Iowa Visitors

So, I live in Iowa. Which is pretty much the middle of nowhere. Our town isn't so remote, but considering there's no Costco within 100 miles and only one place to get Pho, it's remote by my definitions.

I've lived in cooler places, so that is why it's just a little amazing and kind of wonderful that we've had the visitors we've had. Several friends have come here while they're passing through (I love those visits) and some others have come just to see us. Code Yellow Mom and I have been friends since my freshman year of college, and she was our first visitor to fly all the way to the middle of nowhere just to visit us. It was a slice o' heaven.

Last month, Klin and her family passed through and stopped to visit. It was so wonderful to see her again, and have that nice little treat of a visit to brighten our week. My opinion remains, Klin is wonderful, and her family is too. They didn't stay nearly long enough, and we were right in the middle of a family brawl making a cake when they came, and because making a cake at my house cannot be a simple task, it wasn't done in time for them to enjoy.

Who walks away from cake though, seriously?

I love Klin. She's solid. She's real. She works hard at the things that matter the most and the things that make a difference. She is married to a really great guy, and I'm glad I've gotten to visit with them both just a little bit more.

I think Klin was hoping for a little more entertainment from my kids, but alas, she was greeted by the norm---which involved some fighting, a little hyperactivity, and a lot of showing off for her attention. She made me feel happy how quickly she just loved my little family. Everyone needs a friend like that.

Maybe if you're lucky, she has friends in a town near you. :) Thanks for coming Klin, you made my month!

Last week another blog friend came to visit me. She left yesterday and we're all just a little more sad. Okay, I am, the kids miss her, but they can easily be bought off by Dora's yelling and Boots' prancing. I'm not so easy.

No Cool Story flew in on Friday afternoon. She claims she "finally got permission" to visit. But really, I just couldn't bear to ask a person to fly all the way to Iowa to visit. It's Iowa for crying out loud!

I'm sorry for any of you people reading this who hold a deep and abiding love for the state of Iowa. No offense, really.

The visit was truly a wonderful one for me. There was no real agenda, and it was fun to spend our days together.

I met NCS almost 3 years ago and we became fast friends. She's heard me say pretty much every manner of crazy thing to my kids, over the phone. "We don't put queso on our heads" or "don't sit on my head when I'm trying to talk on the phone", among many other things. Plus, as most of you who have read this blog now, I blog about my kids a lot. Which is...magical.

So, as she sat in my living room, she looked around and said, "So, I get to see where all the magic happens."

I laughed and said, "I'm usually sitting there when we're on the phone, here's where most of Bo's brilliant conversations happen...." blah blah blah.

Later that night when J was home I was repeating the conversation to him. "It was so funny, when NCS got here she said, "I want to see where all the magic happens!" I waited for his laugh but I saw something else, more along the lines of surprise, shock, flash across his face. I looked over at NCS, and she had a terribly uncomfortable look on her face. And then she cleared her throat somewhat nervously and said, "Um, I meant like, with the kids, and all their adventures."

Suddenly, in my head, I heard what I had said aloud to J, and how there was no context given when I said it and it made sense why there wasn't the response I had anticipated.

And then I laughed. And I couldn't stop laughing. There are moments in life when I wish I could freeze the moment and capture an expression, a response, a smile, a feeling. NCS's expression when I said that, is one of them. For the record, I laughed way harder and way longer than either of them did. For some reason, my stupidity wasn't as entertaining to them.

Another noteworthy event, Danyo started talking within minutes of NCS's arrival and did not stop. It was a little unreal to me. Here was this kid who just the day before, when he wanted something would come up to me and say, "Mom. Mom. Mom." When I asked him what he wanted he'd just start to whisper, "Mom. Moooooooooom. Mom!" We have had that exact conversation at least 100 times. I could never get him to communicate properly.

Just now he came up to me and said, "Mom. Waddo. Heyoh. Mmmm, moh waddo. Get some"
Do you know how amazing this is!?! The funny thing is, he literally did start when NCS got there, and then did.not.stop that night. I honestly thought I was in danger of telling him to stop talking!

