My Love Song to My Kids

"I love lilacs and avocados,
Ukuleles and fireworks
And Woody Allen and walking in the snow....

But you've got to know that
you're the love of my life
You are the love of my life...

From the moment I first saw you,
The second that you were born,
I knew that you were the love of my life...
Quite simply the love of my life.

I love Lucy and pumpernickel bread,
The Statue Of Liberty, standing ovations,
and falling into bed.

But get it through your head that
you're the love of my life.
You are the love of my life

You can drive me crazy.
You can drive me anywhere.
Here are the keys, just do as you please.
It may not always be easy...

But you're the love of my life
My heart is riding on a runaway train!

You are the love of my life
through all the pleasure and pain.

From the moment I first saw you, I knew.
I knew it right away.
I knew that you were the love of my life
Simply the love of my life

You are the love
The great love of my life."

Carly Simon

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I've loved this song since the very first time I heard it in the movie "This Is My Life"
when I was much younger.  Really good movie, by the way. I still have it on VHS tape... ha.
I tucked the song, along with the sentiment of it, away into my subconscious as one of
those this-will-be-significant-to-my-life-someday moments... lo and behold, it is.
It embodies the very deep feelings I have for my babies.
It speaks for me when I can't...

It's been awhile since I sat and listened to it.
But Saturday, after a long day away from home,
I was greeted with this gorgeous bouquet of
fragrant lilacs on my kitchen island from J.
Such a nice surprise to come home to.

The lilacs made me remember this great song I loved so dearly.

a lunch date at Shenandoah in Los Alamitos

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We finally made it to Kate's 4 year old check
up that we've been meaning to go to since October...

Vision, blood pressure and hearing tests...all passed.
Ella didn't like that Jackie was covering Kate's eye
so she kept running to take it off and then, Ella kept
cheating and telling Kate what the small pictures were on
the eye chart... so funny, that girl.

the sass of a 4-going-on-16 year old...

Everything went well until Kate needed some boosters
for her vaccines. Dr. Castro started talking to me about
the necessary kindergarten vaccines. Kindergarten??
What is she talking about!!? Can Kate really be ready for that??
I opted for 2 of the 4 that she needed since I don't
like to overload their little bodies with too much at once.
We'll have to go back and get the rest of them before
she starts school in September...

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Ella has a new favorite book.
Charlie was given "Love You Forever" as a gift when
he was a tiny baby. At a recent trip to the book store,
Ella made us read it to her repeatedly, so I pulled it out
at home and Charlie read it to her... Such a cool moment for
him to be able to read a book to his baby sister that
he's had since he was born. AND he read it WELL!

Through all of it, the craziness, the blow ups and blow outs,
the tantrums and markered walls, old milk bottles left
under the car seat for far too long, having to lay a beach towel
over a pee puddle on my bed at 3am from one of the kids accidents
because I'm too tired to wake everyone up to change the whole bed...

Through all the bad, and there is much of it,
I hear my own version of this song on repeat
in my head and it makes it all worthwhile 

Of all the things I love, and I love a lot of things,
they are the great loves of my life...