roughing it?

have you ever had one of those outings where your heart is so happy and you keep telling yourself…i want to remember this forever? well i just had a whole weekend full of that. this is probably why there are so many pictures in this post. the kids were so happy! (exept for when amory scraped his knee, burned his hand and exhaustion set in, but you get the picture). when it was time for us to come home amory asked if we could stay another 20, 58 hours…which makes loads of sense to him. the other side of his argument for staying was, “i can’t go home…i’m allergic to the house.”
it’s amazing how there can be nothing but nature around and kids find a million things to do. they never run out of ideas. they are constant inventors of adventure. when i sit and watch it is even better than “desperate housewives.” and if you know how much i like that show it would give you an indication of how much i enjoy watching my children.
who would have thought that 5 of us cramming into a tent smaller than our bathroom (and made for 2 people) on a cold night could be so delightful?

top ten of the Acosta campout
top fifteen of the Acosta campout (ten just wasn’t enough)

1. seeing amory and maelee truly glow just at the thought of camping.
2. amory saying to one of his friends…”i wasn’t supposing to see you here.”
3. feeling the warmth of the campfire inside and out.

4. finding out that they had veggie burgers as well as the beef variety.
5. feeling the wind rustle the tent on the outside when we were all snuggled up on the inside.
6. being woken up by kels, thinking that there was a cat outside, only to inform her that it was just the cell phone dying.
7. unzipping the tent in the morning and seeing what the campsite looked like, having arrived in the dark.

8. cooking pancakes for everyone.
9. watching kels and maelee walk off together to play.

10. seeing amory make new friends.
11. amory’s amazement when we got to the creek.
12. watching my husband start a fire.

13. maelee driving around in the little ice cream truck selling ice-cream to everyone.
14. the boys sculpture….made out of huge branches they found… and toys.

15. not having a tv.

ok...just 1 more...us.

all in all we had unforgettable weekend. jon came back wanting to sell all of our belongings and buy nice tents for the family, sleeping bags and all the other camping stuff you need. he was ready to abandon the life we have for a life in the wilderness. although this is tempting…we came to the conclusion that it would probably not be the best idea.

can i have my ice cream now?

our day started off so well. we were on our way to the zoo. we just had to make one quick stop on the way. who knew that would be a bad idea? as maelee was climbing into her stroller she caught her fingers…somehow… in the metal bars, just as the stroller was being opened. her pain was immediate and so was the blood. we race to get her back in the car and to the ER. she screams the whole way. our hazards are on and I’m driving as fast as I can, while jon is in the back, holding the tip of the finger on. this is going to be one of those memories that is so strong and vivid forever. when you have a situation like this you can’t help but play it in your mind over and over again. i think that’s how the memory stays so clear. you are constantly trying to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense.
we arrive at the hospital with her hand still bleeding and they package it up nicely in triage for the er doctor to open it and find a shocking surprise. all i heard was “ahhhh...ohhh. i can’t fix this one….i’ll have to call a plastic surgeon”. not the thing that you really want to hear. you want to hear, “oh this is nothing i’ll have it fixed up in no time”. he also said “i can’t believe she’s not crying more”. thus indicating that it is really not good. poor little maelee rose. my little baby girl is a huge trooper. as we sit and wait jon promises the kids ice cream when we get home. little did he know we would not be going right home. they now have to schedule surgery for my little 2 ½ year old baby girl. she had already picked out the flavor of ice cream she had wanted…a pink one…like the pink ice cream on her shirt. but she would have to wait until the next day for that particular treat.
they schedule the surgery right away and before we know it, it is time to say goodnight to maelee rose. they are making her very sleepy and it’s almost as though she is not really there. her eyes are open, but she is in her own little world. the last two things she asked for, before they had us leave, were her brother roo…and she wanted to know if she could have her ice cream now.

