Sometimes I get this stuff right

Sunday afternoon, it was sunny and hot - a perfect day for a creek stomp. So we greased up the kids, loaded up, and headed down to the Indian Creek Greenway to wade in a spot Todd and I found last summer.

Of course, when we got there, we discovered that what was a nice, shallow, wadeable spot in June is much further under water in the Spring. And so we headed back up the creek until we finally found a less accessible but shallower place where we could hand all the kids down.

The water was icy cold, the current in some areas was downright dangerous, and the footing was treacherous - which meant, of course, that the kids ended up having a blast.

The highlight for me was when I found the molted shell of a crawdad. Daniel and Micah decided what the thing needed was a proper funeral, complete with a tomb. As Todd was mournfully singing Taps, and Josh and I stood at attention, Daniel carefully arranged stones around the floating shell...and in the process found the very much alive owner. Fortunately, I'd brought a bucket for just that sort of thing, and the crawdad was ultimately scooped up for the kids to marvel over. That plan worked great until Micah decided the critter needed another rock to hide under, and dropped a small boulder into the bucket, directly on top of the crawdad. The crawdad survived, narrowly, and we quickly set him free before one of the kids managed to kill him with kindness.

Shortly afterward, Micah dropped a large rock he was attempting to chuck on my foot. Then Alex decided he was tired of not drowning or bashing his head open on a rock, and doubled his efforts to accomplish one or both. Presented with these difficulties, the womenfolk decided it was time head home (the menfolk would likely have stayed until sundown, I think). There was much wailing and many protests (from ALL the boys), and since Sunday, Micah has asked to "go swim in the water" every morning.

I've promised him we will definitely go back.

Look! We were social! ON PURPOSE!

Yesterday, we finally invited some old friends over for dinner. We hadn't seen them in nearly a year, so this was our first time meeting their new baby.

It was also the first time Micah was really old enough to play with their daughter, and the two of them hit it off instantly.

They ran, they shrieked, they dragged out toys and dug in the sand. They egged each other on into various bits of mischief. By the end of the night, Micah was completely cashed.

While the kids were going crazy, the adults sat off to the side, relaxing in lawn chairs and catching up. And, of course, taking pictures. Because that's kind of what I do these days.

Lesson learned: We really need to have these guys over more often.

(And not just because they bring the most delicious pork chops I have ever tasted.)

Content

Today, there were cousins to play with.

There were homemade cookies to be eaten. With gusto.

There was a bathtub chock-full of little boys.

And a beautiful sunset on the way home.

Today was a good day.

Is this a hint?

It's been a crazy week so far. I have five major projects due this week, Todd's out of town, and the daycare shut down yesterday at 2:30 because of the severe weather. My stress level is high, is what I'm saying, and although the boy has been pretty awesome, I still feel like 9 PM is a finish line I'm just barely dragging across.

And then, just now, I went to the pantry to refill my feed bag with a fresh pound of I-survived-the-day cookies, and what did I find?

Reduced fat Nilla Wafers. REDUCED FAT...NILLA WAFERS. Those words shouldn't even be in the same sentence.

Now the only questions is, Todd says he grabbed them by accident...but DID HE?

1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 13, 17...BWAST OFF!

So the countdown needs some work.

 

I wanted to do a longer post, but my hips are hurting too much to sit in the office chair for longer than 5 minutes, so I'll just say that today, I totally rocked as a single parent. The crowning achievement was after dinner, when I randomly decided to make Micah a rocket out of a toilet paper tube and some construction paper. I had no idea if it was going to look at all convincing when I finished, but the moment I handed it over, he was in love. He didn't want to put it down for anything, although I managed to convince him it wouldn't do well in the bath.

So yeah, today I was a good parent. Now I'm going to go celebrate by eating the baby's weight in Nilla Wafers. Probably while in bed, since Todd's not here to judge me for the crumbs. What? I'm 28 weeks pregnant and home alone for the week with a 2.5 year old. I deserve Nilla Wafers in bed.