What a Year

We moved out of our house in New Jersey one year ago today. We'd spent the previous night eating pizza & enjoying the company of our neighbors. Donner Family, Tim & Lesley, Sideris Family -- we miss you!

Our departure from New Jersey was a mad dash to the airport when our scheduled limo driver didn't show up. Thanks to the goodness of Southwest Airlines and lots of desperate praying, we didn't miss our flight. . .but it was close.

We'd spent the first week of August in Missouri with my family. And then a very long flight (with a wonderful layover with Erika in Chicago) to England.

August 6th will make it a year in England. So much growing: Cami began school, Graham began school, Rose began to walk & talk. Jason has had a full year of being employed & has had some really great things happen professionally. Out of everybody in our family, I'm pretty sure I'm the one whose life has changed the least in the last 365 days. I suspect that that's because no matter where I happen to be living, I'm the one living it. But, if I have to pick a spot to be living my life in, West Yorkshire deserves top billing.

Just like one year ago today, Jason is on a plane. His flight just touched down in Seattle. He's spending a couple days with his family and then spending a few more days with his friends at a conference. We miss him. But on August 7th, his plane with land here in Leeds & we'll embark on the next year of adventures together.

Spoiler Alert

I was talking to an eleven year old this morning about the release of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince. She explained that she'd already seen it, even though she hasn't read the books -- she'd rather watch a film than read the original source material.

She then told me that somebody important dies in the film.

I responded, "Yeah, that's a rather pivotal point."

"What?"

"It's rather pivotal."

"It's not Pivotal -- it's Dumbledore!"

Not Everyone Looks at it that way

Jason was just musing about a babyhood memory of eating Melba toast. He said that thinking about some of his earliest memories made him wonder how Rose will feel about her memories of our current home.

He asked how old I was when my family moved from a trailer (yes, I came home from the hospital to a trailer) to the house where my mom still lives. "Two months. No, wait, they bought it when I was two months & moved in when I was four months old."

Cami interrupted, "You lived in a trailer! You are so lucky!"

It Takes a Village. . . or Shopping

Jason will leave for the States on Friday, so I'm beginning to feel the "You are abandoning me!" stress. I give him all the guilt before he leaves & then end up generally having a pretty good week with the munchkins. (Which I do recognize is completely unfair to Jason.)

I learned when Cami was just a baby that it helps to have friends over for dinner most nights. Now that I'm completely outnumbered by the under-seven crew, it's absolutely necessary to have a daily excursion and a week's worth of suppers planned out before Jason goes. Otherwise, I would never survive.

This trip is a little bit different, because we've had a special house guest popping in-and-out for the past two weeks. Jason's elder sister Cindy is in the UK (she left our place this morning to spend the next few days in Wales) and will pop back in about 12 hours after Jason catches his flight. She's volunteered to be my built-in helper for a few days, for which I am most grateful (both to her & Nathan for extending his much-longer run of single parenthood). As she was talking to Cami this morning, Cindy said, "When I come back, we can do fun stuff together."

To which Cami replied, "Can we go to IKEA!?!"

The Great Escape

Rose has started to pick out her own clothes. She'll find something she wants to wear, bring it to me or Jason, and demand to be dressed.

I'd already put a shirt on her, but we hadn't yet gotten beyond that point. Rose just brought Jason a way-too-big vintage pinafore that Jason's sister had brought from the States. But unlike the usual routine, she brought him the pinafore & then bolted for the door.

Reverence Begins with Me

We just had family prayer in Graham's room. As we were preparing, the older kids weren't exuding decorum, much less actual reverence. But Rose looked so proud (and made me proud) as she toddled up to me & Jason with her little arms folded.

Self-Congratulations

Rose just used my leg to secure herself as she rappelled off the bed. Her face was so intense. Big eyes, a little bit fearful, looking at me with faith until her toes touched the floor. Then a big smile. "You did it!" I told her in that mommy-cheerleader voice that makes me annoyed with myself.

She toddled off happily squealing something that sounded very much like, "I did it!"