the doctors take her off into the operating room and i am lost without her. we go and sit and wait for what feels like an eternity, playing the scenario over in our heads a few hundred times, before the doctor lets us know that he is done. he has reconstructed the bone and put her tiny little finger back together. she is still sleeping and completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary has happened. (thank goodness).

when she wakes up they come and get us and walk us to recovery. the room is dark and classical music is playing. she is the only patient in a huge room of 10 or more beds. it was so dark and the hallway seemed so long. there was just one little light above her giant bed. and there she was. my precious, delicate, strong princess. we make it to her bed and all that she wants to know is…”can I have my ice cream now?” today, she did get her pink ice cream.

my bitty baby...

maelee has wanted a bitty baby ever since she first saw a picture of one in a magazine. some of you may think that american girl dolls are overrated…and i had not even heard of them until the little girls amory’s age started raving about them 3 years ago…but when you take them out of the box and hold them in your arms it is pure magic. there is something just heavenly about them. so i asked santa for a bitty twin to match maelee’s bitty baby request. that way we could play together , both of us with a bitty something. now i kept trying to encourage maelee to ask santa for a bitty twin also. but she would have none of it. all she ever wanted was a bitty baby. that was until i opened up my bitty twin. and since then I don’t think that i have had a turn with it. she has overtaken my bitty twin and we have had a fabulous time together, just as i had imagined, my "bitty" maelee and me

christmas...day two

we had two days of christmas this year. jon went out early to pick the big kids up and I got to work on the freshly made crumpets…yummy. when they walked in the house was warm with the smell of dough in the air. amory and maelee were so excited that they had one more present to open. on christmas night as amory was snuggling down into his covers he remarked that maybe santa could bring a wii next year. and he didn’t even have to wait a whole year ‘cause that was what was waiting for him and the rest of the family on our second day of christmas. everyone was overjoyed with their gifts. they loved everything from the little packet of bubbles to the wii and all that goes with it. so thanks again to all the santas out there! you know who you are.

I also wanted to share a poem that my dad wrote on christmas eve. i thought it was nice and think you might like it too.

Christmas 2008

My heart does yet sing
of what Christmas will bring
My heart pains this year
for those who aren't here
The hurts, the joys,
our girls, our boys
Some in person, some by phone
All in our hearts, if not our home
Decorations go up,
But not as before
Some hang from the ceiling,
Others, on doors
The presents, the people, the places, the chores,
Some different, some same, some less, some more
The food and traditions
oh how they will stand
By spirit, by power,
and by Nana's hands
Oh will my eyes tear, with bitterness and fear?
Or will my heart fight, with love, and with might?
I will take my stand
and uphold my joy
To remember the past
and say "oh boy"
But to look forward too,
with faith and with hope
To overcome all things,
with family… we cope
So, onward we go, it's 2008
Merry Christmas to all
... it's never too late!

By Robert Christmas Eve, 2008

and to all a good night...

here we are on Christmas night…all snuggled up…still in our pajamas. except for maelee, who has changed several times throughout the day, as per usual.
thanks to everyone who gave us the most fab gifts ever. i wish you could have been here to see the kid’s faces as they opened each one. your smiles would have been so big, that by the end of the day your cheeks would have hurt. i hope that you can tell how warm and wonderful our day was from the picture, and i hope that yours was just as memorable and magical!

i'm dreaming of a white christmas

had a wonderful visit with my mum. this picture is from one of the highlights of her trip. who would have thought that coming from the east coast, she would find so much joy from snow in LA (even if it was fake). so here’s to you mum…thanks for a lovely visit.

a little hope goes a long way...

never before have i felt so strongly about voting. maybe it was the billions of dollars pumped in the campaigns or maybe it was just that this was the first candidate i have felt was “the one”. either way we voted and we felt proud. we voted and we felt that we were heard. we voted and felt that our votes counted. we feel hope about the world we live in and i am sure that hope is contagious. If everyone can just have a little ember of hope in their soul America will be a better place, the world WILL be a better place.