oh the weather outside is frightful…

But the fire is so delightful. 
And since we’ve no place to go,
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. 

OK… this post comes nearly a month after my last one.  I’m not going to factor that February is a short month, though I could use that as an excuse.  Instead, I’m just going to make an effort to blog more.  You deserve that, as my readers, right?  Hello?  Are there any of you out there still?  Have I lost you all?  Hello?  Hello?  Anybody out there? If so, please let me know. 

Last month we had a beautiful day of snow.  It snowed more than any other day that I can remember in the ten years that I have lived in Atlanta.  It was gorgeous.  And what better way to spend the day than to go sledding in the backyard, make a snowman, and warm up by the fire.   I’d love to add that we warmed up drinking hot chocolate by the fire, but that would be a lie.  We didn’t.  I think James asked for it at one point, but we were so busy running in and out into the snow that it never happened. 

Thomas went outside with me just long enough to take this picture.  It was his first time in the snow, because this doesn’t really count, and he wasn’t quite sure what to think of it.  

OK, I lied.  He went down double black diamond Roe with us once, too.  Then he went inside.  I had a blast hugging onto my boys during this run. 

Jim took a turn on the lid of a box.  It worked, kinda, but we were still experimenting with what would work the best. 

The Viars, our next door neighbors, came through with this sled.  It worked the best, and we all took turns making runs in our yard, and the yard two doors down. 

James and I loved this and did it quite a few times. 

Next the boys set out to make a snowman.  Jim taught James and Brock how to roll the snow into a big ball.  After it was big and round, they pulled out all of the leaves and pine needles to make it clean. 

See guys?  You just roll it like this all over the yard and pretty soon you’ll have a big ball.  James and Brock each made a few of their own.  I think theirs actually ended up being the belly and head of our snowman. 

Insert a carrot for the nose, some coal (aka, charcoal) for the eyes, a corn cob pipe, a hat, and scarf and we were all set. 

James, Frosty, and Jim. 

I just love this picture and felt that it needed to be included in the snow day pictures. 

After the snow man building, we went for a nature hike in the woods behind our house.  Well, Jim, James, and Brock went.  By this time Thomas was awake from his afternoon slumber so I retreated back to the house to warm up and play. 

Brock and James continued to sled after the hike, and were pretty good troopers when it came to the cold weather.  They didn’t complain too much, and for the most part stayed pretty dry and warm. 

Thomas did a great job of helping pop popcorn inside where it was a balmy 68 degrees. 

It continued to snow throughout the night, and this was the scene the next morning.  All of the footprints and snow tracks were covered with new snow, and the sun was shining beautifully in the morning sky.  Unfortunately, the sun was a little warmer than the snow could handle, and most of it was melted by mid-afternoon. 

James moves

Today was St. Catherine’s Preschool Move-A-Thon.  It’s the big fundraiser for the end of the year Spring Fling at school.  James was so excited and earned quite a bit of money for his participation through sponsors.  He did great and I was so proud of him. 

The kids waited patiently for the Move-A-Thon to start and Miss Debbie explained to the parents what they were going to do. 

James did great!  What balance!

Army crawl through the tube and then roll, roll, roll…

Woosh!  Nothing but net!

He was very proud of his work.  He did 4 laps, and earned his Move-A-Thon pin. 

He also was very proud of the Rosary he made for mommy and daddy. 

New pests, um, I mean pets. New Pets…

James got some new pets yesterday.  He got their home for Christmas, but he just got the tenants in the mail yesterday.  He got ants.  I itch already. 

He and daddy put them in their new home last night.  It was quite the event.  Luckily, none escaped.  And unbelievably, all were alive when they arrived.  Lets see how long they stay alive. 

The water was measured, and daddy gets ready to pour it in.

It takes concentration.  Lots of concentration.

James dropped the food inside.  They eat carrots and celery.

James examined the ants for a long time.  They were pretty cool, but they really did make my skin crawl.

James freaked out when daddy poured the ants inside.  He was so scared that one would get loose.

He examined them for a long time.  So did I.  I wanted to make sure that none could get out.

They were pretty cool, but the minute one gets loose, the whole thing is going in the trash.

He was actually pretty scared during this picture.  Some excitement, but mostly scared.

Thomas cried during the whole ordeal.  He just wanted to go to bed, but someone had to document the experience.  He went straight to sleep once we got upstairs. 

Barbara Huling Hailey

This morning Thomas woke up earlier than normal.  I went to cuddle with him and tried to nurse him back to sleep.  That worked for about thirty minutes.  He was up again and this time he wanted out of his crib.  It was still pretty early, but James was already awake, too.  I sat down with Thomas and rocked and nursed him for a few minutes before we went downstairs. 

It was still dark as I sat with Thomas and rocked back and forth.  The room was quiet, with the exception of the sound machine humming steadily in the background.  It wasn’t so loud that I couldn’t hear a few birds chirping outside of his window. 

