Wednesday 20 February 2013

One Thousand Gifts...Days 44 ~ 51


Sometimes my life can feel a little crazy with these four big kids of mine, who are really all pretty much adults.  The oldest has been home for a number of days over the past couple weeks.  He lives in the big city of Toronto and so he likes to come home and yet after he's been here a couple days he's bored and misses the big city...funny I never thought he'd be a big city boy.  

The days of breakfast together, story times, nap times, play times and bedtimes by 7:30pm are long gone...

Now are the days of late nights or maybe I'm not coming home tonight nights.  Like a couple weeks ago my husband and I were heading to Niagara Falls and had to leave a day early due to the snow storm that was coming.  Our oldest...the big city boy was home and he was heading out for the evening to see some friends and I was kinda worried about him driving in all that snow we were supposed to get and told him to make sure he was home on time that night because I didn't want him driving in the snow the next day.  His reply to me was "mom, I'm twenty-two I might not be coming home tonight."  Oops...he's right...he's an adult...Tina, let go...

I think we're a pretty loud family...yeah we are...our voices can get pretty elevated.  For instance you know when it's dinner time and half the crew is downstairs and I'm upstairs and ask one of the kids to get the rest.  My ears are bombarded by that "it's supper time" holler, to which I respond "I could have done that myself."  So I've failed in the area of teaching them to use their indoor voices :-)  The apple does not fall far from the tree.

The other day I was thinking about this hollering that we all do when we want to summon one another and my reasoning was because I grew up on a farm and how else would my mom have rounded us up if we were out and about on the farm.  I'm sure it was the "dinner time, bedtime, etc.," holler out the back door and that makes perfect sense.  I can still remember my dad hollering to round up the cows, I guess it's no different than rounding up a bunch of kids :-)

So yeah we're loud and some of us can be quite pestery, namely the two young males in the house but then again when the pestering happens pestering is given back.  Like tonight my youngest daughter is getting ready to do chores and has this pitcher of hot water to mix in the horses grain and the oldest, the one from TO well he's pestering her about something and just keeps at her and so she sprinkles a little water at him and warns him that if he doesn't quit she'll be dumping the whole pitcher on him and that's exactly what she does right in the house, though he didn't get too wet but the stairs and floor did.  I swear sometimes I feel like I live in a barn or at times a bike shop. And so I say to her "what was the point of that, you just made more work for yourself," she didn't care she said it was worth it.  The strange things that give us delight.  Though my floor is slightly cleaner tonight :-) 

I think the youngest has the super bug when it comes to pestering and do you ever notice that some siblings are more susceptible to this pestering than others.  It's kind of like sickness some kids pick up all the bugs and others never seem to get sick.  That's like our two daughters with their youngest brother, the one seems pretty much immune to his antics and the other well she catches that bug quite often and it ain't always pretty, just like the flu :-)

And so this mom can get a little harried and when that happens that tall young son comes up to me and says "mom, you need a hug."  I'm ready to blow and he says "come on mom," and so he wraps his arms around me and I wrap mine around him and he pretty much squeezes me to death at times and I give him the quick tap tap with the hands on his back squirming away.  The butterfly hug is what he calls it, that pattering on the back that I do.  I can't help but break out in a smile.  Both those boys of mine know how to make me crack a smile when I'm all frazzled and ready to go crazy.

Actually they can all be a little manipulative you know like "mom, come on you're the best popcorn maker, it never tastes the same when I do it."  Or "just make some cookies they're the best," or my smoothies never taste as good as yours."  You know all the lines and how can I say no when they're so encouraging to me as their mom :-)

Last night it was about 9:30 and I was ready for bed but couldn't get in it because the three eldest thought they should all hang out in our room for a while.  So we chatted and watched some funny videos of other people doing crazy things and we laughed.  And I smiled inside and thought this is good, this is family and I love it the craziness and all.

The other day my husband said to me, "do you think our kids are alright."  Meaning did we parent them right, are they going to be mature adults giving to society.  I said yeah, we're by no means perfect parents but we tried our best, sure I can look back and think I should have done this or that differently but they are who they are and we're proud of them all and they're all okay and pretty much ready to fly the coop...

Gifts journaled for days 44 ~ 51

130. A happy three year old boy sledding in the snow
131. Quiet
132. Kids wanting to be around me
133. The way the morning sun glistens on Amadeous' mane
134. Joy and life in a person who has suffered from depression
135. Son home safe
136. Father/son on a road trip
137. Hangin with the two oldest
138. Sleep
139. A daughter's 21st birthday
140. Snow sparkling like diamonds
141. Fun and excitement with the kids checking out an abandoned house
142. Church community
143. My full of life red haired niece
144. Conversation
145. Sun streaming through my window while working on some pictures
146. Laughter
147. Husband doing the dishes
148. Out in the beautifully falling snow with Silas
149. Chickadees at the bird feeder
150. Three oldest kids hangin in our room with me and their dad watching funny videos
151. The quiet of doing chores with the horses milling around and the beautiful sun shining
152. Visit with a beautiful woman who loves the Lord
153. My life


My youngest son took this picture at the abandoned homestead.



A beautiful sunrise on the farm.


Winter's warmth...


A beautifully snowy day.


Flight...



Fun in the snow...



The path we travel everyday...


Depth...






2 comments:

  1. Yall sound pretty normal. It was loud in the home I was raised in and in mine when my children were at home. I agree, it's hard to realize they are grown and let go. I still haven't mastered that and my baby is 42. When my son was in his 30s, he always teased me about the birthday cards I sent him...said they were for children. Now I'm paranoid when selecting cards!

    Lovely images, Tina. The first one shows the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

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  2. Oh, the hollering and bickering that went on with my three kids. And I grew up an only child, so I was always wondering if it was normal. Guess so! Tina, don't worry. Your faith and prayers will sustain them and you. My "kids" are approaching their 30s and I still want to shelter them.

    Your photos are breathtaking as always. Especially the snow shots. Sigh. I'll never see that here in the Deep South. Your son has quite the eye! Be proud. :)

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