Thank you Super Mommy

Happy Fall! The weather is cooler, the apples are yummier, the noses are drippier! Yep - Fall has arrived along with more containers of applesauce and greater need for Kleenex! Oh well - the standard 'Back to school' cold can't compare to the excitement of Ella & Calum for their annual hayride or their proud little faces after a day at school.

Yesterday was a fun day. I was going through some cooler weather clothing while the kids were playing dress up. Ella & Calum soon became fascinated with the plastic garbage bags holding all the clothes. For awhile, these most amazing-spectacular-ripped-trashed-best new toy on earth trash bags were kites that the kids flew around the house....we learned to fly a real kite just days before. Calum ran with such excitement flying his kite - it was all I could do but stop and watch him. Picture that scene in your head...toe-headed blond boy, running in the field of wildflowers, his kite string in hand, galloping of sorts, looking up high into the sky at his fascinating kite. OK - that's not exactly how it was inside our house but it was close. Keep the image of blond boy, replace the wildflowers with dust & laundry piles, keep the galloping, keep the fascination, lose the cool kite and replace with torn up trash bag. But it was good -- really really good.

After the kite fascination wore off we turned to Super Heroes. At some point Ella turned the trash bag into a book bag, taking the handle loops and putting them over her shoulders. As they were running amuck I said, 'Look at the Super Heroes, flying through the house keeping everyone safe.' We went on like this for a good while...SUPER Calum and SUPER Ella. A bit later Calum had asked for some milk. Upon receiving his now filled cup of milk his response...wait for it....'Thank you Super Mommy.' YES!!!! He said it...I certainly could have made that up but I didn't have to - he actually said it. For ever in my life I will remember him saying those words. He turned an ordinary trip to the kitchen, the standard 'fill my cup please', into one of those great kid/mommy moments. I love that boy. And yes, I am Super Mommy....at least to these little heroes.

Weeks and weeks

Again -- way too long since my last post but the previous two weeks have been filled with vacation activities. Adam took two weeks off from work for the 2009 Levy family stay-cation. We're a family of six - there's not much traveling outside of about an hours radius. Maybe next year ;)

Our time together at the end of the summer consisted of playground trips, the start of ballet & tumbling, bike riding, ALOT of pool time, Calum talking more, plenty of hours playing in the dirt pile, our fair share of Popsicles (we should have bought stock), all four kids getting to know one another a bit more, family visits, getting through hair washing without tears (accomplishment!), and many other silly triumphs only a mom & dad can fully appreciate. One morning we had all four kids in our bed waking up together. We popped the TV on and Calum said, 'Oh, I wuv Tigger & Pooh' - this was so dear and Adam & I shared one of those great moments of just smiling at each other. We are the parents to four amazingly beautiful children. Wow!

Some funny things from the mouth of babes:

"Mommy, Drew just spat on herself"....Ella was channeling her proper English background.

"Hole...me...Santa...Mommy" ----- Calum asking for a hole for Christmas after playing for two hours in the garden...in a hole.

"Mommy, can I have a Popsicle" - "Yes, Ella, after lunch." - "Um, no no no no, Mommy. That's just not going to work." ----- Ella. I didn't know where to go with that one.

"I don't want to play. I just want to have fun." -- Ella

"Yet's yump...(Let's jump)" --- Calum asking Drew to jump w/ him......"Ok, 'oney (honey), broda (brother) 'ere (here.)" --- Calum soothing Drew after he attempted jumping w/ her...he was holding her hands while she was in her bouncy seat.

"It's ok Mommy - just show me one cartwheel" --- Ella's request followed by, "Mommy, let me teach you how to do it right." --- Ella's response to my cartwheel. It's a good thing all of this wasn't followed by emergency vehicle sirens. It's been years, and three pregnancies since my last cartwheel.

"baby giggle giggle giggle" ---- Oliver's response to me kissing the sugar from his neck.

"Mommy, let's call Drew 'Charlotte' - it's a better name." --- Ella renaming her sister to follow the recent 'Charlotte' trend of our friends.

"I love school. I want to sleep there." --- Ella - what a difference a year makes!!! "Me too!" Calum's response to his sister's enthusiasm.

My response to all of these? My heart soaring & breaking, all at the same time. How exactly does that happen?