Wordless Wednesday - Birthday Bedtime

Holding On

These pictures of the boys were taken consecutively this past Saturday on our their first trip to the fair.  Scootle wanted to ride a very benign kiddie roller coaster.  He got in line to ride.  Boo surprised us by wanting to ride too.  I was a little worried about my three year old riding a roller coaster (even though it was no bigger than my living room), but he insisted that he wanted to follow his brother.

In the first picture, they are getting strapped in.   In the second picture, Big Bro looks excited but Little Bro has his I am not sure about this face on.  The third picture makes me want to cry.  The tiny one loop coaster just did its first of two laps.  What do you hang onto when your world is spinning, moving too fast and overwhelming?  I hang onto the most solid, secure, trustworthy and unchanging thing I can find.  So did little Boo.  He hung onto his Scootle for the entire ride. 

Magic Bed

Speaking of growth (see last post), our boys have graduated from toddler bed and crib to a full sized bunk!  Oh, IKEA, how I love you!  Neither of my boys take naps anymore, but since they love their new bed, they have not minded their daily one a a quarter hour "rest time" after lunch.  They can have books and small toys as well as listen to music, as long as they stay in their beds.  Four weeks into summer and it is going well (and I'm gonna knock on the side of that bunk to be sure).  I just took this picture a few minutes ago.  This is what they do before bed.  Scootle turns out the light at some point.  Boo is fine with that on most nights.  They fall asleep with little drama.  Best $ I've spent in a while! 

(As for the bunks, on the IKEA website they look kind of flimsy, but in person, the beds are quite sturdy ... nice solid wood.  We are very pleased.)

Wordless Wednesday - Growth

Friday Flick - Then and Now

 

There is a two year difference between these videos. 

Friday Flick - Ramblings From Scootle-Doot

Wordless Wednesday - Yo-dat's-scary

Wordless Wednesday - Lazy Saturday Pic

Rockin' Robins

If you're looking for something to entertain you... this was two days of trying to get a Christmas photo and learning the best settings for my camera.  Happy Holidays to you!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
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Wordless Wednesday - Harvest Time

Wordless Wednesday - Irene Wear

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Beach Ready

Boston Therapy: Family, friends, rocks

So the "Summer of Unbroken Bones" started with a little side trip.  I flew to Charlotte on Wednesday, to catch a plane to Boston that night.  Ha, ha, ha!  My flight was cancelled.  I was going to have to fly out the next day and miss the entire reason for the trip ... my brother's graduation.  As I sat in line to re-book my flight, I seriously thought about cancelling the whole trip.  I cannot overstate how glad I am that I did not.

I did miss this:

Carlos' graduation

But I did not miss getting to walk all up and down Cambridge with my brother.  The area is really lovely.   I did not miss having important conversations with him about our family, especially about our father.  And I did not miss taking him out to eat to (his choice) an Ethiopian restaurant, complete with home-made Tej.  I had not seen my brother in 3.5 years.  It was so good to spend time with him, even if it was too short.  We got to talk to our dad on the phone.  That meant so much to him and to me.

At Asmara in Cambridge

Had I decided not to go, I would have also missed this amazing blog friend.  We've known each other for four years now!  Four years!  I first met her in LA a couple of months back.  That was a blast, but it was hard to get any one on one time with anyone.  This time, I got to spend an entire 24 hours with her.  24 hours of sangria, crazy laughter and tears that would not come out, yet are still stuck right in between my eyes.  Being in her beautiful little house, around her adorable girls and watching her parent was so encouraging.  She is so incredibly smart and centered.  I really admire and love this lady.  She is a rock, people, not just a rock-star.  

The Rock and me

Speaking of the rock, I love collecting little rocks here and there.  (I know this sounds extremely random all of a sudden.)  But she lives very close to this:

Where I got to take a luxurious one hour walk BY MYSELF.  I was so happy on that walk.  Walking by the water is so incredibly healing.  And by myself ... wow.

Back to rocks, our beaches here have sand only.  But on this walk, I got to pick up rocks.  I love rocks that have been smoothed by water.  I so often feel like a rough rock that needs smoothing.  Something about their age and journey is inspiring to me.  And that rock with a stripe on the bottom - I heard once that a rock with a stripe all the way around brings good luck.  It is also just plain pretty.

We met up with one of my Ethiopia traveling buddies for lunch at a Brazilian restaurant (yummy).  Our children are from the same village in Ethiopia and they lived together for several months in the care center in Addis.   It has been so fun to follow her and her daughter's lives here in the U.S.  Getting to eat a quick lunch on her lunch break was such a treat.

