Christmas in August

Just found out that Maddie was chosen to be in "A Cascade Christmas" - this will be her third year as an elf. (Thank goodness for Mom's genes, which have kept her safely within the "under 4 foot 10" limit!)

This production is always so much fun for all of us - James Santos is an incredible and inspirational director, and she has learned more about effort, pride, perseverance and fortitude from him than from just about anybody in her life. The dancers - adult and youth - are encouraging, kind and inclusive. In addition to being an unparalleled educational experience for the kids, it's also a spectacular and masterful production that rivals anything you'll see in a major city. Can't wait!

Still, it's a little odd to think about sleighbells and snowfall when it's 108 degrees outside.

My "ten-ager"

Ten years ago (give or take three days), Jim and I became parents. It's been an incredible, rewarding and unforgettable journey, and in honor of our sweet girl, I've chronicled the highlights of the first 10 years of her life in this video. (The quality isn't great because it's been smooshed to fit nicely on the web... but feel free to come over and see the original on the big screen!)

Pickup football

Our cul-de-sac turned into an impromptu football field this evening. In addition to Maddie and Jim, the pickup game included our young neighbor couple, our "our age" neighbor couple, and a guy from across the street. While Maddie and the two other schoolage kids played against most of the adults, we had three 4-year-olds, a 2-year-old, and two 1-year-olds zipping all over the block - some barefooted (that would be mine), some on scooters, some on Big Wheels. I'm sure there's a lot to be said for living out in the woods, surrounded by nature and nothing else, but I'll take my neighborhood any day of the week.

The girl I'd like to be

Before I have a chance to kick my shoes off after work, the boys shepherd me out to the yard to push them on the swings. They climb up, and as they soar through the air, they tell me about their day - the boy named Tiger who played with them at the park, what Grandma is going to be for Halloween - important stuff when you're a little guy. Then Maddie saunters out, after compiling a bar graph and pie chart illustrating her classmates' favorite pie choices (they'd have pumpkin if they were having a party, she concluded - the runaway favorite). She looks pensive, then says, "Mommy, you know how you were so excited and thanked me so much when I put away all of the shoes from the shoe basket?" (We have a universal shoe depository near the front door that periodically overflows, therefore needing to be emptied, which typically ends up on my to-do list.)
Me: "Yes - I really appreciated that."
Maddie: "Well, nobody ever gets all excited when you do things like that, and you do that stuff all the time. That makes me sad."
How awesome is she??
I assured her that most of the things I do are "mom jobs," and although it's always nice to have my household contributions recognized, the only time I get irritated when I don't get thanked is when I do something that's specifically someone else's job - like cleaning her room, or writing up football plays at 11 p.m. on Thursday night for tomorrow's game. How touching, though, that she is such a thoughtful child - recognizing what is what is really at the root of most family conflicts - underappreciation for everybody's contributions. I'm as guilty as the next guy, so I'll go first.

In addition to my indescribably wonderful daughter and my two little rambunctious boys...

I appreciate that my husband gets up at 5 a.m. to go to work, running a company that has been going through tough times for too long, always giving it everything he has, never giving up, and continuing to provide for all of us as well as his employees' families. He's such a great role model for our children. It can be the worst of all days, but when he gets here, he's hugging them, poring over their schoolwork, cheering them on and making them feel like the indescribably valuable and precious human beings that they are. During football season our time with him is limited, but when he gets home, he's 100 percent ours - and I'd rather have that for two hours than a guy who's home at the stroke of 5 but ignores everybody but his TV or the computer until bedtime (I've known these fellas - what a turnoff).

And perhaps more than anything, I am grateful that we were lucky enough to find each other and smart enough to keep each other. People say marriage is hard work, but after thirteen years we're wondering when the work begins. When everything else seems to be falling down around us, we're still as solid as ever. Of course, we aggravate each other sometimes - my poor sister-in-law got an EARFUL a few weeks ago - but I love him like nothing else, and I know how blessed I am. I guess that's what "soul mate" means.

I also love that we are on the same page when it comes to what rules are OK to bend. We're both wiped out after a long week, tomorrow is an overly long day, so rather than going through the whole bedtime ritual with the kids, we're shuffling them all into bed with us - and I can just about guarantee who will be unconscious first. (Hint: It's nobody under the age of 10.)

Sigh.

Will my children ever sleep through the night? All of them, all night, in their own beds? It's going to get awfully crowded when they're teenagers.

Brain dump

So I was talking to my uber-wise and fabulous sister-in-law this morning, and she asked if writing is my passion. Interesting question, I thought, and one that I've been pondering all day. People pay me to write, and it's an outlet for creativity that I can't find elsewhere - I'm not a painter or a sculptor or a filmmaker. So I guess that if I indeed have a passion, writing must be it. But I don't keep a journal (though I love reading my required journal writings from junior high and high school - such angst!)... and my brain is full of stuff that needs to be purged. This shall be the place for that purging.