Mommy...I need...

The cry of "Mommeeeeee" often comes from another room. I never know what I'll find when I go running in. It could be the boys bludgeoning each other with tubes of wrapping paper they snuck out of the closet or maybe the call is for me to get the bug/spider/scorpion out of the bedroom/bathroom/living room. Sometimes one of them has the other one's book that they were "just about to read". Other times it's blood dripping from (insert name of 'body part of the week' here). One thing for sure, it's never boring.

Occasionally it's less about crises but more about getting your attention for something important to ask or share. The call of "Mommy" comes from the bedroom at night. "What happens when we die? Will it hurt?" It comes from a hike in the woods, "Mommy, come see this cool beetle. I'm taking it home with me!" Um, yeah. And sometimes, as is the case with my youngest, it's the simple sense of knowing I'm there with him. "Mommy?" "Yes?", I answer. "Mommy, I love you." I smile every time and say, "I love you too, Sweetie - more than anything."

Last night the call of "Mommy" showed up with a face of tears. When asked what was wrong, his sweet little voice choked, "Mommy, why do we spend some of our precious moments in bed?" He then threw himself on me and wept, wanting to be held and cuddled to know it was all good. We had a little talk about all the different "precious moments" we share all the time. It can be as simple as singing a song together, the three of us. It can be holding hands and walking back from the playground, watching the sunset and marveling at all the colors. It is the giggling that accompanies proud smiles and cries of "You did it" when they swim on their own for the first time.

Sometimes it's just watching them play with sticks, seaweed and string while "fishing" at the campground lake. It can just be snuggling in bed on a Saturday morning when they pile in to be close and we giggle while trying to move around and find enough space for us all to be comfortable. Special moments take many different shapes and fashions. It's the three of us having a "laundry folding party" (hey, if you want help - you gotta make it fun!) and throwing balled up pairs of socks at each other amid much laughter or maneuvering in the kitchen as we all try to bake together.

Tonight, my oldest told me casually as he was getting out of the shower, "Mommy, I need you to squeeze the puss out of the bump on my bottom." I, without flinching say, "Sure, just get dried off and dressed and then I'll take a look." Puss? Bump on bottom? Where in the parenting manual does this get covered? Ick! But then I think back to last night and think, precious moments come in all shapes and fashions. One day, this will all be over and with any justice in the world they'll be dealing with the same question from their little one. Precious moments...sure, really...I think. Yeah...they are.

Who Am I?

So many facets - so many feelings. I am, at times, just not sure - I only know that I love the people in my life fiercely and deeply.

I am the little girl that spent holidays at the beach in South America when my family lived in Lima, Peru. It was not more than a simple building with no window panes. I remember a black swimsuit with white flowers and my father with brown hair. I think we walked in the water to harvest lobster but that's quite fuzzy. I just know that I love the water, the waves, the sounds and it resonates in my soul.

I'm the child that complained about always having to go on "nature walks" with my mother and then ended up living in Alaska self-studying plants, harvesting and preparing wild edibles (not to mention hundreds of jars of jelly!).

I am the little girl that pretended she was Laura Ingalls Wilder in Little House on the Prarie when I picked dewberries. If I didn't pick enough berries, my family would go hungry. That's probably the only reason there were enough to make cobbler with, they sure were yummy!

I am the want-to-be young woman that graduated high school at 17 and left for a year to live in Germany. I experienced excitement, history, independence, culture, self-reliance, adaptability, and how to live life to the fullest!

I am the little girl that carried an orange bag with a green frog applique that had books. I wanted to read as I was being tugged along the halls of the airport and stubbornly sat down and proceeded to read in the middle of the passageway.

I was the young woman that begged for the Alaska assignment thinking I could drive on the "Alaska Marine Highway" to all the little villages. Ha! I'm also the one that fell in love with the land - I hiked, I fished, I camped...I moved a month later and stayed 17 years.

I am the young child that didn't understand all the hubbub when I held hands with the sweetest little Aborigine boy and went exploring at the creek behind the house of a birthday party I attended when I lived in Australia.

I am the child, the young-woman and now a mother that loves to picnic!

I still love the feel of sand between my toes.

I am Girl Scout, a college graduate, a mother of two beautiful boys.

I am a young woman that dodged the KGB in Russia;)

I am also the woman that slept under the stairs on the ferry to Greece.

I am the person that remembers names or faces but rarely both at the same time.

I am the girl that at 13 got her headgear stuck on a trip to Oklahoma and had to have all my food either blended or be soup and suck it through a straw.

I was a long distance swimmer and center (or "hole") for water polo.

I love God's light, clouds, and hummingbirds.

I despise roaches, they creep me out - esp. those flying ones.

I am a survivor of dark times and of the deepest wounds.

Yet, I can experience joy reverberating through my body as if it were electricity!

I can endure, create, survive and eliminate chaos. I can also find peace from within when I focus.

I can be alone and like the company I keep.

I still love the sound of the ocean.

I am good at small talk and the "grip and grin" but don't always enjoy it - let's get down to the heart of who we are and make deep connections. I want to feel and experience your essence...not the business sense of who you think you are.

I LOVE brainstorming and being passionate about projects/ideas/theories.

I don't feel my age. Though, honestly, there are some moments...

I don't split my oreos when I eat them - I dip them in milk and then take a bite.

I still love to feel the grass under my bare feet. In fact I prefer to be barefoot all the time.

I wrote the President when I was in elementary about billboards covering up the beauty of the land, they sent a letter and a "Keep America Beautiful" kit.

I helped design a billboard this year. I still don't like them.

I am so sentimental and I cry at all Hallmark commercials and the coffee commercials where families wake up and someone they love is home.

I like peace and harmony.

I am a certified beer judge - and studied hard for it!

I am the little girl that remembers clear as day, my father (an engineer) teaching my brother and I how to make a kite from scratch.

I grew up in a house where we ate dinner together, with all the familial passion: fights/laughing/communication.

I love when my children crawl in bed with me and snuggle close. There isn't anything better in life than to know you are needed and loved in return.

I still love to watch the sun set and the sun rise.

I love talking until all hours about nothing and everything.

I just love...