Falls

Climbing, riding, wading and hiking.

Talking

I spent Mother's Day with my mom.

Then that night she had a setback.

Seems like things are okay, but it has been terrifying.

Yesterday she was back to breathing on her own.

 We sat and talked.

Pretended to watch TV while we watched the nurses' station.

She gave me the scoop on some of the hospital drama.

It was pretty steamy and had us giggling.

Amazing what people will say when they think the patient is asleep.

Love you mom.

Hello

I have been off the grid.

Honestly, it has been pretty nice.

Bike rides, bubbles, chalk art all over our driveway.

Trips to the park, trips for ice cream.

Trips to visit friends.

We have been hanging out with Goggy and Poppy.

Playing with their cool toys and eating lots of cookies.

I have been spending nap time getting my sweat on...

two weeks straight and I can feel it.

I am going to be back dating posts like a mad woman.

Lots of photos and little words.

Just keeping the memories somewhere.

Memories of Eva saying...

Marshmallows make my whole life happy!

Or Theo taking his sister down for the count over a toy.

I am not sure what was better, his accomplished face or her shocked one.

I can't forget those.

When it rains

When it rains, it pours.

I have been hearing that a lot lately.

And I have been feeling that a lot lately.

The good stuff.

The bad stuff.

The even better than good stuff.

It all seems to be coming in great big storms.
It is raining buckets and I am soaked.

I am finding myself falling behind. 

I have a half dozen piles of laundry...

and a basket that I am still on the fence on if it is clean or dirty.

Dishes in the sink and some major organizing needing done.

The weather, excluding today, has us outside until bedtime has come and gone.

Dusting ourselves off and soaking up the vitamin D.

I have books I want to read, friends I need to write and voices I want to hear.
Family to visit, places to go and errands to run.

I have pictures to edit, photos to take and post to catch up on.

My sewing machine has been begging.

The garden is calling my name.

And my littles are growing faster than I can stand.

I am spending more time in the kitchen.
More time breaking a sweat.

This blog world can be so many things.

Bringing you closer to people you would never meet.

Teaching you things you might never learn.

But it also a lot of maybes...

Maybe I will make that recipe.

Maybe I will try that cleaning tip.

Maybe I will meet her someday.

Maybe...

Right now I am going to have to pass on the maybe's.

I have way to many sure things coming my way.

I am going to keep posting.

I think the chronicles of our not-so-exciting life will be a great thing for my littles.

I already love reading old posts.

But not really reading as much if at all.

And not saying hi as often.

Not because I wouldn't love to...

But because there are paper books to read.

Plants to tend to and grass stains to be made.

Clothes to fold and to be passed on.

In-the-flesh family and friends to call, write and visit.

Because Eva's pants are growing too short and Theodore has six teeth.

We have rain walks to take and puddles to jump in.
In this busy rainy season, I need to keep getting wet.

Friends

At the beginning of our vacation...

we had the greatest opportunity ever.

Eva got to meet her penpal Teagan.

Way back when Eva was 7 or 8 months old,

Teagan's mommy emailed me and asked if I was interested in being pen pals.

I was like, "Heck ya I am!!!"

I haven't mailed as much as I would like.

There have been things that I have meant to send and never did...

An Easter basket from last year never did make it...

But there is something in knowing that someone is out there thinking of you.

Someone cheering you on and raising you up.

Teagan may be Eva's pen pal...

but her mommy is my friend.

My real - I hugged her tight and rocked my baby in her rocking chair - friend.

And this photo defines it all.

Mommies trying to wrangle a preschooler photo.

Preschoolers being their crazy selves...wanting to dance and sing.
(Eva is pouting because I am holding her, and Teagan is trying to wiggle away.)

And mommies smiling and laughing.

It is good stuff.

Back to the Beach

Theodore's first trip to the beach.

Cold-ish, windy, and rainy.

It was too wet and cold to get down and play.
Eva made a sand castle in winter boots.

A stormy ocean.

 I love grey in the ocean and the sky.

The mist and the froth.
White caps and an almost missing horizon.

Grateful

A little Eva and her Grandma.

I just got off the phone with my mom.
I didn't have a lot to say...
 I had just talked to her this morning.

I called again just to hear her voice...

Almost week ago I came really close to never hearing it again.

She had a little tiny blood clot that caused a great big heart attack.
Her organs had started failing and things were really grim.

She is a fighter and really stubborn.
No one told her how stacked the odds were against her thank God...
and she decided to get better.

You can ask my dad, once my mom decides something...
you had better just back up and get out of the way.

Bit by bit, one hurdle after the other, and day by day...
her body is healing itself.
Her recovery has been nothing short of a miracle.

If one little thing had gone differently on that day...

 she wouldn't be here with us.

One teeny-tiny thing.

I am so very grateful.
This mom of mine, well she is an amazing lady.

She's compassionate and selfless.
She looks for the good in things, in others.

She's dedicated and a hard worker.
She never complains.

She sees lovely things everywhere.
Beauty where others would miss it.

I have learned a lot from her...
by listening to her, watching her, emulating her.
She has taught me so much.

I just couldn't imagine a world without her in it.

And worse than me not having her...
I couldn't imagine a world where my little ones didn't know this amazing lady.
She has a lot to teach them.

So today I am grateful.
For all things tiny and enormous.

Thankful for my mom.
And even more thankful for Eva and Theodore's Grandma.