On Mother's Day, We Ran Away :)

Take one known-for-his-spontaneity husband who randomly suggests things at the last minute, one holiday in which a mother can feel like she can express her wishes and do what she wants, one family that hadn't been on any trips--long or short--for quite a long time, one gorgeous Sunday with perfect weather, one pastor who is understanding of a family's need for time together, and what do you get?

Well, this.  :)

 A "wouldn't it be great if we could," "hey, maybe we can!", tossed-around-the-idea-of-on-Saturday, executed-on-Sunday, one-day Fisher family get-away to Blackwater Falls in West Virginia!  :)  And so, my Mother's Day was spent doing this...  :)

 Jeff cooked bacon for us at home in the morning; and that, combined with delicious cinnamon buns from my kind friend Sally, made a scrumptious breakfast for us.  We packed a picnic lunch to take along and then set off, headed west through the mountains in search of beautiful scenery, a splendid waterfall, and most of all, family memories in the making.

 Can you tell that Moriah has it SO rough, being the only girl?  ;-)

 Jeff and I had been to Blackwater Falls, but that was nearly eight years ago when we were celebrating our 10th anniversary.  I was pregnant with Tobin at the time; but other than him, none of our other kids had ever been there (and his recollection was dim, to say the least).  ;-)

 We had mentioned the word "hike" in relation to this adventure, and the boys were prepared.  David, Tobin, and Shav insisted that they each take a backpack, even when we said it really wasn't necessary and the walk to the waterfall wasn't that long.  David even found a nice walking stick to use on the trail.  :)  Later, David confessed that he was somewhat disappointed at the ease of the walk!!  :)

 Moriah had been complaining sporadically about her foot hurting, and I just KNEW she wouldn't want to walk by herself--at least, not for long.  Visions of carrying her in our arms up and down the path haunted me, until I remembered this child carrier we have.  Jeff got the honor ;-) of carrying her in it, and she LOVED it.  She seriously did not want to get out of it, even after our walk was over.  :)

 The way down to the waterfall is the easy part.  It tricks one into thinking, "Oh, this isn't bad at all!"  ;-)

Moriah liked this little stuffed animal that we attached to the carrier many years ago.  

 I'm not entirely sure what the boys chose to carry in their backpacks, but I do know that in Shav's was a Batman costume and mask.  Everybody knows THAT is essential for such an expedition!!  ;-)

 The spectacular waterfall coming into view...

I can't think of any place I would have rather spent this Mother's Day!  :)

 Just being there is magnificent...

...the roar of the water...

 ...the spray in the air...

 ...the view of that much water rushing over the rocks.

 I've been to Niagara Falls; and of course, this doesn't compete in size or volume.  But it's still impressive--to me, at least.  :)

 We talked with a few different friendly folks along the way, including this dog...I mean, a couple who happened to have a dog, a goldendoodle, who instantly became the center of attention for my kids. :)  Even Moriah got to pet him, thanks to a daddy who was willing to lean down and break his back so she could reach the dog.  ;-)

 As we started to go back up the trail, the others had gone ahead of me (surprise, surprise!); and an old man with white hair and beard caught my eye and started telling me about how he used to go in the river and swim at the base of the falls.  He pointed out a large rock that he used to jump into the water from, about 30 or 40 years ago (I wonder if it might not have been longer ago than that!).  ;-) Thanks to safety measures like boarded-in walks and signs urging you to stick to the path, you just can't do that anymore (although my boys would have loved it!).

 As we neared the top, another older man spotted us and began the conversation by saying something like, "Don't tell me all these kids are yours!"  When I smiled big and nodded, he started counting them aloud; and then I chimed in to make sure he knew that #6 was on the way.  What I had originally feared was going to be an unpleasant encounter changed quickly, and he and his wife were very pleasant and complimentary.  We chatted for a minute or two, then they wished me a happy Mother's Day and went on their way.  I've discovered that many times (not at all, but many), if I respond to such queries with joy and gratitude and love for my children overflowing, it transforms the conversation from a "woe art thou, for thou hast so many children" kind of thing into a "wow, you are truly blessed" encounter.  I love letting the love I have for my children shine in obvious ways to others; and I hope that somewhere along the way, others will be inspired to love and appreciate their own children more!  :)

 Tobin and Shav were interested in exploring this "cave" and seeing if there were any bears in it.  There was one, as a matter of fact.  It was a Tobin Bear.  ;-)

Jeff rewarded us all with ice cream at the top; and although the path down to the falls was mostly shady and fairly pleasant, it was hot at the top so we all appreciated the cool refreshment.  :)

Moriah really wanted to stay in the carrier.

