My Present to Me

I have a hole in my heart where a little baby should be and since no baby seems to be coming, I decided I'd fill it with a cuddly creature of  different kind - a cat.  I asked the kids if they'd rather have a cat or a dog and they unanimously voted for a cat.  I have really missed having cats, so I scanned the shelter's website for weeks looking for a good one for our family and finally decided to check craigslist.  There I found the sweetest cat on earth.

 His name is Mumbo Jumbo - the previous owners' name for him, not mine - but the kids didn't want to change it (despite my pleas for "Jack").  He's truly Jumbo - about 20 lbs, but he's all love.  He's 7 years old, well behaved, patient, loving, declawed, microchipped, and oh so soft and cuddly.  I've fallen in love with this big guy. The kids have too.  They love to lay down on the floor with him and brush him.  Mumbo is very patient with Christian who loves to play with him by thrusting toys into his face and screeching, "Catty, want to play?"  We're so glad he's in our home.

Our Trip "Up North"

We had a week vacation and decided to spend it in our own lovely state of Michigan.  We rented two cabins in two different places - one on a lake and one on a river - and had a fantastic week only a few hours from home, but what felt like thousands of miles from civilization.  It was amazing.  We kayaked, hiked, swam, BBQed, and simply enjoyed nature and time with each other away from work, callings, and all the other distractions of life.

Our first cabin was on a lake.  We had our kayaks, the cabin owner's rowboat, and the slide out in the water which belonged to the neighbor, but which he said we could use.  We also had a section of beach where the kids and I spent half a day just leisurely making a sandcastle.  Oh, and let's not forget the hammock - wow - was that thing comfortable!  We all had a nap or two in that while we were there.

The back view of our cabin:

On the way to the second cabin, we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes and Traverse City and Torch Lake.  It was all very beautiful, but sorry to say I thought Sleeping Bear Dunes was overrated.  We must have missed the best parts because surely what we saw could not be what so many Michiganders rave about.  Just simply couldn't be.  But running up and down the dunes was fun for 45 minutes or so.

Then we went to our second cabin on a river.  Amazing.  Gurgling river day and night and not another person in sight the entire time we were there.  There we kayaked and tubed on the river.  One day just the kids and I kayaked down the river for 4 hours to a point where Kelly had gone fly fishing.  That was a fun adventure because we discovered that downstream from our cabin, the river mostly looks like this:

I told the kids to pretend we were Lewis and Clark and we were exploring where none had gone before and we had to use our wits and be brave.  It was awesome and a great bonding experience navigating that crazy section of river together for several hours without any way to contact Kelly or anyone else.

View of the dock and the back of our cabin:

Lunch in the cabin on our last day there.  First time I thought to take any pictures inside one of the cabins!

Benjamin caught a frog for the first time.  The highlight of that day for him.

It was a wonderful trip.  Hard to come home and leave such beauty and peace behind.  It's nice to know it's not far away.

Happy Birthday Christian!

My sweet little baby is 3 years old!  I can't believe it.  His birthday was about 10 days ago, but I'm behind in blogging.  We had a pretty low-key birthday. We had presents and singing in the morning for him and then I invited 3 of his friends over for a playdate-party with games, pizza, and cupcakes.  They played with bubbles, trains, dolls, and dress-up stuff.  They jumped on the trampoline for a long time. Everyone had a good time.  I had hoped to get some cute pictures of his friends gathered round singing happy birthday and blowing out candles, but I was the only adult among the kids and it was a bit like herding cats.  They never wanted to all eat together.  So everyone played and ate in stages and I got pictures where I could.  Even at the mention of cupcakes, some were unmoved.  So no great pictures, but I think Christian felt special.

What can I say about Christian?  I love him to pieces.  He is my precious little cuddler, my darling sweetheart.  Several times a day he asks me, "Can we cuddle?"  Christian exudes love.  He is kind, funny, imaginative and intelligent. He loves to be read to, especially if the book is about animals or trucks or Dora.  He is forever questioning and talking and making up stories and songs.  He loves to sing and be sung to.  The other day he rode his tricycle around in the driveway screaming/singing the song, "I belong to the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I know who I am.  I know God's plan.  I'll follow him in faith!!!...." at the top of his lungs over and over again.  He will be a great missionary some day too. ;)  Although my favorite is when he sings "Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?  Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full!.... and one for the little boy who lives down the drain!" 

Of my three, he is the most obedient.  He is the quickest to recover from disappointment.  He is more often happy than the others.  He is the perfect playmate for my other two.  He loves wearing dresses, high heels, make-up and nail polish and playing "dance party" all day with Bella.  Yet if he's playing with Benjamin, he's just as happy putting on a ninja suit, grabbing a sword, and running around the back yard seeking out the pirates or riding bikes (aka "motorcycles") up and down the street as police officers on the beat.  

He never ceases to make me laugh.  The other night Christian wanted me to stay in his room because he was scared of monsters.  He put up quite a fuss and kept grabbing at my arm and begging me to stay.
Me:   "Benjamin is in here too.  He will keep you safe."
Christian:   "No, when he falls asleep, he won't be able to protect me anymore!"
Me:  "Oh, well, monsters are so scared of Benjamin that even if he's asleep, they won't dare come in."
Christian:   "How do you know that?"
I got frustrated at this point.  It was late and I wanted him to go to sleep.  I didn't think he'd question me and so I had no good answer ready.  Finally I answered, "I'm pretending!" Monsters are just pretend so let's pretend they are scared of Benjamin, awake or asleep, ok?"  He looked at me for a while, pondering.  Then he responded, "Ok. Good night. See you in the morning!" and quickly fell asleep.  I just love that kid.  Life would be so empty without him.