Cute Vs. Beautiful

This morning we were watching a commercial by Estee Lauder that involves a woman about to get married as a little boy comes in to give the bridal bouquet.  Of course, the bride is drop dead gorgeous and I look over to see Gavin's reaction as his mouth is hung open, practically drooling.  He then says, "she's cute," matter of factly.  I told him that I agreed and asked, "Don't you think she's beautiful?"

This is when he stunned me by his answer...

"No, she's just cute.  The only ones who are beautiful are you and Sophia."  My heart stopped by his response as, of course, my eyes welled up with tears that he would consider us to be the only women in his life worthy of being beautiful.  (I'm sure he also meant to mention all of his grandmothers and aunties in this list too...don't be upset)

I then asked, "What makes them just cute and us beautiful?" He responds with, "You are you." Okay, I'm convinced that I have the most intelligent son in the whole world.  He's already learned the perfect words to share with both his mama and his sister.  I'm in love with him...can't you tell?

Run Away

Yesterday, Sophia came down the stairs with Gavin's backpack on her back, in bare feet, proclaiming that she is leaving home. 

She packed her bag with a blanket and a doll and was adamant that she would be leaving.  I did suggest that she put on some shoes before she took her long journey, which she briefly considered; however, decided that she should worry about packing her baby up for the ride. 

After she put her finishing touches on her traveling gear, I asked to take her picture so that I could remember her always.  I told her that I was so very sad, but asked her to write when she got there. She reluctantly agreed.  This is the photo I snapped before her journey to the center of the earth...or to the dining room.

At the very moment that I took the picture, I realized that I will soon be watching her pack her things for real and head out to the big world for college, marriage, and life beyond.  I'll cherish this moment and be thankful that her trip has been postponed for another 18 or so years. 

Beyond Rainbows

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.  Blended together, they make a beautiful rainbow. 

"I love you mama."  say my two beautiful children as they try and express to me that I am giving them joy at that very moment; however, this is like an ocean wave as there usually is a temper tantrum to follow at some point.  Either way, I'm thankful to hear these words as I wonder if I'll hear them as often when they grow older.  It hurts my heart to think of this. 

So, in response to their words, I started telling them that I love them more than things that I knew they loved.  For example, more than their baby, their toys, the house, the car, etc.  This is where it became something deeper.  Todd and I then started telling them that we loved them beyond a rainbow and that we always find gold there, because they are worth that to us and more. 

"I love you more than 10 rainbows," says Sophia.  "Oh yeah, well I love you more than 100 rainbows," I reply.  "Well, I love YOU more than 1892 rainbows," responds Gavin with a shake of his head.  This has been the interaction between Todd and I and our darlings.  We will ALWAYS love them more than any rainbow number they can come up with.  I hope, one day, they will realize that our love is never ending and is full of gold in the journey of the colors and the days we get to experience with them. 

What's Important?

Here I am, still in my pajamas and I am reflecting on my day thus far, at 1:45 in the afternoon.  What in the world have I been doing that I haven't even gotten out of my pjs?! Here is my day in a nutshell...

#1. Wake up to snuggle on the couch with a cup of coffee and 2 little people to watch mickey mouse clubhouse.

#2. Make requested breakfast of shredded wheat with cinnamon and sugar, cheesy eggs, and yogurt.

#3. Give stinky kids a bath allowing them to play doctor duckie in the tub.

#4. Get kids dressed, brush teeth, comb hair, put hair in piggies and run around the house laughing.

#5. Play USA geography games on the ipad.

#6. Go to the playroom and play railroad, kitchen and doctor mama at the hospital.  As well as, hair school and baby fixer upper.

#7. Finger food lunch with chicken deli, bananas and pretzels and, of course, juice water. At this point, I allow Gavin to let his T Rex help him chew his chicken.  This is important as we need to make the T Rex feel needed.

