Chilling Out... and Looking Back

Here's a picture of our latest method of cleaning up Leila... the kitchen sink.

The little tub we used to bathe her in requires her to recline, and now that she sits up so well she doesn't like to be leaned back.

So I spread a clean dish towel down on the bottom of the sink, fill it up with water, and hand her a cup to play with. She loves it!

No baths this morning, however; it's downright frigid. This morning the outdoor thermometer by the kitchen sink read 24 BELOW zero, and there's also a bit of a wind. I decided to check for school cancellations before sending the kids out to the bus stop, and sure enough school was cancelled.

Of course, the kids were already up and ready to go for the day, but they gave a little whoop of delight when they heard the news and have been keeping themselves (and Leila) happily occupied ever since.

I awoke to a nice fire in our wood stove this morning. Jon had stoked it for me at 2:30 a.m., before leaving for work.

He surprised us Tuesday by pulling into the driveway around the time the kids got done with school; his boss had sent the crew home because it was simply too cold to work (remember, Jon works near the Canadian border).

He hung around home yesterday, too, before heading back for work today. It's still nasty out, but at least he won't have to work outdoors; they're having the guys do some required safety and CPR classes (indoors) today.

While home Jon helped me move the exercise bike inside (it's been collecting dust in the garage ever since we moved here). Time to insert a little physical activity into my daily routine! We set the bike up in our basement family room, so I can watch TV while I pedal.

(The photo at left is Jon eighteen years ago, holding baby David. I'm going to be posting a few of the pics that Susan gave me copies of over X-Mas break. More on that later...)

As some of you know, we haven't had satellite or cable for about eight months now. So we had to order one of those digital converter boxes for our antenna, to continue getting reception. With the antenna, we typically have access to six channels (the 3 major networks, plus two PBS channels and Fox), but some of them are barely there and not very watchable.

(At right: baby David next to a doll... does Grandma Jane remember this doll?)

I hooked up the converter box a couple of days ago, and we now get eight channels... all crystal clear. There's a new PBS channel that's kind of like HGTV, along with a 24 hour a day weather channel. The best part is no more noisy static or snowy image. We pay nothing for the eight channels, get to use our old TV, and only ended up forking out $10 for the converter box, after using the $40 government coupon we ordered over the internet.

So now we love the digital conversion!

(At left: lovely little Susan, now 20, in her more tender years).

The pictures that Susan gave us are from 1990 to 1993. The one of all three kids, below, looks like it was taken in their Grandma Sue's backyard in Cornell, probably a little before when I first met them. I remember those big bows that Susan used to wear in her hair!

Speaking of big bows... here's another:

Susan has been scanning her mother's old family photos and burning them onto CDs, to help preserve them but also to share them with us. We really appreciate her effort.

This is the first time that I've seen many of the pictures, and they probably bring back a lot of memories for Jon. It's interesting to see resemblances between our own kids and the older three... and just to remember how they used to look and act, of course.

Jonathan always seemed like a big boy to me, but when I look back at these pics I can see how small he was then. Not big at all.

I remember that four year-old Susan was wary of me, when we first met. I had to work to win her over... by being consistently patient and by letting her know that I was not trying to replace her mother.

And when she first heard that her dad and I were engaged, she expressed concern to me about whether I would become an "evil stepmother" after we were married, as in the Cinderella story. I promised her that I would not-- and I think I kept that promise (right, Susan?).

David was only two when we met. He spent lots of time on my lap, and I did what I could to make things easier for him... Jon and I were always aware of how young he was to be away from home overnight, during our weekend visits with him. I tried to keep him comfortable and happy. He was given lots of kisses and hugs and my lap was "his" whenever he wanted it.

Now that I have kids of my own I have a keener understanding of what my three stepchildren must have gone through in their earlier years, when their mom and dad were no longer together and new people (like me) entered their lives.

A step-family is never ideal.

But we all did the best that we could, under the circumstances. And we became a loving family. I guess that's the most anyone can hope for...