happy days

I’m probably talking to myself here, because everyone else has most likely given up on this blog by now. I have been slacking! I had a little adventure over the past month or so, and the pace of life has picked up with the possibility of a new transition. I’m sworn to secrecy for now, but I have oodles to say about all this, so hopefully at some point I’ll be able to share more.

I adore having this blog, though, and I have no intention of giving it up. I have an intense need to record my life, and this seems a marvelous way of doing that. Especially during these years when the kids are little and every moment seems so precious, I want to be sure to mark the journey.

So what’s been happening with us recently? Mainly, it’s been raining. Seriously, it’s been raining almost nonstop for over a week now, and the forecast says another week of wetness is on the way. Even now, I hear a steady pitter patter outside, along with intervals of deep, rumbling thunder. I do love a good springtime thunderstorm! And the great part about the rain is that when it does stop, there are lots of puddles to splash around in.

The peonies are on the verge of blooming. I was so excited when these started growing. One of the fun things about moving to a new house is discovering what springs up in the garden.

One of the less fun things is discovering the particular problems of the new house – such as a wet basement. Our sump pumps have gotten a workout this spring. Each time we get a lot of rain we hook up this ugly black hose to drain the water from the house down to the street. One day we hope to dig up the front yard and put this thing underground…

With all this rain, we’ve had to redirect some planned cookouts to the indoors. No matter. S’mores taste almost as good from the oven.

With Willy Wonka chocolate and giant marshmallows, these were some of the best ever!

We have had some sunny days in the mix. One day in particular was a scorcher. So much so that we started to hear the magical music – you know, the music that brings out the kid in all of us. That’s right – the ice cream truck!! The problem was, we heard it for literally hours, and we even saw it at the bottom of the hill – but it just wouldn’t come down our street.

Poor Elliot waited … and waited … and waited …

Finally, we set off in the car to track that thing down. We drove down street after street, and never did find it. In the end, we surrendered and just went to the corner store.

Ice Cream Man, we’ll find you yet before the summer’s over!

Last Saturday was such a lovely day that we set up the tent that Grams and Gramps got Elliot for his birthday. It’s awesome!!

We even grilled burgers to make it feel like an authentic camping experience. And the way our back yard has erupted with plants and trees, it really does feel like the wilderness back there.

The kids spent all afternoon playing in there.

All the kids from the neighborhood came over to check it out.

And then, just a few hours after we put it up, it started raining again.

So back to the indoors. Rob decided to give Elliot his first shaving lesson.

How adorable is that? Rob found a Buzz Lightyear “shaving” kit. Too cute.

And finally, we’ve been doing lots of unpacking. It’s been thrilling. First we did the winter/summer clothes switcheroo. I was fretting about buying the kids summer clothes, but lo and behold, I found a box of gifts and hand-me-downs we’ve collected the past couple of years. Shirts, shorts, even a swimsuit or two. I love it when that happens!!

I also finally unpacked my bedroom stuff that I never even got to in our last house. It has been over two years since I’ve had my jewelry out. I’ve been rotating the same two or three pairs of earrings for all this time. It was like Christmas to see all this stuff again!

And yesterday, Rob went through boxes of papers that haven’t been opened since we moved to America almost ten years ago.

He found so many pivotal pieces of paper that have shaped our lives: the offer of a year abroad scholarship to a certain William Jewell College where two young and wide-eyed students would meet and fall madly in love, his acceptance letter into Oxford, a make-or-break love letter to a distant shore, and our very first Christmas letter after our first year of marriage. It’s quite portentous. Particularly the part that says: “At times it has seemed that God wants us to live the most complex and circuitous life. Nothing has been simple.” Thirteen years later, I’m hoping against hope that the next thirteen or so years of our lives might be a little less complex and circuitous and a little more simple. I’m not holding my breath though. Some things never change.