Slow Down

Today was an eye-opener about how fast paced my slow country life has become. It's not that I'm overly involved in many projects and just need to learn to say "no" when obligations come my way. That's not it at all. It has, quite literally, become fast. As in, running.

This afternoon I got together with a few friends who I have not seen in a very long time, and all of our children (nine of them, only two of which were boys - mine). I had so looked forward to seeing them all again, sitting down and catching up with them. I should have known how the visit was going to turn out when, within moments of us arriving, one boy dropped a very special tea set and smashed it on the patio, while another took off running towards the very off-limits pond down the hill. And so began the cycle of the day; chase this toddler back from the hill and deposit him back in the "safe zone", turn around and chase the other from the road, and so on and so on and so it went.

It was about four hours later when I realized I had not yet sat down and had barely said "hello" to my friends who were sitting around chatting together while their little girls either slept at their feet or played quietly in the yard. It was disheartening. I understand that the boys are at that age where they are curious and adventurous and want to explore and run and run and run. I understand that boys are vastly different from girls in their temperment. I really do. But when I finally gave up the fight and packed the boys into the car and drove away, having learned not one more thing about my friends' lives than I knew yesterday, I cried. Is this what the next few years will be like? Will I always be so busy running after two little ones that I barely notice all the other people in my life?

I need to slow down. I miss my friends. I miss sitting with a cup of coffee and catching up with the special people in my life. I don't like going to a family get-together and being so exhausted from chasing the kids the entire time in the no-kid-friendly zones of other people's houses that I just want to get out of there. I am missing huge chunks of my life. I know I need to slow down.

But how do you slow down when your kids are just getting faster?

security breach

Well, as of about 10 minutes ago, the last remaining line of defense between my boys and the kitchen cupboards has been officially breached. Ben watched on, taking notes as Sam, ever motivated to rise to any challenge put before him, mastered the last remaining child lock in existence to have thwarted his efforts thus far. The "child proof" (pfffttt) slide lock was laughably easy to open before he could walk. The baby gates became a redundant piece of furniture as soon as he could stand and reach the offending mechanism - athough, for a time, locking AND TYING the gate closed did the trick (as of 2pm yesterday, he simply by-passed the lock and tie and climbed over it instead). We have tried spatulas and wooden spoons, which simply make enough noise to buy you time to get there before all the contents are emptied onto the floor. The outlet covers, no matter how hard it is for Terry and me to pry them out of the holes, pop easily into his little hand. The last remaining security measure in this house was the cupboard door locks; inconvenient and tricky for most adults to use. Consider it no longer necessary to implement such measures. The cupboards have officially been breached.

Note to self: relocate to Fort Knox.

(By the way, the shirt reads "you can't spell AWESOME without ME". well, that's for sure)

Connected

Today was a "twin day." A lot of the time I take the fact that I have 2 toddlers pretty much in stride. Other days I really notice the "twin thing." Those are sometimes brutal days. Two babies getting into the same things, two babies showing each other all the trouble the other one hadn't thought to get into yet, two babies struggling to master basic skills, twice as many diapers, two babies trying to climb the entertainment unit at the same time . . . today was one of those days. . . and then I picked up some pictures from the photo lab.

Aren't they beautiful? Isn't this moment the most precious thing you've ever seen? Right in the midst of "that kind of day" I stop and take a look at the picture of these two sweet boys holding hands, simply going about their day together. I look at this picture and I am reminded that they are connected to one another in an incredible way. They are constantly drawn to each other and they love to be together. They hold hands often now and are constantly seeking the other out.
They, in their little baby way, love each other already.

Reminding myself of their sweetness and their innocence, I listen to their precious laughter upstairs right now as my husband is catching one of them in the act of throwing toys down the vent again and I think, "See ya! I'm off to the library for a little peace and quiet! Good luck with that!!!"

Worth the Wait

This weekend I attended a wedding of a couple of friends from Hamilton. Terry and I loved the wedding, partly because it was fun and relaxing and casual but also because it reminded us so much of our wedding. It was a similar style of reception, but even that was not the reason. We loved it because we had waited a very long time to find each other and could barely contain our happiness when we finally did.

This wedding was similar in that my friend Kelly had waited even longer than I, until Glyn came along. Seeing the look on her face when she realized that she is actually a "Mrs." now, was incredible. It's like it just dawned on her "FINALLY - this is for real." I loved that. I know she had moments when she felt like her turn would never come and doubts that God could have someone out there especially for her after all this time, but what a moment when she realized it came and He did.

No matter how long it takes, God really does fulfill the desires of our heart. Even when we sometimes give up believing it. He never does.