A Blog-Worthy Morning

Hi dusty, forgotten blog! Well, we have had a blog-worthy morning here in the Harris household. So it's spring break and that means lots of quality time with the boys. Or, at least more time for them to tire me out and drive me crazy. Anyway, I had big plans for this lovely, if chilly, Wednesday morning. I was tired since little E thought it was a good idea to wake me up at 5am for some early morning 'Super Why' deconstruction. By about 9 am the boys were racing and chasing each other around the house. So, why not go to an indoor play-place and let them run off this extra energy while I chill on a chair or bench with my chai and my smart-phone? We pulled into the driveway of the Sandbox, a fun little play place, and it's deserted. No other cars in sight. No 'Open' sign flashing in the windown. Shoot. It's Wednesday. It doesn't open until 10 am. Get it together, Mommy. This is an amateur move. But, wait, I spy a playground right next door, and there's only a few left over piles of snow! Go, go, go!!!!

So, the boys fly out of the car all gang-busters and go straight for the huge, steep, scary slide of death that ends right in a pile of snow. They love it, while I sprout countless new gray hairs watching them torpedo down at break-neck speed. I narrowly catch and save Ethan the two times he braves it, regardless of my pleading for him to ride the baby-slide on the other, more age appropriate playground over there. For some reason, he's not interested in that little play-set for his age-range. It's sunny and bright, but the icy wind chill reminds me that we do live just around the corner from Canada and maybe my little adorable sock-less flats were the wrong choice for this kind of adventure. Just then, Andrew steals my gloves because his hands are cold. I would like to check how quickly toes and fingers can get frost-bite, but I'm too scared to take my hands out of my pockets. And wait, where is Ethan? Shoot, running down the hill, of course! Naturally, running down the muddy hill after him in my cute little flats is very exhilarating. Lightbulb!

"Andrew, race you to the car!"

And we're off, 2 little boys and a smug, smart mama. Phew. I get them buckled back in and do a time check. Darn-it. Too early yet for lunch. Library. There's a public library around the block from here. So, we make our way to the Fairport Library. We park in the lot, walk for the elevator and find... the library entrance is all boarded up. Under construction. Of course it is. But wait, the sign says the temporary location is just down the block. So, we find it... and it's one tiny room with two sweet, quiet librarians and a few books. Literally, a few. But it's okay, we can still run around the tiny library like a bunch of banshees and fight over the single stuffed kitty, scaring the daylights out of those two, poor, relocated librarians. I drag the boys out, one under each arm, and say, "Okay. Penfield Library. Then, pizza for lunch?"

"YAY!"

We make it over to the Penfield Library and Andrew is complaining that he is dying of starvation... though it's only 10:45 am. We pull in, park, and I turn around to see that Ethan is passed out. Shoot...

"How about we get the car washed, Andrew?"

"My belly is grumbling. I need pizza."

"I know, but the pizza place won't open until 11:00..."

"No, I don't want to go to the car wash."

"But..."

"NOOOOOOO. I'M HUNGRY!!!!!"

"Okay, okay. Let's go to Wegmans."

One in a stroller, one in my arms still waking up, we trudge into Wegmans. Phew, they are just pulling pizza out of the ovens. Okay. 2 slices. Soda. Banana. Chips. Kids. Stroller. I have enough arms to do this and pay.... and then as soon as I pull out my wallet Ethan BOLTS with his banana and Frunions. Man that kid is fast.

"Excuse me while I go and catch my child."

Sorry, cashier and 3 people behind me in line. (Why are we all eating lunch at 10:50 am, anyway?)

Finally, we pay and find seats, and the boys are calm and happy and eating. And then I realize I didn't get myself lunch. Eh. Eating lunch is over-rated for super-moms like me. But maybe I'll just sneak a bite here and there from their slices, and a sip from the fountain drink. And, I see some people eyeing us as I not so slyly sneak some bites from Ethan's pizza and a sip of Drew's lemonade. What, we all have the same cold anyway. He never eats it all anyway!

And suddenly Ethan is on the ground screaming and crying. I was standing right next to him, but he still managed to somehow fall off of his chair and bump his head. So, if you weren't already watching me swipe my kids' food, you definitely see and hear my screaming kid right now. And you see me wiping pizza sauce and tears from his cheeks, and kissing, kissing, kissing his boo-boo. And he's okay, and so am I.

