Busy Week...

4. She Did It!....??

Risa finally started crawling!

And then she stopped.

She took her first crawling steps (steps?) this week,

and it was obvious she finally knew what she was doing.

But I guess it's too much of a hassle for her.

She's decided she'll keep doing her "get there creatively" thing.

Because crawling apparently isn't her thing.

That's our Risa.

She has an opinion about everything.

(Does that remind you of anyone, Tera? How about the photo? Ha!)

Busy Week...

3. May 19th

I thought of lilacs.

I thought of the Carpenters.

Of songs and lullabies.

Of quiet listening and quiet advising.

Of an image of "The Swim" being performed in the kitchen

with a whole chicken,

deboned and cubed,

sitting on the counter.

Of a voice saying, "Rick!"

in an exasperated, joyful way.

I thought of my mother.

Happy Birthday, Momma!

Busy Week...

2. Rain

We came home to rain. Which I love.

For some reason, all I want when it rains is this: 

Hot chocolate and Sense & Sensibility.

Except that I want the movie--

The really beautiful one with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet.

But since I have yet to replace my old VHS tape with a DVD, 

I was left drinking my cocoa and pining for my movie, 

rather than actually watching it.

Ah, well.

And I couldn't help snapping this photo in the rain... 

only because I was thinking as an English nerd, 

and (Rachel, this is for you), 

my brain saw this image and kept repeating that really annoying poem

by William Carlos Williams:

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain water

beside the white chickens.

Okay, it's a tan wagon rather than a red wheelbarrow.

And there are no chickens.

But I thought of the poem anyhow.

Supposedly it's a brilliant poem.

I've missed that part of it somewhere.

Busy Week

Well, another adventurous week has come and gone... and true to form, instead of blogging as things happened, I'm just doing it all today. But I'll go ahead and do separate blog entries this time. "It's the principle of the thing." So here goes...

1. Richfield

We had a lovely time in Richfield the first half of the week. Chad was sent down to cover for the manager for a few days, and, naturally, we went too. Chad always thinks I'm kind-of funny, because I insist on going with him.... But then we get there, no one sleeps the first night, and then I'm a total grump the next day. But it's only really the first day. The following days are fun. And frankly, I prefer sleepless nights next to Chad over restful ones alone (as does Chad).

It rained a bit, but not enough to deter us from getting out and trekking to the park every day. The kids loved that--three days of non-stop outside and park time! We should stay in tiny hotel rooms more often, I guess.

And it was a rather good set-up for me as well: Chad took the car to work every day, so I ended up walking miles around the town in those three days. Much needed exercise!

And we ate delicious food, of course. Nothing like a few days off from planning and cooking dinners to make me feel a little spoiled. 

Might I recommend the... lobster?? 

A Dream of Spring...

It's May, and the dream is almost upon us. 

This is where it gets hard for a California girl--this, the sixth month of winter. 

But here are the tell-tale signs that Spring is not far off, 

that there will be warmth in my bones again, 

and that the world is turning green and lovely once more. 

I'm holding my breath.

Updating...

Well, another month gone by, and no new posts. So here´s a quick update on the fam until I find something exciting to post on....

We have been having all kinds of adventure over here in the Chad Brooks home.... Let's see.... For starters, we got to have a little mini-vacation, with most expenses paid, in Price and Moab! Hooray! Chad was sent down there for a week to cover for the manager there, and he got to take us along. So really, it was probably more a vacation for me and the kiddos. But we loved it! And we actually had some sun--hooray for warm Moab sun!! We went to dinosaur museums, played at parks, had picnics, visited Hole-in-the-Rock, hiked out to Delicate Arch. And then we met the family over in Blanding at the end of the week for Lanette's funeral. It was just a wonderful week!

We also had my uncle's kids for a week here at our house. They took a trip to Boston, and so we watched the kids. And we were a six-child family for about a week! Surprisingly, it was easier than I expected it to be. And instead of swearing off any more children at the end of it--as I thought would happen--I came out of it thinking, "Hey, we could do six kids....eventually....someday." Not saying that's the plan; just thought it was encouraging that the week didn't overwhelm me. :) We had a lot of fun together. And it was awesome for Coren--he had playmates all week, which was his favorite thing!

(This is my cute morning boy look...love it! Melts my mommy heart!)

(I´m not sure how to feel about the serious face and the menacing way he is holding his power drill here... I lean a little hippie when it comes to play guns and such....but he´s pretty stinkin´ cute here, so we´ll go with it.)