“I know what a bird is.”  That’s what ran through my thought process as I heard the birds singing.  Those were the last words my Nana said to me before she died.  She was in the hospital, and obviously on some pretty strong pain medication. 

“Nana died this morning.”  Those were the words my Aunt Ginny said when I called to talk to my mom.  That’s how I found out she died. 

Subway was for lunch that day.  I ate it in my dad’s living room. 

Death…why can’t I cry?  What is it about me that makes it so I can’t cry?  Oh God… please don’t test me with any more death to see if I will cry.  Please don’t. 

“Hi!”  Thomas was done.  It was time to go downstairs.  It was the end of our little cuddle fest and the end of the wave of thoughts that ran rapidly through my mind.   

After we dropped James off at school we went to Kohl’s.  I have been wanting to get a Valentine pin to wear on my shirt for when Jim takes me to brunch on Valentine’s day.  We walked in and browsed around the jewelry tables, but I didn’t find any.  I saw a lady dusting one of the jewelry cases so I asked her if they had any Valentine pendants.  As soon as I asked her, I thought to myself that she might not understand me.  She looked confused, almost like English wasn’t her first language, but then answered, “Ya know, honey, I haven’t seen any.  Why don’t you ask the lady behind the counter?  She’s more familiar with what we have.”  I felt a little ashamed for thinking that she might not understand me. 

I maneuvered the stroller through the tiny tables of jewelry and turned to find the lady who she was referring to.  She was finishing up a sale with another customer and had her back to me.  I heard her thank the lady and then she turned to her right to face me. 

Time stopped.  Birds.  Death.  Subway.  Tears.  Oh my… Nana. 

I paused and bit my lip.  I pushed the stroller a few steps and turned my head to the side.  Is this going to come out right?

“I’m sorry, ma’am.  I hope this doesn’t sound mean, and I by no means mean for it to, but I haven’t seen my grandmother in so long.”  The tears flowed down my cheeks like someone turned on a sprinkler.  My hand was on the counter, and she gently placed hers on top of it.  It was so soft, so warm, and even with as many germ fears as I have, I was happy. 

“It’s OK, honey,” she said, as if she understood.  There was no need for explanation.  She knew it.  She understood completely.  “Do I look like her?” 

“Exactly,” was my response, as I choked up even more.  “I’m so sorry!  I’m crying!  Oh my!”  I laughed.  I laughed out loud.  Tears strolling down my face, and I started to laugh and apologize to this woman. 

“Where does she live?”  OK… maybe she understood, but she didn’t quite get it all. 

“She died.  It was, well, um, eighteen years ago.  But you look just like her.  I’m so sorry!  I’m crying here!”

The conversation went on for a few more minutes, mostly about me crying, and about how sorry I was for being a strange customer who just walked around the corner to see her and burst into tears.  She was so sweet.  She never let go of my hand.  And she assured me that it was OK.  She got me a few tissues, and she laughed when I did. 

Ends up that they didn’t have the Valentine’s Day pins like I wanted.  It’s OK… I got something more.  Real tears.  And a visit from Nana. 

November 6, 1921 – December 19, 1992

Buying stock in Band-Aid’s

I went through three boxes of Band-Aids during the month of January.  I’m serious, it’s not a joke.  All of them were applied to one small, accident enhanced, four year old boy named James. 

It started out January 13 (lucky 13!) when James was playing with Brock.  He was going in and out and in and out and in and out and on one of the in’s he caught his finger in the door.  I was standing right there when it happened, and as he shook his hand and the blood sprayed across the room like the water does when a dog shakes his body after a bath, my heart skipped a beat.  Jim jumped up, and being freshly trained in all trauma like wounds from his CERT classes, he plopped him on the counter and began administering first aid.  I immediately wanted to take him to the ER, but Jim was much calmer than me. 

We initially thought that he had ripped his finger nail off, but after accessing the damage, we realized that he didn’t rip the fingernail off, just the skin starting at his cuticle and going back towards the first knuckle.  It looked pretty nasty, but there would have been nothing that the doctors could have done that we couldn’t do ourselves.  A few bandages later and he was good to go. 

 I took these pictures tonight before he went to bed. 

I still think it’s going to fall off, but it might not.  I think that when it starts to grow out and the new one starts to grow in, it will fall off. 

The following weekend he was playing with Josh and Brock and I could hear the scream as he was running home.  Tracey (Brock’s mom) was herding him inside and she was covered in his blood.  Seems that he fell in her house and pierced his head, just near his right eye.  He later showed me that he hit a corner as he fell, and right where the floor molding is mitered together is where he hit.  The blood was bad, but it always is with facial or head wounds.  After we got the bleeding under control, we pinched it together to see that all it needed was a little bit of glue, or dermabond, like last time.  Lucky for us, we had some! 

