Change and Pumpkins

Things change. I know this. Sometimes it's harder than other times. Sometimes the changes are for the better and sometimes they are for the worse and sometimes, most of the times, they just are.

For 15 years, I'm pretty sure that's our streak, we have carved pumpkins (or A pumpkin depending on how many of us there were). For 5 years, Anitra and the kids have carved pumpkins with us. For 4 of those years, we went to the pumpkin patch, with my work, and picked out our own pumpkins from the big field of pumpkins. Last year was tough. No Anitra for the pumpkin patch and no Big R for pumpkin carving. That was a BIG change. A hard change. A not so great change. 

This year, Steve and I were in Vegas for my work's pumpkin patch visit. We decided not to go to the patch and just get pumpkins from the store. Okay...tough change for some of the kiddos and I. Miss R decided she didn't want to participate in pumpkin carving. That's okay; she's getting older and some family traditions are either hard to accept without Mom. A change that I'm having a harder time accepting then I'd like to admit. 

Steve had promised G that he would take her to the haunted house and of course tonight is the last night they are open. Not an okay change. Now we're missing Steve, Big R, and G. I took a deep breath, sucked it up, and carried on. 

The rest of us, plus Ms. Kylie, carved our pumpkins, gutted them out, seeds will be roasting tomorrow. The boys argued over what would be the most epic design, G picked the girl pumpkin design since she would not be able to help us carve it. Tai was, as always, super helpful! 

We had a good time. Little R cannot wait until she can carve more of the pumpkin on her own. She is a master gutter though! Ms. K was a delightful addition to our "party". She is really like one of the family and we cannot imagine her not being with us for these fun events. 

This pumpkin carving season will probably not be our most memorable. We survived it...and sometimes, that's the best I can say. Next year, we will be going back to the pumpkin patch and picking out our own pumpkins. I don't know if Big R will come home and carve with us next year, but she will always be welcome to. Ms. K (and her momma)will hopefully still be able to join us. The rest of the family will be here and we will banter back and forth, elbow each other, argue over who gets which knife, and make a great big mess. 

Sometimes, change shows us that we need to keep things the same. 

Let's Pretend...

With the weather getting colder and it getting darker out earlier, I have noticed two things...G and the boys play outside a LOT more. Interesting since Mr. A is always freezing and trying to wear pants in the summer but somehow finds it fun to wear shorts during the colder days, but that wasn't the point. The other thing I notice is that the little girls are more comfortable playing inside than out. I sense it is the dark that brings them in more than the chill in the air. It works for me either way.

What I hear tonight as the two 7 year old girls begin play time is "let's pretend..." The ... because it is followed by so many things, rarely being the same thing. Each sentence seems to begin with "let's pretend." It can be something as simple as "let's pretend I'm the mom and you're the daughter," "let's pretend that we're sisters," "let's pretend that you got in trouble," "let's pretend I just got home from work." "Let's pretend that I don't have any mom or dad and that you found me." That one makes sense because they have both experienced profound losses in their young little life's.

Hearing these "let's pretends" make me smile. From the very silly pretends to the more silly ones, it brightens my day. I love that these little angels aren't affected by the scary news of the day with shootings, kidnappings, starving children, healthcare reform, shut down governments, stock prices, you name it. I love that they are allowed to pretend in their worlds and that the problems that they have are no bigger than what their imaginations allow.

At least during those moments, at least when they are together and playing nicely and all is well in their worlds. It's easy to get swept up into and it's a joy to hear. 

A boy & A Cat

I received a frantic call from Ariez yesterday morning. It went kind of like this: 

A: Aunt Sami, I found Raj (a small yellow kitty we had but went missing while on vacation)!

M: What do you mean you found Raj? Where are you? What are you doing?

A: I'm at school in Ms. room and he was outside at PE and he was meowing at the door and we have to get him because it's Raj!

M: Ummm...I'm not really sure what to tell you...I'm at work and I can't leave and I don't even know if it is Raj and what are we supposed to do with this cat? 

A: We could bring it in and lock it in a room in the school until you can come get it...

No. We can't do that. So I calmed him down and told him that he should wait until after school and look around for the kitty and see if it really was Raj. 

Fast forward to after school. I get a text that goes like this:

Tai: Mom, Ariez brought this cat home and he says it's Jasper (a black/grey kitten we had but went missing a couple of weeks ago) and it's not Jasper but he won't believe me. 

M: Are you sure it's not Jasper? 

T: YES! It's not the right color and it doesn't meow the same. It's NOT Jasper. And now Ariez is going crazy? 

(Going crazy can mean a variety of things in our lives. Telling me someone is acting crazy does not narrow down an exact action, moment, feeling. It's a little hard to read what kind of crazy we are talking about. That's an important thing to clarify when announcing someone as crazy in our house.)

T: He's outside with that cat and he's calling me mean because I won't let him in the house again and he is just NOT accepting that this cat is NOT Jasper!

M: Wait...is this the same cat that he called me about this morning? He said it was Raj. Where did this cat come from?

T: He said he saw him at the school and he picked him up and carried him home.

I don't know what to do with this information. Maybe it IS Jasper and Tai is wrong. If it's not Jasper, Ariez is going to be so sad. What do I do with this cat that is now at my house. Did Ariez catnap another person's pet? 

M: Ok...this is what we're going to do. We are going to let Ariez think this cat is Jasper and we are going to let it go inside and outside, just like Halo. If the cat has a home, he will go back to it. If he doesn't have a home, we'll feed him and Ariez will be so excited. Just don't argue with him anymore. 

An hour later, I am home and this cat is CLEARLY not Jasper. Ariez and I have a very good talk and it's determined that this poor cat really does need to go back to where he got him from because somebody else is probably really missing him. All of his intentions were good but we can't just keep a cat that might belong to someone else. 

Steve and I take the cat back to where Ariez says he was. Steve opens the door and lets him out. He turns and looks at us and meows a couple of times and saunters away and goes right to the door of a house and meows. The cat has returned home after a grand adventure of a day.