Coren is growing, and he is SO smart! Smarter than we think! He gets this knowledge from I don't know where, and it surprises me and Chad every time. He knows a bunch of his letters. He can count to ten in English and Spanish (hooray!). And he loves everything.... my favorite part of the day is right after he wakes up from his naps, and he makes his "declarations of love," as I like to call them: "Mommy, I love naptime! I love azul! I love treat! I love outside! I love Woody! I love car! I love jugo! I love Risa!" (This can go on and on--oh, it cracks me up!) He has started adopting the role of big brother, enjoying the power to discipline Risa when I'm not around--the other day I caught him telling her, "Risa, don't do it! Don't do it, Risa! Uno, dos, tres...okay, Time out, Risa!" And he tried to pull her gently to the corner. He is a cute dude! 

(Here´s the warning face....wait for it....)

(And there it is! The storm has arrived in full force!!)

And Risa is a bundle of....um....girl power! Yes. She is definitely all the things I was afraid of about having a girl. She is feisty! She is grumpy! She is impatient! She is a SERIOUS drama queen! She's really good about some things--bedtime/naptime, eating, etc. But she definitely knows what she wants, when she wants it, and if it doesn't happen, look out! She's also teething, which adds to the drama, of course. But she already knows how to throw a tantrum and milk it for all it's worth! Yikes! On the upside, there are super cute sides to her emerging personality--she can give some really precious cheesy grins! And those make the tantrums worth it (I suppose). :) She loves her brother--she could watch him all day. I am getting so excited for her to start crawling, so they can play together. And she seems to be just on the cusp of crawling. But, as anyone who has seen her knows, there's a lot of chub to hold up, so it might be a while before the crawling happens. We love our chunky, crazy girl!

(Okay, and here´s the happy, more flattering side of Risa.... and, in her defense, the side more often seen.)

Fill Me Up!

Sometimes the world fills me up. You know what I mean. 

Example: Last night there was a storm--blew in early evening and left again before we woke up. But the wind was kicking up quite a rage outside! When I feel a storm coming--when it begins to creep up through the neighborhood--I have to open my doors and windows. I feel like welcoming the storm just to my doorstep. There is the warm, humid calm for a few minutes. Then the breeze begins to pick up, and the air smells fresher, more earthy. And the first few drops start to fall. It is a distinct sensation for me. I get a Kate Chopin feeling (minus the casually-cheating-on-your-husband deal): It's a heady, reckless, on-the-edge-of-wild-abandon feeling. It makes me wish we lived in the 1800s for just that moment. Just long enough so that I had to strip off layers and layers of big heavy crinoline skirts, pull off the suffocating bodice, and stand in my backyard in my bloomers. I would soak in the rain, all the way through, till it was washing through my bone marrow. I would drink it as it fell. I would declare the eternal "yes," as it were. I was filled up.

Example: I drove to Price last Monday. It was a beautiful drive, between the mountains, and out into hidden valleys, then empty flat fields. The first hour I drove through a rainstorm. Then it cleared, and for the second hour I wound through the canyon alone. My kids slept in the backseat. I was listening to Mumford & Sons, which is actually vital information for the moment I am describing. There I was, driving between mountains just beginning to green, stubbornly holding onto their stark white patches of snow. And the deer were everywhere, dozens of them standing around. And the Englishmen were playing their folk music in my head, with the repeated declaration that Love would set me free... "to be more like the man you were made to be." And it was a Sound of Music moment--I wanted to pull the van over, climb the nearest hill and race over the top, singing Mumford's declarations in robust, breathless exhilaration. I was filled up.

Example: My daughter bit me yesterday. Bit me before she had taken her first suck. Bit me hard. So I flicked her mouth (yikes, should I be telling this to the online world? Can I be brought before CPS for this action?). She was startled. And then, yes, she was angry. She put up an incredible little fit. I am talking wracking sobs after only twenty seconds of crying (dramatic much?). So Coren came over to comfort her. He stroked her head. "Okay Risa. Okay Risa." Coren is probably Risa's favorite person (was especially her favorite in that moment; Mom certainly wasn't), and so she listened and agreed. She decided she was okay, after all. And she leaned over to watch him. And then he really watched her. Studied her. Anyone who knows our kids knows they don't really glance at things--they study them. It can be unnerving sometimes, actually. So they studied each other. I knew there was something working itself out behind Coren's eyes, so I waited. He looked up at me, a revelatory look on his face, and said, "Risa cute. Cute Risa." I smiled. "Yes," I said, "Risa is very cute." The truth of it had suddenly dawned on him. Call me crazy, over-analytical, whatever--I think, perhaps without the ability to completely recognize it or express it yet, that this was the first moment in Coren's life that he realized that he loved his little sister. It was love on his face. Yes, I was completely filled up.

There was another moment last night with my husband that filled me up completely. But you know what, that one's just for me. :)

Sometimes this world just fills me up. You know what I mean.