Behind the Scenes

When we'd go to visit my Grandma in Grand Rapids, my cousins and I used to wander around what I thought was a huge field next to her condo.  It seemed to go on forever, and the weeds were so high that they blocked the traffic noise of 28th Street, putting me in a different world. I still have the smell of those weeds in my memory. The smell is mixed up with the "S" cookies and breadsticks she used to make; all part of a lovely childhood.

If we happen to be around my Grandma's old condo when we go back to Grand Rapids, I have a bittersweet chuckle when I glance at the "gigantic field" that took up my imagination in those days.  It really wasn't that big, and now, it's pretty much non existent.  There's a bank and several more condos where those tall weeds used to be. 

But I don't think what happens to be takes away from the memory that actually is.  The field is no longer, but my memories of walking around in it with my cousins still exist.  And it might've not been the size that I thought it was, but it expanded my imagination.

And so it goes with the memories I document here.  I've found myself taking pictures of our days together "just in case" a blog entry pops in my head and then I have a picture to match what I'm writing about.  But sometimes the story that's happening isn't the one that the picture captures. 

For example, here are some shots of what we did on Friday after naptime.

The weather was beautiful on Friday, and so as Harper was playing in her crib for a bit (something she loves to do after she wakes up), Hadley and I sat out on the porch. 
Except that's not all that happened.  Hadley has been sick for a few days and it seems that with her ailments come a shortened attention span, as well as a grumpy mood.  So she sat outside for about 5 minutes but went back inside because it was too windy and her paper wouldn't lay flat. 

So then I convinced the girls to take a walk with me to our local grocery store because I thought the fresh air would do them some good.  Plus, I promised them Popsicles if they'd come with me.

Hadley wrote the list of what we needed.  Here she is crossing off "Windex" in the grocery store. (She drew a picture of a blue bottle and put a "w" underneath it.)

And here's Harper doing her best to help out, too.

And of course, the Popsicles.

I can't remember the last time the girls have been in the stroller.  I can't say that I miss pulling that thing in and out of the car, setting it up, buckling them in, and pushing them around in it.  Walking takes more time, but it's more fun for us.  Except when your kids have to constantly compete for who gets to be first and they end up shoving and pushing each other out of the way until they fall on top of one another and land face first on the sidewalk outside of the grocery store. 

Then it's not so fun.  Then I have to carry them both while they're screaming about being hurt and wanting to be first. 

Moving on....

As I mentioned, Hadley has been sick, and this is primarily what she did for most of the weekend.  She doesn't nap anymore, but the past few days she'd sit down on the couch and just fall asleep.  So Sunday, the girls and I stayed in our PJ's and watched a few Glee scenes while Jesse went to church.

(Jesse was the "deacon on duty" yesterday, otherwise he would've stayed at home with us.)

Hadley got tired and wanted to lay down, so she went into her room.  Harper decided that Hadley needed a story read to her before she went to sleep.

Here's a little video to give you a better idea of the sweet and grumpy that I'm trying to express:

Here's what else happened that I didn't take a picture of.  When we were at the grocery store, I accidentally got into a line where the light was off.  The girl said she was about to take a break and I made an attempt to get out of line, but then she recognized me and said, "Oh, I can take YOU!  I haven't seen you in forever!  How are you?  How are the girls?"

And then on Sunday evening, as Jesse was getting ready to go back to church, we got a phone call from another deacon who said he'd be in church and since Hadley was sick he'd take the responsibility so Jesse didn't need to go.

I'm taking a creative nonfiction class, and the first line of the course description is a line from Emily Dickinson, "Tell all the truth, but tell it slant."  I like that.  The truth is the weekend was filled with both sunshine and cold wind.  It had frustrating and funny parts to it.  There was running and falling, and laughing and crying. I like that we live in a community where people at the grocery store know us, and people at our church are willing to offer help even when we don't ask.  I like that we live in a place where we have a little "field" of our own that we can walk through.

And while we're walking through this little field, we can stop and note that we have matching shoes on our feet.

So I'll keep taking pictures and jotting down notes of what we're doing with our days together.  I think part of the fun with writing these posts is figuring out what the memory will be.  It could be about a favorite breakfast spot.

Or time spent drawing band-aids on a triceratops.

I'll take it all, whatever it ends up being.