It Takes The Village to Praise the Wild

When Sir Spencer was growing up he had a lot of friends. They came from every walk of life and every variety imaginable. I loved it. At the grocery store awhile back I ran into one of his old friends. I had two carts full of food and he asked if I was buying afternoon snacks for the Village.

Very funny........but absolutely true.

That's when I realized that Spencer's friends all referred to our family as 'The Village'.

 I had to think about that for a minute.


I have been trying to eek out a camping trip all summer. We finally have Nichole back and I wanted to spend a weekend away from the world with just my family. All plans fell through as one after another Crosgrove came forward with commitments that would prevent them from participating in wilderness bliss.

It became very clear to me that the perfect family get away wasn't going to happen.

Time to face facts. I just have to take what I can get and find gratitude in the making.

I decided to pack up whomever and whatever and head out. I planned on leaving early in the afternoon but had a reality check. It's not easy to move a village. Poor Moby was filled to the gills carrying everything including the kitchen sink. There were so many sleeping bags I thought for a minute that BIG 5 was having a parking lot sale.

I've learned over the years that some one of the Little People will inevitably get bored on these trips. It's best to plan ahead. So in went dump trucks, shovels, card games, balls, ropes, paper, Legos (can't even camp without those), and a large bag of Mr. Potato Head parts that were hiding on a shelf in the garage.

I had to use my imagination to find room for the actual children.

It was worth it!

My play pen was so worn out that we threw it away a month ago. This left me with two babies and no place to put them down for play time or naps. I set up a little pup tent and gave them toys. The Potato Parts came in especially handy. At one point they were way too quiet so I decided to observe. Sir Harley had joined them. He and Miss Lula were using Miss Bella as the Potato Head. She was patiently holding several noses and ears in her little mouth. They were about to add a pair of eyeballs to her tiny nose. Why didn't I think of that?

Sir Sean sneaked his goggles into his backpack. He takes his goggles everywhere. I wondered what in the world he would do with them at a camp site with only a creek. I shouldn't have worried. The Little People built a pool and spent hours sticking their heads under water. When I say hours I mean most of the day. They spied fish, snakes, bugs, and really cool rocks. Lots of really cool rocks. I LOVE those goggles.

Miss Sarah found a waterfall upstream and decided that she could use the goggles to discover the other side of it. They all took turns wearing them and sticking their little thinkers through the waterfall.

I'm a bit jealous.

I've always wondered what was beyond the waterfall and now they know.

There was one night when everyone (except Elder Spencer) was able to be together.  I'm going to pull the memory of that night out in my old age and smile. So much laughter. So much food. Silly songs and funny stories. Smoke in my greasy hair and chocolate melted on their dirty hands.

 Absolute perfect imperfection.

Mad Mama Charmers

Sometimes Motherhood is really hard. Sometimes I lose my cool with the people that mean the most to me. Sometimes lack of sleep and stress gang up on me and I'm not the nicest person to be around. Sometimes I say something really awkward in front of my teenagers and embarrass them....and me. (Sometimes I do that on purpose.)

The wonderful thing about being a mother is that the very children that give me an excuse for being a deranged ranger are the very same children that make my world go round. The little people that watch Miss Bella dump out a box of cereal and then walk away from it....are the same little people that I find hugging each other better when a trip down the slide takes a turn for the worse. They bicker until I want to bang my head on the wall and the next thing I know they are giggling in my closet together. (Usually a sign that my Peanut M&M's have been discovered and are now being annihilated.)

As hard as it can be some days, I wouldn't change a thing. Not one itty bitty thing. The work is hard but the paychecks are extraordinarily fat.

When I've been a bit on the grumpy side, my little ones like to bring me things to help me find my happy place. Sir James has a great imagination. He slid a diamond ring under the bathroom door today and insisted that he observe the reaction on my face from such a gift. He unpicks the lock and I have nothing to do but proudly smile while wearing the leftovers of a plastic ring pop he had magically coaxed out of the seat cushions of Moby Dick. (All because of his Harry Potter "scar".)

Sir Matt is of a more practical nature. He knows I have a thing for homegrown. Today he served up wild plums and Sir Tom added giant crab apples. Yummy! (I might have some tummy trouble later on.)

Sir Sean wins the prize for changing mommy's mood, though. I was sewing my little heart out, listening to them speak but not hearing what they say. Hazy words make it to my brain like found, keep, cool, look mom. I look. Two inches from my nose is a snake. It is being dangled from the fingers of a very proud, grinning ear to ear, little boy and his posse.

I'm not lost in thought anymore.



(Photo Credit: Brianna) #bettermood#brotherlylove#happy