My heaven...my home :)

It is late and I'm enjoying the quiet time in the clean warmth of my room. Since Christmas there have been many changes, there have been many times that I did not know what was to become of me or if I even cared anymore, so overwhelmed by the blasts of change that shook my very foundation. I am only now settling in after the storm, grateful that it feels like it is time for peace again for a while.

I went to California last weekend. I didn't revel in it as I usually do, in fact, this was the most low key of my short weekend trips, however it was nice to be with my ocean for a while. I must admit, I longed for home in Utah hours after I arrived in LA...that has never happened before. I missed the boys...I wanted to see them, to kiss their baby faces, to hold their hands, to hear their voices...I was so lonely without them.

Saturday I drove around LA...just going all over, soaking in what I loved about that place, but for some reason, the connection I used to feel to everything from the dirt to the graffiti was no longer there. It seems that my heart has adjusted to the mountains and the quiet in the canyon at night when I'm staring up at the stars. Usually the earth and the plants call to me, but this time there was silence, I was not as amazed as I usually am...perhaps my heart truly lives in Utah now.

But the ocean...to see it again...to hear it, to taste it on my hands, to stand in the ocean and be joined again with that element that completes me...that was wonderful. It was Valentine's day and there I was, on that broken pier piece on the Playa del Rey, sitting overlooking the crashing waves that seemed to jump up around me. I dangled my feet over the edge, just to be closer to the water. I felt like some type of royal, there on this pedestal of sorts, while the waves of water crashed around me like some chaotic orchestra...it was magical :) Then I laid back and closed my eyes to soak up the sun. I laid there and felt numb for a while, but then started thinking of my boys and the family I hope to have and that numbness melted away and left me salt water soaked from both my tears and the ocean water. I was there for a couple of hours, just being with the ocean, thinking in my mind, nurturing the love I have for nature and for Him who creates all of this beauty. It was a very good day. I think that I will always love the ocean, I will love where I came from, but now, I love the peace and beauty of my home and my little family more.

I was glad to get home. I was glad to see my sons. I was glad to see that my home was as I left it, safe, cozy, clean, and right. I talked with the boys about their weekend. I love to hear them tell me about their adventures. They take turns correcting each other about the left out details of the other's story...bossy pants kids, yup, they are mine, propriety bred into their cells, and a bit of arrogant condescension as well as they take turns being the authority on what "really happened". My boys...how I love you.

So the boys have been going to Kung Fu. That was an inspired event. I had to swallow my pride and take a real look at what I can provide the boys as their mother. I have given them much, I have charged them with even more, but one night, when I was observing and talking to a new friend of mine, I realized that I cannot make them complete, that they would need to learn how to be men from, well, men. The boys kind of fought me on the going to Kung Fu thing, and it is hard on my heart. If they could understand the intention of my heart is not to make them suffer, it is to look at the long view of things, to give them opportunity, and to have them learn what they need to know to be whole. I want so much for them...I pray often that they will feel the intent of my heart...one day if not today.

I am so proud of them when I watch them at the Kung Fu class. I see them working and moving and trying and doing. They are little men, not babies then. And after class, they are so much more confident, straight speaking, and aligned with who they are, I see them as men then and feel such relief and gratitude for all the people who contribute to their goodness. Oh boys...I just want you to be everything you were sent to be...I love you as the borrowed gifts from heaven that you are, as the divine sons of a loving, perfect God...as my babies for a while yet, but not for long.

Kekoa was going on about the girls in his life tonight after Kung Fu. Ikaika was expounding on the stupidness of girls in general. But it was fun, to hear them in their own words, explaining their experiences. I have to say that when they ask me, "Hey Mom, what do you do to make a girl like you?" that I answer them pretty honestly, which I think makes them somewhat formidable weapons against girls (lol) but I know their hearts, and whilst they may play some games, the emphasis on not being a tool or hurting other people is pretty deeply part of their nature.

One thing I have to write about is Ikaika's latest practice driving time. Imagine teaching a strong willed, terrified boy how to drive a stick shift car...lol...it has been fun to say the least. Kekoa is happily yelling directions at Ikaika while he drives, berating his shifting skills, laughing in a riotess manner when Ikaika stalls, and acting like an old pro every time Ikaika does somthing he's not supposed to do.

I am there playing referee mostly, telling Ikaika to stop jerking the wheel like its a video game, and telling Kekoa to shut his mouth cause its not helping to have 2 people yelling instructions as Ikaika. We went through the same 4-way stop twice to make sure Ikaika got the hang of starting and stopping. The first time through, Ikaika stalled the car and Kekoa laughed and laughed, while Ikaika threatened to get out of the car and walk home, while I told him to pull it together and start the car and GO! Sigh...the second time through that same 4-way stop resulted in Ikaika telling me and Koa that he hated us for making him do the 4-way stop again while he laughed nervously. He stalled the car twice at the 4-way stop that time...neither Koa nor I were instructing Ikaika, we were both laughing so hard that we were crying. This of course pushed Ikaika's independent buttons and he started the car and drove through the 4-way stop telling me and Kekoa that we were jerks...of course he was laughing too then...we all were.

Sigh...it's times like that that make me smile...just the simple things you know, where we are all 3 being our individual selves within the safety and joy of our little family. I love these times, I think that they are a blessing to my life. I think I realized that I do not need to wander away from home to find what I am looking for anymore. It is my heaven...here in my home. :)