Get spectacular kids?

Sparky would tell you that God just made them that way. I'd love to take some credit, but she's probably at least mostly right.

Today alone, each of my kids let me know they were incredibly awesome in their own ways.

Sparky:
We were to the local city festival this morning. Sparky played a toss game sponsored by a credit union. She won a lollipop, nothing particularly special until it ended up in her hands. She carried it around until she came to a man that was selling little glass bowls/candle holders. She offered him the lollipop and nearly insisted that he take it and she can be a bit pushy. (I have no idea where she gets that!) She didn't want the lollipop and wanted to share it with someone. I'm not sure what made her decide he should have it, but she made up her mind and that was the end of it. She started to walk away with Hubs, not expecting anything. The man called her back and picked out a candleholder for her and boxed it up and gave it to her. We in turn let the people at the bank tent and the information booth both know what a kind man he was and told them Sparky's story. We were so proud of our little girl for just doing something nice for someone else to brighten their day. Yup, she's a special one!

Spunky:
Before bed tonight, Spunky and I were playing a little bit. I pulled her towards me and said "Do you know you're a special girl?" Here's the rest of our conversation....
Spunky: "Yep! Mama special too"
Me: "Thank you honey! I love you!"
Spunky: "Daddy special too!"
Me: "Yup, daddy's special too!"
Spunky: "[Sparky] special too!"
Me: "Yes sweetheart, [Spunky] is special too!"
"Spunky: "Me special too!"
Me: "Of course you're special too!"

She's not yet two years old, but she recognizes specialness and can express it. Awesome little kid!


And, we took them swimming last night and it's official that we have two little fish! We've known Sparky was a fish for over well over 2 years. We've had our doubts about Spunky, but she confirmed that she is indeed a fish! Y membership, here we come!

Get Chipper?

Today was fairly lousy. The kidlets were troopers and so patient with trips to two thrift stores, a consignment store, and the grocery store. And that was all after an early wake-up. Ugh. Not my idea of an awesome morning, but the stops needed to be made.

They had lunch in the car on the way home and then we all just crashed when we got home. Since I fell asleep with them, it was also a short nap and Hubs working late.Yeah. Awesome. Just what I wanted.

The evening didn't get a whole lot better as I was trying to get some things done while the kidlets played. I lost track of time and then they didn't start eating dinner until it was actually time to go to bed. Spunky had a rough day trying to communicate herself which also resulted in Sparky thinking she should interpret all day. Suck suck suck.

Finally, two kids were sleeping, Hubs made dinner for us and we ate together while watching mindless tv. Things were looking up. I opened the computer to try to finish the work I started on earlier and there it was. Just the thing to cheer me up......

Oh yeah, that's much better! And tomorrow is a new day with fun stuff planned an no work to be done. Smiles all around!

Get Jealous?

Life's not fair. I know it, I'm generally okay with it.

Right now, in this moment. I'm not. There was a piece on the local news about photographers who take pictures for families where the baby doesn't survive. Babies who have minutes or hours, maybe days. That's hearbreaking in itself.

I have two healthy kids. I love them and wouldn't trade them for anything. But I'm jealous of the parents who get to hold their baby. I envy the parent who gets to hold their baby, even for just a few minutes. I envy that they know where their baby is. I envy that they don't remember flushing and thinking "that might be my baby".

I also have two angel babies that I know of. Babies I never got to hold or look at. Babies that I loved for the very brief time that I knew them and who I carry in my heart always. Babies that Sparky occasionally refers to. We haven't told her about them as much as she just knows. We don't tell her that she's being silly when she talks about her brother. We don't know if our angel babies are boys are girls or one of each. But she tells us that she has an older brother and she talks about him as though she knows him.

I wouldn't have my beautiful kids if the other two had survived, but that doesn't mean I don't want them all. I do. I want to be able to hold my 4 kids together and have them play together. I want them to be able to run and laugh together. I want to be able to give a straightforward answer when asked if Sparky and Spunky are my only or if Sparky is my oldest. I don't mince words about it for the most part, but it makes people very uncomfortable.

So it's not fair. It's not fair that babies die at all. It's not fair the people struggle with infertility. It's not fair that babies are born to parents who don't want them. It's not fair that people who desperately want to love a child have to jump through so many hoops. It's just not fair.

And don't misunderstand. I am grateful for Sparky and Spunky. I know that I'm fortunate to have them and be able to spend my time with them. That doesn't diminish the longing for my angel babies though.

Park it?

I had an awesome morning with 11friends and their kids this morning. We met quite a character who raises wallabies, wallaroos and kangaroos. Pretty cool, but when it was time to leave the ranch, the kidlets and I weren't quite ready to leave our friends yet. I suggested that we go to a nearby park and two friends took me up on in. What I realized later is that I never told them that the kidlets were going to have a picnic in the park. Oops, sorry ladies!!

What I also realized once we were there is that they didn't realize what kind of park we were going to. It's a beautiful park with pathways, lots of greenery and some pretty awesome lookouts. But no play structure. It hadn't even occurred to me that park=playstructure. I'm really not sure what I think about that. On the one hand, I feel bad that the park I suggested wasn't anything like they expected. On the other hand, I'm kinda pleased with myself that a park, in my family, doesn't have to be a place designed for kids with a manufactured toy.

There's definitely a place for park toys, no doubt. My kids enjoy them and have fun when we go. That being said, my kids didn't miss it at the park today. They played in the beauty bark, ran all over the paths, climbed on rocks, swung from the handrail of steps and explored an anchor chain. They were still active and playing but it was with nature (mostly) and other people.

Sometimes with playstructures, I see each kid doing their own thing with the structure. One is climbing, one is sliding, one is playing with the little puzzle-maze on the side, that kind of thing. Today, there were 4 little kids running together and playing and laughing and making their own fun. And I got to spend some time with two lovely women watching our kids running together. The kids got what they needed, and I got something I need to. Add to it a warm and sunny day.... just awesome.

Want to redecorate?

I was tipped to this awesome artist, Roz, by a friend.

I love the Leap People.

Her images are copyrighted so I don't want to carry them over here, but here's a few of my favorites:

Beach #57 (Hubs loves that one too)
Dancer #2 (I know that little girl)
Beach #11 (Reminds me of a photo of Hubs and I on our mantel)
Swing #45 (Just a little look into the future)

Really though, her paintings are just beautiful and I'm enamored.