Category: General Family News

It was quiet in the boys’ room. So I went up to see what was going on.

They were playing potato heads.

I love these boys!

The kids rode their bikes back and forth “from the fire hydrant to the second tree” (those are their boundaries) after dinner. It looked like it was about to storm but they at least got to spend 20 or 30 minutes outside riding.

“The stars will come out soon,” Carissa said, her very tiny self surverying the sky from her seat on the Strider bike.

“Well, I think it’s going to storm, so the clouds will probably cover the stars tonight,” I told her.

“It will be loud thunder,” she predicted. “Like “BAHHHHHOOOMMM!” She clapped her hands together dramatically. Something like that, Riss.

Poor Mara skinned her knee on her first ride down to the fire hydrant. David skinned his knee too–just falling on the sidewalk–but it didn’t bother him and I didn’t even realize it till I took him inside and washed him up.

The storms did come. I had put the girls to bed and I was in the boys’ room with the lights out when we heard a loud clap of thunder. Rissy came running down the hall, and light streamed into the room as she flung the door open and hissed, “Did you hear the thunder?!”

And Micah shouted, “Did you see that?! It was like someone flashed a camera across the sky!”

For the next few minutes, silhouettes of two brothers–four and one–each holding back one side of the blinds peeked expectantly out the window from the bed and the crib. . . As lightning flashed, David squealed, “ooo-OOO-ooo!” just because Micah was excited. And now that he was hyper again, David ran from end-to-end of his crib screaming, “AHHHHHHH!” the same way he does when he’s playing “monster.”

Micah, riveted to the window, exclaimed, “This time it was FINGER lightning! All across the sky!”

The wonder of childhood! I love my little storm watchers.

It was naptime. Well, pseudo-naptime.

I still call it “naptime” even though these days Carissa is usually the only one actually sleeping.

I had taken the girls potty, gotten them into bed, put on their CD, turned out the light and walked down to the boys room to repeat the process.

As I opened the door, I saw both boys on their hands and knees with play tools. Micah was wearing safety glasses and using a saw on his train tracks.

David was next to him, using the drill. He looked up and held up his drill to show me.

“We’re building a dam!” Micah beamed, lifting his safety glasses. It warms my heart, seeing them play together so well when David is only 13 months. They are such good buddies!

I changed David’s diaper and sat down in the glider to nurse him. I told Micah to get in bed and pull the covers over him–sometimes he just wants to “rest” on top of his quilt, instead of actually snuggling in to sleep.

“I’m going to slither down into my chrysalis,” he narrated, giggling. And he did. The quilt shivered on top of him as he slithered. And then, for about 5 seconds, all was quiet as I rocked David.

Suddenly the quilt began to shake and Micah re-appeared on his pillow. He stood on his bed, doing what looked like the chicken dance with his arms.

“NOW!” he exclaimed. “I’m a lah-low butterfly!”

His butterfly impression was priceless. He had me laughing so hard, which got David laughing. He loves to laugh so we all three were laughing. And I just thought, In the midst of all the crazy memories, I hope I remember naptime this way!

My three older children went outside and discovered a flower pot full of rain water. In an instant I heard giggling and splashing and saw all three running to our back steps, making their own handprints. I watched as each of them left their mark on the concrete, and those wet handprints disappeared almost as soon as they turned to run back for more water.

How symbolic of this stage of splashes and hand-washing and giggles and piles of dirty laundry!

I’m taking pictures of the handprints so I will remember.