Kids, coats, leftover drinks and pizza, tired mommy, and kiddos somehow all make it back to the car and then our house. Mommy exhales and there are snuggles, tv, snacks and smiles after our "perfect" morning.

blessings

Today I am grateful for:

summertime weather
tuition waivers
preschool concerts
public libraries
Kindle
car dvd players
nap-time
Wegman's
Snuggle-Baby-Ethan
Singer-Dancer-Andrew
laughing with my hubby
the internet: for its connecting powers
small group prayers and encouragement

Blessings

Too much complaining from Mommy lately... here is what I am grateful for today:

SUNSHINE outside!

Andrew running and smiling and laughing in the driveway.

Classes scheduled for fall semester.

Ethan snuggling me and laughing.

Andrew singing along to Little Einsteins.

Wall-E the movie.

Blessing #11-20

11. Cable and internet
12. drive-thrus
13. great kids books like "Goodnight, Gorilla"
14. "walks" around the block
15. inside jokes with hubby
16. warm wooly socks
17. dishwasher
18. "I missed you, Mommy"... "I love you, Mommy"
19. fresh-baked cookies
20. MOPS

#100: 1-10

Okay, as encouraged by Browncroft Community Church, I am participating in #100 and listing 100 things I am thankful for. I will try to do it in installments of 10.

1. Jesus
2. my family
3. long afternoon naps
4. nap-time and bed-time stories and snuggles with Andrew
5. late-night and early-morning hugging-snuggles with Ethan
6. our local public libraries
7. Skype so I can see and talk to far-away family, especially Timmy in Paris
8. small group: friendsgiving this past week was amazing
9. the freedom to work part-time and be home more with the boys
10. my parents living close enough to pop in for quick visits

Bucket List

Here's my bucket list, so far... in no particular order. Stars mean I have already met these:

1. *Be the lead in the high school musical. (I saw AP Schalick's "The Sound of Music" in 4th grade and made it my goal then and there to be the lead in the musical when I was in high school. I was Sara Brown in "Guys and Dolls" my senior year.)

2. *Drive across country. (Krystle and I made this goal for ourselves when we were in elementary or middle school. We thought it was so cool that her dad had done that and lived in CA for a while. Well, Krystle came with Jason and me as we drove to Pasadena for our 2 years at Fuller Seminary.)

3. *Live and study abroad. (Junior year I spent my spring semester in England. Living in LA felt like a different country or world.)

4. *Run a half marathon. (Ran 3... before kids when I actually had time to train)

5. *Get my Master's Degree (MA in English from National University... graduated a month before Andrew was born)

6. *Be published (I revised my MA thesis on "A Raisin in the Sun" and it was published as a chapter in a collection of essays on motherhood and film. I have a print copy of it, but it pretty much went straight to e-books. I think they printed less than 100 actual copies)

7. *Own a home (this is not as fun as I expected or hoped it would be...talk about a lot of work!)

8. *Be a college professor (I'm an adjunct, but still, I love being called Professor Harris. Now to try to make this a more lucrative profession...)

9. Write and publish a book. (hoping to start working on that soon...)

10. Visit Hawaii, Australia, The Philippines, Ireland, China, Spain, South Africa, Israel... and many more...

11. Act in one of Shakespeare's plays (or actually, I would take any semi-professional productions of one of the cool theaters here in Rochester)

12. Help put my kids through college.

13. Get my MFA (PhD's take too long)

14. win senior citizen age groups for 5ks

15. Pay off our house... and car loans

16. Sing on a professional recording of one of Jason's songs.

hmmmm... that's it so far. I'm sure I'll think of more :)

Book Lady

I used to joke and say that if Jason died first that I would get a bunch of cats to keep me company and become the neighborhood "Cat Lady". Now I realize that I am close to becoming the "Book Lady".

I got a Kindle for my last birthday and I love it. I love to browse the free and cheap books, and download classics, memoirs, cookbooks, and short stories. I read whenever I have a spare moment, which is not as often as I would like. But, as a lover of reading, Kindle still has not stopped my love for real, physical books. I have boxes of paperbacks in our garage and basement that have been moved in and out of my classroom and are still waiting to be put on shelves somewhere. We have books on shelves and mantles in nearly every room in our house.

My favorite, though, is the current state of our bedroom. Bedtime routine has always included reading a book with Andrew. Usually, this occurs in the living room or in Andrew's bed before he goes to sleep. But, recently he wants to read in "Mommy's big bed" and will climb into our bed to snuggle and read a few books before we take him back to his room. Because of this new routine, the bedroom has the most diverse collection of books strewn about. On my night stand there is my kindle, currently showing "Bossypants", "Up the Down Staircase" and "What to Expect the First Year". Also, there is my Women's Study Bible, Baby Wise, and Sleep Lady's Sleep Solutions. 

The living room, the boys' rooms, the bathroom: books piled and thrown everyone. I hope and pray that our house will continue to be filled with books and that we will never stop reading together :)