Molly Piper

Here we are–younger, thinner, more energetic–in the arrhythmia of our new love.

The slow, steady beat of time has seen laundry, labor, long nights, loss, laughter. You and me, babe.

You and me.

Nine random memories for nine years:

1. The “pub crawl” in London: I’m still so sad you didn’t earn your t-shirt. The elusive Dick Whittington…

2. On top of Pike’s Peak on the 4th of July, 2011. On top of the world!

3. That time we got stuck in the rainstorm in Cambridge and then we stopped to make out in that little gazebo thing.

4. When you wouldn’t make out with me at church that one time. You were “cold” or something.

5. One big blur of pregnancies, laying on the bed together late at night, freaking out about the alien-like movements across my abdomen. Now we see those kids every day (at least four of them).

6. Bringing our first baby home from the hospital, on that first night when he had his days and nights mixed up and I was crying with the delirium of new motherhood and you were just trying to figure out what to do with this weeping woman and screaming baby. “Babe, I really think he just wants to eat again.”

7. The California trip. There are almost no words. Thank you for taking me there. Changed my life!

8. Driving west on I-94, crying and blasting Fisherman’s Blues. You were wearing your orange sunglasses.

9. When you and Phil tilled up the old yard in the pouring rain so that we could have a yard, bumpy as it was. We had grass that year because of you.

You are the love of my life. I can’t imagine this without you. Thanks for loving me.

I’ve had no space to even ponder the change into another fall and school year. Just stepping forward, trusting the transition. It feels good.

This has been an exhausting, yet really fun, summer. These kids are worth every ounce I can eke out.

In other end-of-summer news, I was cutting up some jalapenos from our garden yesterday (our first garden effort, I might add!), and some of the juice shot up and hit me in the corner of my right eye. It didn’t go quite in, just dangerously close. So I washed my hands (thinking that would take the rest of the juice off my hands) and started washing my eye. Well, as you can guess, things went from bad to worse.

I was hollering to Abraham in the next room to hurry up and Google what I should do as the burnings sensation traveled across both of my eyelids, while totally convinced, “This is it. I’m going blind…I’ll never see anything ever again.” Thought I was gonna die. Gladly, after a few more good rinses and a little more time, things calmed down and I was able to open my eyes again. Hallelujah–was blind but now I see!

At this point in the summer, I have a 7-year-old, a 3-year-old, and two 1-year-olds. Here’s the swimming skills breakdown:

7-year-old: Can dog paddle and keep head above water for short distances. Improving his skills, but not independent.
3-year-old: No swimming skills (but he keeps close to the shore anyway).
1-year-old boy: No swimming skills (and also prefers sand and shore in his nautical pursuits).
1-year-old girl: Thinks she has mad swimming skills, but in reality has none.

I’ve taken them swimming by myself a couple times now, and here are my observations:

Splash Pads

-Easy in and out.
-Don’t have to worry about anyone’s head going under.
-Might have to worry about running and therefore subsequent stitches (thankfully that hasn’t been our story this summer).
-No sand. (NO SAND!!!!)

Pools

-I can really only do them by myself if they’re those 0-depth-entry ones. I don’t have enough arms for 3-year-old and two 1-year-olds in a typical “shallow end.”
-Life jackets, life jackets, life jackets. Life jackets are awesome. Morrow still fits in the infant one (cuz he’s only 32 pounds) with the head pillow thing, and he LOOOVES to lay on his back and just kick around. That’s his version of “swimming.”
*Side note about life jackets: I’ve found great ones at thrift stores. Keep your eyes out for those!
-NO SAND!!!

And in Minnesota, of course (the land of 10,000 lakes)…

Lakes

-God’s version of 0-depth-entry, so I must give credit where credit is due.
-The downside, of course, is SAND!! Two diaper-wearers in sand is just the worst, especially if you have a dirty diaper situation.
-More options for keeping busy (trying to catch fish, digging in the sand, etc.)

General Observations

-Put sunscreen on everyone before you leave the house. (Mom included, because once I get to the water, taking care of myself no longer exists as a possibility.)
-Mom, don’t expect to relax. This will not be relaxing. I remind myself that while I’m exhausting myself at the beach or pool or splash pad, they’re not at home trashing the house!
-I prefer a smaller, less populated beach for lake swimming. Simpler for head-counting, and less surface area if I have to run after one (or two!)
-I’ve been bringing after-clothes for my 3 youngest (any who can’t dress completely independently when you get back home) and getting them all dressed before we leave for home. It’s a little chaotic in the van, but at least the van is a confined space. Waaaayy preferable to them running every which-way in their swimming stuff when we get in the house.
-Don’t bring a lot of crap. A couple buckets and shovels or cups or balls, but the less you bring, the less you have to remember to bring home!

That’s what I’ve learned so far.

Any other awesome swimming tips?

