things graham said

graham has the sweetest personality. he says some really great things. all these photos are from november 2019 while graham and i were killing time at the ski shop in boulder, colorado, waiting for his skis to be tuned. he's so much fun to be around.

last night as i was tucking graham into bed...

graham:  mommy, thank you.

me:  you're welcome, buddy. thank you for what?

graham:  everything.

on february 10, 2020; out of the blue...

graham: when i grow up i'm going to have four kids and i'm going to name them scott, caleb, preston and gabe.
me: what if you have girls?
graham: 😳

on a covid-19 time capsule worksheet i asked him to fill out there was a letter he wrote to himself. i told him to think about it as if he was thirty and he was looking back at this time capsule. what do you want to tell yourself? 

he wrote...

"this is what i want you to do: pray more, get baptized, marry well."

quarantine questionnaire

to kill a little time during the covid-19 shelter in place mandate, i asked the kids these questions:

Graham, age 11

Harrison, age almost 13

1. If you won a million dollars, what would you buy?  

Graham: a gaming room, like Dude Perfect’s

Harrison: all the supplies I’d need to make a 14-foot scale model of New York City

2. How long does it take to get to California? 

Graham: 18 hours and 15 minutes

Harrison: a good 12 hours. no, make it 16

3. What does Mom always say to you? 

Graham: i love you. unload the dishwasher.

Harrison: do your school work. get in the shower. goodnight white boys.

What does Dad always say to you?

Graham: hugs and kisses. hook it. 

Harrison: you gotta pay the toll. rinse your dishes. where’s the bloody ice cream?

   

4. What job would you like to do when you get older?

Graham: zoologist or join the air force

Harrison: mechanical or chemical engineer

  

5. What is the capital of the United States? 

Graham: there is none 😳

Harrison: Washington DC

6. Where do babies come from?

Graham: i’m not going to answer that

Harrison: mommies and daddies 

  

7. How old is Mom? Dad?

Graham: 43 and 42 and 9/10

Harrison: 43 and 42 (43 in July)

8. If you could change one rule our family has, what would it be? 

Graham: watch tv all day for two days a week

Harrison: that you can’t punish us ever, like send us to our rooms or take away or tv time. no consequences. 

Graham: there’s gotta be consequences. if there’s no consequences you won’t be a good person. 

Harrison: i am a good person.

Graham: that’s because you have consequences, harrison. 

9. If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you have?

Graham: invisibility and walking through things like a ghost

Harrison: teleportation or telekinesis

10. What would you do to save the planet?

Graham: have no fossil fuels

Harrison: robot domination! or everybody moves to Mars

11. If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

Graham: pizza as the entree, ice cream cake for dessert, tiny pb&j sandwiches and donut holes for appetizers

Harrison: Raising Cane’s Caniac combo, and a cookie cake with frosting for dessert

12. How much does it cost to buy a house?

Graham: depends on how big the house. a million. well, is it like a mansion? 

Harrison: if i had it my way it’d be a mansion and i’d get it for free. or for 3 small payments of $19.99

13. Why do you think we should be nice to each other? 

Graham: because i’m a nice person

Harrison: because society says it’s mean to be rude to each other, and if you defy society they put you in jail. 

Mom: guys, what about what jesus teaches about kindness?

Graham: oh yeah!

Harrison: because god says so

14. What does love mean to you?

Graham: oh gosh. um...comfort. 

Harrison: kissing. kissing is associated with love. kissing is gross. therefore love is gross. 

Mom: what fallacy is that? 

Harrison: whole-to-part

Mom: so do you want to amend your statement? 

Harrison: no

15. What are you scared of? 

Graham: ocean

Harrison: being surprised from behind and failure

16. What is important to you? 

Graham: my woobie (his special blanket)

Harrison: air, food, water, lola (our dog), that’s it 

it's been four years

the last time i documented our lives on this blog harrison was nine, graham was seven, and neither jeremy nor i had reached our forties. i quit writing for several reasons. life became busier, my responsibilities at work increased, we switched to an online school which required more of my time at home. mostly, though, i became aware of how our children were growing and wanted to be more careful about writing about them. especially regarding harrison's sensory processing issues.

however, harrison has recently begun asking questions. he's trying to understand more about who he is, and how he fits in to the world. one afternoon while he and i were walking winslow, one of the dog's harrison walks for his dog care business, i mentioned i had kept a blog about our experience with sensory processing disorder. i told him i'd tried to find my old blog posts so he could read them. when i opened the blog both boys began reading, laughing, and reminiscing.

they asked me to start blogging again.

i told them it's important that they understand this blog is MY perspective of our lives. they may remember things differently. they may want to write their own version of our everyday moments. even so, one thing i know for sure is that it has all gone by, and is going by, faster than i'd like.

documenting these days, months, years is a gift i'd love to give our two sweet sons.