I live in a fall/winter house. Spring and summer we make do and try to add a flower here or there to bring in a little of those other seasons, but I feel like my little home rolls her eyes at my attempts. “Just wait,” she says. “As soon as the days turn crisp, I’ll welcome you inside and you’ll never want to leave again.” And she’s right. Just when it becomes imperative that we stay inside more than out, our home begins to really show her glory. Jeremiah makes fires every night the temperatures drop below 70 :). 
I (begrudgingly) drape the big elk skin over the back of our couch (You see Jeremiah skinned this thing when he was living in Montana, and we came to a marital truce over the abundance of skins scattered throughout our home by saying they get tucked away for spring/summer and redistributed every fall/winter).
And I get to buy a bundle of BITTERSWEET (close-up in first picture)! My friend Lauren (Natalie’s mom across the street) is the one who first introduced me to this most glorious fall decoration. Every year I anticipate when Leaf ‘n Petal will put our their sign announcing the vine’s arrival in their shop. The oranges and yellows and reds make me smile…just like the unsymmetrical little swirls and dips in the vine itself. If I could afford all the knobby, crazy colored pumpkins the shop also has, you can believe I’d show up there with my truck at the start of each fall. Since I can’t, these sweet little speckled ones from Wal-mart do just fine…I think. Especially when accompanied by my one seasonal indulgence–a brand new bundle of bittersweet.
I also like to mull over the name of this little vine. It’s hard sometimes, not to be burdened by all the heartache of this sin filled world. It’s bitter–the things people we care about…people we don’t know…endure. But it’s sweet too. Those moments when you experience deep joy or lasting friendship or beautiful creation…or when Locks looks at you like this:
This morning at breakfast, I was explaining to Pace how there were other little children in the world who didn’t have a playroom filled with toys, or sparkly flip-flops, or even enough food to eat. I told her we were going to go shop and fill some shoe-boxes with toys and candy for those children so that they would have some presents to open on Christmas morning. I guess her response was good. It at least shows that she recognizes where all of our food come from, but it was bittersweet for me. She said, “Mommy, why didn’t God give those other little children, who live far away, any food to eat?” What would you tell her?
Hey. As mentioned above, this is Mary Aplin. 
I turn two today, so why don’t you all squeal and grin and clap your hands like grown-ups do. I mean really, what’s the deal with that? You don’t raise your voices to high-pitched screams of excitement at each other (well, except maybe Mommy’s sisters, but nothing about them is normal anyway), so why do you do it to us kids. It’s humiliating. I’m just here to tell you. I’m not saying it doesn’t make me grin, but I’m smiling AT you not WITH you. Get the hint.
Let me take a minute or two to talk about sister. Is it possible for there to be another person out there who I can love and want to take a hard bite out of, at the same time. She never leaves me alone. Ever. She’s always wanting to read to me, or hold me, or tell me “no” about every little thing I’m trying to do… On the days she goes to school, I feel like a load has been taken off. As soon as she gets out of the car in the carpool line, even I can’t help flashing a quick grin at Mommy. FREEDOM! But then, if I’m honest (which seems to be required on this blog), the only thing more exciting than seeing sister get out of the car, is seeing her get back in it. It’s one of the two times during the day, I have to resist the urge to squeal like you grown-ups.
for goodness sake. But anyway, Daddy. He gets that stuff, and he takes me to do things that Mommy might LET me do, but she doesn’t like to let me do it. Like riding horses, or running head-long into muddy ponds, or letting Locks lick all over my face while we roll on the ground…Mommy allows it; Daddy likes it. So those are his good points, but he has one major bad point too–and for it, he must be punished. Work. One word. ALL THE TIME. Listen Daddy, if you’re gonna be at that work place all the time, then you better believe that I’m gonna try my dearndest not to squeal, not to even smile (although sometimes that means I just have to run away from you to hide it), when you walk in that door. 
Look, I’m going to wrap this up, cause it’s almost time for my cheese omelet. I hope Mom’s on top of that in there. Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday and all that. 
Lately, I’ve raved a lot about the countryside…and I do love it. AND I do hope to live in the middle of nowhere one day. However, there are definitely benefits to living in a big city…like the McWane Science Center.
Mary Aplin, making her mark on the “Mini Magic City” (which is basically a GIANT playroom that YOU DON’T HAVE TO CLEAN UP!!)
Apparently, Pace never saw the movie Big…
But, I think maybe these kids did. They were almost as excited as I was to jump up and down on the giant piano.
Speaking of 80’s child heaven, they even had a giant Lite-Bright!
I wrapped up my morning in the Big City, having a “Ladies’ Lunch” (as we like to call it), with my two favorite little ladies.
