Capturing Little-ness

The tiny egg shaped bulge in his shirt tells me he's up to something. My little boy approaches me slowly, his hands gently rubbing the hidden lump next to his belly.

I tap the object. "What is that? I ask.

He looks up. "It's my egg, Mommy. I'm trying to make it hatch."

He carefully exposes a little of his precious baby from under his shirt and then tucks it back in and continues caressing the cold, hard shell, obviously acquired from the fridge.

"Babe, this egg needs a daddy in order to hatch," I run my fingers through his sandy brown hair and he looks up at me with questioning, hazel eyes.

Then he lights up. "I can be it's daddy!" And he dashes off, baby twisted inside fabric, love warming it.

 

He must have given up because lunch comes and goes and I never see or hear about his tiny adopted one again. I miss my opportunity to teach about fertilization but I chalk up the absence of the egg to more of a lesson in patience, for the moment.

I capture my boy's little-ness with my words, and keep it wrapped in a special spot on this blog. My babies, growing, changing, and learning, are rarely tickling my heart with their naive and hilarious misunderstandings of life these days. Mostly, they are astounding me with their knowledge of the world and their intelligent thoughts. I miss my little ones but I'm finding lovely tidbits of those wise and wonderful big-kid moments to keep tucked away here too. Gifts--all of them.

 

Gratitude:

 

1582. growing, changing and becoming big

1583. innocent, naïve, childish little-ness

1584. beginning gratitude journals with the kids and the stuff they praise for.... wow!

1585. beautiful, glorious, warm sunshine streaming through my window--truly the real first day of spring :)

1586. the return of the robins and how they love to nest under our deck each year

1587. comfort through my Bible reading this morning (furious underlining!)

1588. her playing of "River Flows In You" and how it's becoming fluent

1589. new friends (can we still be making them at this age? yes!)

1590. dear, old friend (and her little girl) --how her return has graced my life

1591. neat and messy hair buns, braided, twisted or wrapped--thankful for girls!

1592. the way she picked up lyrical dance this year and how her solo nearly brought me to tears

Melting Like Ice Cream

There are signs of it--small signs--but evidence, nonetheless. We squint and gaze hard out the window each morning for a promise that it's really coming. Finally, we load up in the truck and go looking for Spring. It must be out there somewhere. We figure that maybe, just maybe, if we get in the vicinity of nature, we'll have us a closer look and validate our long-awaited hope.

 

Upon arrival at one of our favourite spots, we notice the creek has thawed and it curves and sinks around snowy banks like warm fudge poured over a bowl of cold vanilla ice cream. A bright red cardinal cheers as if to say he sees it too, and alighting on a branch jutting out from the snow, he becomes the cherry on top in this optimistic scene. The recently silent woods is now alive with calls, squawks and twitters practicing their chorus that expectantly welcomes old friends returning from the south. On this trip, we don't catch too many more signs except that we can now step across the little boardwalk that was buried in snow like piles of whipped cream just a few weeks earlier. That's enough for us. Hope springs up inside of us and we're grateful that the melting of that sweet, white offering we'd dreamed about at Christmas, is now dripping away, revealing new, delicious gifts.

 



 

Evenings On The Beach

The old man with the WWII bugle faithfully blows out "Taps" as the orange globe sinks into the sea. A crowd has gathered 'round to celebrate the awe of a sunset that seems just a little more miraculous in this place. Perhaps it's because we're all so relaxed that we appreciate it more or perhaps it's the tradition of the "Bugle Man" playing each evening, directing us to gaze westward. Whatever the reason, I worship the Creator more readily when I feel I can reach out over that big ocean and hold the sun in my hands for a little while. We dance long on the beach and bend to pick up some valuable pieces of the Great Blue's gifts and turn them over in our palms until there's not even a faint glow of the sun to keep us warm. Then, it's dusting sand off our feet and cozying up with sun-kissed children inside, only to wake up and do it all over again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So very thankful.

Borrowed Kite

A darkly-tanned man with long grayish curls closed up his last cabana, then with flip-flops scuffing clouds of sand he approached us and held out a brightly coloured kite. He smiled a broad, wrinkled grin and said no one had come back for it that day and wouldn't we like to try it? We thanked him enthusiastically as we had only come to view the sunset for a moment. My husband unraveled the long line, ran and sent that yellow bird up into the perfect breeze created just for kite-flying. He showed the kids how to hold the line and race against the wind. They jumped up and down scuffing their own clouds of sand. They each took a turn but Oliver spent the longest time mastering the fine art of releasing string and finding the right elevation for successful flying. The sun danced in colour across the sky and its warmth healed these frost-bitten Canadians. One final crash and we packed it in  for the night. A borrowed kite had gifted us with a harmonious memory when the sun, sand and a toy each played its part in a perfect evening on the beach. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Which Makes Us A Warm, Happy Family

Reading a book in one hundred degree heat accompanied by a blanket of humidity is just right for this Canadian. Since my husband and kids love to be constantly active, frolicking on the beach and in the pool make our days joyful. But the more time we spend in close quarters, the deeper we love, regardless of some daily squabbling. How is that possible? When God's Spirit is present and forgiveness is encouraged, His love covers a multitude of sins and we win! Yep, one warm, happy family.