Sibling Conversation

Just now, I overheard:

"Eli! I have to clean up this water." She sounded irritated.

I didn't hear Eli's reply.

"Well, you'll be f - i - r - e - d, fired." How did she learn how to spell 'fired'?? I'm beginning to think she already knows how to read & she's just humoring me with the phonics book.

"I not be fired!!" He was adamant. I'm sure he has no idea what it means.

"Well, you will be if you don't help me clean this up."

"Otay."

Rainy Day Rambling

You know how you sometimes forget something about yourself for a while and then remember? Well, I'm remembering that I used to love rain when I was a child. I lived out in the country, and the rain made everything smell fresh and sweet. Even when it was a little cold, it felt like I was being held and washed.

Then, I moved to Boston, where the rain smelled like a wet dog that had rolled in poo. The rain caused this disgusting steam to rise out of the manhole covers. Papers that people had dropped on the sidewalk got plastered to the ground and began leaching color.

Then, in Denver, I had mixed feelings. I expected the sun all the time because it was present so often, and rain disappointed me. At the same time, Denver needs all the rain it can get, and I could see the rain coming from quite a distance. I had never seen that before going out there. The first few times Jordan and I saw it, we didn't know what it was. It looked like the sky was falling in dark streams or like the cloud just couldn't hold itself aloft any longer and let itself slip to the earth in gray-black ribbons. Once we figured out that it was rain, it made total sense - like an impromptu Earth Science demonstration.

Now, here, in Sewanee, I have all the smells and feelings of my childhood experience of rain. I went outside this morning to feed the dogs, and the smell of home almost made me cry. My mom always let me play in the rain because (everyone say it together) you don't get a cold from being cold. I bet my being able to play in the rain contributed to my fondness for it. My kids love it when it rains because it means umbrellas and rain boots and splashing in puddles. Those are good childhood memories, I think.

More hiking

The kids and I found a hiking buddy! Whoopee! I've been wanting to hike with them on a regular basis, but I don't really do anything on a regular basis except brush my teeth - usually. But with a hiking buddy, it will be much easier! Thanks, Katie!!

Today, we hiked from Morgan's Steep to The Cross. The highlights in terms of terrain were the streams and waterfalls, the steep leaf-covered hill almost constantly to our right, and a rock scramble with a tunnel! Both kids loved the trail.

In the car, on the way to the hike, Eli said, "I don't want to do a hike."

I said, "This trail has lots of water and a big rock that we get to climb over and a tunnel!"

He brightened and said, "Oh! That sounds percfect!" I'm not sure how he gets two c's in the word, but it's adorable!

Elijah must have fallen a dozen times, once on his face (that was the first one), which resulted in a raised bruise beside his left eye. Eli hopped, jumped, and ran for he entire time that he moved under his own power, which was most of the 1 mile hike. He lost his shoe at one point, which bounced and rolled down the steep, leaf-covered hill until it hit a tree. I used it as a teaching moment regarding listening to me and holding my hand. He absorbed the lesson well, especially after watching me slide and stumble down the hill and huff, puff, and grunt my way back up :)

Skylar amazed me by her energy and her skills. She plotted her own path through a rock tumble that was at least the length of our house. She also only needed a little help getting her first foothold on the rock scramble. She told me at some point that she had done the hike before and lost her princess hat on it. I recalled a hike early in the year that Jordan did with the kids and another seminary couple (I wasn't feeling well and stayed home). When we got to the rock scramble, she said, "And that's where I lost my princess hat." Oh, how I wish my memory were that good!!

I didn't bring my camera, even though Skylar told me to. :) I'll just have to go back and take pictures for y'all to really appreciate how amazing my kiddos are. :)

Recent Shorts

Here are some (mostly) one-liners from Skylar (Eli's cuteness is still largely physical - stuff he does, not so much stuff he says.):

"Why do we always slow down right here, anyway?" (at a stop sign on the way to SOT)

"Mama, you must be just a liiiiitle bit not as good a mom as Mary." (the mother of God)

"All you care about is this house!" (very dramatic, said while I was yelling at her to stop stepping in my dirt piles)

"That's what tape is for. It tapes the world." (Scotch tape)

"Sometimes, celebrating a marriage is hard, but it's worth it. If you and Daddy hadn't gotten married, you wouldn't have us." (said after Jordan and I commented on what great kids we have)

Hiking

I don't know why we haven't done much hiking here, but we haven't. This weekend, though, we've done two hikes. Our kids are incredible!

Yesterday, we went to the Natural Bridge. I didn't take any pictures, so here's one that someone else has taken:



There wasn't much walking, but we decided to go off the bridge and climb on the rocks down below & then back up the rocks! The kids did great. At one point, I was helping Skylar from behind, and her skirt (it was an impromptu thing to go hiking) fell off. She had forgotten to put on underwear, and so her moonie was catching the breeze. I haven't laughed so hard in years! I only feel mildly bad that it was at my daughter's uncomfortable situation. She handled it very gracefully, too. She just ignored my laughter and hitched up her skirt once she was up top.

Today, we went to Bridal Veil Falls, which is a short hike, maybe .8 each way. Elijah, who's not even 3 yet, jumped and ran all the way to the falls. We decided to retrace our steps rather than do the loop, so on the way out he slept in the backpack carrier. Skylar did the whole thing plus a little as we were looking for trail blazes. They are white. White. Do you know how many trees have white squares of something on them? It must be some kind of moss or fungus or ???? It looks A LOT like the trail blazes. We had a great time anyway, and I think Jordan and I are both stubborn enough to want to go back (maybe without the kids) to find the right way. Here's a picture I took of the falls.



PS - I wrote this on Sunday. I've had trouble with uploading the photo, so I'm only posting it now.

Big boys

I'm trying to set the stage for potty training Eli, sort of prep him a bit. As I was getting him out of the carseat tonight, I said, "Oh, my little boy," and gave him a kiss.

He said, "I not a little boy. I big boy."

"Well, no. You're a little boy because you wear diapers. Big boys wear underwear."

To which he said, "No. Big boys wear boots." He was, of course, wearing boots.

Inertia

When we got home this afternoon, Skylar asked for a movie. I said no. I suggested reading a book, going for a walk, playing outside, and a few other things.

She said, "I'm just so tired of all that moving stuff."

Be assured, she meant moving herself, not the kind of moving that involves U-Haul.