I was passed over

Yesterday I organized two wardrobes. This morning I packed two lunch boxes, two back packs and filled two water bottles.  Then I took photos of two kids outside the front door.

 

 

 

What didn't I do? I did not drive my kindergartner to school walk him to the playground or watch him as he disappeared into his classroom.  The kids decided they'd rather have their father deliver them to their first day of school.  Just up and picked him over me.

Rude.

So I guess I'll just tell you about the part I was there for.

I got up at six, thought about how I'm going to be doing that everyday until June and mourned the death of my summer vacation.  Then I went in the kitchen and started breakfast. The Mr started up the stairs to wake the kids for their big day but I made him wait for me.  I wanted to see Enzo's sleepy face as he woke up on his first day as a school kid.

We walked quietly passed the girls' room.  Ziz, swathed in her sheet, was completely passed out which surprised me as she's usually an early riser.

In we went to Enzo's room to pat his cheeks awake.  His eyes fluttered open, he sat up, scrambled out of bed and went straight to his drawer to retrieve the clothes he'd picked out for the day.  (Yes the overalls were entirely his choice.  He saw them in H&M and decided immediately that they were the thing)

With clothes in his hands, and sleep in his eyes he plopped  onto the floor and began the task of dressing himself.  This is easier said than done when one hasn't quite attained full consciousness.  He started out with his overalls backward. The Mr and I just watched and smiled.  He looked so sweet and big and small all at the same time, groggily trying to sort out which leg belonged to which pant. Sometimes you get to watch your baby grow up, other times it happens without your noticing.  This was one of the times we got to see it happen.


With a few gentle suggestions from his parents he managed to sort out the overalls but then he began buckling them over his naked chest without a thought for his t-shirt.  A few suggestions later, he was completely and properly clothed.

Somewhere during all of this Zizza came in wide awake and fully dressed.  The speed with which she transformed from sleeping mummy to alert schoolchild was dizzying.

Breakfast was eaten, off they went and then there we were. Just me, Moo and a still sleeping Duke.

Moo and I had promised the kids we'd make them a yummy treat while they were gone to school so we got on with that.  The school day is surprisingly short and the number of things I can manage to do when I have only two little darlings at home with me is equally surprising.

The three of us went grocery shopping, then we made not only cupcakes but also granola, and washed all the dishes before it was time to pick up the kids.  It was kind of amazing.

 

 

And thus, another milestone has been met. Enzo has been to kindergarten, Zizza has been to second grade, and Moo has been the big kid at home. The first day seems to have been a success, even if I was passed over at drop off time.

The pictures I want to take

Have you read Artemis Fowl?  I was just asking because I really want an iris cam.  It frustrates me to no end that I can't take photos from the perspective on my actual eyeballs.  I don't want a picture of what someone else a few inches away would see when they look at what I'm seeing, I want a picture of what I'm actually taking in through my retinas.
When my Duke dips the ball he's playing with into the pool and then sandwiches it between our two foreheads so he can watch close as the water drip drip drips off the underside, a camera held in my hand is useless.  The vantage from any point other than my own eyes will miss the interest, excitement and glee that play across if face as he experiments and learns about how drips work.  Not to mention the perfect glow reflecting from the surface of the water while shaded by the dripping subject above.  That light won't exist anywhere but under the ball where there's no room for anything but our two faces.
Say I'm snuggling one of my babies and I look down at the sweet face propped against my shoulder. or in the crook of my arm and see something there that I absolutely must remember for ever. Somehow a camera never fits into the space allowed to capture the slope of a cheek or shadow of an eyelash that I want to save.   In this circumstance I've tried moving my head and positioning the lens in as close to the position my eyeballs previously held as possible but it never works.  I've taken some ok pictures that way but I've never caught what I was after.
I guess there's nothing to do but keep trying, record those images in my brain, and wait for humans to catch up to fairy technology.

Miss O'Leary's lantern

 Friday, on a little jaunt into the canyon we came upon the remains of campfire just a little way off the trail in a dry stretch of creek bed. A cocktail of judgement and jealousy were set astir in my heart at the sight of it.  Looking at those charred logs I recalled the camping trips in the heart of Utah's wildfire season where evenings were spent gathered around a lantern in an otherwise barren fire pit.  "Shame!" I thought. "Shame on those unknown previous hikers!" Then I pictured longingly what fun it must have been to sit by the little fire toasting treats on sticks.  Watching them brown and blister to delicious perfection while the water gargled by and the wind rustled in the trees.  Darn those people and their blissful afternoon! How dare they! 

Until today the influence of wildfire season had only reached far enough to touch my camping experience.  Aside from evenings spent singing camp songs around a lantern, the fires were little more to me than stories on the news.

Today's fire was close enough to make us pack our things and consider alternate sleeping arrangements should we be asked to evacuate. It is not in my nature to worry much, but Zizza was beside herself. 

Her Grandma reminded her that "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear" So Ziz did all she could do to prepare.

She packed up her suitcase and carried it out to the car.  She carried all of Grandma's photo albums to the back door and then, for good measure she added the fuzzy throw from the living room and the family of plastic hamsters she enjoys playing with when she visits here.

She chided me for not packing the swimsuits I had laid out to dry on the bathroom counter.  "What if something happened to my swimsuit mom!" She admonished.  "Baby," I told her "if your swimsuit burns I'll buy you a new one." Then I explained that even if we had to evacuate I was sure the house would be safe while we were away, so there would be no need to let our wet suits mildew in our luggage in the mean time. 

Meanwhile, Enzo watched the news report and exclaimed "I love watching the fire burn on TV!"

By dinner time it was clear that the fire was moving away from us and we settled in to have a movie night. Well, most of us did.  Zizza fretted clean through the evening.  She worried so much her tummy ached and she passed up ice cream with hot fudge sauce. She worried so much that after she was tucked in my bed sans Lizzy  she asserted that she didn't expect to need an elephant to help her sleep tonight.  

What she really meant was, she'd rather sleep without her beloved than wait alone while I nipped up the stairs to fetch it.  The worry had her so exhausted that by the time my teeth were brushed she was sound asleep even Lizzy-less as she was.  It might be the first time that's happened since my Ziz was a mere 9 months old.   

Hopefully her worry will dissipate in the course of the night.  She certainly seems well enough at ease now.  Her breathing is deep and rhythmic beside me in the bed as I sit here typing.  Now, I suppose I've got to try to sleep.  I never could get restful sleep with this baby in my bed. Girlfriend is a thrasher.  Still, I'd rather have her thrash securely beside me than carry her worry through the night in her own bed.

If you're sleeping tonight without being pummeled by small feet and elbows I hope you'll take a minute to appreciate the luxury.  Good night.