The Streetpoet

Last night Mom and Dad hosted a family dinner for this month. It’s so nice to have everybody together regularly and I’m grateful to have Peter’s cousins and aunts and uncles and great Grandma in our boy’s lives. Gigi got to be there, too! How grateful I am that she is here and part of our family!

As I got up to get Ian from his nap during dessert, Seth took my place, and my dessert, next to Eric and Gigi. Eric asked him “So how is your life, Seth?” and he very emphatically answered “Daddy’s my life!” several times. And when I came up behind him and asked him what he meant, he said “It’s my life!”. I’m not sure exactly what was going on in his almost three year old brain, but I would love to know!

Saturday was scheduled with two showers, a baby shower in Lancaster for lunch, and a bridal shower just down the street for a sit down dinner. Mom was gracious to drive Donna, Brennan, Ian and I all up to Lancaster which is normally over an hour away. As we were on our way Dad called and gave us a heads up on a crash that might put us out of our way, so Mom tuned in the radio to learn more. It turned out to be a horrendous 31 vehicle pileup in the Newhall pass under the 5 freeway that happened Friday night. The radio broadcasters rerouted the motor public, they called us, and so we went around the long way but got a glimpse of the disaster in which two men and an infant lost their lives. Absolutely horrendous. Makes me look at my boys with complete gratitude to God and a feeling of forced faith. Their lives are in God’s hands alone.

So the trip to Lancaster was an all day affair, and I marveled at Mom’s ability to navigate the mountain passes without a wrong turn and without making me carsick. 🙂 Ian and Brennan spent the whole day in the car together and not being able to touch each other they just watched and smiled at each other. They were good babies and very pleasant to travel with.

I got home and learned that my husband can make animal balloons! After six years of marriage and three boys, I can’t believe I didn’t know that! He was so gracious and kept Jerome, Seth, Zachary, and Brennan for the evening shower, too. He was still in a cheerful mood after spending a whole day with the children, although he was very tired. Thank you, Peter!
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Just some fun things that happened this week…

One afternoon the boys and I walked down to the driveway to check the mail. Jerome usually dashes ahead of us to open the mailbox and I’m usually calling back to Seth who has become interested in something beside the driveway, which was the case this day. But when I looked ahead Jerome wasn’t at the mailbox, he was already up a tree showing me how he could climb it. His eyes shone  and he was eager to see what my reaction would be.  I was amazed at his monkey like agility and prayed for his safety.                                                                                                                                                               I used to be a climber, too.  Rooftops and treetops were my favorite places, so I know what he’s feeling and how sure he is of himself, but only now do I understand what a parent feels while watching.

A couple weeks ago we did a science project in our school time discovering which little things around the house float. It was a lot of fun and Jerome had guessed half of the things correctly. After that we floated an egg in salt water and read about the Dead Sea, found it on the map, and continued with a geography lesson…

One morning this week I found Seth at the sink with a bowl of water. He had submerged the table salt in the water and was asking for an egg!

So now I have yet another headcold. I’ve lost track of how many I’ve had this season. On a rainy, cold day like today it would be nice to have Peter home again and take a nap, but on we go! And God go before us.

Sunday morning the boys played quietly in their room while  they listened to a Your Story Hour episode called “Bicycles and Kites and Partners in Flight” about the Wright brothers.

Jerome and Seth were dressed for church early and took their kite and bike outside to play after the story was over. They are so easily and quickly inspired!

Jerome would wait until everything was just right…

and then take off running as fast as he could go!

Seth would just start walking…

and he walked as carefully and slowly as he could.

But he’s not quite mastered the pedaling on the bike.

Look at this big little guy! He’s four and a half months old, almost staying sitting up on his own, and already pulling his knees up under him to launch forward! He’s gonna be flying kites with his brothers sooner than I know!

October 6th holds two anniversaries for me. For three years that was a dark day, a dreaded day. It was the anniversary of my Daddy’s death…the anniversary of the day my world shattered. I was 15 and my Daddy was 51. I have stopped asking why, and the grief is easier to bear after nine years, but my heart still hurts when I think about it. And I cry when I want him here, especially for my sons.

But I made him a part of my wedding day as much as I knew how, and Peter made me his wife three years later on the anniversary of Daddy’s death. It was a beautiful day, and even though it rained a little, it felt like Heaven’s kisses. His best friend gave me away wearing a yellow rose, and another of his best friends officiated. Maybe it was a morbid thing for me to do, but I don’t dread the day anymore…it’s become a day with a full meaning. Beginnings and ends.

