Wanna come for Supper??

i was making tacos. It's a family favourite - & i had promised Neil supper would be ready early so we could head out to take Cai to her fiddling group.
Mixin' up the shells, i realize that i'm out of milk... i send the small fry to Mac's to pick up a gallon.
i fry up the beef & get out the veggies & cheese. Tiny sweet 5 year old has been complaining about her loose tooth for a few days now & is bemoaning the fact that she can hardly eat & she loves tacos. i offer to wiggle her tooth & see if it's almost ready to come out. I suggest maybe one more day, but she wants that thing out.
The milk comes - i start the shells - the tooth hurts - the baby grabs my legs yelling, "MAMAMA".
i tell little Miss to get me a kleenex & i'll see if i can yank that sucker out. i start grating cheese. Kleenex comes, i give it a yank, but no cigar, i give it a second yank - tiny tears appear in beautiful blue eyes & i feel horrible, but all we get is blood & no tooth. She gives me permission to give it one more try - she sings a pretty operatic note for me to keep her mind off it & i finally have the tooth in the kleenex. She is rewarded with a quickly grabbed handfull of money from my change jar. Her piteous tears arouse the sympathy of the large fry at our house & she quickly adds some extra change to her pile.
Burning taco shells...
i'm back on task... Charter grabs a tea towel to fan the smoke detector & i turn on the vent fan - we are like a well oiled machine where smoke is concerned... (should i admit this on my blog??)
Baby grabs my leg - i put him in his highchair & put a little pile of grated cheese in front of him.
Am rewarded with Big Toothy Grin.
Reward appreciated.
Supper arrives on cue.
Delighted children ignore the slightly smoky smell & noisily gather around the table.
Daddy receives important phone call & ends up missing it all...
A meal in the life of...

Wordless Wednesday - my view

Lucky Number 13

Notice anything in my sidebar? *wink wink* Check out the "about me" part of my profile... one tiny detail has changed. See it??!!

Yup, no more dozen.

We're up one... to lucky number 13.

When i married Neil, i can't say that i ever wondered what our future 13 years from that date would look like.

i was obsessed with our present. Being a new wife, momma - starting my new career, seemed to be the end... "and they lived happily ever after..."

Maybe i sorta figured i'd always have my teenager husband with his ribs sticking out...

i didn't really picture him with little greys starting to peek through - & his hands sprinkled with scars from working hard - & teeny laugh lines starting to form around his eyes.

i didn't know he would eventually trade his beloved work clothes for dress shirts.

i didn't know he would trade hours, months, years of hard work for a confident love of his job & his ability to do it well.

i didn't know he would remain so devilishly handsome throughout the next 13 years - & that i'd maybe even think he was more dapper than ever in the spring of '09. *hehe*

i probably believed that *this* was as deep as love can get.

His hazel eyes would lock on mine & i'd get that feeling - deep in my stomach - that he loved me... & that there was no more perfect place in this world than in his presence.

But now, 13 years have passed.

Would you believe me if i said that he still makes my stomach turn upside down when he enters a room?

Joy, tension, laughter, reconciliation, moments of tenderness, grief, humour, silence, sorrow, turbulance, tears, racket, kindness, protection - these things have all been a part of our last 13 years.

& oh, the love that has grown from them. The stretching without tearing - the bending without breaking - the sacrifice without bitterness.

o the love.

The shared memories make us stronger.

We were talking this morning about our wedding day & Neil said, 'i can hardly remember back that far...' & i found that it was true for me too... Seems so long ago all of a sudden. So in honour of our anniversary & the fact that neither one of us can remember what we did last week let alone 13 years ago, i give you:

13 recent small sweetnesses for 13 years of bliss -

* Strawberries & cream in bed - Gage woke up & stole most of them... but that just adds to the sweetness - teeny birdie with sweet open mouth...

* Flowers on my kitchen counter this morning.

