A Moment

I am sitting in the white rocking chair in our bedroom, nursing my little boy. It is darker right now than it usually is at this time of the evening, thanks to a passing thunderstorm. I am listening to Don and Amy reading together down the hall. Outside the soft rolls of thunder give way to a steady and gentle rain. The window is open and the barest breeze slips in. We left the stereo on after dinner, and I can hear music drifting up the stairs. The CD has changed though, and the familiar chords of Dougie MacClean make a perfect soundtrack to this moment. One of the cats is dozing on the bed, stretched out and so relaxed that she is snoring just slightly. As the rain eases a wood thrush starts calling, clear and crisp and melodious. My boy is now fast asleep and I carry him to his room and lay him down in his bed. Kisses to both my angels, and I slip out the door.

My mind is quite occupied these days just thinking over all the things coming our way in the next six months. My hands are quite occupied with two little kids who always need something. It is rare and wonderful to have a moment like this, so simple and quiet that I can be fully there and a part of it.

Wishing you all a moment tonight.

This Family Update Brought to You by Robin Hood

This is, sadly, just about the only thing I've sewed in months. Amy has been bugging me for quite awhile to make her a Robin Hood costume (to go with her Maid Marian costume, which she still wears at least twice a week). I kept putting her off thinking she'd forget about it, but she's Amy - she never forgets about anything. So, thankfully, my idea for how to make a RH tunic, belt, and hat as simply as possible actually worked, and she was satisfied. Of course she really needs someone else her size to wear this costume so she can be MM and fall in love with RH... usually her stuffed Clifford ends up wearing the Robin costume. My my, it's not easy.

Anyway, I'm feeling otherwise short on bloggy material this week because there has just been so much else going on. Sniffly, feverish girl at the beginning of the week, nearly-walking boy, broken air conditioner, errands to run, house to clean, blah blah blah. But the biggest news from this past week simply must be shared: After six months of waiting, we finally received word on Don's OCS (Officer Candidate School) application...

... and he was accepted!!!!!!

I am so incredibly proud of my husband on this huge honor and accomplishment. He devotes a staggering amount of energy to his job and has the drive and vision to serve in a capacity far beyond where he is now. We have talked about the OCS possibility for the whole five years that he's been in the Coast Guard, and even before he joined, so the fact that we now know that it is going to happen is really amazing. We'll have most of the summer together, then he'll be away for four months of training, and then we'll be moving to places unknown.

So that's the scoop. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers for those of you who have known about this process. We can't wait to see what's next.

Photos By...

From time to time I've let Amy try taking a picture with the big camera, but I've always done the holding or the aiming, or tried in vain to explain how to look through the viewfinder to see what the picture will be. But today the whole point and shoot process suddenly "clicked" for her when I let her try the camera at her friend's preschool graduation. All at once she was actually taking really good pictures! I wish I could have a picture of the pose she makes when she's shooting, and the grin that shows just how proud she is of this new accomplishment.

So without further ado, I present Friday Evening, by Amy:

Nothing says trust (?) like letting a three-year-old use your $500 camera.

ONE

Donald William...

Baby Donny...

Little William...

Sweet William...

Buster Brown...

Mister Mischief...

The Willy Goat...

Putt-Putt...

My sweetest little boy...

...turned one whole year old today.

To celebrate we went to the National Zoo with his new red wagon. Our last visit there was when he was 10 days old. It was a fabulous day, capped off with a quiet afternoon at home with presents, burgers on the grill, and cupcakes.

My heart belongs to you, little one. Happy Birthday!

Small Victories

It is Friday evening of a very Don-less week and I've promised myself some veg-out time, but first I wanted to reflect on three very small accomplishments this week, those of no real significance but which make me feel like I'm doing a good job... so chalk this one up to a "Susan pats herself on the back" post.

Monday morning: Trash is at the curb yet has not been picked up yet. Odd, because it is past 7 and usually the truck comes much earlier than that. I'm making breakfast and cannot find Amy's red-handled spoon anywhere. I always wash it by hand, so if it's not in the drying rack it should be in its drawer. No where to be found, and I begin to suspect that it got tossed right along with the container of cottage cheese that Amy ate the day before. Meaning that the spoon is at the bottom of a bag trash with all kinds of other good stuff on top. I debate whether dumpster diving is how I want to spend my morning, and eventually decide to just go see if I can spot the spoon without too much trouble, since after all, by the grace of the trash gods the bag is still at the end of our driveway. And lo and behold, there is the spoon, pressed up against the side of the bag and easily retrievable. Yes. When you're the type of person who never loses anything, you just don't want to start.

Monday afternoon: I'm lamenting how few pants remain in William's rotation, and how few of those are presentable after months of crawling and spring mud and gardens and the like. Then I remember several pairs of pants that I had months ago put in the too-small bin because they were a bit short and left his poor legs exposed to the cold. But, as I suspected, they still fit fine in the waist and now I'm not concerned about length, just want my boy's knees covered when he's crawling around outside. Four nearly-new pants for zero money out. Yes.

Friday afternoon: Amy has decided it is Christmas in May and wants to wrap up random toys and things in the living room as presents. Asks for wrapping paper. I stall, not really wanting to indulge this and part with my one roll of wrapping paper and precious scotch tape, but also not wanting to squelch an otherwise harmless activity. In a flash I remember having just discarded a Hancocks of Paducah catalog - page after pretty page of fabric photography. Wrapping paper solved. Brilliance truly shines when I tell her to use all the surplus address labels my dad sends her as the tape. One hour of entertained daughter with no materials wasted. Yes.

So, there you go. I just had to share with somebody, because after all, aren't these the small victories that make the world go 'round?

Changes Afoot

Tomorrow we will be saying au revoir to some really good friends. Bill was once Don's superior when they were both on the CGC Ida Lewis in Rhode Island. He and his wife Tara, and their then-two-year-old daughter moved to Maryland at the same time we transferred here. For three years we have lived in houses about a hundred yards from each other. We have both added a second child to our families in that time. They were the ones I called at 2 a.m. when I went into labor with William; Tara came over to stay with Amy. We have shared two Thanksgivings and one Easter as family. We have traded sugar, lawn mowers, decorating ideas, babysitting, and evenings hosting dinner. We have met each others' parents. I can say without equivocation that I think of them as family and I am quite confident that we will always be in each others' lives (there are already plans for 2 visits in the next 6 weeks) but what I will miss most is that sense of company and comfort that comes from knowing that there is someone right around the corner. Especially when we are so far from our own families.

I'm feeling sappy not just because we are losing the nearness of very dear friends, but because this is just the beginning of a season of change throughout our lives. Our own parents are on the verge of moves. We are waiting anxiously to hear whether or not Don was accepted to OCS - and by extension whether we will be moving this year or next. We wonder what the next 12 months will hold for us and what decisions will be made in that span of time. As I watch our friends' house get packed into boxes I can only bide my time until we know the circumstances will be when we start packing our house into boxes. So many unknowns, yet much confidence that it will all come together just as it is supposed to. It always does.

A Peek from This Week

Just checkin' in to say hi... on a bit of a break here... back in a bit.

Meanwhile, check out these two handsome guys I know...

Have a lovely week!