Monday rambling

Well, here I am getting ready to take boy No. 2 (W) into the doctor with what I assume is strep throat. Hunter had it last week (along with an ear infection, poor kid), and now it appears it's made its way onto the next kiddo. We've gone a long time without anything major, illness-wise, so I'll just keep this in perspective. It can ALWAYS get worse.

And, in fact, life has been pretty good lately. Wilder is going through one of those periods when he seems to think the sun rises and sets upon me. He tells me he loves me about 10 times a day. He told me last night he wanted to marry me when he grows up (a little odd, I know, but I think this is a normal declaration for boys?). Yesterday, at the shoe store, he found this gigantic heart necklace that he was absolutely despondent that I wouldn't let him "buy" for me (I told him that my birthday is coming up and he and his papa would have to go shopping and he could pick me something out then). "But I love you so much, Mama ... I want you to have this big heart necklace!"

Just so darn sweet.

Not much else is going on. I'm hitting the home sites hard again looking for our future home. Discouraging. I know we'll find something, I just really want what I want this time (given that I hope we don't move again for many, many years) and am having trouble finding it. Actually, I did find the perfect house for us, but unfortunately I don't have a couple extra hundred thousand dollars lying around. Darn.

Oh well. Hard work will prevail. Seems to me it almost always does, and home-searching seems to be my second part-time job these days. So we'll see.

Gotta take the kid to the doctor. Signing off ...

Buddies ...

Here's a great picture of Hunter and his friend Peyton on the tire swing at the park yesterday.

More hiking in the snow

A link to some pictures from our latest hike.

Pretend games

Right now, as I type, the boys are playing one of their favorite games to play together. It involves gathering almost all the pillows and blankets in the house (including couch cushions, bed linens, etc. ... it'll take us quite awhile to return them to their original destinations later), and then making "beds" for themselves on the floor or elsewhere (right now, Hunter is on the floor and Wilder is on the train table).

I have no idea why this game appeals to them so much, or why it is they get along so well (mostly) whenever they play it. I guess it has to do with Wilder being happy to take the lead and play the "nurturer" who puts his little brother to bed, and Hunter being happy to be doted on by his big brother.

And I like it because they are quiet when they play it and, for the most part, they get along. Which, of course, doesn't always happen. They're pretty typical brothers in that they love each other immensely, but just can't seem to keep themselves from screwing with each other's heads most of the time.

Anyway, I just wanted to make this post so that, when they're 17 and 15 and doing whatever it is that boys that age do, I can remember that they played this little game. It's so sweet.

Brrrrrrr

Thirteen degrees outside (feels like 4 degrees with windchill) and the boys are out there romping in our snowy back yard. I have no doubt this will end with some tears, but for now, at least, they're having a ball. Oh, and Betty's out there, too. That dog loves her some snow.

UPDATE FOR PHOTOS:


Playing in the snow.


Wilder peering in the window at me.


The boys found this guy on our deck railing. I have a sneaking suspicion someone I'm married to put him out there to be found.

That's a lotta love

Wilder: "I love my Little Puppy very, very, very, very, VERY much. And I love YOU even more than that!"

Wherein I rediscover the beauty of loaned books

Here is a sight that warms my heart. It's Wilder and Hunter, totally immersed in their library books.

Now I'm embarrassed to admit this. I love words, love a well-crafted story, love illustration, love typography, love design. And I've NEVER taken my kids to the library. Well, there was that one time when Wilder was 1 and I took him to story time and he acted like a crazed psychopath on crack. But I've never taken my kids to the library to just pick out books, pour over them, hang out and smell that amazing smell that comes from having thousands of books in the same building. God I love that smell. When I walked into the library today I literally closed my eyes, smiled and inhaled as deeply as I could.

So now we live pretty much across the street from an amazing library. It's on the same campus as where the boys go to school, and it's been recommended to me by quite a few people. So today I finally decided that enough is enough -- all kids should grow up going to the library and experiencing the wonder that is checking out any book that tickles your brain fancy and taking it home for a week or two. When I was little, I remember my mom taking me and how I LOVED (like, "love" isn't even strong enough a word) to bring home a gigantic stack of books.

We had a great time, saw friends from school and left with 11 books and four movies. It's so great that you can get so many wonderful DVDs from the library now. I know, I know ... I'm late to this particular party, but my enthusiasm is nonetheless in the extreme.

So now I have my card, both the boys have their own library card and we are set up to go at least twice a week (the boys are signed up for library activities on Wednesdays and Thursdays).

Incidentally, one of the reasons they're so happily collapsed in our family room reading books right now is that I dragged them on a very long hike this afternoon. Wilder collapsed on the porch when we got home, proclaiming: "I'm EXHAUSTED!!" My job as a mother is done for the day (pretty much ... there is that part still where I have to feed them).

He loves me, loves me not

A few weeks ago, Hunter would hardly have anything to do with me. "Go away," he'd tell me when I tried to talk to him or cuddle with him. "I love Papa." Of course I hated it, but I knew it was a phase. Last week sometime he started telling me he loved me AND Papa (and sometimes he'd throw Wilder in there for good measure). And then this week, he's all about loving Mama again, sometimes even telling Jerry to go away and professing his love of me. Lately he's even been spontaneously professing his love for me out of the blue.

"Hiding" in bed under the covers. Whisper: "I love you Mama."

Coming up to lean against the computer chair as I work. "I love you, Mama."

Walking through the room I'm in. "Hey Mama ... I love you."

This morning, as Wilder is putting his coat on to go to school, Hunter asks: "I don't go to school today?" Jerry says, "Nope. It's your Mama Day." He gets this goofy grin on his face, walks over to me, sidles up between my knees and wraps himself around me.

It's pretty great.

On Monday he started in a new classroom at his school. It's bigger, with more stuff and older kids, new teacher, all that. We built it up as new toys, new friends, lots of fun, etc. And I expected that it would probably go off without a hitch. I think we're pretty lucky in that both our kids handle change well. Wilder, in fact, has been acting like he's the persecuted one because he DIDN'T get to change classrooms. So anyway, after we'd gotten Hunter settled in his new environment and I'd given him a kiss and hug, told him I loved him and would pick him up later ... all that ... Wilder and I are walking out to go to his old, boring classroom and Hunter runs toward us. "Mama!?" A look on his face that I can't place. Is it panic? Oh no ...

But no. He just wanted another kiss and hug. "I love you, Mama." And turns around, runs back into his class and finds a toy to play with.

A new year, with SNOW!

It finally snowed big here in Colorado. Yesterday we headed out to sled at a nearby park in what, with windchill, had to be temps close to zero. It quickly became clear that Hunter is a cold-weather kid, and Wilder, with the declaration that, "My EYEBALLS are cold" and a few tears, is not. Not yet at least.

Here's a picture of them before we all got so cold we high-tailed it home to lay under blankets and cuddle (well, maybe just Wilder and I ...):



Today is a bit warmer, with a high of 20ish. The boys and I bundled up and took a nice long walk in the snow in the open space behind our house. At one point, a massive bald eagle flew low right over our heads. It was AMAZING.

This afternoon we are taking the sled across the street to what is affectionately referred to in this neighborhood as "Kill Hill," a VERY steep sledding hill. The sky is a deep blue, the air is crisp and the snow is glistening. THIS is why we moved back here, in part.

Happy New Year. May much love, light and good fortune fill your lives in 2011. I'm sincerely just hoping for more sleep. ;-)