* An invitation to 'come be with me' in the office...

* Rollerblading on Sunday afternoon... (in case you're wondering about my scabbed elbow & bruised hand... hehe)

* Coffee brewed this morning

* Supper plans tonight

* our famously short emails: paige: i.love.you. neil: and me you.

* He kept trying to hold my hand on Sunday.

* i let him.

* He only made fun of me once when i ate a whole bunch of jalopenos & made myself sick this week.

* He got his haircut for our date tonight.

* i gave him a haircut.

* He told me he loves my love of work. 'S a funny compliment - but it's so Neil.

& so, at this moment - 13 years in - (i joked to my sister that we're at our 'half marathon' mark). i am so grateful for my good man - this sweet marriage - this beautiful family.

What a gift.

happy birthday, princess

When my father in law turned 60, they had a big party. Some of his friends gave him one of those musical cards & when you opened it, it burst into song, "Celebrate good times c'mon!"
Mollen was completely entranced.
This was the best thing she had ever seen.
Ever.
She was too little to remember the time Granny had sent them all musical valentines & Peyton had opened hers to hear the piercing rendition of "Fur Elise" coming from the inside, snapped it shut & with a devilish grin & eyebrows raised ecstatically told me, "There's something annoying in here!!"
This was Mollen's first experience with such a phenomenon.
From then on, she was as conscious of cards as her dad is... He shakes them open looking for money... she would open carefully, hoping for annoying ... ahem... melodious sounds to escape.
When Gammy asked her what she wanted for her birthday 7 months later, her only request was a 'Celebrate' card. My Mother in law took her on a little shopping trip & sent her home with a bag full of loot - but no singing card. Her shopping trip had come early, a matter of convenience because we happened to be in Kelowna a couple of weeks before her real birthday. When Mollen's real birthday rolled around, a curious, kind of fatter than your average birthday envelope arrived in the mail. Mollen, being the enthusiastic kid that she is, tore into it - in that moment forgetting her most dearest wish for a birthday gift. As she opened the Disney card, a voice started to sing, "Happy Birthday, Princess..."
i drank in that look on her face.
Sheer joy.
i swear, if that sweet, pleased, semi-shocked smile were food, none of us would have had to eat for a month.
She changed into a princess dress. She had the whole song memorized by bedtime. We *all* probably had that song memorized by bedtime.
As her birthday month of April has floated into May, that card is starting to get a little dog-eared. i noticed there are some dark smudges on the back... She has been making up her own, unique words to the Princess song... But, the card lives still.
Happy, Birthday Princess.

ps - i know it is our anniversary today... i will blog about Neil again in the near future. For now i will leave you with this:
Cairo: (examining the ingredients of her juice box) Dad, what's passionfruit??
Neil: It's what me & mom eat when you guys go to bed.

i love that man.

Uncle Jason

From the moment i hear that Uncle Jason is coming to visit, i start prepping the kids.

"i know he pulls money out of your ears everytime he comes to visit... Yes, i do realize that he had to make 3 trips out to his truck last time to scrounge for more money to give you... Mmmmhmmm, i understand that you are on a limited income with only your tooth money coming in - but please, please, please... don't mention the words 'magic' or 'trick' or 'money' when he comes... Please don't look like a bunch of little needy beggars with your dirty little turned up paws begging spare change. i will give you each a dollar if you will just remember to greet him warmly without scratching your ears hopefully... i know you lost a tooth since the last time he came to visit... Pullleeeeze don't bring it up saying, 'sometimes i get a loony when i lose a tooth!' - knowing that he will reach into his pockets and gruffly give you all the change your greedy little fingers can hold. Do we understand each other?"

"Yes, mom, of course! i won't ask for money - i promise..."

Downstairs we go - to find Mollen at the couch greeting uncle Jason warmly with a hug & a cute little gap toothed smile saying, "Peyton told me you know how to pull money out of kids' ears..."

i give up.