short stories

One fine rainy day, when the storm had died down to the faintest sprinkle, I suited the kids in their raincoats, passed out umbrellas, and we headed out for a tiny 'walk in the rain' to see a 'waterfall'. In reality, we took about ten steps past our gate and watched a bit of water trickle down the mountainside (and we didn't need either our umbrellas or our raincoats). I let the kids splash their shoes in some super shallow puddles and the whole ten-minute event became a memory for my little boy. "Mamma, we took a walk in the rain to see the waterfall!" - That sounds quite a bit more elaborate than the actual occasion was, but it was fun. I'm just not brave enough to let my kids loose in the cold, pouring rain- because clean-up sounds too daunting. They'd love it though, so I hope someday I have the energy to let them do that.

Another round of 'Where's Annie'?
She found the best play-space in the house: in the fireplace. There's usually an armchair pulled up in front of it, and sometimes we really have wondered where she disappeared to. She drags a little collection of toys, dolls and books back there and puts on a big grin when we spot her.

"Mamma, what's this letter?"
Alphabet letters are Will's latest obsession (...that and stealing all his sister's toys). Whenever I'm fixing something in the kitchen, Will waltzes in, begs me for samples, plops himself in this chair, and grabs a letter to show me. "Mamma, what's THIS letter?", he asks - and then I tell him the letter and the sound it makes and we try to think of words that start with that sound. But when I write it here, it sounds much more educational than our family life really is. He's just so curious that I'm trying to help him out, but it's taking him awhile! What's pretty funny is when Will sees someone wearing a T-shirt with "ABC's" on it- and, while they thought nothing at all about it when they got dressed that day, Will is intent to know what letters are on their shirt. "HEY, you have ABC's on your shirt! What's that letter?" ...
And this is my handsome man when he took me out for a hike and dinner on our anniversary date. We walked on a road where we rarely walk, and it is far below our town. Here he's staring up at the mountains we live on- isn't he handsome?! :)
We had such a nice date- we walked for an hour and a half into town, in the pouring rain, and got ourselves some pizza. It was fun to walk without kids and I enjoyed getting caught in the rain- it reminded me of some of the walking we used to do before we had kids. I sure enjoy time with my man!