the miracle of life

The kids planted their Joshua Tree seeds that we brought back as souvenir for them. They LOVE watching things grow. Our strawberry plants are flowering and the tulips are dying and my flower beds are full of grass that I need to remove. And the seasons keep passing.

I didn't even yell when Cash spilled his potting soil all over the place.

advice from cash

This morning Cash said to me, "Mom, try not to get mistaken about if your hungry or thirsty or sick." Wisdom in his own way?

money and friends

Hooray! George Bush just sent me some money. He shouldn't have. I mean he REALLY shouldn't have. For one thing, I don't think its going to help the economy. It's not going to get anyone out from under a mortgage that shouldn't have been given to them in the first place or pay for an illness that they don't have insurance coverage for. Our government is overburdened right now. We are funding an immoral war, the environment is going to hell, and the national deficit is at an all time high. For another thing, I still don't want to be his friend. It didn't work the first time. It's not going to work this time.




I like money. I love money. I want LOTS of money. When I have lots of money, I can travel and eat anything I want, I can have nice things and maybe a bigger house and a car that doesn't smell like stale french fries. I can take my sisters and all their kids to France. But do I care if YOU have money? Not so much. I am happy for you if you do (at least if you are also a kind person)(okay and maybe a little jealous). If you are mean or thoughtless then I think you don't deserve your money and God (or someone) should see to it that you don't have it anymore. It's too bad that's not the way the world works.



Anyway, back to George Bush. He is like a little boy--his swaggering, his snickering, his blustering and bullying, his trying to pay the american people to raise his standing in the public opinion polls. Seems his Mama did not teach him the lesson about how money can't buy friends.




Well that was a rant. Thanks for the money George. Your still not invited for Sushi on Saturday night.

Cash

Cash is an ordinary kid. Cash is an extraordinary kid. And that's the way it is with Cash.

When he was a baby I called him a screaming ball of baby flesh. He was one of those little humans that cries, eats, sleeps and then does it all over again for about six weeks straight. He was also one of those babies that you want to hold forever because he was so pleasingly plump and SNUGGLY. As he got a little older he would COO at his toys in the sweetest way. And then he played with his toys in an extremely focused and intense way.

He does all the normal kid things and he says the most hilarious and unusual things. He is my only child that was ever attached to one particular stuffed animal. Well, actually two stuffed animals. He had a little polar bear named George who was supposed to keep the bad dreams away and George wasn't doing the job so we got George a polar bear friend who was bigger and could keep the bad dreams away. It was so cute. He really believed it would work and it did. He loved them and would play for hours with them. One day when he was about 5 I heard him crying in his bed. He said "I can't hear them talking to me anymore. I keep trying but I just can't hear them." He was heart broken. It was like he was mourning the passing of his own childhood. It hurt to hear it. Then when he was 6 he said "This is stupid. I am 6 years old. What am I doing sleeping with these teddy bears." And that was the end of that.

He pretty much taught himself to read when he was 4 years old. All due to his love for electronic things with buttons and the fabulous invention of computer reading games. (OK I did read to him alot from a very young age too.) Because he learned to read so early and because he is so literal about things he says a lot of things that crack me up. I have found him in the bathtub wondering what to do because the shampoo says "for dry, damaged hair" and he wasn't sure if he should use it or not.

He would do anything for his sister. He tells her "Sage, we have loved each other from the very beginning. We have always loved each other because we're twins, right?

He looks up to Cooper and believes everything he says. He is also fiercely competitive with him. "Somedays we are best friends and somedays we are arch enemies." Cash's words.

He experiences the world so intensely. When he is joyful, it is a beautiful thing. When he is angry, it is an all consuming thing. When he is bored, it is a miserable thing. But when he says he loves you, it is a true thing.

Heaven on earth

Kendra and I took the kids to the grand opening of the new Harmon's. The kids enjoyed snacking around the store and carried their free vitamin water and popcorn home with pride. Sage won a key chain with a secret compartment and I found heaven on earth-- Spotted Dog Creamery Dulce de Leche ice cream. All the fat with none of the guilt. (It's a local small business that uses fresh local ingredients and has humane society dogs.) Your doing a good thing. Unbelievably tasty!!!!!!!!

Cooper

Here's what I love about Cooper. He's funny. And he loves to be funny and to laugh. You know how they say babies don't really do much until they are about 6 weeks old and then they start to smile and coo and then you start feel like all your hard work is paying off. Cooper was not one of those babies. He belly laughed when he was 2 weeks old. If I sneezed or flipped my hair down in front of his face he would belly laugh. It is still one of my favorite sounds to here.

He is tender, emotionally sensitive and loving. I love to tell the story about when he was 2 years old and the twins were born. He absolutely gooshed over them, saying how cute they were and kissing them. He was a HUGE help even though he was only 2. At night I would lie down by him when he was going to sleep and if he heard Cash or Sage crying he would jump up and say "Babies crying. I'll get it!" He is still so sweet with babies and younger children.

He is so smart and interested in the world! He loves to talk about politics, history, war, science, religion, ethical issues, different cultures, etc. He will go to all the museums and historical places with me and not complain at all. He loved Jamestown and Williamsburg. He is dying to go back to Washington D.C. For one of his special days with me he chose to go to the "This is the place" village and walk through EVERY building . He would love to do the Blacksmith apprenticeship right now (not when he is fourteen).

Last but not least (and I could go on and on) he's almost 10 and he still wants me to sing him songs at night before he goes to sleep.

I have blogger anxiety

Really. It's like how I felt when I was ten years old and planning a birthday party. Will anybody come? Will they like the things we do? What if they say mean things about me afterwards? Am I the only one who feels this way? Well, actually I know I'm not the only one. My little girl Sage has this same tendency to think of all the horrible things that could happen. I tell her it's her fantastic critical thinking skills and encourage her to focus on thinking the good things.



I guess I'll take my own advice.