scout camp

When Josh came into my room that morning his tears were unusually genuine and there was no whining so I knew right away what was wrong. "Sam?" I said and he nodded his head. This boy of mine who picks a fight with his older brother on a regular basis was distraught at the idea of Sam being gone at scout camp for a whole week. I hadn't realized it until that moment but those two had rarely been apart for more than a day or so and never for a whole week. Josh's mood was heavy. The girls missed him too. After breakfast, Sophie looked around and said suddenly "Where's Sam?" as if she couldn't imagine a reason in the world why he wouldn't be there. Ava, setting the table for dinner, was so bothered by the empty spot where Sam usually sits that she asked me if she could at least put a place mat on his spot. I hadn't expected it - this sibling sorrow. I have to admit that while I had a lot of empathy for how they were feeling (I missed him too) I was also secretly so happy. You watch your kids day in and day out and they play and laugh but they fight and cry too. And you just don't know - do they love each other? I have made hard choices to skip out on some activities so that we could have regular family time and it's so hard to say - am I doing the right thing?

Nate went to the last two days of scout camp so when they both came home I followed Nate upstairs and we sat in our room and talked and talked about everything that had happened in the days that we had been apart. I needed to grab my phone so I ran downstairs and then literally stopped in my tracks. Literally. I stared for a good 30 seconds. All four of my kids, the people I love best, were sitting in the patio chairs with popsicles, talking and talking about everything that had happened in the days that they had been apart. I knew how that felt. How you need to catch up with someone that usually knows everything about your day. It was such a rush - the rare payoff for the hard work of being a sibling referee.

Still I wasn't sure if Sam had felt the same way that they had. After all, he had been away on an adventure. He had seen a bear and slept in a tent with his best friend. But that night I knew. We went to the movies to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and while we were getting our seats Sam went to buy some candy with his own money. He came back into the darkened theater and quietly gave each of his siblings a king sized Kit Kat. And in that moment I just knew. This was his way of letting them know. He had missed them too.

Ah, Yellowstone.

I loved my family reunion in Yellowstone. As I was driving home I kept thinking that I loved our trip to Yellowstone the way that I loved our first ski trip as a family. Since both stories belong in our family history - I digress.

On our first family ski trip it was Nate and I and our two young boys at the time and we were green. We didn't know what to expect or what to do - so that first trip to Brundage was a comedy of errors. There was an hour wait in line to rent ski's only to find out that we were in the wrong line and would have to wait another hour. There was the woman at the ticket booth who amazingly told us that blue squares were the easiest runs. And with that little gem of misinformation came a few good bruises and a walk down the mountain carrying my ski's. In the middle of the day a huge storm blew in and being new to this none of us had goggles. The snow turned to ice. Josh fell off the ski lift. The rental boots didn't fit. And my personal favorite - when we got to the car at the end of the day we realized that we had left the engine running while we put on our coats and gloves ... and then left it running ... the entire day. As we drove home Nate and I looked at each other and smiled from ear to ear. We had just had so much fun. I knew that if we could love the day so much- even with all the things that had gone wrong- then this skiing thing was awesome. And it was. The four of us had spent the entire day together in the most beautiful setting you could think of. There were long trips up the ski lift chatting with the kids. There was the fun of watching the boys pick up a sport more quickly than we did and the adventure of trying something new together. Hot chocolate at the lodge. Tall pine trees covered in powdery snow. The magic of the day totally trumped the long list of things that went wrong.

Yellowstone was like that for me. There were mosquitoes, lots. Josh poked Sophie in the eye with a stick and then poked himself in the eye with a stick. We all shared a room - so none of us slept much. There were lots of hours in the car and a few sunburns. On the last night the power went out and we didn't have any hot water. I got three blisters. But as Nate and I drove home we both agreed that we had had a blast. The magic of Yellowstone totally trumped all of those things. There were herds of bison and baby bison right outside the window of our car. One wolf, one bear and a herd of elk that walked right in front of us on our walking path. Beautiful hikes that end when you are standing next to a huge river right at the point that it falls to a canyon far below. The surprising beauty of hot springs and mud pots. There was the adventure of discovering something new to see in our own backyard and lots of time spent together. Campfire chats and night games for the kids. And, my personal favorite, the chance to get together with extended family that we hadn't seen in far too long and the fun of making friends with the people that are the most fun to make friends with... family.

This has been my mantra lately. I have become devoted to ordinary tasks. They are more fulfilling than I ever would have guessed. Who knew??

The good life.

Every morning - before I hop in the shower - I pick out 5 books for Sophie. When I tell her that I am picking out 5 books her eyes start to twinkle ( before bed it's "only 2"). I carefully choose books with pictures that have interesting things to look at and that are about a wide variety of subjects so that she won't get bored. Then she sits cuddled in my bed with the reading lamp on and slowly makes her way through her little stack of books. It struck me this morning that this might be my idea of a perfect morning and Sophie gets to do it every day. It's a good life.

Wisdom from the pantry door

With apologies for my handwriting . . . "Listen to the mustn'ts child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the wont's. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me ... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be." Shel Silverstein

I'm in love with a font

and this is it.

Buttermilk font from Jessica Hische. If you have an extra $50 that you can afford to spend on typography please do so here and then call me and tell me all about it so that I can live vicariously through you.

* update - Nate bought me this font as a gift for valentines day. I LOVE it! And think that he is really the best person I've ever met!

Clubbin'

We bought our Christmas tree from a fundraiser lot being run by the optimist club. It makes me smile to know that there is a (nation wide) group of older gentlemen who have a club that is about looking on the bright side. ;) We bought our tree on a saturday and then went to pick it up on a monday. The genltlemen helping us with our tree invited Nate to be in their club. I don't blame them ... if I had a club he would be the first person that I would want to be in it. ;) I was throwing away their pamphlet when this creed caught my eye. I liked it so much that I am posting it here and on the cupboard in my bathroom.

The Optimist Creed by Christian Larson 1912

Promise yourself:

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

Pretty smart club if you ask me!! Have a good day!!