Monday, October 26, 2015

i went to the pumpkin lot and all i got... {pumpkin "patch" 2015}

I don't typically post a lot of unhappy pictures. And as devastating as this one seems...
I promise she was smiling just minutes before and laughing her head off just seconds later.
Tatum was crying because I wouldn't let her go on the giant inflatable lion slide. I watched a mom staring at us while we wheeled the wagon out to the car. She was either thinking, "glad that's not me" or "what is wrong with that mom that that poor child is that upset?". I'd like to think it's the former and not the latter. I didn't care either way, but by the look on Tatum's face, you would have thought something terrible had happened. I guess in her world, it did. ;)

I told all 3 of them (Kieran did not want to go to the pumpkin lot and Erik was out of town), that we were going just for pumpkins and not for the rides. After a weekend of soccer and basketball games on both days back to back, a quick pitstop was all I had left.

All I could think of was Charlie Brown saying, "I went trick or treating and all I got was a bag of rocks."Tatum really wanted to go on that slide and I felt like she was thinking, "I went to the pumpkin lot and all I got was a pumpkin and a ride in a wagon."

Pumpkin lot, what's a pumpkin lot?
A dirt lot filled with haystacks and pumpkins placed on top.
And it's not that we haven't gone to this lot before, it's just that I love going with the whole family (when we visit my parents) to a REAL farm! 

You know, the ones where they have GIANT wooly cows with horns.

Or where the pumpkins are actually still on the ground where they were grown!

We go through the corn maze and on the slides there, too, but most of the time is spent searching for the pumpkins, eating lunch and enjoying the scenery and each other's company. It doesn't feel crowded because there is so much land and everyone is spread out.

No farm, no inflatable slides, just a picture with hay up Tatum's nose (she did that on purpose)...

 laughing because I asked her to take the hay out of her nose...

sticking her tongue out at me when I asked for a picture (that's karma because I used to and sometimes still do this to my mom)...

and fake smiling (Liam is cooperating and Anna has now followed suit with sticking out her tongue).

All in all they were grateful that they picked out their pumpkins, I'm grateful that I stuck to my guns and didn't give in to the travesty of not going on the lion slide,

  and next year we're going as a whole family back to the farm!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

three {happy birthday, dear liam}

Dearest Liam,
Today we celebrated your 3rd birthday. 
It was a very small party, but you didn't care. 
You were just happy as you are each day you wake.

Each morning, the sun greets us. While there may be people in the world who do not realize this miracle, you meet each day with complete and utter gratitude.
Each morning, you wake and I hear the chitter-chatter to yourself (and most recently, to Spiderman). 



Then, ever so quietly, the door cracks open and you peer out, you open the door and then you come running into my arms. 
"Good morning, Mommy!", you shout. 
You give me a hug and a kiss and you are off to start the rest of your routine.

I'm often rushed. Rushed for time. Rushed to go from one place to the next. Rushed to get everything done. And then there's you, all 37 pounds in the 91 percentile of you!
You remind me what it means to give thanks, be it a birthday party or the rise of the morning sun.
Each day is a precious one, no matter how big or how small.
There are bumps in the road, uncertainties in our lives, trying times and though you don't understand at just three years of age what these times are like, I feel it in my heart that when you do, you will face them with grace.
Liam-guardian and protector, Erik-honorable, eternal ruler.
See, you really are a real life Spiderman!

Recently, I watched an interview by the former President and Jesuit priest of the University that your nonno, daddy, aunt, uncle and I attended. In his interview he reminded us that, "we all have to find hope somewhere". You, my sweet Liam are part of that hope. 
You teach me in ways that I never knew imaginable.

Thank you for helping me to pause, reminding me to slow down, and teaching me, and all who know you that life is a gift and truly...
a celebration!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!
Love,
Mommy




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