As expected, Big E woke up with a swollen lip this morning, and when he tried to curl his mouth into a smile it looked like he he was puffed up with novocain. Thankfully he said it didn’t hurt, but I went ahead and packed only soft foods in his lunch. That way he wouldn’t have to worry about opening his mouth too much. By the time he got home this evening the swelling had gone down even further.

Like most Friday nights now, we headed out to the new house. Actually we stopped by the shop first so that we could see Daddy before finishing our journey. When we got home, it was after 10pm, so I carried the kids in (which, by the way is getting harder and harder!) and but them straight to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day working at the shop, but I don’t think it really matters what we do as a family as long as we are together.

Tim has been staying out at the new house a lot lately because it makes sense with his schedule, but if I’m being honest, I’ll admit that this is hard. Most days go rather smoothly, but there are moments that are pretty rough. The kids tend to test their limits when one parent isn’t not around, and so I have had to be ‘strict’ mommy a lot more often, which I do not enjoy.

But with that said, we are all excited to be here. Bummed that we are missing another family get together back home, but thankful we are all together!

 

 

 

My sister in law and I had the chance to get our kids together this evening for a couple of hours. We have been at the new house most weekends, and have missed out on some family gatherings, and I really want to get them some additional cousin time. We had thought about the beach, but today was so incredibly windy we decided to forgo getting stabbed in the eyes with sand. So we landed on McDonalds take out and some time at the church playground. But after getting to the church, we realized it was still too cold to be outside, so we went in.

The kids ate their dinner and then ran and ran. It was a great chance for them to wear off their energy and a wonderful opportunity for me to spend time with my sis in law. We stayed later than we should have, and you could definitely tell the evening was winding itself down when the kids started crying and complaining about each other.

We were about to pack up when I heard Big E crying and he came around the corner with blood dripping down his face. Apparently he was standing too close to a door that swung open and whacked him square on the lip. His upper lip got pretty busted, but thankfully we got the bleeding stopped quickly. It definitely swelled up and I imagine it will be a lovely color in the morning. I was grateful his teeth and nose were spared a direct blow. He was done after that and nursed his hurt lip all the way home. Poor guy wanted a bandaid on it, but I explained bandaids don’t work on lips.

Hopefully they are all worn out enough to sleep through the night. Baby E woke me up in the middle of the night last night screaming at the top of his lungs. I found him in the hallway staring at himself in the full length mirror, just screaming. (Creepy, I know!!) I’m pretty sure it was a night terror, and it took a good 15 minutes to get him out of it and calmed down enough to go back to bed. But within a half hour he was crawling into my bed stealing valuable cushiony real estate. I woke up later with his sweat drenched body pushed against me, and me barely clinging to the edge of the bed. Sometimes he would sit himself up in his sleep and flop back down, irregardless of where his head might land. Nothing like getting a large toddler head slamming into your stomach in the middle of the night! Hopefully tonight goes much smoother!

 

I’m not sure why, but the past few days I have found it challenging to sit down and type. I stare at the blank screen willing something to come. Today was a rough day, a disappointing day, but it was sprinkled with some pretty wonderful moments as well. Baby E had a really good evening (in terms of a 3 year old) and I enjoyed him as he showered me in hugs and kisses. I needed them today. I don’t talk about my job here, and I’m keeping to that, but it was a rough day at work and I am glad to see the end of it. Tomorrow is a new day, and I am looking forward to it!

In the meantime, I think I found my favorite filter on Snapchat! Ha!

I picked up the kids this evening and they asked to go to the beach. I hesitated at first, because it had rained today and the temps had dropped, but in the end I agreed to take them. We got there, parked, and made the walk down the road to the beach only to find upon arriving at the beach that it was nearly gone!! A combination of the recents days’ rain and high tide resulted in just a sliver of sand to call beach. We walked on the small part of the beach we could navigate and made our way to the boardwalk and got some exercise there. In all the years I’ve gone there, I’ve never seen the water so high. What had been a stream going under the bridge and weaving though the sand just last week was now unrecognizable.

After the nice walk, we headed for the van. I took the chance to have an impromptu photo shoot with the kids and I love how the pics turned out!

Tomorrow morning I have an eye doctor’s appointment, which is fortuitous because this evening I poked myself in the eye with the corner of a sheet of paper. Ouch!! Also, I found our first tick of the season on Baby E this evening. I’m more than ready for warm weather, but I could definitely do without those pests. Ugh!

 

We got to the new house after dark on Friday night. We brought Molly inside and took her to the room that will serve as her home for at least the first week or two she is there. It is common practice to let a cat get used to new surroundings by degrees, so we decided to put her in what will eventually be C’s room because there is not furniture in there yet.

She was very timid at first, spending most of her time in the bathtub, and hissing at the kids if they got too close. However, after the kids had gone to bed, I sat in the room with her and she started to warm up to her environment. She rubbed against me and purred, I talked quietly to her, and let her do things on her terms. I even opened a window so she could get some fresh air. She sat on the window ledge for awhile and during that time Tim came home.

That’s when the strangest thing happened. As Tim climbed the stairs, Molly shot up and ran to the door, her tail held high. As he got to the top hallway she started pacing in front of the door and meowing. He went into our room, and as his footsteps receded, Molly just stared at the door.

Guys, Molly hasn’t seen Tim in about 6 months. When we lived in the townhouse, he was without a doubt her favorite human, but I was completely shocked that she recognized him by the sound of him walking up the stairs.

