October | 2010 | Calm and Chaos: Life with kids

Possibly the sweetest thing I’ve heard in a long time is Eve calling me a hero. Why, I don’t know, she just does. It started a few days ago. At lunch one day she said she wanted to make me a nameplate with a string to go around my neck and it says Hero on it. We were just sitting there eating lunch. Now she says it several times a day. Always kind of randomly. “Mommy, you’re a hero.” She also tells me I’m her best friend and reminds me that “friends are treasures you hold on to forever,” a quote from a book she has. So sweet! Tonight we had dinner at Panera Bread after a great time at the playground and a practice 5K for me. While eating dinner she told me she loves my cooking, and that I have a good green thumb, and that I’m a hero. Very random, but I’ll take it!

We went mountain climbing today. Really, seriously. Jim, Julie and Molly were in the area celebrating their 10 year anniversary (congrats to them!) and we met up at the base of Mt. Cardigan. This is our second time climbing and my second time being totally under-prepared. Sigh. We all had fun anyway. Bundled up as best we could (it was chilly at the bottom and COLD at the top!) Lex and Eve made it all the way to the top with the promise of exploring the fire watch tower at the top. Sadly the fire watch tower was closed today! Maybe for the season, who knows. So we spent about five minutes at the tip top, rearranging clothing for better bundling, snapping a few quick picks, then back down we went. Good times!

Lex led the way up.

Look at this path we climbed!

Snack break on the way up.

See the fire watch tower way up there, on the bald top of the mountain!

We made it!! And yes, that is a towel around Eve's neck. I have one too. Like I said, I'm always underprepared for this hike! It was COLD and windy up there!!

Snack time on the way down.

Cute kids. Eve making her angry face (just to be silly) and Lex about to hide because I brought out the camera!

Guess what we did after the hike? We went to a birthday party! The second week of school Lex came home and told me about his new friend Calvin. That weekend he was disappointed because the two boys had arranged a playdate but I told him the grown-ups need to coordinate. I sent a note home with Calvin and never heard back from his parents. Imagine our happiness when we received a birthday party invite this week. Lex picked out a present (which was a big hit!) and wrapped the present himself and was super excited to go to the party. They held it at the playground and it was lots of fun. Running, jumping, eating cake and candy. Fun, fun.