Little Words Wednesday

I had a slew of other conversations with Cavin this week all ready to go for this post.  And then tonight the following conversation occurred with Cavin that wiped away any funny comments about his "bobum", pushing his brother, or playing hide-n-seek.

Kid took my breath away tonight and broke my heart with just 5 words.

Daddy: "Tell mommy what you know about nana."
Cavin: "Nana is in heaven."
Mommy: "Yes, that's right...but you knew that."
Cavin: "Yes."
Daddy: "And who is nana with in Heaven?"
Cavin: "She's in Heaven....."
Daddy: "Uh huh. And is she an angel?"
Cavin: "YES!"
Cavin: "Yep, she's an angel......and....and..."
And with a very concerned look in his wide eyes Cavin looked right at me and said...
"And she's not coming back."
Mommy: After a long pause..."No, she's not."

And so it begins

Vanessa and I are already talking about the wedding.

When God Created Mothers...

In 1995 when I graduated from high school, St. Agnes had what they called "Madonna Day".  Think Mother of Jesus, not Material Girl. Anyways, the point of it was a reflection on the prior year for the seniors.  Many seniors wrote or recited poems, sang songs, or said something about the year.

Some 17 years ago and in front of my fellow seniors, the entire student population, and the parents of the graduating seniors I chose to say something about my mom and dad.  Along with my good friend Jennie Glass, I recited the following and felt it was a appropriate day to share it with y'all.

When God Created Mothers...

When the Good Lord was creating Mothers He was into his sixth day of "overtime" when the angel appeared and said, "you're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

And the Lord said, "have you read the spec on this order?"  She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moving parts...all replaceable.  Rub on black coffee and leftovers.  Have a lap that disappears when she stands up.  A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair.  And six pairs of hands.

The angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way." 

"It's not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord.  "It's the three pairs of eyes that Mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

The Lord nodded.  "One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, 'What are you kids doing in there?' when she already knows.  Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in the front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, "I understand and I love you' without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord," said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "Come to bed.  Tomorrow..."

"I can't, "said the Lord, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself.  Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick...can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger...and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a Mother very slowly.  "It's too soft," she sighed.

"But tough!" said the Lord excitedly.  "You cannot imagine what this Mother can do or endure."

"Can it think?"

"Not only think, but it can reason and compromise," said the Creator.

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.  "there's a leak," she pronounced.  "I told you you were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak," said the Lord, "It's a tear."

"What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride."

"You are a genius," said the angel.

The Lord looked somber.  "I didn't put it there."
-Erma Bombeck

Happy Mother's Day Mom.

For all of the 'joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride' we've had over the last 34 years...today I reflect on the woman who taught me the strength and patience to experience all of the happiness that motherhood offers.  I cannot think of a better teacher.  I love you mom.

Mirror images

Backing up here...

We invited two of Cavin's girl friends over to dye Easter eggs with him and baby brother Ellis.  Cavin (of course) insisted on dying all of his eggs yellow, his favorite color, as seen below...

FOOLED YA!!!  That's actually Jonna, baby Erik, Amy, and MIKE dying Easter eggs some 30 years ago!  Can you believe it??  Friggin' spitting image of Cavin....how creepy IS that??!!

Here's the real Cavin dying eggs:

Like father like son huh?

Family

My mom loved to travel. And she loved traveling to California.  Better than that she loved traveling to California with friends.  And who better friends to her than her siblings?

Because mom was all about family.  Even though my family has been through some difficult times and we aren't necessarily the poster of white picket fences (who is really?) she instilled in me that through thick and thin it is what is most important. 

She was the center.  The glue that held us together.  My dad recently told me that now I'm that 'glue'.  Well, those are big shoes to fill but I've learned from the best and I'm up for the challenge...I guess.  I have no choice because she would of wanted us to keep strong and moving forward.

Today marks four months without mom.  Not an hour goes by that I don't think of her.  We miss you mom.

Little Words Wednesday

Little words from a little person that make very little sense.

Cavin: "What do pancakes do?"
Mommy: "Pancakes go in your tummy and make you feel full."
Cavin: "And water goes in my bobbum [his word for 'bottom'] and pee needs water and then and then I'm going to play with all of them!"

Cavin: "A motorcycle!!!!"
Mommy: "That's right!"
Cavin: "I'm going to eat him!  I'm going to see the motorcycle and then take it and eat him and then eat alllll the people out there.  And the cars."
Mommy: ".......??......"
Cavin: "And then I'll be full!"

Cavin: "Daddy fixed the gate."
Mommy: "Oh really?"
Cavin: "Brodie pushed me and I cried.  I ran up the hill and he pushed me down and I cried. And dirt got up my nose and smoke came out of my mouth and then daddy fixed the gate."

Bring on the sun!

Happy Spring-time people!

Dare I say it - but I think the rain is behind us here in the bay area and we are starting to really enjoy spring-time around here. The sun is shining, the boys are logging in some hours at the water table, we are digging out the flip flops, and dusting off the bottles of sunscreen.

And little brother is a walking machine!




Daddy finished Ellis' train-table JUST in time for Christmas Ellis' Birthday him to fully appreciate the hard work put into it.  I'm talking weeks months of sawing, priming, painting coat after coat, shopping for the train tracks, making it the correct height, and adjusting the legs to the perfect angle so it won't topple over when big brother comes to take over.  Mike did a wonderful job and this will be something Ellis can forever keep and hopefully pass down to his son (my grandson!!!) one day.

The Easter bunny visited and big brother took this very seriously.  He found tons of eggs and even shared some with his brother. 

And by "share" I mean opened them up saw that they were golfish, cheerios, or puffs and gave them to brother. The chocolate candies? Well, he saved those for himself.

Yes, we are definitely enjoying the outdoors!!

(a self-portrait of the boys and I at the park)