My Little Valentines

Each night before Ashton & Kate take a bath, they set a decorated apple juice container outside our front door for "Cupid". While they take a bath, Cupid comes by and deposits some sort of Valentine's Day fodder (chocolate hearts, tiny snow globes with hearts inside, mini-puzzles, etc) into it, but only if they take a bath/brush teeth/put on pjs.

For 4 years I fought Ashton and for 2 Kate on getting into the tub (they have always loved it once they were in it) and now as soon a the last bite of his dinner is chewed Ashton is naked and running the bath water without even a prompting. He always sounds so excited drying off asking Paul each night "Did Cupid come? Did he??"

I guess I could have continued to carry them/threaten them/punish them into doing what I was telling them, but this way has been so much more pleasant! And they have learned about Valentine's Day and filled the dreary cold and dark winter month of January with the warmth of anticipation and excitement of a holiday that is about L-O-V-E and for L-O-V-E.

Next month I will try my best to delight them into noticing signs of spring - think flower buds, seeds sprouting, daffodils appearing to both instill the wonderment of mother nature's passing of time and begin a lifelong appreciation of nature. I feel in the rush-rush-rush of our daily lives, taking time to stop and notice the flowers is paramount and smelling them is a necessity. Oh yes, and, as the red-haired Kate so clearly demonstrates, we'll be sure to squeeze in some talk of leprechauns to discuss our Irish ancestry too...right around March 17! (My great-grandmother is from the County Cork in Ireland...but were Kate gets her leprechaun-ess is another story for another post!)

53 Plants and Ouch, My Back!

Well, I planted and planted and planted and planted and, did I mention PLANTED, 53 plants for 4 hours this afternoon. I am so excited! I tried to plant everything so that my beds are going to have that beautiful layered filled in look of an established garden instead of that bare, "three holly bushes out front only, sub-division" look. I will try to take some photos tomorrow when it's light out, but I don't think the real difference will be seen until mid-spring/early summer. How lucky to have gotten all these plants for free too! I made sure to share some with three of my neighbors and can't wait to see the whole street full of beautiful black-eyed-susans next summer!

I Pretend With You?

In honor of a wonderful moment this afternoon, I am starting a blog on behalf of Ashton & Kate, wishing to keep family & friends apart of our world.

Ashton named the blog with a simple conversation he started, beginning very carefully, "Here Mommy, here's some candy.", quickly searching my face for a response. I must have looked very confused when I saw his empty hand, as he then repeated his words adding in a voice that could only emerge from a 3-year-old - a special mixing of both an invitation to share in his magic as well as cautious self discovery --"I pretend with you?".

For those of you who know our family, we struggle day-to-day with Ashton and his extreme eccentricities, often wondering if he is "normal", having previously been diagnosed with SID. Hearing him say such an ordinary thing in such an ordinary way was really extraordinary, so much in fact a tear came to my eye.

Out of all the things I wish for my children, happiness and a true sense of self with confidence are really my greatest hope. Through this simple interaction today it seems Ashton is on his own path to that destination, blazing a trail for Katherine to navigate her own way by. I am proud of them and find these simple times both trying and rewarding, each day as much a surprise in its ups as well as it's downs.

I invite you to join us on our journey through Kate's terrible and terrific two's as her personality takes shape, Ashton's newly found "big boy world" and struggle for independence, my own search for self and where my life is heading and to watch Paul as he tries to both help everyone and stay clear of us - all at the same time.

Feel free to comment or email me and enjoy checking up on us from time to time. I make no vow of how often I will update this, but promise to blog as much as I can. Thank you for reading!