Talks
November,
I remember reading many many books before Brenda and I got married, on how to be a step parent and then reading more books and a ton of articles before Evan was born. One of the best sites I found was art of manliness; they have a ton of great articles, on that I really enjoyed was the importance of establishing traditions (http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/10/09/creating-a-positive-family-culture-the-importance-of-establishing-family-traditions/). I think routine and schedule is helpful for balancing a life full of competing priorities one way to keep routine throughout the years is to create traditions Brenda and I have created some pretty great ones, and they all seem to start about this time of year
We kicked off the fall season, after Dad came back from San Diego for work, with Apple Picking. This year we tried a new orchard in Maryland. The orchard was small but quaint and quiet; we quickly filled 2 huge bags of apples, and then goofed off playing tag/chase through the orchard trees. The birds are heading south this time of year in VA, so we got to see a huge flock probably 300 birds move from tree to tree in the large trees behind the orchard.
After the orchard, we were starving, so we headed to a little country store, who owned the orchard, back up the road. They didn’t have much to eat as far as full meals so we got doughnuts, honey sticks, and cookies. We all sat on an old rickety wooden picnic table eating and chatting; the air was damp and a little chill was about, as it had just rained that morning. But what a great moment; all of us just spending time talking watching the cool, silly and new things the kids do After we ate the shop owner let us all head around the back of the store to a little farm play area, there were tunnels made from drainage pipes, a wooden tractor to climb on, goats to feed and pet and a few other farm style attractions. The kids played for at least an hour; got completely covered in mud and dirt and loved every single second of it.
Evan is a dancer and a worker, the kid doesn’t stop, ever for one single second I mean ever! He goes and goes and goes. He has a favorite song, when can I see you again by owl city, he heard it on the Wreck it Ralph move and he cannot get enough of it. We will play it on repeat over and over and over in the 6 seconds from the song fading out to it starting again he gets to frustrated he folds in half pouting or just lays on the floor with an angry face; then the song starts again and he is back up and at em’ arms swinging in the air, legs in a wide stance bouncing up and down. I never get tired of watching him dance, it fills my heart with so much joy and happiness, and truthfully I never get tired of that song either lol. When he’s not dancing, climbing everything, or destroying something he is busy fixing everything. An old cabinet, a bike in the garage, the entertainment center and his toy cars have all been fixed by EvanJ what an amazing imagination and what a work ethic deeply engrained in his DNA, I guess, or maybe he just likes to mimic his daddy. We always seem to be working something in the house, now it’s the foyer stairs.
Traditions and routine are amazing, but it’s the talking that I really enjoy, talking about old memories while building new and talking to your kids to remind them that they are the center of your world.