How he says 'I love you'

Theo was the first to greet me on mother's day.  We were in a hotel in Nashville (for a family wedding) and I opened my eyes to find Theo leaning over me.  He smiled and said, "Happy mother's day.....Gretch."  Hmm. 

A few days later he was doing something rather sweet (what that sweet thing he was doing has been lost) and I said, "Oh, Theo, where were we lucky enough to find you?" His immediate answer:  Your uterus.  Then back to playing.  But I did catch him giving me a little backwards glance, trying to see how his mom was reacting to this new sass-a-frass side of him.  And he found me smiling. 

I'm pretty sure this new trend of witty little toss-backs with a smart aleck edge are just pre-teen Theo's way of telling me how much he loves me. Right?

Nature Walking

One fine day this spring (ok, it wasn't a fine day, but after a big storm, the sky turned blue for at least an hour and we jumped at it) Theo and I took off for the river to see what we could see.  I mean, when you live next to the Mississippi, one of the greatest rivers in the world, you should walk along it every now and then.  When I tossed the idea out to Theo, I wasn't sure if he'd go for it.  But he was enthusiastic, quickly packed himself up a 'nature-watching kit' and we were off.  It wasn't until we were down by the river that I took a look in this bag.  This is what he had:  two butterfly nets, binoculars, camera, flashlight (for looking into dark holes), extra batteries, a sharpie, and a cowbell.  A cowbell?  He told me, with just a touch of disdain, "Mom, it's for scaring off the bears."  He didn't say 'duh', but he was thinking it.  And why shouldn't he take bear precautions- afterall, two times this past spring my parents' home in Hudson suffered from bear attacks- their bird feeder poles were bent in half as if they were made of pipe cleaners, not iron.  Large footprints were left in the snow, and golf balls were found gnawed in half.  I never thought of bears as wildlife we might spot in St. Paul, but now I'm not so sure.  You might find me packing my cowbell on future outings. For the record, we did not need it this day- what we did need was our rubber boots.  The river was still real high and we had to hop our way around puddles and over logs.  Didn't see much wildlife of any kind, actually, but it was fabulous to be out in the woods with my sweet guy and his cowbell.

A little hole opened up in his heart

A week ago today we got up at 4am to usher our Russian son/brother/friend out into the car and to the airport and back to his true home in Kazan, Tartarstan.  Both my boys woke up without any hassle, came downstairs and sat around bleary-eyed and silent as final items were tucked into suitcases and backpacks.  Then Ildar gave out hugs all around and walked out of our lives.  Theo looked up at me and said, "Mom, I feel a little hole opening up in my heart."  Me too, kiddo. As Jon and Ildar pulled away from the curb, I trundled Theo and Eli up to my bed to try to get a bit more sleep before we faced the day, and after quite a bit of tossing and turning, we all fell asleep.  I woke up a few hours later and watched my boys come back to conciousness.  I saw Theo give himself a sort of mental patdown, checking his body and soul for areas that hurt.  Then he humphed, opened his eyes, and quietly said, "I thought I'd be really sad, but Mom, I'm not.  With skype and email, Ildar is not so far away after all." 

Fruitshare

This winter we got an email from our CSA asking if we wanted to add a fruit share to our weekly delivery.  The price seemed kind of high given that they type of fruit you got each week is unknown.  But we were deep into a fruit-starved Minnesota winter and the thought of a box of freshly picked organic fruit showing up on our doorstep each week in deep summer was too hard to resist.  We wrote the check then settled back into the endless deep of this stunning winter, forgetting entirely about our committment to fresh produce.  This year's spring did not induce dreams of lazy summer days to come- it was spent huddling in the cold, with snow flying in late May, and June highs in the 50's.  But today, on one of those rainy 50 degree June days, our CSA delivered it's first boxes.  And on the back porch of some house in the Midway I found 12 pints of plump organic blueberries with my name on them.  12 pints.  Plus a box of greens, radishes, and the tenderest broccoli spears. I was elated.  I don't care how much we paid for this fruit share- the first of 8 deliveries has fulfilled my greatest expectations.  Theo and I polished off about a pint before everything was unpacked- two more await our breakfast cereal in the fridge, 5 are in the freezer for the future, and two are currently being baked into a pie.  There is nothing better than having more blueberries than you know what to do with! 

Of course, I am still hoping that our trip to that mystical island in the middle of Lake Namakon will correspond with the wild blueberry harvest- but if it doesn't, we've got a reserve already in the freezer. 

The next fruit box arrives in two weeks. Who knows what it will be, but my freezer has room, and I smell more pies on the horizon!