The Anniversary Night

First off, let me say thank you for all of your anniversary wishes and your lovely comments about our picture. That was taken by a lovely couple with a small child who returned the favor for us in Brugge, Belgium. Buttons was supposed to be in the picture as well, but she just was not in the mood. And since there are so few pictures of Hubby and me I was satisfied.

Life is good and on this blog I mostly highlight those experiences. Oh, life is still good but sometimes there are blips and I feel I should post about those too. Perhaps by the title of the post you thought this would be X-rated. Let me assure you it won't be.

On the day of our anniversary, I went with Buttons to an inside playground with the grandchildren of our hosts and C, their grandma (boma -sp?)). I figured Buttons would enjoy it and she wouldn't have a nap but would be tired enough to go to sleep right after we came home from our lovely dinner.

Instead, I fell asleep while I was putting her to bed. Buttons woke me up around 10:30 by screaming, then she fell asleep again. Then she woke up inconsolable and hubby went in for at least 45 minutes to calm her down. After she settled down, Hubby was tired and went to bed.

At that point I was very awake and needed a bit of unwind time. I found "Minority Report" on the BBC: a decent movie in English! So, I watched until Buttons screamed, then settled after I went in, screamed again then settled after I went in and the next time she screamed I tried to wake her up a bit to talk and find out what was wrong.

"I miss my friends and I miss my cat." Yes, my girl is very homesick and it's showing up all over the place, but most prominently in her bed. So, I decide that for her sake I will sleep with her in the double bed. I also decide that while not the typical way to spend an anniversary night, Hubby may consider it a gift to get some sleep before he goes to work in the morning.

So on our anniversary night I slept next to my kicking daughter who shouted at me and did not appreciate what I thought to be a good thing. Hubby did appreciate the sleep and Buttons was in a good mood when she woke up in the morning so it did work as a bit of a gift. However we were all sleepy and so after taking a nap yesterday I thought Buttons would not be over-tired for bed time. Yeah, she wasn't even tired and didn't go to sleep until around 11pm.

So, the anniversary night didn't go as planned, but it did include all of us and I wouldn't change having the family I do.

By the way, C & J (our hosts) offered to watch Buttons for us so Hubby and I could go out and while I trust them completely, Buttons is just too anxious about being without us here for that to work.
Of course, as it turned out she didn't get much sleep anyway.

The good news is that in July, we're going to my step-brother's wedding in Michigan and Hubby and I will go to Stratford, Ontario for 2 nights while Buttons stays and plays with my mom, her partner, their two dogs and their new puppy! I'm going to miss Buttons very much, but I am looking forward to having a different sort of anniversary night.

June 4th

14 years ago today we said I do.
I'm so glad we did.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Who needs a sweet treat when you have a daughter with cute feet?
Here are snippets from our day...
Buttons made a valentine at school that she couldn't wait to give us.
We gave her some bubble bath, silly putty, a "token" of candy, a hand made card and she thanked us profusely.
It was wonderful to see the pure joy on her face from these simple gifts.
We had fun and silliness making sugar cookies.
We sang songs, dance and twirled around the living room.
When Hubby came home, the two of them played hid and I was in charge of seeking.
I'm a lucky woman, guys.
Hope your day was a love fest too.
Currently, Buttons and Hubby are playing tag and there is much giggling.
Uh-oh...I'm it!

20 Years? Really?

Hubby and I had our very first kiss 20 years ago today and we've been together ever since. No we weren't 10, but we were young. If I can figure out how to get old pictures into our computer, I'll post an old school pic sometime. For now, this picture is as retro as we get. It's just before we went to meet Buttons. Our plate is pretty full today with pre-school, picking up our CSA, and swimming lessons but we're all going to dinner at a nice place that is also kid friendly.

I don't say too much about Hubby because he's pretty private, but he is a wonderful husband and father. He is thoughtful, caring, funny and loving. I'll tell you just one of my favorite things about him. When we're in the middle of a disagreement, he will often give me a hug. Not to shut me up, not to make what we're discussing unimportant, but a genuine I-love-you hug. He's a fairly quiet person, so it takes people a while to get to know him so let me just tell you he's the best. I used to say I didn't deserve him, then I said no one else could deserve him either. Now I can certainly think of ways to be a better partner to him, but I think we deserve each other. This change in thinking is not because he's changed for the worse, it's because by being with him I've changed for the better and I have more confidence in large part due to our relationship. Like I said, he's wonderful.

I've been thinking about this prose by Kahlil Gibran, which was read by my mom at our wedding and I hope you like it too.

Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

~Kahlil Gibran