[via]

Can anyone else relate????

Abraham actually sent me this the other day, not because he needed to apologize, but because it made him think of me.

One of the things my husband has had to learn (the hard way, I’m afraid) is that when I get hungry, I get mad. And I mean mad.

I didn’t even realize this about myself either, until we had some major meltdowns/fights after a prolonged interval without food. For some reason (pure grace, I suppose), my husband has much better coping skills in this area. He was always the one trying to figure out what the heck was going on…why is that we were having a good time 25 seconds ago and now my wife has turned into a raging animal?

I guess that’s part of marriage: figuring out the things that set you off and trying to help each other with them. Abraham has learned that there are certain high-risks times and situations and tries to anticipate with feeding me regularly. For example by lunch time after church we’re usually at a threat level orange.

I’m not proud of this flaw of mine. But it’s a pretty easy one to take care of, all in all. And I’m glad he doesn’t shame me for it. I know he’s not always happy with my behavior in my times of hunger, but he accepts my weakness.

And then, after my blood sugar’s had some time and perspective, I get to offer my apology for my hunger-induced actions. It usually goes something like this: “I’m really sorry I did (fill in the blank). I was just super hungry.”

Abraham captured a cute moment the other night:

Why don’t they ever do that stuff when I have a camera close by?

There’s lots of cute moments around here at 18 months. They can kind of say “I love you” to each other, and it’s a real heart-melter. Capturing that on camera is next on my list! Or maybe I should just have Abraham do it. Apparently they do their cute tricks for him.

Last night we started talking about how many years we’d been together. Eight. Then one of us asked, “How many days have we been married?”

Our cursory calculations (I didn’t go strictly, like September is 30 days, October is 31, etc.) showed that we’ve been married for 3,064 days.

When we put it that way, all of a sudden it was…different. Thinking about the fact that I have spent over 3,000 nights sleeping beside him… over 3,000 days waking up to his face. They weren’t all happy nights. And there were mornings when it didn’t feel like the “joy came in the morning…”

It’s a silly exercise, but quantify your marriage. How many days have you been married?

It made me thankful for all 3,064 days. I can’t imagine loving another person the way I love Abraham. There just something about us….

And it made me realize that my love for him can’t be quantified. We know we love each other with a ferocity that astounds both of us–I didn’t know I could have that in this life. I certainly didn’t know that at Day 1.

It took me 3,064 days to get here, to love him the way I do. What’s it gonna be like after 3,064 more?

Saturday, January 25th…another proud library user was born!

He was so excited he called my parents to tell them about it.

I have to admit I got a little teary, watching his little hand grip the fine-tipped Sharpie and print his “signature” on the back. I can’t believe he’s old enough to do all that.

I will also admit that it wasn’t intended to be quite so meaningful. Our library system has recently instituted a 30-book limit per card. I had just been to the library for the kids, which meant I easily checked out 30. But then a few days later, Orison and I were running errands together when I remembered, “Dang! I have a book on reserve for my book club that I need to pick up!”

I tried to check it out on my card, but the computer promptly scolded me that I had already reached my limit! So, being the genius that I am (and not wanting to leave without my book), I turned in beautiful slow-motion and meaningfully placed my hands squarely on his shoulders and cooed to my precious firstborn…

No wait…this is me we’re talking about here.

TAKE TWO!

I quickly solved the problem, whirled over to my son and very practically said, “Hey you wanna get a library card and check my book out for me?”

So his first check-out will seem rather odd:

The Falcon’s Feathers by Ron Roy

and

Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

Is getting a library card a rite of passage in your family?

OR

What is the most library books you’ve ever checked out at one time?

Orison led the charge in writing these letters to Santa on Christmas Eve. He even served as scribe for Morrow for his letter!

Thankfully we already had a remote control car for Orison and a clipboard lying around the house to give him. A friend of ours ran an 11th-hour errand to pick up the construction paper. Orison was thrilled!

Morrow didn’t seem to notice or care that he didn’t get anything on his list. I think probably the power of suggestion (read: Orison) was responsible for most of the things on there anyway.

And bonus points for anyone who can tell me the source for the question to Santa, “Did you have a good summer?”

[photo via the amazing Wendy Maybury]

Some of you will have gotten one of these in the mail recently, but not all of you. I wish I had the money (and time) to send them to all of you, because getting personal mail is just that awesome, isn’t it?

But I do sincerely want to thank you all for your continued participation here on my site. And I wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years from our Piper clan!

I apologize for the poor quality of this video (taken with my phone), but I just had to show you why I don’t blog anymore.

I had walked out of the room for a minute and then found all three of them up on the bed when I came back. I have no idea how they did that! And then they were all rockin’ out and dancing together. It was awesome.

This is why I rarely have bloggable thoughts. Imagine this kind of energy, all day, every day–awesome and exhausting.