Playtime

A few things we've been up to...

Mr. A found Miss M's bow - clearly

Mr. A on his "motorcycle" as he calls it
Everyone say "cheese"

Working on "sitting" skills

Hangin' Out

Move over, boys. We've got ourselves a new "swinger" in town! Miss M has taken quite nicely to her new pastime - hanging (and gently rocking). (In case you're wondering, her shirt says "My Mummy Rocks" - how cool is that?)

Rocky Mountain High

I went to Utah for a few days to attend my dear friend, Suzanne's (from b-school), wedding.

Congrats, Suz! (Jess, Suz, me)

The picture doesn't do the mountains leaves justice but they did not disappoint

Some of "my" former "Young Women" - Kara, Lindsay, and Becca (great to see all of you)

I threw in a few other activities as well - eating at Cafe Rio (3 times - mmm); a shake at the Creamery; a visit to the BYU Candy Counter (for the first time in my life I did not buy one thing from there-yes, you should be impressed - very impressed. I certainly was.); a photo session for Miss M; and visits with great family & friends.

That's a BIG One!

So I'm frantically trying to get all of my computer work done before finishing my packing. Our office is below Mr. A's bedroom. I put him to bed at 7:23 pm. I hear his voice as I sit down at my desk. And, this is what I heard:

7:48 - "Wow! That's a BIG one!"
7:50 - "'Nother one"
7:52 - (more jabbering that I can't quite make out)
7:53 - "Oh. That little one."

At this point I'm intrigued. So, I walk upstairs, open his door, and see his little feet on the floor poking out from underneath the curtains. I thought, "Maybe he's looking at one of our neighbors and commenting." Mind you, it's dark outside.

I pull back the blinds and have this conversation:
Me: "Mr. A, what are you doing?"
Mr. A: "Oh, Mommy! Look! 'Nother BIG one!"

I look out and can only see the passing/blinking lights of airplanes in a night sky.

Me: "Do you mean the airplanes, Mr. A?"
Mr. A: "Ya, Mama! I see Daddy's hairpane"

At this point I'm practically in tears from the realization that he was postponing sleep to watch for his dad, but pull him out from behind the blinds and guide him to bed.

Mr. A: "Mama, I wanna see Daddy's hairpane more."
Me: "Tomorrow when you wake up, you can look for Daddy's airplane some more, ok?"
Mr. A: "Ok, mom. Where's Baby Sis?"
Me: "She's sleeping."
Mr. A: "OH! OK! Love you, Mom"
Me: "Love you, Mr. A."

I love Little People. I especially love MY little people. Sweet dreams to both of them. May visions of airplanes dance in Mr. A's head.

The Boys of Summer and Mastercard

Gas to visit your childhood home: $20

Breakfast at the Way Station: $15

Surfing on Venice Beach: $20

Lunch at In 'N Out (three times): $15

Tickets to the Dodgers games (2) in the all-you-can-eat section (with Dodger Dogs included):$50

A weekend with the boys (dad and the brothers), a walk down memory lane, and creating new memories: priceless

Miss M's Blessing

A few of you have asked about Miss M's blessing day.  I finally published the blog (and pictures) about it, but in the spirit of keeping things in chronological order, it really came up as the first posting in September.  Click here.  To see it directly.

Synergy

(A note to start: the formatting on this post is not cooperating with me and it's bugging me big time. Sorry for the lack of spaces. However, you get the idea...)

While out for a jog earlier this morning I rounded a cul-de-sac and stumbled upon a sight much like this one. I guess it's in the air (no pun intended). These birdies fleeing the coming cold for a warmer abode. Good for them. Can I do that too? Just for a few months? I don't mind the mild cold, but the bone-chilling, mind-numbing, teeth-hurting cold of late Dec/Jan/Feb is what gets me.

I digress.

This flock gave me cause to spend the remainder of my run analyzing why it is that these birds head for the warmer hills in such a beautiful formation. Wouldn't it be easier to just fly at their own pace and get there when they get there? And then I began to remember watching similar scenes as a little girl on the shores of the Peach Blossom Creek. And I remembered asking my sage grandfather why the geese fly like that. To which I remembered my grandfather teaching me that they do that for a very specific reason. I thought this Googled explanation explained it best (at least better than my ability to remember the exact words of my conversation with my grandfather):

"Canada geese fly in V formation for a very pragmatic reason: a flock of
geese flying in formation can move faster and maintain flight longer than any
one goose flying alone. Synergy is a law of nature."

Thus, the sum is greater than the whole of the parts. I like that. A lot. I want that for my wee ones. I want that for my friendships. I want that for my relationship with my DH and for my own little family.

This summer the kids got t-shirts indicating their Seamons "Team" number among the Seamons Grandkids. (We plan to do it for my side when we get a little larger). The point that we tried to make to these (currently) 17 team members and that we hope to make to our own kids when they are old enough, however, is that they are all part of a larger team where, if they all work together toward their common family goals, their sum will truly be greater than the whole of their own parts.

They will be in synergy.

Naturally.

Where's the Beef?

A beefing moment

See the love??

Mr. A L-O-V-E-S loves his Papa. And, I mean really loves. It's quite cute actually. He asks about his whereabouts on a daily basis, could point to California on the map, and always wants to give him a "beef." This is a tradition that Papa started with all of his grandsons and Mr. A has taken to it quite early on. When Nana & Papa were here visiting, Mr. A had regular "beef" sessions with Papa.

Lately, though, whenever Mr. A asks about Papa, he simply asks, "Mom, where's the Papa beef?"

We love you, Papa Beef!

I Luff You!

As DH was leaving for work today, Mr. A yelled over the bannister: "Bye, Dad! I LUUFFF YOU!"

And, as he watched him pull out of the driveway: "Bye, Dad! Have fun at the hairport!"

I love my Mr. A.

All Grown Up

All gussied up - he picked out his own shirt

His Spiderman backpack (the new one hasn't come yet)

Mr. A headed off to his first day of pre-school today. I thought I would lose it if he did but he didn't. We walked into his classroom (he was a little nervous) and said hi to his teachers and then looked at the toys he played with yesterday (at the Open House). I crouched down and told him I was going to leave him there but that I would be right back, that I loved him, and to have fun. I stood up, he reached his arms up to me, I crouched back down, he gave me a hug, and I said, "Bye, buddy! I love you!" And, off I went. I didn't hear any wailing (well, from his mouth, at least) or screaming behind me so I kept walking right on out the front door.

All morning long whenever the phone rang I thought it would be the school calling to tell me he had mis-behaved and I needed to come pick him up. Fortunately that call did not come, but I really did a lot of thinking about what kind of pre-schooler he'll be. Active? Most definitely. Energetic? Check. Obedient? Do they have time-out at pre-school? Chatty? I had a little inkling when, while picking Mr. A up, one of the other kids' dads commented, "He's a talker! We had a nice conversation with him!" Great.

I guess I should have known when, yesterday, at the Open House, the "conversation" went something like this:

Me: Mr. A, this is Miss Jen!

Mr. A (to Miss Jen): My daddy fyes hairpanes (he loses the l and adds an h)

Miss Jen (to me): Does he really?

Me: Yes.

Miss Jen (to Mr. A): Oh wow! Very cool.

Note to self: Must be careful about what we do at home lest it make it into the pre-school storytime.