Three Things

Today I made some no-bake cookies, and while I was eating ten two of them, I thought about Scotty and how no-bake cookies will always remind me of him. Scotty loves no-bake cookies and has been designated as our No-Bake Cookie Maker when he is home. Sometimes I have to suck it up and no-bake my own cookies, but on the unofficial list of His and Her Roles in our marriage, no-bake cookies are His.

This got me thinking about other things that remind me of Scotty. Like bikes:

 

Scotty loves mountain biking (any biking really). He has been known to do some pretty dangerous things on a bike (note to self: do follow-up post with pictures). For our first anniversary, he gave me a mountain bike.

Something else that makes me think of Scotty is... well... junk. Any random junk sitting around.

This is such a typical scene in our home. Power Bait, carabiners, golf balls, used matches, you name it. Scotty has so much random junk laying around. Frankly, it's annoying, but it's something I can't change about him because then he wouldn't be Scotty. So as irritated as I am about the box of antique tobacco pipes, the fifteen outdated college textbooks, and the two gigantic reels of industrial strength velcro that have been sitting on top of the computer desk for the past six months, I also recognize the endearing part in their presence.

(But seriously, Scotty - will you please clean off the top of the computer desk?)

These little reminders got me thinking about some of the things that make me think of my children.

For Nicky, it's Legos.

That picture was taken by Nicky, himself. He sometimes takes my camera and does photo shoots of wacky, random things. There were about 30 photos of Lego creations on my camera last week. Nicky loves Legos and has lots of them. They're in every nook and cranny of the house, and I've been known to vacuum them up intentionally just to get them out of the way.

(Don't tell Scotty).

Pete the Cat will also always remind me of Nicky - of how he fell in love with I Love my White Shoes when his grandma read it to him on Christmas Eve and how he memorized the book and had the confidence to "read" it to his preschool class. For his sixth birthday, we made a "Pin the Buttons on Pete the Cat" game, and Nicky asked me to hang the poster I painted on his wall.

Most of all, blankies will always make me think of Nicky.

For a few years, he was attached to his "Thomas," which is really just a scrap of fabric with unfinished edges. We had to replace it twice, and he always noticed the difference in the fabric. Luckily he always preferred the new one because it was notably softer. As he has gotten older, he has grown attached to different blankets. Nicky will find every blanket in the house and drag them all into his room to sleep with. If there is ever a blanket missing, you can bet it's in Nicky's room somewhere. One of Nicky's favorite places to be is wrapped up burrito-style on the couch.

With Daisy, it's her trademark cowgirl boots.

She wears them everywhere and with everything. She'll march into dance class sporting them with her leotard. She'll wear them with her swimming suit or her Christmas dress. Daisy is a girl who knows no rules - fashion or otherwise. 

Construction paper and alphabet letters will also always make me think of Daisy.

She is the most feisty writer. She fills notebook pages with random letters, mostly consisting of M, O, and I. "MOIMOIMOIMOI" over and over for pages and pages. And don't you dare try telling her that an "m" is an "M" because, to her, lower case does not exist, and she express that to you in the loudest, cruelest way imaginable.

Don't mess with the Queen of the Alphabet!

Power Rangers are also a Daisy thing.

(Note the cowgirl boots)

I don't even know where Daisy came to know the Power Rangers, but last fall it became an obsession overnight. Now it's "Go, go Power Rangers!" all day long! And, "Mommy, I'm the pink one, and you're the yellow one!"

I can't say I'm sad about it - I was a closet Power Rangers fan in my younger years and spent many hours in the garage with my friend Cheyenne beating up a punching bag.

For Zoe it's beaded necklaces and just about anything that she can drape over her arm or string around her neck, much to a mother's worry.

It's too-big shoes on tiny feet - anything she can stuff her toes into and clomp around in for a while. Her brother's snow boots, her sister's dress-up shoes, her dad's slippers.

And it's the doll stroller. The one toy that I can occupy her with for longer than thirty seconds (but not that much longer).

 

(This photo shows one of the times the doll strolled failed and we had a Zoe tantrum).

There are many, many more things that will always make me think of Scotty, Nicky, Daisy, and Zoe even though Nicky will eventually outgrow his blankies, Daisy will need bigger cowgirl boots, and Zoe will start walking on her own without the aid of a doll stroller.

(Scotty will probably always like no-bake cookies, bikes, and leaving his odds and ends all over the house).

I don't know what my family will say reminds them of me. Maybe they will say books:

 

Or colored pens.

 

Or old windows.

Or, more likely, time-out, piles of dirty dishes, or crazy mom face.

Maybe I should start taking credit for the no-bake cookies that turn up every now and then.