Chapter One

Eighteen or Nineteen years ago, I made a choice to love a little boy unconditionally. About four days ago, I saw for the first time the truly grown up man that he has become. I saw a man in a suit, about to pledge his life and love to a beautiful girl. I saw his jaw clench as he waited for her to walk down the aisle, through the pastor's speech, and the vows. I saw the hope and the promise of young and impetuous love. I saw the passion of youth. I saw a new life being born, a twain life of two lovers, best friends, husband and wife, and eventually mother and father. In the breath of a moment, I saw jokes, fights, births, joys, losses, closeness, and distance. I saw the birth of a lifetime which will overshadow their childhoods, their adolescence, and their young adulthood. I saw the potential of anything and everything, the world at two people's feet, and the ability to make dreams come true and bring wonderful people into the world. God bless you, Daniel and Hannah.

The World Takes Everyone

Tonight we were at the dinner table and the subject of school lunches came up. As we were talking, Brad mentioned that they must have to use all different types of ethnic foods. I said, sure they make all different foods like, " pizza, tacos, spaghetti, hummus (just kidding) chili, hot dogs..." and to this Ethan chimes in... "...and cake, and cookies, and sherbert..." Brad and I shared a private smirk, and Brad asks, "So, Ethan, which country do you think cookies are from..." and without a pause, not even a fraction of a second, Ethan replied, "Texas."

Deep Thoughts on Humanity

Yesterday after school, the kids climb in the car and as soon as they settled, the following conversation between Ethan and me ensued:

Him: Mom, can boys have babies?
Me: Nope.
Him: Never?
Me: nope
Him: Oh GOOOD. WHEW.
Me: Why?
Him: Cuz I don't wanna have a baby when I grow up
It just tickled me so much that I kept laughing because I kept thinking about him worrying about it all day, biding his time until he could ask me.

Today the topic was boobs. He was asking me why the body that I use to take pictures of my necklaces has boobs. I told him to make the shirts fit right and he said, "But you don't have boobs..." I said, "Why yes I do!" Then he commented that he sure hoped he never got them. I told him no way would he ever get them, he's a boy. I could tell this news was quite a relief. Then he pulls his shirt up and points to his nips and says, "Then what do you call these?" I told him the typical, "Those are markers of where you would have boobies if you got them." Then he said, "Do you have these underneath your boobies?" I told him I used to have those, and they turned into boobs. He had no more questions after that, he seemed satisfied

She's a Good Girl

So I have an Australian Shepherd, and not surprisingly she is extremely intelligent. :hug: In fact, she learns behavior sequences very quickly, i.e., "I pick up something I shouldn't have, I give it to Mom when she says 'give', I get praise." So it's been my concern that she isn't learning not to pick things up that she shouldn't have in the first place. Anyway, I was sitting here at the computer as usual, and I hear something fall on the floor at my feet, and then feel a warm chin resting on my leg. I look down, and there is a lego laying in the floor and my dog is looking up at me with that look in her eyes that says, "Love me, I'm such a good girl." :laugh:

Brownie Delight

Tonight, I was chatting with a friend, and my son ran in with bits of chocolate on the corners of his mouth. I asked him if he had chocolate, to which he replied by running his tongue across his teeth, making the "MMMMM" sound and nodding his head in rapidity. He said he had a brownie. I asked him where he found the brownie, and he said, "under the couch." To this he added that it had a lot of hair stuck to it, and a leggo embedded in it. I briefly had to hide because I was falling into fits of uncontrollable laughter as he was telling this in front of my friend. So I stepped into his closet for a bit of alone time, and when I came out, I asked him, "Seriously, where did you find that brownie?" He replied, "I found it in a plastic bag." I asked, "Where was the plastic bag?" He said, "I found it in the pantry."

This little jokester really got us tonight. I really beieved that he had found a stale brownie under the couch with dog hair and leggos stuck to it and had eaten it. You can't trust these little boys!

That Funny Boy

I like to make the return to school kind of an exciting time for the kids, so this year, I decided I wanted to get a mani-pedi for Abby as a little fun thing. It's not something that I have ever done with her, and certainly not something that I plan to turn into a regular thing, but it was fun.

I picked out an iridescent green polish for my nails, and Abby picked out an iridescent blue and had a tiny flower done on one finger of each hand. After the manicure was done, I was sitting by Ethan and he said, "Hey, let me see your nails." I obliged, and his comment was, "Greeeeeeen???!!! *giggle giggle* What kind of mom ARE you?!" more giggles....

Who is this?

Little white pony tails stick straight out from her head.
Perennial mischievous glint in her sparkly blue eyes.
Likes to wear her Cowgirl boots.
Walks with decided purposeful bounce.
Not going to let you down easy.
Sticks her tongue out at you when no one's looking.
Will chew as many pieces of bubble gum as she can get in her mouth.
She doesn't have little feet, she has big feet.
She was once the youngest, but is no longer.
She could hang with the biggest and work the longest.
She'll starve out for ice cream and the dogs know to lay by her chair.
If she's on your side, she always will be.
Her loyalty and sense of fairness go before her.