Best of Buds

A few days ago Rowan found his soul mate.  It doesn’t matter that there is four years between them, or that he lives a half hour away.  It doesn’t even matter that it’s a he!  All that matters is that Avery has this:

This is only a portion of his (dad’s) collection!  I’m pretty sure that is part of what Rowan’s heaven will look like.

One of the things I love about hanging out with Avery, other than the fact that I get to chat with his mother, is getting to see what Rowan will be like as a big brother some day.  At first there was a little frustration about Avery wanting to move Rowan’s carefully lined up tractors, but after explaining that Avery was too little to understand, something seemed to click.  Rowan became patient and kind, loving and playful.  He gently told Avery, “No thank you, Avery, I’m playing with that.”  Sometimes Avery would move on, but if he didn’t, Rowan would silently plead with his eyes to take that kid somewhere else!  If we didn’t though, he would play with Avery for bit, explaining the parts of the tractor, or what kind of tractor it was.  It was adorable to watch these two tiny men together.

Avery’s first birthday is next week, and he was the lucky recipient of a little slide that they put together while we were at their house.  The slide was great.  The box it came in was better.  Rowan patiently played peek-a-boo with Avery, letting his little friend shut him up in the box time after time.  If Avery wandered off, as one year old’s are prone to do, Rowan would invite him back to play, and they’d giggle as I threatened to ship them to Alaska.

We also went on a hay ride this weekend.  It was a bit chilly, but perfect for warm hats, and wrapping up in quilts.  For an hour we cuddled against a scratchy bale of hay while nibbling goldfish crackers and watching the world pass by.  🙂

Thanks

If you know me, at all, even a little bit, you know that I am a sucker for a good sunrise or sunset.  *Que singing.*  Are you done?  Ok.  Tevye would be proud.

Almost every single morning, and a lot of evenings (let’s face it, my schedule is dictated by a toddler.  I’m home ALL THE TIME!), I’m granted the privilege of watching the sun as we pass by it.  Now, I’ve lived in a lot of places, but this is the only place that has a consistently colorful sky.  I take pictures of it almost every day, mostly because I can’t get over the beauty.

Anyway, here is this morning’s sky.

Nice, right?  There are always fleeting, and you have to catch them at just the right time, or you miss the peak of its splendor. 

There really isn’t any point to this post other than to share the fact that I like to go outside in my pj’s at 6:45 every morning, when its 40 degrees, freeze my tuchus off for ten minutes, and stare at the sky.  Rowan watches from the door, and when I come back in says, “Whew!  Did it!”

Today is Thanksgiving, so I suppose I should do the obligatory, “I’m thankful for….” post.  I’m not really going to though, and here’s why: I’m incredibly thankful EVERY SINGLE DAY.  I am not an especially impressive person, but I do have the gift of thankfulness.  Not a day goes by where I don’t stand back and think to myself, “It’s crazy how blessed I am.”   I can’t think of a single second where I needed for anything.  I don’t need a day to remind me how rich I am.  I’m not saying that I’m not going to partake in the festivities.  No, there is a pie with my name written all over it! 

I will take the opportunity to express this though:  I think it every day, but I don’t always say it-I love my friends.  The ones that have stood by me through lots of crazy choices, bad decisions, and joyful times.  You guys are wonderful, and I am grateful for your presence in my life.