Thursday, August 5, 2010

It's a Fine Line

About a month ago we traveled to the San Diego area for my cousin Tim's wedding. It was a fantastic vacation. In the week leading up to the wedding, we camped at the beach which means lots of sand play, swimming, boogie boarding and shell hunting. In other words... tons of fun for the five Allen children. My aunt and uncle camped there as well, along with my cousin, Tamara and her husband and their sweet baby. There were also plenty of visits from other family
members and friends including the bride and groom-to-be. I even went for a couple of runs along the coast. We enjoyed every minute of it. OK, that might be a slight exaggeration. I suppose I didn't enjoy the constant stream of sand and sea water into our camper or Quinn's perpetually dirty little body. I also would have enjoyed seeing a little bit of blue sky and sunshine; the sun was elusive, waiting to make a reappearance until the day we left the beach. But the company was enough to make up for the little inconveniences that accompany camping with 5 children. Of course our two middle boys (the family extroverts) were completely in their element. Lots of attention to be had, and darn it they were gonna do whatever was necessary to get it. They both made fast friends with the other children in the campground. Owen would walk the dog of a family friend, and stop and ask pretty girls along the way if they wanted to pet his dog. Evan would accompany family friend, Pat on his morning walks down to the store to get the paper.

Let me just say that while most people find the boys charming, they can, on occasion, become a royal pain a little bothersome. Most folks, for example, aren't usually fans of Evan jumping onto their back without warning (a common stunt of his). And in a party filled with mostly adults and a handful of children, it isn't an adult's idea of a good time to be stuck chatting with 8 year old Owen all evening... cause he will chat with you all evening if you let him. The fine line between charming go-getter and annoying pest can sometimes blur, and it's this mother's (very exhausting) job to make sure they stay on the 'charming' side of the line.

At the wedding, Owen and Evan were in an extrovert's paradise... lots of new people, music & dancing. As the band began to play, I would say without a doubt that Owen was turning on the charm. He told my aunt how nice she looked and asked her for a dance. He asked a pretty woman if she would like to go for a walk with him... with her boyfriend's permission, of course.

I lost track of Evan for a while until someone came over to compliment me on what a good dancer he was. As it turns out, Evan has some pretty slick moves. People were approaching me and asking me to get him cause he had to come dance to this song. As he would dance people would gather around and say, "Go, Evan" or "Work it out, Evan". One girl even asked if she could get a picture with him. I realize it's a little ridiculous, but by the end of the evening he was writing his name and number on pretty young women's arms (although he didn't know his area code... he is only six, after all).
The evening's attention must have gone to his head, because when I went out to dance with him, he said, "I have to go talk to some people", and left his momma hangin' on the dance floor.

Evidently his little ego was a bit inflated by all the autograph requests & photo ops, not to mention the attention he was getting from all the pretty girls. We all want our children to be confident, right? It's a slippery slope between confident and obnoxious, however.

Zack and I often wonder how he and I ended up with these two children who are so very different from either one of us. There must have been some very recessive genes lurking in there just waiting to explode into these little boys. It's mostly fun and sometimes really tiring to have two huge personalities like theirs in our home, and it sure does make a dull moment difficult to come by! I just have to find the energy (and enough duct tape) to make it through the next TWELVE YEARS!





Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Memories are all we have

I will miss the Grandma of my youth. The Grandma who traveled the world. The Grandma who loved to read and learn and teach. I will miss watching her laugh as she danced around the room to Irish jigs. I will miss the songs she sang to me. I will miss watching her love my babies.


The Grandma of my youth has been gone for some time. She was taken from us little by little, piece by piece. We watched as dementia stole her life... for what is life without memories? Today her body has left this world, but her mind has been leaving us for years.

She has left us some treasures... not money or jewels or heirlooms. She has left us her heart... it lives on in her children, and their children, and even
their children. One need only look at the wonderful people that she had a part in creating to see what a blessing her life has been.