Our wedding…

My sister Regina spent the day with us and even cooked for us and babysat when Peter took me out for dessert! She watched a video interview with us that we have of Daddy and our wedding video that Will Howard made for us. (we watch them every year.) My twin sister called from Peru right after we had started the interview, so I put the phone up close to the speaker so she could hear his voice, too. It was a special time…just the three of us listening to Daddy’s voice.

Peter, it is a joy and privilege to be your wife! You have brought me so much healing and opened my eyes to worlds of wonderful things! You are like a strong tower in my life and I thank Jesus for giving you to me. Six years seems to have just blinked by, and I look at the unknown future and hope and pray for many more years with you!

Happy anniversary, baby! I love you!

Ian is getting more and more mobile. Not that he’s crawling, but he can manage to eventually scoot himself around and backwards and roll over…whether or not those are the positions he was after! He’s fallen off his couch/bed three times. I told Mom that and she immediately produced this marvelous contraption that fits perfectly in our cramped bedroom. She also provided Ian with his sheepskin, which is his bed…otherwise he’d just be on the couch! Thank you so much, Mom!

Boganvilla flowers!

Jerome said he wanted to make a bracelet for me and could I please give him some wire?

He made an absolutely stunning bracelet! Where he got the idea and knew how to make it, I don’t know. The boys had picked the flowers while playing kitchen in the mud. We hung the bracelet in the fridge to keep it fresh and Jerome kept peeking in at it every little while.

I love how Seth sprawls out and relaxes to play for long stretches of time.

He stuck with the kitchen game. “Mommy, dinner’s ready!”

We all went to Target before naptime because I discovered we were out of diapers. While we were there we found these underwear sets on clearance.

But as we got in the car to go to Target I realized my car had been running on empty for a while now and I didn’t want to be stuck with all the boys by myself on the side of the road, so we drove to Costco first…which is in the opposited direction.

As we drove west the northern hills came into view and they had a huge fluffy white bank of clouds tucked behind them. I so wished for my camera, but the boys and I were oohing and aahing over them sufficiently. As I pulled up to the gas pump we had an excellent view of them and Jerome said “They’re like angels walking before God.”.  Indeed, I could see exactly that.

After nap time today we went and picked up Gigi and she took me (and Ian) out to dinner! We went to the farmer’s market first and she bought some strawberries and nectarines, and then we had panini sandwiches and salad for dinner at The Corner Bakery which neither of us had ever been to, and it was so good! She wanted to buy a gift for me that Peter could enjoy, too, as it’s our sixth anniversary tomorrow. Regina has always been the most generous person I know. She gives the greatest gifts and each one is a picture of her love and perception of you. We were in search of something we thought might be a good idea, but we totally got won over by a gal at a kiosk selling reversible and wrap able dresses! Wow. They are silk and absolutely beautiful. She bought me two of them! I’m still amazed that they are actually mine, and can’t wait for her to come back tomorrow to dress me!

Not only did Regina take me out and buy me dresses, she witnessed of the Lord to the gal who sold them to us. Pamela is so very spiritually hungry and has been exploring Judaism, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I believe she was raised Catholic. Just last week she started reading the Bible for herself! She said she wants to make an informed decision and wants to know all she can. Regina’s going to take her to church, and maybe to her Bible study. I pray that she is led to the truth of Jesus Christ and the peace that only He gives!

Regina, thank you, thank you, thank you for such an amazing night. I feel so loved by you, and so grateful to have you in my life! I love you! See you in the morning!

It was a quiet day. After our morning school session I dropped all three boys off at Grandma’s and went to have my teeth cleaned. It’s only been six months since I had them cleaned last time, and I don’t necessarily enjoy having it done, but I did enjoy the 45 minute rest and the feel of polished teeth! And Grandma helped the boys memorize their Awana verses while marching around the big room, and sent me home with food. Thanks Mom!

The strangest thing I heard today came from Jerome. He pulled the hose out to the edge of the orchard and made a mini lake of mud, and then played in it and stayed amazingly clean! He was out there a very long time before I heard a wail from him that I knew meant his feelings had been very hurt. He presently came running in and reported to me, “Mommy, Raven defeated my mud apple!”. Apparently his mud apple was a ball of grass covered in mud and buried. Raven promtly dug it up and defeated it. 🙂

Seth has still been under the weather, so he didn’t make it out to play in the mud until much later in the day when it was cooler. He said he was going to go swim in the mud lake. He came running back a couple minutes later crying for a warm bath.

Ian loves to sit outside, and these big chairs are perfect as he can’t roll out of them yet, but they seemed precarious up on the base, so I just plopped it on the ground and felt much better about it.

Jerome built this little scene this evening and I gave him permission to get the camera himself and take a picture.