 So we let her.  :)

After we looked around in the gift shop and the boys chose some trinkets to buy with their own money, we climbed back into the van and headed east again, over the mountains and through the valleys, admiring the incredible beauty of our neighboring state, and laughing our way across the miles to our own home sweet home.  As we rolled along, Josiah said something to the effect of, "This is the best day trip we've ever had."

I happen to think he just might be right about that.  ;-)

Return to Blogging

Jeff surprised me by not only getting home early from work today (a pleasant surprise, all on its own!), but by carrying something special in his arms as he walked through the door.

A new (to us) computer!!

Since our old dinosaur of a computer bit the dust recently, my blogging has taken a nosedive because that was the computer I used for most of my blogging.  I guess Jeff was in a hurry for me to start blogging again because it didn't take him long to replace that ancient computer!  ;-)

I'm still getting used to the ins and outs of this new one.  Some things are better, and some things...well...when I get used to them, they'll be better, too!  ;-)  

For tonight, I'll simply post one of my favorite pictures I took this evening and then devote a little more time to trying to figure this thing out.  Hopefully soon I'll be back to my normal pattern of more frequent posts!  :)

A Sentimental Springtime Walk

I intended this to be a Wordless Wednesday post; but here it is, early Friday morning, and I'm just now able to finish it up.  The computer problems I mentioned in the last post have persisted; and the worst part is that the main (perhaps only?) symptom of the disease that has struck the computer is that, at any moment while you're using the computer, it can randomly decide to up and quit on you!  I find my heart rate slightly elevated even now as I type this.  Will the screen suddenly black out?  Or will I be able to finish this post tonight?  Oh, the suspense!!  ;-)

Well, to increase my odds of successfully finishing this while the computer is still in the mood to cooperate, I'm going to limit my comments in it.  You can read in previous posts (The Walk in 2012, and in 2013, and in 2014) about the significance of the lilacs to me and the specialness of this annual photo shoot with Moriah and the lilacs.  I won't repeat that all here.  :)

As you can see, the sun was pretty bright in the first spot we went to, so after a little bit, we moved further down the row of bushes and found a shadier area.  :)

Lilacs do have a lovely scent!  :)

I tried to get a good picture with Moriah holding the vase I always use (I use it because my mother always used it) for lilac bouquets, but even though it didn't have any water in it, Moriah still thought it was too, too heavy.  Next year, it will be easier for her.  ;-)

I also tried to get a selfie, something I am not extremely skilled at with this camera.  At least we're both in this picture (unlike some of my selfie-with-Moriah attempts!).  ;-)

 I love her eyelashes.  I pretty much love everything about her.  ;-)

 She was actually giving me a kiss, despite it appearing like she's trying to take a bite out of my cheek!  ;-)

And with that, our cherished annual walk to the backyard to pick lilacs was over.

 Until next year, beautiful blooms!!  :)

Technical Difficulties

In case anyone has wondered about my recent lack of blog posts, this should clear it up: I've been having technical difficulties!  Our computer that I use for most of my blogging (because it's connected to my external hard drive that is the storage for my photos and because it has Picasa, the photo editing software I use, on it) has been mysteriously afflicted with a strange disease and wasn't working at all for a few days.  Jeff, the computer doctor, managed to resurrect it somewhat today; but tonight it won't load my pictures into the blog post I was trying to do.  Well, let me rephrase that: it loaded ONE picture.  Why it let this one through and not any of the others, I'll never know.  At least it's a cute picture!  ;-)

Hopefully I'll figure out some way to get back to more regular blogging soon.  (And speaking of blogging, it JUST dawned on me today that we are well into May and I still don't have a new header ready, nor do I know what pictures I'm going to use in it.  One more thing to accomplish tomorrow.  Maybe.)  ;-)

When Little Fish(ers) Speak...

I used to be more faithful at recording little bits and pieces of my children's conversations that made me smile or somehow touched my heart in a special way, but I've gotten out of the habit of jotting those things down.  About a month ago, I decided that it would be worthwhile to get back into the habit of that, so I started paying a little more attention to what my kids said and made a little more effort to write those things down.  I'm not saying this is the start of a new series of blog posts (series make me nervous because they seem SO HARD to keep up with), but maybe I'll do better at remembering to record these little blurbs for posterity!

