December 13, 2007 | Mama Smith

blisters and more...

What inspired me to come home and rake our entire backyard for over an hour while the boys slept, after just running three miles in this near 80 degree heat, pushing that annoyingly huge stroller with both hefty kiddos….were memories of this:

Our backyard this summer when we first visited the house. And also memories of this:

Unbelievably, that very same backyard being bulldozed and transformed into a massive mud pit this fall.

I have hated our backyard with a passion. It’s full of boulders, shards of glass and whatever other trash the previous owners felt like chucking in their jungle of a yard. But we raked and leveled and planted grass, crossing our fingers that it might fight against all odds and offer us some sense of beauty when we looked out our back windows.

As winter began, the walnut trees then covered our yard in a thick layer of leaves, with no sign of any sprouted grass, our meager faith was crushed.

That is, until Matthew uncovered a small patch of struggling green grass as his shed building project began.

I wanted a real yard. Badly. So this afternoon I raked and huffed and developed these two nasty blisters on each hand that prevent me from stretching my hands open or closed in any real capacity…in hopes that just maybe there would be more grass hiding elsewhere under all those leaves. And that is just what I found. We now officially have a yard. A real green yard. Once the shed is completed this weekend, we’ll get a picture or two up.

the flashlight

Yes, there are more adventures in the tale of the firetruck flashlight. Last night at 2am I hear bumping and banging downstairs. I tell Matthew I’m going to check it out, and being the good husband he is…he allows me to go….unarmed…in my undies and a tank top. Thankfully the banging was, yet again, coming from Brighton’s room. I crack the door to find a light shining from under the bed. Upon inspection, I find B crawling around, flashlight in hand, gather books and toys. “Umm, Brighton? What are you doing, buddy?” “Racing cars, Mama”. Duh, what else would he be doing at 2AM?!? Maybe it’s the flashlight we need to get rid of, not the pacifier.

christmas candy

Tonight I made batches of my mom’s famous Christmas toffee. I distinctly remember being 5 years old and watching her making pan after pan of this candy to carefully wrap in colored cellophane and give to our grade school teachers. And being highly irritated when she forced me to give a batch to the purple-tinted, beehive-haired old women in our aftercare program, which I had deemed “The Puppy Pound”. They did not deserve such a delicacy after banning me to the boys room for nap time after I kept making my girl friends giggle in our room. Or after ruining my favorite meal of macaroni and cheese by adding those foul, off-colored green peas from a can to the bowl. Ah, fond memories. Four sheets lay cooling on our counter and I hope there will be some left to share with my family when they arrive in a few days.

So that’s been our Wednesday. Enjoying the warmth while it lasts before supposedly needing to bundle up this weekend. Poor Mom & Dad, they were so hoping for some heat after leaving chilly, drizzly London. Maybe we’ll get another heat wave before they head out again.