A shower for Lily

Exciting things are afoot in our world. Ryan's turning 2 in just a short month and in about a month and a half we will be welcoming a new baby into our family. No, not mine (per say)... my sister is becoming a mother for the first time. Her shower was held on Saturday. A super intimate affair celebrating my sister, the father of her baby and, most importantly, Lily Kait. We, the Macvies, are growing ever excited and are eager to watch her grow into a playmate for our kids. Both Mike and I grew up with cousins nearby and value the unique relationships we formed with them and have thousands of memories of being part of a tight-knit group of sibling-like chaos.
Here are some pictures of Anne enjoying the celebration and opening gift after gift of pinkness. We love you already, sweet Lily and cheers to you both, Anne and Kip-- you will be amazing parents.

Halloween

And feast your eyes on these ghouls.

Ryan's Irritating Innovations

My second-born has never been a sit-and-observe-the-world kind of person. Rather, he opts to utilize anything he can get his overly-capable hands on to gain access to higher, and much more life-threatening surfaces. He's discovered that dining room chairs move swiftly across laminate flooring and allow him to peruse the medicine cabinet. An upside-down pot facilitates the grabbing of the knife block. Those door-knob covers designed to keep babies out of rooms are a minor speed bump in sneaking out to the garage, climbing into the driver's seat of the van, opening the garage door and fumbling to put the keys in the ignition. His favorite past-time is chasing Chloe through the house with a "whacker" and making her scream... we do this at least 10 times before lunch. Yesterday I found him sucking with all his might on a straw that he'd inserted into the honey... something that I still am phobic about giving him due to the threat of botulism (per The American Academy of Pediatrics).
I'm not a hundred percent sure what "the vapors" are but I'm assuming that my son gives them to me... he breaks something of value every day, antagonizes the dog until she nips him, runs through the house with knives, uses the dishwasher door as a trampoline-- dare I ask what tomorrow (or the teenage years) will bring? GULP.


Measures taken:


Observe: an example of how my son comes by his ways naturally... Mike uses old, annoyingly useless toy parts to fabricate a "lock" for the medicine cabinet. Similarly, our fridge proudly displays a dog-collar-like bracelet to discourage the help-yourself-to-the-chocolate-syrup game that my son has invented.














And, here you see a puzzle of inter-mingled chairs designed to thwart the little guy... he just climbs it like a billy goat, though. Thus creating one more potential disaster.

Yikes, guys. YIKES.

I think I'm having a soccer attack!

So, the super leggy 5 year old is currently rockin' the soccer field and doing it quite well, I must say. She is incredibly, adorably enthusiastic about it and has surprising control over her long limbs. She's a goal making maniac, never-mind that, theoretically, the goal should be made for YOUR team. Thankfully it is all about fun and no score is kept...

All the roses in the garden:

Though it's true, we were never promised a 'rose garden', we are astutely aware of the fact that our life is just that. We are blessed with health, ever-deepening love for one-another, a history full of learning experiences, a future full of promise and the wisdom to know that we couldn't ask for more.

Chloe has a plan:

"When I grow up I'm going to do science on Ry-guy to find out why he acts so crazy."

Mother-daughters-granddaughters weekend: AKA GJWHF

It's true, you know... Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

Especially my super spunky and delightful Chlo-Chlo.

My sister (and her big ol' belly), Chloe and I met my mom halfway between Boise and Missoula at a B-and-B called White Bird Summit Lodge... which is actually more of a hunting lodge... nestled in the trees and up a road o' death.

We arrived late in the evening on Friday and stayed two restful nights all snuggled into the sports-themed "Wisconsin Room". The lodge is a show-case for what seems like a thousand taxidermied animals... (Chloe was NOT a fan at first... whispered to me, "I don't think animals should be used for that" and cowered away from some of the toothier specimens... but ultimately posed for a photo with each and every "resident").




















A giant grey goose rambled around with his two adopted chicks (stay back!), roosters crowed on our private patio, Chloe got hugged by a goat (a little ouchy) and sat on a Harley. The weather was cool and breezy, the trees recharged our deprived souls (although Mom is constantly exposed to the terrain that Anne and I "pine" for).





























Most importantly, we were in a never-before-experienced position where one of us wasn't hosting and keeping up with daily responsibilities while trying in vain to be "in the moment" for the entirety. I'm proud to say that I was more "in the moment" than I've ever allowed myself to be. Missing my guys, but feeling no anxiety about their well-being and at peace with the fact that stepping away would ultimately benefit Ryan (whom I have only left briefly twice-- once on Valentine's Day and for the jaunt to CA and Disneyland-- both events equal four nights, total).

We've decided that we owe it to ourselves to make this an annual event and foster growth in the web of relationships that exist among us. We are blessed to have deep desire to connect, respect and effect each other in the most positive ways possible.

As we grow as individuals we must be willing to foster evolution in our relationships... and look for moments in time that are larger than our individual lives and in which it is more important for us to operate as a part of a unit that thrives on compassion and awareness that life is fleeting than to be married to our personal agendas and itineraries.

The best gifts we can bestow are experiences and time.