After awhile, Tim came walking quietly up to the door. By now she was across the room. He paused and whistled a short tune he had always used around her in the past. Again, she shot across the room, tail on end, ready to greet her favorite guy. When he opened the door, she wasted no time in weaving between his legs, and rubbing against him for cuddles. I headed to bed, but the two of them hung out for some time, and Tim told me later that she had crawled into her lap.

I had been worried about her transition, but it seems to me it is going well!

 

 

You would think that growing up in my family, and spending countless hours at the shop, I would have certain skills nailed down. For example, sanding with an electric sander, yet I have zero memories of me actually using one before. Today I got the chance, and all I can say is, it tickles… A lot! I also did some scuffing, moving panels, and removing a splinter from my hand. I’m exhausted and sore, but happy and the kids enjoyed their day at the shop too. We’ll put in a few more hours tomorrow before we head home to start our week. 😊

We were running late this morning when I asked the kids to put on their shoes. Big E put his on right away and I got Baby E in his, but C just stood there looking around.

“I can’t find my shoes,” she said.

I looked as well and they were nowhere to be seen.

“They are probably in the van. You’ll just have to walk barefoot and put them on when you get in the van,” I replied as I hurriedly grabbed the things we would need for the day. I sent the kids out and a few minutes later joined them. They got in their car seats and put on their seat belts. We were ready to pull out of the driveway when C piped up that her shoes weren’t in the van either. Uh oh.

I looked at the clock. We were late. Really late. Like “we need to leave now or you are going to miss the bus” late. Where were her shoes?!?

Oh. No.

The beach. They must be at the beach. We had taken our shoes off at the beach last night and when we headed back to the van, we carried them so we wouldn’t fill them with sand. When we got to the van, we took a few minutes to clean off the remaining sand from our legs and feet. She had set her shoes down to do that and when she was clean, she had climbed into the van.

But what if they aren’t there??? She needs shoes. The problem is she only has one pair of shoes. ONE!

I ran inside and looked around the house in the vain hope we had just overlooked them. While there my eyes landed on the ONLY other footwear C owns… her snow boots.

Now guys, this was the hottest day we have had this calendar year. We peaked at 89 degrees, and if didn’t find C’s shoes at the beach, her only option was snow boots. I grabbed them and booked it to the car, mentally calculating the time it would take to make it to the beach and then to the bus stop.

When I flung the door open and tossed the boots to C, “If we can’t find your shoes, you are wearing these!!” She looked mortified. I hopped in the driver’s seat and made our way to the beach. “What am I going to do?” She whimpered from the back seat. “Pray! Pray your shoes are at the beach!” She nodded, and I wouldn’t doubt whispered an earnest prayer skyward.

And there they were, C’s nearly worn out pink tennis shoes taking up an entire parking spot. I hopped out and grabbed them. They were dry, and clean- no worse for wear for their night in the elements. I handed them to a very thankful, happy little girl who spared no time in sliding them on. Crisis averted, but with our detour to the beach, we missed the bus. Thankfully we were able to stop at another bus stop on the same route and there we waited.

If it hadn’t been a Friday morning, I would have dreaded the rest of the week. 🙂

This evening after work, we picked up Molly and brought her to the new house. She is settling in pretty quickly and we are all happy to have her with us! She did great on the car ride, and though she hid in the bathtub for awhile, she is now out and about investigating.

Welcome home, Molly!!

The waves marched to their drum beat time as Baby E and I stood with our feet in the near freezing water, gazing out to the sea. Baby E likes to throw ‘pretty things’ into the water- a beautiful shell, an unusual rock- he sacrifices them all to the waves. Like an artist picking out the perfect canvas for her masterpiece, so does C scour the beach for unblemished sand in which to etch her musings. She prefers the damp, not wet sand found just out of the reach of the waves. As for Big E, he sits himself quietly to a task, whether it be watching a bug, digging a hole, or rummaging through shells and sand- content to be alone and unaware of the world around him, he loses himself to his business.

And so we spent the better part of our evening. Our normally desolate beach was streaming with people, each clinging to the warm air that has been so hesitant to arrive, for fear it might leave again.

Herman Melville was 32 years old when he published Moby Dick. In his lifetime, a mere 3,000 copies were sold. In the years following Moby Dick, he published a few more works, but none of them amounted to much, and in the end he took a job as a customs officer in NYC. Upon his death, his works were reexamined and by the centennial of his birth, their popularity was catching on.

I know all this because when I get hooked on a book, I tend to research the author. This particular book is fascinating to me, because I don’t know much about the subject- whaling, fishing, life at sea. In my spare moments, I have researched the different species of whales, what the inside of a whaling vessel in the mid 19th century might have looked like, and I have examined nautical maps of where the Pequod would have travelled. I read about the real life story that the novel was based on, the sinking of the Essex in the 1820’s, and how a few of the crew survived at sea in their small boats only by resorting to cannibalism. While there are no women on the Pequod, I have learned a great deal about the fact that some whaling captains would bring their wife and children along with them on their 3-4 year long journeys. In listening to Moby Dick, I’ve had lessons about harpoons and harpooners, shipping lanes, whale diets, and sea faring superstitions.

None of these I knew above a week ago, and while I account I am still only half way through the book, I must conclude that it is an author like Melville that can stir a deep longing in me to see the world, be it ever so briefly, through his eyes. I already know the ending of the story, the fate of the Pequod carries no mystery, so it is the journey I am there for. So tomorrow morning, as I sit in my car amidst the endless mass of humanity, my mind will be more happily employed scanning the seas in my mind for the great white whale.