The kids have obviously found my weakness: mud! Something about the kids getting absolutely covered in mud makes my soul sing!
The changes that have happened in them very often seem so small because they've come about so gradually, but when I look at what the three of them were like just a year ago when they initially came into our home, I can now smile, and say we've given their childhood back. When I see them happily playing in the mud, I now smile as I remember being exasperated and ushering them outside. When they cried, "There's nothing to do out there!" I can retrospectively giggle at their tears when I turned the hose on, and said (or maybe yelled) "GET DIRTY!" despite their fear of doing so. Oh sure, I trip and fall in the hole they've made in the middle of the yard with their wallowing, but I trip then giggle.
I no longer roll my eyes while remembering their first time through the car wash with us. To this day I still get a little giddy when I go through it. I felt like such a fun mother because I was letting the kids go through with me! Imagine my sadness when just sat inside the car as the rubber fingers massage pink and purple foam into the car, and they just looked around and said, "What fun is this? It's not doing anything to us. We're just sitting here." I no longer roll my eyes because last week I took them to the car wash and I had to cover my ears because they were screaming and giggling so loudly as the giant squid attacked our car and ate us, but not without spraying us all over with its ink.
I no longer fume as I remember turning on the sprinkler for the kids to run through last summer, and them just walking through it once and staring at it wondering what they were supposed to do with it. Instead I fume that I can't get them inside from running through the sprinklers and making castles and fortresses and fighting fire breathing dragons.
Oh, sure, I still have to remind K often that I'm the parent, and to stop fussing over his siblings. Oh sure, I still have to pry an independent opinion out of R as she clings desperately to pleasing everyone at her own expense. Oh sure, I still have to unwrap E's arms from around my leg and leave him sobbing each morning at daycare.
It's a strange phenomenon we have in our family, I think. Most mothers are trying to teach their kids to grow up, and we're trying to teach or kids to be young. I guess that's what Scott and I get for being so backwards ourselves!
This morning the kiddos and I went hiking up the Umptanum Ridge. The kids loved it! We were surrounded by chipmunks and squirrels and birds... and mosquitos! We got as far as the waterfall, then I decided to stop. There were a couple scares with E tripping a
nd falling, or running andnearly falling head-first down a sheer cliff, and before we were even halfway to the waterfall, he had blisters. But man is he a tough guy, and he wanted to slog on! Especially since there was lots of mud and throwing rocks in the stream. All in all, it was just a pleasant morning. And then to make good days even better: I checked my e-mail, and Scott bought his airline ticket to come down here, and it's a day earlier than expected! Hooray!!! I love you, babe, and I can't wait to see 
you again!
