This Title Has Nothing to do With This Post

Today is a big day in many ways. It shouldn't be, I suppose, but it just struck me that it kind of is whether I want it to be or not.

My mom is having surgery on her second eye (and last one, because she only has 2 eyes now) to remove cataracts. My dad had the same surgery just a few weeks ago and it's still hard to get used to seeing him without glasses. I hope the outcome is as great for my mom as it has been for my dad. I'm so happy that they can see so well and no longer need (or will probably no longer need!) glasses. I've joked with them that they might wish they couldn't see ME so clearly. It's probably very scary to see me with such clarity.

Today is also my parents' oldest grandchild's tenth birthday. When he was born, I was about 2 months pregnant with Miss M. My sister-in-law had to have an unplanned c-section a little earlier than planned because the amniotic fluid was leaking somehow. He was also breech, so he apparently just really wanted to be force-ably evicted like my children. I was disappointed to hear that she had to have a c-section because I was hoping for some straight talk about what I was really in for with labor. Hahahahahahaha! I should have been asking her what the c-section was really like since Miss M turned into an emergent c-section instead of the drug-free, possibly agonizing, labor and delivery I had been imagining for 41 weeks.

My brother's oldest boy turning 10 years old makes me realize my own oldest will be 10 in just 7 months. Maybe a long ways away, but when the time goes as quickly as it continues to fly, the day will be here sooner than I am ready. Then it will be gone and I'll be lamenting that she's turning 13, then 16, and then she'll be out on her own. Ten years old, the kids are definitely more than half-way grown.

Every year that passes I love to learn more about who my kids are and who they are becoming. I still miss the babies that they were. I try to mesh the two selves of my kids by telling them the funny and quirky things they said and did when they were smaller. They love to hear the stories and I love their reactions to hearing the stories.

I'm still not certain I won't try to stick them in the freezer one of these days. When they invent the time machine I'm going to have several days and years that I want to revisit.

Simply Joy Sunday #13

Are you enjoying the little things in life?

Here's what made me happy this week:

Weather warm enough for short sleeves and playing at the park.

Kids riding bikes...

...and scooters.

Big boys and their new bikes. (This is one of my nephews.)


And a birthday boy wishing hard as he blows out his candle.

Are you feeling the joy? Leave me your link (don't forget to link here too!) and I'll round up all the posts here!

My Boy and Me

Watching the Beginning of Construction

Wordless Wednesday and Even more Wordless Wednesday

Time Keeps Marching On

I'm not sure how this little one:* Turned into a big 7-year-old so quickly. My Mom and Dad's first grandchild.

Happy Birthday (yesterday) buddy!

*The baby, not me. But I am about 3 months pregnant with Miss M in that photo.

Way Too Fast

The four of them together are a formidable group to an outsider. They are cousins and they're close. Close in age and in relationship. The older two are 7 months apart in age, the younger two, 3 months. Cousins and friends.

Since the older two were born, we've spent nearly every Friday at my parents' house visiting my Dad (or Boppa if you want the kids to know who you're talking about) who retired (mostly) shortly after my brother's oldest was born.

The result of the cousins getting together regularly and often since they were very young (I know they are still young) has been that they get along famously. And terribly. They get along like siblings.

This morning, Miss M had a late-start for school so school started 2 hours later than usual. We took the opportunity to go play at Boppa's house with the cousins.

It was chilly today with highs in the 50s, but we're hearty Minnesotans and the kids still played outside. B took M in the house to show her his photo of himself on his 4-wheeler that he was taking to his afternoon Kindergarten show-and-tell today. The four of them used Boppa's tools, hammers, a saw, screwdrivers, to destroy cardboard boxes. They rode bikes 2 driveways down, then turned around because that's as far as Boppa says they can go. They pretended to mow the lawn.

They stood in a line at the end of the driveway to watch the refuse truck arrive to pick up the trash from the house across the street.

My Dad turned to me with watery eyes (hey, it was cold and windy today) and commented "They're growing up way too fast."

Indeed they are.