There are days, many days, when the children are the cause of 95% of the chaos and frustrations of the day.
But now there are days, rare days, that life is the cause of 95% of the chaos and frustrations of the day and the kids help put it back together.
Two years ago, I never would have thought it possible.
Today, it’s amazing.
"Honey, come quick!’
I drop my armful of dirty laundry and head out the door to find John looking South and listening.
I join him on the back patio, bare feet chilly in the frosty air.
The full moon gives everything a blueish tinge and even the shaggy dog is quiet except for the click of her toenails on the concrete as she stand by us and we listen.
The road is blissfully silent and all the night seems to hold are the quiet noises of the cows in the pasture near our house.
Then the great horned owl calls again… and again… and again.
We grin and whisper and listen until John attempts to call back and the owl stops.
Our silence collapses into giggles and silly dancing and we head back to our respective Sunday night chores.
It is not until later while settling a fussy child that I hear the owl again.
The sound drifts though a crack in the window that I couldn’t bear to shut entirely on such a beautiful night and as I rock my baby I have a chance to reflect on the day.
And I am thankful.
Once again I’m being reminded that it has been many days since I’ve had something to share, but there have been reasons for this people, many reasons!
There was a horse fair, and a ballet recital and a trip to visit Sarah, that included a birthday tea party for her daughter. Once that was all done and we were back home it was Monday night.
At this point I did at this point attempt to put together a little post of our weekend fun, but then Tuesday night happened. 
Tuesday night, was quite a night.
Things happened.
Lots of things.
All at once.
From what I can remember, though not necessarily in this order, it included things such as: peeing on the floor, breaking a glass, dogs barking, cars honking, chasing ducks off the road barefoot, Kamikaze kids jumping off the couch, false starts on dinner, missing ingredients, the cook being locked in the kitchen for protection from the kids and dogs, messing up recipes, John announcing that he was “OUT OF PATIENCE!”, some pee in a potty chair but mostly on the floor, dinner eaten, bath time, blueberries eaten- everywhere, and finally the real reason why there has been no updates since Friday. Pee in the surge protector that the computer plugs into. It was chaos, and through most of it I was cooking dinner in the kitchen laughing so hard I was crying.
Laughing with John because this is our life.
It’s a great life.
But some days….some days you’ve just got to laugh.
Behind the Willows 