john's mom works

left: diligently removing pjs one foot at a time.  right: dirt is a boy's best friend. today in dfw, a beautiful week-old baby girl is being laid to rest by her aching family. and today in dfw, the grey sky and chilling rain seem a perfect reflection of the sympathetic ache felt by anyone who hears this family's story. may they be uplifted by prayers and love from far and wide that somehow, somewhere, they might find some peace. *  *  * sometimes god and his universe conspire to give you exactly what you need. today it is the weather that gives expression to my emotions. sometimes you need that mourning. last week, it was a relatively simple message from a facebook friend who posted this thought: our children need our love the most when they deserve it least. i won't try to attribute that one -- many very wise folks have said similar things and i'm probably misquoting anyway. but it rang in my head as i reflected on john's behavior...

brothers telling secrets friday on the way to work, the moon hung low in the sky, huge and orange. john was ecstatic to see it, and kept exclaiming, "mommy, look at the big man in the moon!" i kept listening to his glee, and we talked about the moon for several minutes. eventually he got sort of quiet and pensive. and he said, "mommy, why is the moon at the bottom of the sky?" of course i explained that the moon rises and goes up high, blah blah blah, but it stuck with me: the bottom of the sky. there's a certain poetry to the way children see the world, i think, a simplicity and beauty that i love to relive through john's eyes. and his words never cease to amaze me. he has a way with them, i think. and he charms me all the time, but i'm his mom -- i think i am constitutionally required to be charmed. but it's not just me. this morning when my husband picked john up from sunday school, his teacher told him that they were reading ...

the best little couch potatoes ever like probably most of america, we watched the super bowl yesterday -- no big parties, just in our pjs at our house watching the game. no commentary from me -- don't care much about football, the commercials weren't great, the halftime show was entertaining enough -- since i think everyone else has already said all that matters. what matters to me are those two brothers up there, snuggled on the couch, watching football with their daddy. thought #1: charlie is going to outgrow big brother very quickly. even allowing for a little optical illusion with him closer to the camera, he looks HUGE! thought #2: i should keep this photo for when they are beating the holy crap out of each other in a couple of years. thought #3: i could watch them snuggling all day long. football? what football?