He immediately liked NCS and quickly fell in love. Her 3rd night here he was headed up the stairs for bed when I called out, "Danyo, how about a kiss?" He turned around and looked at NCS and said, "I'm gonna give her a kiss." Now, he didn't really say it like that, but it was very clear to all of us that that is why he was saying. After kissing her, he headed back up the stairs. "Hey Danyo, what about me?" He shook his head and kept walking away. Someone said, "Give mommy a kiss Danyo" and he turned with his hands out questioningly, looking around, "Wheyoh?"

Yeah, uh, he couldn't see me. Because I'm so tiny.

It's hard for me to truly capture the essence of this visit. NCS is so easy to be with, she let me nag her about eating breakfast, she read to Danyo, had long conversations with Bo about the cycle of...what was it, dirt? mountains? I can't remember. I got bored and walked away. Avee would run up to her during the day and give a spontaneous hug. For a few days she included a sweet, "I like you" or "your shirt is soft" and then it turned to "I love you". Avee can be a hard nut to crack, so that was pretty interesting to see.
We laughed. We cried. We made fun of people. Oh wait, just I did that. She'd say, "Aye Nobody...." and remind me to act my age and not my shoe size. Didn't work, as you can see.

We had Pho. We watched my favorite movie "Scarlet Pimpernel" which Code Yellow Mom introduced me to 15 years ago. NCS was TOTALLY skeptical and I think even tried to make up a story about having already seen it. I didn't buy it. But she was not convinced by the 1982 cover and French Revolution getup that it would be worth her time. It was. :)

She got to see firsthand some of the hilarious things I see and hear with these kids. One morning we picked up Avee and her little best friend Ella from preschool. I was outside of the van talking to Avee's teacher when this happened.
Avee: Ella, we can't talk about being prettier than each other anymore, my mom said we can't do that, so don't do it anymore.
Ella: Okay
Avee: And I don't like your shoes you're wearing.
Ella: Oh. You can borrow them sometime!

These two are hilarious together and these kinds of conversation are not rare.

She got to see how incredibly easy going and sweet Danyo is. He gets excited about little things, he adores Avee, he's always up for some hugs and kisses, etc.

But when he loses it, BOY he loses it. At Target I put away a 17 dollar talking Dora book, and to be honest, I did think he was done looking at it, and that I could get away with it. So not the case. He cried and yelled all the way to the checkout. I finally put him down because I was worn out from trying to contain him. I mistakenly thought he wouldn't go far from me because he's just that kind of kid. Oh no. We ran all the way through the store, wailing about the book, trying to find it again. I followed at a distance just to see what he'd do. He never stopped, never looked back, and when he finally realized he wasn't going to find the book on his own and turned and kicked me in the shin and shouted some Danyo-spletives at me.

The weather was amazing the day she got here. Like, 70's. We hung her coat up and didn't think of it again until Tuesday when it was a little more brisk. She grabbed her coat from the closet as we were headed off to Target. As she was putting it on I heard her say, "Wow, how did I get snot on my coat. I must have been crying."
On the drive, I looked over at her fingertips barely peeking out from the bottom of her sleeves. I thought to myself, "I guess that's what happens when you are tiny, some things are just big on you."

When we got out of the van she pulled a receipt out of her coat pocket. I thought to myself, "I thought I was the only one who had random receipts in every article of clothing I own.

Inside the store, I was examining some grapes, asking if they were seedless, and I could hear NCS nearby, rustling around with her coat.
"I'm missing a button! There's some more snot!"

And then, "Nobody...hey, Nobody!"

"Yes?"

"Um. Do you have a coat like this?"

"Yeah, I do actually....ohhhhhh. Hahahahahahaha!"

Yeah, that was MY snot. MY missing button. MY "petite" coat swallowing her arms and hands in the sleeves.

It's pretty funny to me how long it took for us to figure out. I mean, to NCS's credit, she DID figure it out. I just kept seeing and hearing all these clues that it was mine, but I never realized.

The visit was too short but I'll try not to dwell on that because it really was wonderful, and I should dwell on that, right?

The moral of the story is: You should come visit me. I'll build you a cake and let you wear my snot covered coat.