Tobin, 4/2/15 - We were looking at a picture of ancient coins (see below), and Tobin blurted out, "Those are weird-looking nickels!"  Well, yes, they would be indeed...if they were nickels.  But since the nickel coin wasn't invented until 1866 and these particular coins date from roughly 2,200 years before that, I don't think we can exactly lump them together.  ;-)

Moriah, 4/3/15 - While riding in the van, Shav had referred to Moriah as a baby, and Tobin had corrected him by saying she was really a toddler.  Her response?  "No, I'm a MORIAH!"  That you are, my dear, and there's no one else like you!  :)

Moriah, 4/4/15 - Moriah has heard Josiah and David call shotgun numerous times as we're getting ready to go somewhere (which puzzles me somewhat, because I don't remember calling shotgun ever being a big deal for me as a kid, but it sure is for them!).  On this day, as we were heading out the door, she called out, "I ride in the shotgun!"  Which is not quite the same as calling shotgun, but in either case, the sweet girl wasn't allowed to ride in the front seat nor ride inside a gun.  ;-)

Tobin, 4/9/15 - The kids had emptied all the laundry out of the laundry chute and were digging through it; when Tobin reached the floor under the pile, he said, "I've hit bedrock!"  I knew excavating under the laundry pile was a pretty huge endeavor, but I didn't quite realize until then what a massive undertaking it really was!  ;-)

Tobin, 4/9/15 - Because it was Moriah's birthday, I had given each of the kids three M&M's as a special treat after lunch.  They were discussing the colors they had been given; and Josiah said, "Yellow and red make orange!"  Five or so seconds later, Tobin said, in all earnestness, "And red and yellow make orange!"  He's brilliant, he is.  ;-)

Tobin, 4/17/15 - It was David's birthday; and as we sat around the table eating ice cream from Kline's, our favorite local ice cream shop, we were discussing Josiah's upcoming birthday.  "He's going to be a teeny!" Tobin exclaimed.  Uh, do you mean a teenager?  ;-)

And then there are the ones that move my heart...

Sometime back in March, Shav said this about his sister: "Moriah's probably the cutest -- that I've ever seen -- two-year-old in the whole world!"  I'm inclined to agree with him.  :)

Shav, 4/24/15 - One evening at bedtime, I was spending a little extra time chatting with Tobin and Shav, and it was one of those their-hearts-are-soft-so-don't-waste-this-opportunity times.  At one point in the conversation, Shav asked in a forlorn voice, "What if I get lost in heaven?"  At first, I wasn't sure what direction to go in my response: maybe I should mention that I would likely die first and be there to greet him when he arrived, or maybe I should point out that in heaven we will know fully so there wouldn't be any chance of getting lost, or maybe something else.  But I finally decided to simply point out that Jesus would be there to welcome him and take care of him.  Surprisingly to me, Shav wasn't tremendously comforted by that; after all, Shav has never seen Jesus and seemed afraid that he wouldn't recognize Him.  But then Tobin insightfully reminded Shav that Uncle Jay will be there, and that--more than anything else--brought sweet comfort to Shav's anxious heart.  :)

Finally, to end, here's one that my kids have taken great delight in reminding me of during the past few days because I guess it's fun to see that Mom makes mistakes, too.   ;-)

Moriah, 5/2/15 - It was a Saturday with a number of errands to run, which means lots of in-and-out of the van.  The day was going along pretty smoothly, and we were taking David to gymnastics (and had been traveling during that particular trip for maybe 7 or 8 minutes) when Moriah piped up, in a concerned tone of voice, from her seat directly behind me, "Mommy, I'm not buckled!"  REALLY?  I thought for sure I had buckled her, but I guess I had buckled her so many times already that day that it seemed like I had done it for that trip when, in fact, I had not!  (And it wasn't because Moriah had unbuckled herself because the buckle in that particular car seat is HARD to do.)  I felt terrible, of course, but couldn't do anything about it at that point while I was driving; but we happened to be stopping at a stoplight, so I asked David to unbuckle really quickly and scoot back to sit beside Moriah and buckle her before returning to his seat.  He did so, and we went on our way.  A couple of minutes later, Moriah called in a voice that expressed even more concern than her original comment, "Mommy, my Craisins are buckled!!"  :)  Sure enough, in his haste to buckle her, David had put the straps right over top of the paper towel that was holding her snack of Craisins in her lap.  She couldn't get them out, and I wasn't willing to take the risk of having David unbuckle again, just to help her rescue her Craisins, so they rode snugly between her and the seatbelt, all the way to gymnastics.  But hey, at least the Craisins were safe!!  ;-)