Life and Loves

Patrick was supposed to be here Saturday morning. Well, he left at 2pm on Friday afternoon, so that wasn’t going to happen (20 hour drive nonstop you do the math…). Then it snowed. He and Trish were stuck Friday night in West VA and finally made it to the house Sunday morning, just before church.

We’ve had the kids full-time since mid-May, about 7 months. This last time that Patrick left I was not surprised and had already resolved myself to having the kids full-time, whatever that meant. Since then Jason, Noah, Nora and I have built a really sweet life. The kids have adjusted well and we thoroughly enjoy our time as a family. When Jason and I need adult conversation we get a babysitter and go out to eat at a real restaurant and maybe see a movie that isn’t animated.

So, it’s Wednesday and although it has been peaceful I really miss the kids. It’s very strange to not have them to tend to. We normally leave work around 5pm, grab the kids from their schools and get home to play and cook dinner and do the bath-bed routine. This week we went out to dinner with our Sunday School group and went back to the leader’s house to play games. We were there until midnight! It was so strange to not HAVE to be home at a certain time. I am enjoying our time alone, but look forward to having my babies back.

I finally finished Nora’s scarf. Knit in Stockinette stitch, which gave me lots of knit/purl practice with ruffled ends, which I love! I finished it just in time for her to take with to Pennsylvania. Although she likes it much better as a rope to pull things with. :/ She’ll understand why it’s a must when she’s in PA where it is 20 degrees! It went perfect with her pretty spring dress this past Sunday.

Noah sang with the bigger kids this past Sunday in the children’s choir at our church. It required him to stay in place while they sang four songs and the older kids read parts. It was very sweet!

He was the littlest guy there and he sang most of the words to the songs. I have noticed lately that the end of his belt looks like somebody has chewed on it and I watched as he absentmindedly took the end of his belt and started twisting it around and around. So that’s what’s been happening to it! lol He also decided that during the performance would be a good time to stick his hands in his jeans and pull his pockets inside out three or four times while everyone watched. lol I just giggled and enjoyed this rare moment. That’s probably why he was stuck in the back row of his PreK graduation. It’s also a good thing that we emptied his pockets of all of the loose change, Leggos and odds and ends before he went up to the front to sing! Lord knows what he would have been playing with up there!

I am reminded daily how much he has grown these past few months. He is certainly growing into a delightful little boy!

I am almost done (one chapter and a final left) with school and have plans to knit until I can knit no more!! I have already made Noah a scarf and am working on Nora’s. I want them to use them in PA, they will certainly need them. I also have another scarf, a wrap, and a hat to finish during my three week break from school.

I notice as we pick out Christmas gifts and tell family what size the kids are wearing how much they’ve grown and continue to grow. Jason and I have been wanting to get Noah involved in Cub Scouts, but have procrastinated until they put up a sign just recently, “Join Cub Scouts!” at his school. Jason went to the meeting and Noah will be starting in January. I told Jason that this was his thing. I can’t take on more right now and he was in Cub Scouts himself. I am realizing that I can’t continue to push myself, that school is a marathon not a sprint. Sadly…

I want the kids to be involved in things. I took Clarinet lessons and jazz, acrobatics, among other extracurricular activities and know it is a really good thing if it is right for the child. Noah likes to play outside, but I don’t think sports is necessarily right for him. With Scouts he and Jason will get to go to weekly meetings with activities involving building things and bugs and boy stuff and we will all get to go on monthly outings like camping. Noah is also a lot like me in that he is motivated by ribbons and pins, so I know he will enjoy getting badges. lol This reminds me of the movie Up! Cacaw! Rawr! If you haven’t seen it, you must!

As promised, we put up and decorated the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. We had kept most of what we bought last year (which is totally unlike me) and I picked up a few things.

This is the first Santa thing I think I have ever bought. We don’t really “do” Santa. He is present though. I love to have pinecones around this time of year and candles too.

We had two stockings from last year that Jason’s mom made. They are now the kid’s stockings. :o) and I found two for Jason and I. He gets mittens and I get hearts. I would rather have made some, but that will be for another less busy year.


I am beginning to really enjoy the spot between the cabinets in the dining room. It’s a great little place for things like tiny Christmas trees with bunny angels on top!

Jason put up lights outside and I went out and finished (pretty much) getting the last few presents for the kids. I have them all wrapped and waiting patiently for the 18th when my family will come over and do Christmas for the kids. I hope it will be like this every year. It is nice to come home and see the decorations.

We went up to the mall on our date the other night to look around. Jason was on the phone with my mom who was having trouble with the TV and I wandered into the pet store. I would not say I am a dog person, but they seriously had some cute puppies! There was one in particular, a Maltese, that caught my eye. Jason continued to talk to my mom, so I decided to let the sales chick take her out to play with me. I blame Sheena for this… I totally just fell in love with this dog! She was so sweet and so cuddly. Of course the sales chick was happy to tell me all about the breed. Hypoallergenic, doesn’t need exercising, 12-14 years of life, no major health issues. Nice right?

I started thinking about it. I guess it never really crossed my mind that we could get a dog. The dog I have in mind is big and requires lots of room, but I think the kids would really enjoy a small dog. They do well with the cats. Do you hear me talking you into it? So not only am I getting baby fever with one or two more semesters of school to go, but now I find myself wishing for a little Corky running around! I should never have gone into that pet store! Oh well, it’ll pass or we may have a dog at some point in the future. I think I’ll name her Precious…