August Already?

When Justin and I got married his mom told me that when Justin was young and still living in her home, he would talk non-stop to her about skiing from the moment the first ski magazine arrived in August until opening day in November. Things haven't changed a whole lot since then - sure, it's a different house, a different woman standing in the kitchen, it's not quite so 'non-stop'... but it is August.... and it has already begun. We do already know the price of and the exact day (hour) Justin can purchase his season pass. He told me the other day. He'll tell you too if you ask him.

The other major difference? Well, now he has cohorts. Now he's gotten his children in on the fanatics of it all. It's blatant brainwashing if you ask me. It's a conspiracy to force me to sit in the lodge all day long to knit, read good books, browse home decorating magazines, drink warm beverages and take pictures of chubby-cheeked cuties bundled into miniature ski gear. I guess I'll go along with it... if I have to.

Here's a glimpse of last season. Adia's already been asking about 'going fast' this year.

Sisters

I, who have no sisters or brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends.
-James Boswell


A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.
-Marion C. Garretty

Lest I Complain

Lately, my days seem to go in a familiar cycle similar to this:

Feed Xochi
Diaper Xochi
Feed Steele
Feed Adia
Clean - kitchen, toys, kid potty, floor in front of big potty, spot on the rug where I change Xochi, faces, bums etc.
Discipline

*Repeat* (in no particular order) a bazillion times a day.

It's tiring. Physically tiring. More tiring than I ever anticipated. Tiring to the point that I often cannot remember the words I want to use in any given sentence.

My mind has a tendency to swirl with the things I want to do and need to do but don't have the energy or the time to do. I chuckle at the new me - one that cleans the kitchen every night so I can be sure that I at least did one of the aforementioned list items well in my day. But tonight while my work was winding down (at midnight), lest I complain, I concluded a couple of things.

The first is that it feels really good at the end of the day to fall into bed exhausted - knowing that I worked hard all day. I cannot remember another time in my life that I have worked, served and given so much (albeit not always as joyfully as I'd like to). It makes the Sabbath sweeter. It makes time with my husband more appreciated. It makes dinners out a welcome treat. This is a good thing. It is worthwhile.

And second, it is causing me to savor the small joys in life more than I ever have. A moment to read a magazine. A few more minutes in the shower or in bed in the morning. A good, strong hug from my husband. A fresh, hot cup of coffee (as opposed to a microwaved one). A fun-filled moment of laughter with my children.

I took Adia and Xochi out to Mexican food tonight. Justin is down for the count with the norovirus and Steele spent most of his day being instructed and disciplined and then telling me how much he "couldn't believe" the instruction and discipline I was giving him. So the girls and I decided to get out of the house. The restaurant we were at has a mural of two large hands reaching down to a table. Here is the interaction that occurred when Adia noticed the hands.

Adia (2.5): Look Mama, hands!
Mama: Yes, those are God's hands.
Adia: Oh! (holding her hands out like the ones in the mural) He's saying, "I love you Mexican."

It was the sweetest and the funniest thing ever.