Yes, Hunter is Cool

This is a fluffy post for the most part, just a response to a comment left on the last post. Hunter is one of the coolest kids I know. He went through a phase a couple of weeks ago when he wore these glasses ALL the time. Kind of Bono-esque I think.

I'm pretty sure he knows he's cool.

Memories of Youth

I just sat down at the computer and looked out the window behind me. There are big FAT snowflakes falling from the sky in wet, white clumps. Anyone looked at a calender lately? It's almost April. We should be gearing up for pool season! I am so not made for winter.

Last week the weather was beautiful...60s and 70s, even after the sun went down the boys were still outside playing. With all their boyness, they helped Papa chop up a tree and haul the logs back to the wood pile. The payoff was sweet: rides around the yard in the wheelbarrow.





As I watched them cruising around I recalled moments just like this with my own grandpa. I will bet you a batch of those brownies from a couple posts back that the inventor of the wheelbarrow had no idea he was creating a prop for childhood memories. He just thought he was making it easier to haul stuff.

I just paused my post-writing to do some wheelbarrow research. It was invented in ancient Greece around 400 BC and was called a hyperteria monokyklou (translated as "one body for a one-wheeler"). It was adopted by the Romans and later appeared in medieval Europe sometime between 1170 and 1250. It filtered on down from there. It's a pretty cool invention really, though I can't imagine the little Greek and Roman kids ever got rides around the yard.

Little Boys

Several people asked me after Matt died "How do you get out of bed in the morning?" This is my secret: I have 3 phenomenal little boys who make me laugh, cry, yell, play, share secrets, sigh, tickle, snuggle, yell, read, daydream, hug, kiss, wrestle, run, jump, did I mention yell?, think, tell stories, love...and if that wasn't enough to get a person out of bed every morning, there's the laundry. ;)

Our neighbors took Brigham and Hunter fishing for the first time. They were so excited. They almost caught a fish this big. They're pretty much the cutest kids ever. (quotes are from scrapbook.com)

"Between the innocence of babyhood and the dignity of manhood, we find

a delightful creature of a boy."

"You don't raise heroes, you raise sons. And if you treat them like sons, they'll

turn out to be heroes, even if it's just in your own eyes"

"Panic, chaos, disorder...my work here is done."

"Boys are found everywhere... on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. A boy is truth with dirt on its face, beauty with a cut on its finger, wisdom with bubble gum in its hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in its pocket."

"There's a special place in Heaven for a mom of all boys."

They're THAT Good

Today's post comes with a shout out to Kim in Seattle. You have improved the quality of my life and I thank you. For everyone else, let me pass along the favor:

It's a brownie. Possibly one of the best I have ever eaten. You too can have this brownie in your life. Well, not this exact one, but one very much like it. Here's how:

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1. Mix a box of brownies (9x13 size) according to the package

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2. Pour 1/2 the brownie batter into a 9x13 pan

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3. Layer 3 huge "Symphony" bars on top of the batter

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4. Smooth remaining batter over the candy bars and seal candy bars by making sure they are completely covered by the batter

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5. Bake according to package instructions

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Some helpful hints, the original recipe calls for the bars with toffee and almonds. I couldn't decide if I would like these or the plain bars better, so I used toffee with almonds on one side and plain on the other. I'm a bit of a puritan, so I ended up liking the plain side better. Also, if you are using a 9x13 pan with rounded corners you will not be able to fit all 3 of the candy bars whole. Trim one vertical (long-wise) row off one of the candy bars, then everything will fit.

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These really are that good. Brigham could hardly contain himself as he waited for them to cool. "Could I please just have a little practice bite?" he asked. Seriously, give them a try. When they're done, you're gonna wanna kiss me full on the lips.

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And now, the treadmill awaits...

Happiness vs. Optimism

My laptop has a bug. I haven't been posting because all the stories I have to share right now require photos that are on my laptop. But a little while ago I was flipping through a chick mag and something I read in it actually brought me greater clarity and insight and requires no photographic narration. (FYI it was Redbook. Incidentally, I took a "what kind of writer are you" quiz on Facebook yesterday and the result was Jane Austen. Would she read Redbook?)

Most of you know that I was recently back home for more meetings and negotiations with attorneys and the trucking company. You may remember from a previous post that I thoroughly enjoy my attorneys. Hanging out with them for hours on end is not painful, which is good, because this go around lasted 10 hours STRAIGHT. As we sat around eating trail mix and making jokes, one of my attorneys said, with what I think may have been a tiny bit of awe and wonderment, that he's never known anyone who could say such depressing things with such a big smile on their face. (Keep up, he was referring to me.) He determined that the two conflicted and couldn't possibly coexist. Either my negative comments were a lie or the smile and laughter were.

Now, it should be said that I would never, I repeat NEVER, claim to be an optimist. But I don't think I'm truly a pessimist either.

The Redbook article that has me feeling so validated today says that ideally happiness and optimism go hand in hand, but not necessarily. A little bit of pessimism can help us prepare for setbacks and tragedies and can be an effective coping mechanism for stressful times in our lives. When we have this attitude, but combine it with perspective, it's easier to be happy while still addressing the challenges of life.

If realists actually exist, I'm one of those. I have myself convinced that I will be alone for the rest of my very long life, that I will be diagnosed with cancer in 5 years and that I will lose one of my children before adulthood, probably because one of them has whacked another over the head with something sharp and rusty. Which is ridiculous, right, because how could THAT much bad stuff happen to one person after all the stuff that I'm already dealing with? But we can't be naive. It is possible. Job's not just a story in the Bible.

In spite of it all, I can't help but laugh easily, loudly and often because I probably don't really believe the negative stuff I say.

Maybe that's how someone can say such dreary things with such a big smile on their face: I say it, but I don't really mean a word of it. But then again, it could all play out exactly as I've told myself it will...

Toothless Grin

Brigham has been working on a loose tooth for a couple of weeks. It's been loose, but hasn't shown any signs of going anywhere. While I was gone, Hunter punched Brigham in the mouth and out came the tooth. He put it on his night stand (he was afraid if he put it under his pillow the Tooth Fairy would wake him up) and scored $2.

Before I could have someone take a picture, the other front tooth came out. I was so bummed that I missed the photo op that I tried to make him stick it back in yesterday when I got back into town to stage a picture. He wouldn't have anything to do with that idea, so this is all I've got:





Not wanting me to miss everything, Brigham decided to hang on to the 2nd tooth an extra night so he could show it to me. After having it for a little while longer than he had the other one, he didn't really want to part with it at all. But he still wanted some money. Oh the dilemmas of a 6 year old boy! I suggested he try negotiating with the Tooth Fairy. This is what he came up with:

Brigham's Tooth Fairy is SO accommodating! He got $1 and the tooth.

St. Paddy's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I just got back today and have a dozen things to catch up on, but had to take time out for some Seth pics.




This is seriously the cutest leprechaun I have ever seen.

And watching American Idol. Really.