Saturday, May 21, 2011


blurry, but i love that little face

If reliving days were a possibility, I would relive today. It had all the things good days are made of - sunshine, work, play, love, s'mores, dirt. Nate was up early finishing some work, then off to church meetings. The kids and I ate berries for breakfast. And a slice of warm bread with melted butter (the kids prefer that to toast, softer on little mouths). Then we headed outside to make a garden out of the weed patch in the corner of the back yard. We pulled weeds. Scratch that. I pulled weeds. The kids sneaked inside and tried to watch Peter Pan. Busted. We raked and spread new dirt. I hauled big rocks to make a border around our garden. The kids went in and colored pictures. Then I begged them to come outside and keep me company. So they got their swimming suits on and ran through the sprinklers. I loved watching them and listening to their laughter. (They've been really, really cute lately.) I realized I was getting too much sun and fetched a hat. Nate got home from his meetings at about 2 and came out to join us. At first I was grouchy that he'd been gone so long and I was snappy to him. But I calmed myself down and realized that what I really wanted was a happy day with my family. I put #itchy on the shelf. Lily went down for a nap. (*a note about Lily - she has got to be at the prime of her cuteness, she is just the most amusing, darling, hilarious, busy little person. She makes me hope against hope that we get to have more babies - I can't bear to think of this being the last time I'll get to enjoy a three year old. I love the things she says. I need to devote a whole post to her - with specifics and quotes. A video would be best. I love her spunk and sass. I love how polite and dear she is. I never imagined I'd have such a delightful, sparkly little lady to pal around with.) Anyway, getting back to our day -after Lil went down for her nap, Nate and Henry went back to the nursery for another round of dirt and a few more plants. We worked the soil some more. Henry dazzled us with his willing help and general darlingness (he had a slew of rough, grumpy days last week - we've been working really hard at cooperation, team work, and happiness...seems to be working, he's been a champ lately). We smiled at each other about the curious questions he asks - his mind is hard at work making sense of the big, bright world. Finally, it was time to plant. Watermelon, honeydew, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and strawberries. Hopefully we'll be eating the fruits of today's labor in a few months. (Sooner for strawberries - they already have little green berries on them!) Hopefully we can win the battle against the bugs. I may have used a few choice words scolding the earwigs who'd already gotten cozy with my basil. We mowed the grass, put all the tools away, swept the back patio, watched the doves, wiped our brows and came in to get cleaned up. Henry had been talking about a fire all day - he had his tastebuds all geared up for roasted marshmallows and hot dogs. We like the idea of work hard/play hard; we were happy to give him the evening he'd been imagining. We showered up - actually, Henry fashioned a space helmet out of cardboard while Nate and I showered. He was so funny with that box on his head - then he offered to make one for nate :)
We picked up some mallows and grahams from the store and headed up to mimi & grandpa's. The evening was just right for a fire - brisk air that made us all want to draw in close to stay toasty. And it was so nice just to sit and slow down and watch the fire. for an hour the only thing we needed to worry about was not burning our marshmallows. we came home with marshmallow stickies on our cheeks, smoke in our hair and happy in our pockets. It was so nice to have a day filled with the satisfaction of work and frosted with the indulgence of leisure.

I'll post some pictures of the garden soon. I'm so excited about it. It's part of the life I imagine.

3 comments:

  1. Oh Emily, I selfishly wish for more blog posts from you, because I love love love the way you write. "part of the life I imagine"--I totally resonated with that. we spent yesterday in the garden and I kept finding myself pausing to just look around and revel in the sheer joy of working together as a family. (and our plans were for s'mores when we finished last night, but sadly a rainstorm interrupted...but great minds think alike!)

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  2. Emily I'm so glad you are doing so well! I miss you very much. And, gardening? I am having the best time with my little garden. The boys love it too. Love you.

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  3. What a perfect day! I love it when we get work done AND have fun together, it really is my favorite kind of day. They seem so hard to come by. I would love to see your garden.
    xo,
    Nat

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