The Streetpoet

We spent the afternoon with Gigi and visited some with Janine while staying out of the house for a few hours so Peter could study today. Gigi made iced tea and Janine put her birds on the ground so the boys could see them while we sat on her back porch and watched the boys play. I loved watching Jerome and Seth slide down together as they hugged each other, or go sliding face down one on top of the other on the backyard playset! It was a gloriously warm day and so good to see each other! We waited for Ian to wake up from his nap and then went for a stroll around the lake with the boys and the magical late afternoon light. Seth and Jerome enjoyed throwing rocks into the water while Gigi and I took turns carrying Ian because the stroller couldn’t make it, and talking and watching and being together. I want to remember how Seth threw a rock near a duck and said “I got a wish!” and when Gigi asked him what he wished for he replied: “I wisheded for a duck!”. Then when he asked if he could roll down the hill to the golf coarse below us and I let him, his body rolled sideways instead of downwards so he scooted down on his bottom.

Hope to see you tomorrow, Gigi!

These are just some pictures I took yesterday and today:

I hadn’t heard my twin’s voice since Thanksgiving, and she called me today! They got a telephone in the jungle today and she called me to test the line!

Since you have internet now you can read my blog!

I can’t tell you how hard it has been not being in touch with you, Nessers. Everyday there is a yearning, a tugging on my heart and thoughts towards you…if that makes sense, I know you feel the same things. And I want to say how absolutely thrilled I was to hear your voice today, but those words fall short. About all I could do when you called was laugh! You sounded so good, so close, so familiar and part of me…and so very, very far away at the same time. My heart is a little lighter, quieter, just knowing I can call you when I want to now, and that it might be you on the phone again tomorrow!

Jerome has prayed everyday for a while now that Uncle Vann, Aunt Vanessa, Corynn, Ethan, and Clara would finish their house and phone lines. Boy, did his face light up when I told him you had gotten a phone today! He said “I didn’t know that!” and corrected his prayer from “please God” to “thank you God” tonight. 🙂

In other news, Ian is asleep right now breathing easier than he has all week! I’m hoping that he’s coming out of it, and I won’t have to sleep outside with him again tonight or stand in the bathroom with him for hours tomorrow. Although I’m so grateful to Mom for taking Jerome and Seth for me when Ian was bad, and for Peter coming home from work to help me and take turns with him and letting me sleep, and also for Tim and Misty who set up their tent and air mattress in our front yard for us! How very blessed I am!

And how thankful I am for every breath God gives us.

This was Peter’s birthday trip, and the trip he had been waiting for since Jerome was born! They went out together and Jerome learned to ski! Darrell gave me the pics of Jerome on his skiis as I was at the cabin most of the time.

Peter really seemed to enjoy the whole trip and I’m honored that he wanted to take us all along!

Finally, pictures!

Sunday Mom spoke at the Titus 2 meeting at church on mentoring each other in Christ, and Peter drove us home from Mammoth in time for me to hear her. The tables were all set so nicely with bouquets which were sent home with those of us who stood around talking until it was time to clean up. I was grateful for the bit of cheeriness on my table in the mess of unpacking and the stress of sick little ones, and noticed that the lilies in the bouquet had opened yesterday.

Peter told me abruptly this morning that his cousin Lily had drowned in Panama yesterday. She was 26 years old.

It doesn’t seem real that she’s gone, and at the same time, there is a weight in my heart that won’t go away and I know the touch of grief. I regret not praying for her more…what if I had? Would my prayers have saved her? I cannot believe that they would have, and yet I still wish I had.

Throughout today I have been recalling all of my memories of her…when I first met Lily, when she predicted a boy when I was pregnant with Jerome; we met her at her work a couple times and had lunch with her, one time Vann and Vanessa were with us when she worked at Guess and she gave us all her discounts on outfits for the kids; when she would come to family dinners; when we met her dad; when we met her at a trade show and she spent an evening with us in Tahoe; and the last time I saw her over the holidays last year.

I remember her tears, and I remember her laughing through them.

I remember Lily, as beautiful as the flower of her name, and I know she knows we love her.

I’ll post on our Mammoth trip as soon as possible, but right now I have two sick boys, a full C drive, and a cold myself, so we’re settling back into our routine. It was an awesome trip, but it’s so nice to be home!

Maybe it’s because Jerome has slept most of the day and not said much at all…but I’ve heard Seth talking all day. Mostly to me, some to himself. It makes me wonder what he would say every day if he knew I was listening to him?

Last week as we were getting ready to go on our trip to Mammoth, our landlord was here caring for his trees and pruning the pluot and plums. Seth had just been hurt and wasn’t out digging or asking to climb Bob’s ladder, he just stood and watched and circled the trees enjoying the long, flexible branches that fell to the ground. He had one today as he played outside and as he waved it up and down in the air he told me: “This is my fishin’ thingy. Mama, can we start a pool? For to fish?”

He came in very muddy one time this afternoon so I put him in the bath and let him play. He and his brother both like to huddle in front of the space heater as they dry off, so I let Seth play some more in just his towel by the heater. I came in to check on him and he started telling me all about his friend, “Macky Wacky”, who is itty bitty (according to the small fingers showing me) and is orange!

Seth was playing under the bottle brush trees and Ian and I were in the yard: “Mommy, come in! Oh, you are in my house. I’m a mommy, he’s a human, I mean a boy, and you’re a childge.”

He came stomping in the house with a toy rifle tucked under his arm and announced to me: “I protected you guys, but I shot your fridge!.”

This evening we took Daddy’s snowboard off the couch to sit and read together. Seth saw an opportunity for fun and climbed into his Daddy’s big boots strapped to the board and said “Mommy, I’m going to be a dad!”. (!!!)

Seth likes to strip to pee, but still needs help dressing himself. As I was getting dinner on, I asked him if he could put his underwear back on himself. He had both feet in one leg opening and I heard a stitch or two pop when he said “The baby head is mad at me.”. It took me a minute to figure out what he meant…they were Gerber underpants. 🙂

Last one. When we were on our trip Seth had a feverish night and we were concerned about his finger as his cut looked a bit angry and swollen. He woke up fine the next morning and announced: “I don’t have the croups!”