last time was pretty special, too. Grandpa's doing pretty darn well for 90-his shoulders are a bit weak, he sometimes acts uncannily like my 3-year-old, and he can't hear worth a darn of course- which made his interaction with the little dude pretty funny- but he's still going strong. So great to see him again! Maybe they'll come up our way again next year....