 I think it’s healing quite nicely.  The glue and scab are almost completely gone and it’s only been a little over a week. 

He now has matching scars, one on each side of his eyes.  It looks like I could have pierced him on one side, ran a piece of string through his head, and pulled it out the other side.  I didn’t, but it sure does look like I could have. 

Thankfully, this past weekend was injury free.  I hope that it stays that way for a long time. 

Ryan Royce Martin Arter

 

Many people have asked if there is anything that they can do to help Faith now that her daddy is in Heaven.  There is.  Grammy and Pop have set up a trust for her at the RBC bank in Rockledge. 

RBC Bank
3300 Murrell Road
Rockledge, Fl 32955
Trust for Faith R Arter
C/O Debbie Arter Wieckoski

This poem was written by Aunt Patty.  She read it at Ryan’s funeral.  I asked her if I could share it on my blog and she said yes. 

Ryan was a “gentleman from sole to crown.”
He was kind and mild-mannered. 
His beautiful smile lit up his face
and the room. 
He had the Martin family traits—
His granddad’s twinkling eyes when he was tickled,
and those special photos seemed to capture him
as if he had some cosmic but comic secret. 
He had his grandmother’s gentleness
and his two uncles’ quick humor.
Like them, he loved animals
And all green and growing things.
But most of all he had his mother’s boundless love
Passed onto Faith who in turn
Gives us all Hope,
A glowing reminder of her dear dad. 
Without a doubt Ryan is with God
and is smiling at us
because he now knows what we may not—that
“all will be well…
all will be well…
all manner of thing will be well.”

This picture is one of my favorite pictures of Ryan.  He is holding his God son, Thomas. 

Father King said it best during the funeral when he said, “Ryan is untouchable now.  If Ryan wanted to come back now, he wouldn’t.”  I have to believe that’s true.

Have I lost it?

Well, I think I have.  In fact, I haven’t mentioned what I am about to post for the world to see to anyone yet.  Nope, not anyone, and yet here I sit at the computer, typing it out for everyone and their brother to see.  Ready?

I am thinking of running the Peachtree road race this year.  Yep…There.  I said it.  I want to run. 

Now, after you pick yourself up off the floor, and before you call 911 to have me admitted to the hospital, hear me out. 

1) I used to be a fairly athletic person.  (Yes, cheerleading is a sport!  But I was also a gymnast, ballerina, and warmed the bench quite well for those softball players on my team.)

2) Running is healthy.  And it’s the “in” thing.

3) It’s only 10K, which is roughly just over 6 miles.  The circle here at Legacy Park is 2 miles, and I can run that.  Slowly.  Very, very slowly. 

4) I want to.  And honestly, that’s the most important thing, right?  I want to. 

So, now that it’s out and everyone can read this, what do you think?  Anyone want to join me?  I betcha anything Jim will.  But that just leaves me to wonder who’s gonna watch my kids?

Mirror Image?

I was doing some cleaning the night before Thomas’s first birthday, and by complete accident came across some pictures of me, Jim, my dad, and James, all on our first birthday.  I, well my mom, made a poster and hung it up for all of our friends to see. 

It’s real easy to compare Thomas to my dad because their birthdays are just a few days apart.  I will always be able to tell by the season that they are the same age, where James and Thomas were born in different seasons.  He will never look like his older brother in his Santa pictures.  This is my dad on his first birthday. 

I have no idea why his parents dressed him in short sleeves and shorts, but they did.  Maybe because it was a cute outfit.  Please note that he’s also standing.  Not sure if this means he was walking by his first birthday or not.  Thomas can take steps, but isn’t exactly walking yet. 

I wasn’t able to take the pictures out of Jim’s album without tearing them.  I scanned this page that Pam made for him. 

This is me on my first birthday. 

James on his first birthday.  

And Thomas on his first birthday.

Marshmallow roast

It got pretty cold here the past few nights.  My mom and step-dad came up here the day after Christmas and stayed until yesterday.  While they were here we built a big fire in the chiminea.  As luck would have it, I had a new bag of marshmallows in the pantry. 

Thomas loved the fire, which was kind of scary to me.  Like father, like son, I guess. 

Somehow I ended up roasting mine and my moms.  She said it was too cold to go outside. 

We both like ours burnt. 

Everyone had a great time. 

Happy Birthday Thomas!

My sweet baby Thomas turned one today.  Oh how I love this little boy.  He has brought such joy to my life. 

Richard Thomas Roe, December 29, 2008, 11:18 AM, 7lbs, 11 oz., 19.25 inches. 

My sweet angel face.  Happy Birthday, baby boy. 

He wasn’t quite sure about the cake, though it looks like he dug right into it. 

After about one minute of the mess he started to cry.  He didn’t get any of it in his mouth.  He had a few bites of mine after he was all cleaned up, though, and enjoyed that.