trick or treat

Treat: Watching Ivar grasp trick-or-treating. He loved it. Uncle Kyle and I took him from house to house and he was a very happy boy. And I was full of bliss. I adore trick-or-treating (meeting neighbors, candy, cute kids all dressed up...) and have waited since I retired my game at age 16 to get back into it.

Trick: Going to the doctor earlier that day and being told the sores all over Elsie's mouth and hands and feet (and knees and bottom) were in fact, hand, foot and mouth disease. She and her dad stayed in that night and went to bed extra early.

Treat: Halloween at Lisa's. Lisa is always above and beyond and halloween is no different: mummy dogs, minion pumpkins, dumb dumb stuck into a pumpkin, cupcakes with eyes, pumpkin krispie bars, amazing decor, full size candy bars, music, white chicken chili...all of it. I LOVE going to her house for halloween.

Trick: Jack, dressed as Mr. Fox with Betsy as Mrs. Fox, said to me, "oh fun, Thomas the Train. Is that like one of those pregnancy costumes?" Bwahaha. The Thomas head was right at my belly. I hiked it a little higher and made a special note that when I am pregnant again I should wear this costume.

special friend day

A week ago we had friends over and their first grade son, Andrew, asked me if I would be his Special Friend on Special Friend Day at his school.

Oh brother. Would I? My heart swelled and I was so honored.

Before I had kids I used to be a favorite with most children but since having my own, I'm not able to pour into other kids as much...so when Andrew asked if I'd come, it meant so much to me! He saw me as a worthy special friend!

I brought Ivar because I knew he'd love it. And he did. He wore his new outfit from Mimi and looked very big to me. He ate his whole lunch, sat through an entire Mass, and now believes that when kids go to school they sit on a carpet and play with cars and legos with other kids.

When we left he said to me, "I would like to go back to Andrew's school sometime. Maybe tomorrow!"

the first snow

When I went to bed last night I was thinking about the forecast for snow, noting that it is November 6. The last time it snowed was May 2nd, when we got over a foot. If we have another winter like last year, we are looking at a full six months of snow season ahead of us. Six months.

It also means that we only had six months of spring/summer/fall before heading into another winter. It made my heart sink a bit. That wasn't long enough.

But this afternoon I took both kids out in the black sled and we walked around our property for a half an hour. The kids were delighted, my heart was pumping and the whole world was sparkling around me as the sun began to set.

And that's when I thought it: Winter, I am going to kick your butt so hard this year you will not know what has hit you. I have joined the Y. I have a daughter who begs to go outside and a son who loves the sled. I have a big window that fills my living room with light. And I am taking a multivitamin. 

So bring it.

george and katherine

Our former neighbors and dear friends, George and Katherine, came to visit a few days before Ivar's birthday. It made me miss them dearly. They love our kids so well and Ivar and Elsie adore them. They brought Ivar a basket ball and Elsie her very first red-headed baby doll. We named her Georgina Katherine.

growing up

We tucked Ivar into bed after a fun third birthday, telling him about the day he was born, telling him how much we like to be with him and how proud we are to be his parents. We went down to watch a movie, but paused it when we could hear him crying up in his bed. I went into his room and he sadly lamented, "I don't want to be three. I want to be two. Not three."

The only way I could get him to calm down was to tell him he could be two again.

I had my own coming of age this month when, for the first time in my life, I liked refried beans. What on earth? All my life I have been grossed out by this poo-mush and now I really like it. I had a similar reaction when I first started liking blue cheese...sort of a disbelief that I could be getting that old.

Listening to Ivar cry made me wonder why the passing of time seems to come with such dread. Time goes so fast...we can't believe it's already bla-ti-bla month, we can't believe bla-ti-bla season is already over. We can't believe our kid is already three. And he can't believe it, either.



Andrew Peterson has an awesome song about the passing of time called Day by Day. The link will let you listen to the song...but I've copied most of the words here:

And everybody's so surprised
When right before your very eyes
Your baby's in the second grade
You blink and it's her wedding day

And we just can't get used to being here
Where the ticking clock is loud and clear
Children of eternity
On the run from entropy

Well, you have never met a single soul
Who didn't feel the curse's toll
Who didn't wish that death would die
Maybe that's the reason why

And it hurts so bad
But it's so good to be young
And I don't want to go back
I just want to go on and on and on

So don't lose heart
Though your body's wasting away
Your soul is not
It's being remade
So don't lose heart
Don't lose heart
Your body will rise and never decay
Day by day by day

I have been remembering a great truth at random times lately: I am a child of eternity. My body will rise and I will live forever. Usually I only think about my eternal life when attending a funeral. Or on Easter. It's easy to get caught up in our day to day so that the very point of why we are walking through each day can be completely missed. And forgotten.

When I forget that I am a child of eternity then I feel sad about time passing me by. And anxious about loved ones aging. Even watching my one-year-old take her first steps leaves a little lump in my throat because now she's a toddler. Not a baby. And you can never go back.

But I'm looking the wrong direction when I'm thinking these thoughts. Because when I remember that I am made to live forever...that my body will rise one day and that my work on earth is a sweet moment on my way to my eternal home, then I have fire in my bones. Then I want to run this race marked out for me. Then I want to take every moment I have with that little baby-now-toddler and train her up in the ways she should go. Suddenly I have an eternal ending that makes obvious the work to be done during the fleeting days ahead.

So don't lose heart
Though your body's wasting away
Your soul is not
It's being remade
Don't lose heart
Your body will rise and never decay
Day by day by day