#8. Give T Rex a bath in the sink with expensive Bath and Body Works pumpkin foam soap.  He DID get all dirty chewing and he needs to smell more like fall...duh!

#9. Get ready for nap by picking out our favorite Mr. Potato Head doll to dress up to snuggle in bed.

 #10. Sit back and take reflect on time well spent with my darling children.  Who cares that my hair is a mess and the house is a wreck...I did important things today.

The Spooky Wall

Since moving into our new house, Gavin has had some issues with the plug near his bed.  Every other plug outlet in the house seems not to be an issue, but this particular one causes him to cover his head with blankets at night in fear. 

We have talked with him many times to see what it is that makes this one stand out.  It seems to be the poor painting job around the outlet itself that has given him the impression that he is seeing eyes and noses and such.  In an effort to alleviate the situation, Todd has placed part of a paper bag over the outlet and has taped it all around the area to make it so that it cannot be seen.  Here is what Todd came up with. 

So, we thought this would do the trick, but we still see Gavin covering his face at night and describing to us what looks like this...

This has now been covered by the hamper, a small chair and a pillow.  We'll have to figure out ways to get this monster out of here!  I think I might suggest hanging his stinky socks nearby the outlet to make the monster run for his life. :)

Oso Maki

Trying new things is a normal occurrence for our family.  I guess it's a thing with me as I am constantly pushing new ideas, adventures and tastes onto the kids, and even sometimes Todd.  Not that they all seem to mind that much.  Everyone is pretty agreeable to at least trying something, even if they don't like it.  That is what sparked us trying something different....

We never eat fish at our house.  I mean never; however, for the first time in our family history, we decided that we would try out some cooked salmon.  I know we are a little weird as Todd and I both are not fans of cooked fish, but all of a sudden, we are having a taste for it.  We do, on the other hand, love sushi and were introduced to it years ago.  It is my favorite food and it is what I craved throughout both pregnancies.  I guess that is what sparked my sushi thought....

As we were eating the cooked salmon, we noticed that Gavin nearly inhaled his and even asked for more.  This is when Todd and I looked at each other with a realization that we are going to have this more often due to the overwhelming unspoken applause given to us by our son.  This is what sparked the conversation about fish....

Todd and I kind of stumbled over our words a little when we were trying to explain why we've never had fish at our table in the past.  We shared that we have a love of fish in a different way, on rice and raw.  He did not really understand what we were trying to explain, but we encouraged him that, one day, we would explore the world of sushi as a family.  This is what sparked a little girl to think out of the box....

As we were speaking to Gavin about this new possibility and how much we would enjoy doing this as a family, Todd began to share all of the different things you can wrap into a sushi roll (maki) or onto rice to create sushi.  We began to list off the many yummy insides of our favorite maki rolls when Sophia, in the most confident manner that anyone could possibly assume, proudly states "I'll put teddy grahams on mine."  I love how she thinks out of the box.  Of course, we busted out in laughter imagining such a roll.  This is what sparked my mind to come up with such a humorous visual....

Oso Maki
(Oso=Bear in Spanish)

The Owl Call

Every night we read several books together as a family.  Lately, it has been where we have Gavin read a book or two to us and then Todd or I read a longer, richer book.  This night we chose to read "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen, pictured below.

This book is such a fantastic and touching book about a child and her father walking through the forest at night, searching for an owl...an owl hunt.  I, often times, read and tear up as it is such a beautiful experience between a child and father. 

Because of my love for this book, I decided that I would be honored to read it to the family.  As I read aloud, the section were the pa makes the owl call was read and it didn't quite sound right.  Todd corrected me with the real way it should have been read.  It, of course, sounded a million times better.  I chuckled out loud knowing that I was way off and did not do that section justice and this is when Gavin chimes in, so naturally, with the sad trombone/trumpet sound to emphasize how bad it was.

Click the link if you would like to hear how bad it felt...hysterical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC75aU47GRk