More and more rock-stars

People in my life have gotten used to my saying things like, "Blog friend" vs. "real friend"  or some equivalent.  (As though my blogamiga soulfriends were fake!!!)  They have gotten used to the fact that the blogworld has given me a community that they might never understand.  I still don't fully comprehend it's impact on me!  But you want to see something flippy trippy?  Hold on to your seat.  Here is a picture of "blog friend" meets "real friend."

Who is real and who is fake?

I felt like I was in a black hole vortex as I sat with Abby, my dear, dear friend of 13 years (we studied together for 3 years in seminary) and Katy, my blog friend of four years.  And guess what?  Apparently the world does not collapse when that happens.  It only gets better.  We ate at a nice Italian restaurant.  We started with an antipasto and never got an entree.  We just ate appetizer after appetizer, after antipasto and yummy drinks.  We had dessert, laughter, and more laughter ... my abs and face hurt.  We shut the place down as you can see:

A rare treat

So then, I left with Abby for a day with her.  It was fun to see how we've aged ... our wrinkles, rocks in socks, gray hairs.  Last time I saw her, she had one child and I had none.  Now she has three and I have my two.  Hers were out of town and I alone, so we still have not met each other's kids.  Though we would have never gotten so much good, healing time together if any of them were around.

See what I would have missed had I canceled my trip?  My friends, pictured, not pictured, blog, non-blog, real and not real (!), you mean the world to me.  You are my rock stars.

Spaghetti Brothers

Bill was at a meeting, so I had the feeding and bedtime routine to myself.  The boys and I had a very pleasant spaghetti dinner.  A kept asking me how I ate without getting food all over my face.  No matter how I explained or modeled, and no matter how much he tried, he just could not master it. He always finishes spaghetti looking like he tried to put lipstick on and made his lips four times bigger.  Add that to the huge list of reasons why he can't wait to get bigger.  (What's the hurry, little man?)  K, on the other hand, had spaghetti in his hair, Parmesan all over his face and hands.  And he seemed perfectly satisfied with his hygiene habits.  His clothes were so full of mashed spaghetti that I lifted him up from his high chair and had A pull his clothes right off.  While I took care of the mess, A carried K back to their room.  He becomes such a helper when either Bill or I are gone.  After this quick photo shoot, they got into snuggly pj's, we all three sat in the rocking chair and I read to my boys.  I wish I could capture the night in a bottle.  My boys eating, laughing, snuggling.  My nuzzling their sweet smelling hair and soft faces.  I am living the good life.    

Wordless Wednesday

Brothers

 

It seems my boys might grow up hearing "Are they brothers?" asked from the mouths of many (the physical therapist, librarian, checkout lady at the grocery store, nurse, potential school teacher, etc).  I don't understand 1) why that is such a necessary piece of information or 2) why people still ask that question after it has been established that they are both my children (that would make them brothers, right?) or 3) why folks don't realize the insensitivity of that question.  BUT we get asked that A LOT.  I know the real question:  "Are they BIOLOGICAL brothers."   In our case, yes, they happen to be biological brothers, but the question still throws me back a bit.  Agenhu already knows what the word "brother" means.  I am sure he understands the question.  What is going to be the impact on my boys of having to hear that question throughout their lives?  

I don't remember anyone asking my mother whether my two brothers and I were siblings.  Yet I clearly remember an instance where I felt less than a full sister and it broke my heart.  Technically and biologically speaking, I am the only child between my mother and father.  My brothers, Juan and Oscar, whom I grew up with, were of my mother's second marriage.  Technically and biologically speaking, they are my half brothers.  My sweet brother Oscar, 7 years younger than me, learned this technicality at about age 5 or so.  I overheard him tell someone he had one brother and one half-sister.  He was just learning this information and was trying to get things straight.  I took it to mean I was less-than somehow, that I was only half a sister, when in my heart, I loved him completely, without any qualifications.  I cried and cried, like only a twelve year old with a flair for drama can.  My mother had to explain to me that my brother meant no harm and my sweet little brother promised me he wasn't going to call me that again.

Why that story?  Because I remember it to this day.  I remember the pain of feeling like my technical siblinghood did not reflect the emotional siblinghood and connection I felt to my little brother.  What will happen when the technical and biological relationship of my boys gets questioned over and over?  Will they not even think about it and get used to the questions?  Or will they wonder sometimes about the legitimacy of their relationship?  Will they feel they have to prove it?  I don't know, but as a mother, my heart hurts for them.  

Two little Ethiopian boys out with their Brazilian/American mommy and their American daddy.  We are a family.  We love each other.  We don't have to prove it.