ninth wedding anniversary
On thursday, Buzz and I will have been married for 9 years. Together for nearly 12.
When I met him, at 23, I was a wreck in many ways, but I had determined that I no longer wanted to be a wreck, and had realized I absolutely had to change to have the life I wanted. In the beginning, it was hard. Not our relationship-in fact, we rarely had disagreements and really had a wonderful time together. What was hard, at the beginning, was to act like I deserved this relationship, that I was a good enough person to be in it, and that I was worth all the kindness and love that I was receiving.
I am so grateful that my husband was able to see things in me that I could not, and I am grateful for his love and support and trust and care. He has given me the room to grow and learn and become who I am today. He has given me the gift of children and family that I have always wanted.
He works outside the home to support us financially, and trusts me to make lifestyle decisions for our family. That I get to be home with my children while they are young, and homeschool them, is a gift that I appreciate every day. My husband has come along on a path of attachment parenting that sounded so weird at first. But he has supported my breastfeeding, my belief in the importance of sleep sharing with our children, carrying them in slings, following their cues with eating and sleeping and respecting their interests and he even watches Hannah Montana and High School Musical and sings his own parts!
Its a far cry from the music he used to listen to! But that’s just the kind of devoted father he is.
12 years ago, I just knew he was cute and nice and really funny.
I am still not sure what made him decide I was the one for him, but he did, and here we are.
Happy Anniversary, Honeys, I love you.
Filed under daily life, ponderings, reminiscing | Comment (1)Spring sprang
Well, I did it. I started a garden. I planted three earthboxes today with seedlings that I bought at the Green City Farmers Market. I had intended to start my own seeds, but then I chickened out. I did a box of sweet bell peppers (orange and yellow), and a box of green lettuce and a box of red leaf lettuce. Tomorrow I plan to plant tomatoes. I bought way too many seedlings, of tomatoes, however. Maybe we’ll plant some not in boxes? I also got some perennials for the strange island of dirt my neighbors created last year in the middle of our yard. I planted them and there were worms and I did not freak out and die.
Now, I suppose we will just have to see if the animals around here eat it all up before we get a chance to harvest it. Not exactly sure where the earthboxes will end up residing out front. I wouldnt mind if they sat on the grass, but other people seem to think thats tacky.
I’ve been busy sewing, too. I made a small field bag for my friends son
I used a denim skirt from Goodwill. The top half of the skirt I am trying to turn into a bag. Its kind of complicated, since I want to line it. We’ll see how it goes.
Our homeschool group started a Roots and Shoots group. We had our first outing last week.
The kids had a lot of fun.
Filed under daily life, Field Trip!, look what I made, photos, reminiscing, vegetables | Comments (3)Im dreaming of a pink purple polka dotted Christmas
Its a song my mom sang when we were kids, to the tune of white christmas
I can never remember the whole thing. There is a part about valentines. I just remember that I loved it when she sang it, it was so silly and sweet. (hint to mom, send lyrics)
I also remembered another tradition, as I was wrapping presents.
It is an old tradition, in our family, to wrap someones presents in an old box from something else, a box thats been sitting in the basement, waiting to be used in exactly this fashion. Then, when you tore off the paper, you would feign surprise and delight at what your box held-
Oh, Im getting a power drill! How Exciting!,
and then you open it and its really the big white bunny slippers you’ve been wanting.John’s family doesnt really get it. Ive wrapped some of their gifts in red herring boxes before, and its met with confusion and bewilderment.
So, now I just put their stuff in gift bags (some even reusable gift bags!), but I will try to revive the tradition for my kids, and of course, John. Here comes your box of coconut milk, honeys!
Filed under christmas, reminiscing | Comments (2)parent lessons, puppets, penguins, parks and bbq
Zibby is such a good mommy to her dollies. She diapers them and nurses them and makes sure they are warm with blankets and rocks them to sleep. It is fascinating to watch. If I ask her if her baby is crying, she gets very concerned and runs over to her baby to check. The funniest is when she has the baby switch sides while “having mamas”. Also, she carries her babies either in a small sling or on her hip, in the classic pose. The way she mimics me, and other mothers she sees, is what is the most fascinating thing.
I feel it in myself, when I watch my friends parent their children. When I ask them for advice, or when I just observe them, and learn. This is how we learn things. We observe, then we try it out. We copy, we adapt.
Saturday Zibby I attempted to go to a local puppet exhibition/performance but alas, Zibby was not that interested. We walked back home, had lunch and naps and then went out for bbq. The restaurant was kind of small and crowded and there was another family there with a toddler who was screaming bloody murder for a long time. I felt really bad for her. And the rest of the patrons.
Today, Buzz took Zib to the park, and I got to stay home! By myself! I had a little project to work on. I took some notecards, and skimmed my copy of Alfie Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting, and put some quotes and excerpts from the book on cards. Then I taped the cards to the inside of the kitchen cabinets. I think this will help me really internalize the ideas, and I will get to see them several times a day.
Last night I stayed up late and did some fun scrapbook pages. Basically, I just save up stuff and then do a bunch of pages at once for the last couple of months. I want to do a couple of journally type pages, also. I know how much I treasure the stories my mom wrote in my babybook of my toddlerhood. As much as Zib already loves looking at pictures and movies, I am sure she will be glad to have these scrapbooks someday. And its fun for me!
We watched March of the Penguins today. Zibby wasnt that into it, mostly because she wants to watch Signing Time all the livelong day 
But I thought it was pretty cool. What a strange world we live in. Buzz, who can handle any type of bodily mess, including output from all human orifices, got grossed out by the baby penguins eating from their mother’s mouths. I loved that the baby penguins stayed safe huddled under their parents special flabby guts. And that the parents took turns caring for the babies. It was all good, except for the eighty below, plus windchill business.
