{ Valentine's Eve }

When I left the nest at the tender age of not-quite-18, I moved in with a family that had been good friends of my Mom's for decades. I lived with them for the next seven years. Eventually their adult son, his wife, and their children {first just Marie, followed a few years later by Anthony} also took shelter under the same roof. It was a madhouse at times, I assure you!


Mike and I dropped by for a quick visit on Saturday. As you can see, Marie {who is now six} and Anthony {who is three and a half, but informed me he will be turning seven on his next birthday} have adopted Mike as one of their own. I don't know who had more fun, him or the youngsters!


My husband is going to make a wonderful daddy. You can see it too, can't you? I fall in love with him all over again when I see him skidding around corners, wearing a too-small camouflage plastic helmet and waving a toy sword at shrieking children, then holding Anthony upside down by the ankles while I tickle his tummy. {Our kids may end up with brain damage, but that's okay.}


{Just kidding about the brain damage.}

{FYI.}

By the way, don't you love Marie's prairie bonnet? The ultimate in ladylike, protective headgear.

Now, I hadn't seen the kids since our wedding, but in December, I was talking to their mom on the phone and she put Marie on the line without telling her it was me. This is the conversation that followed:

Me: "Hi Marie, it's Kaka Nikki!" {Snicker away, all you Spanish-speaking folk, but their mama Neli is Bulgarian and Kaka means "young auntie" in Bulgarian.}

Marie {very long, drawn-out, loud gasp}: "KAKA NIKKI?!!!! DID YOU HAVE YOUR BABY YET?"

Me {unable to speak for about 30 seconds due to choking with laughter}: "No, honey, I'm not going to have a baby right now."

Marie {obviously flustered}: "But....don't you have a baby in your tummy?"

Me: "No, sweetie, I don't have a baby in my tummy."

Marie: "But you got married!!"

Me: "Yes I did, but people don't always have a baby right away. We're going to wait awhile. Once you have a baby in your tummy, it takes nine months for it to get big enough to come out."

Marie: "But hasn't it been one week, or maybe two?"

The conversation continued with a most entertaining exposition by Marie on how she had been a "bad baby" with her bottom down instead of her head, and how I should ask for medicine to make it not hurt when I have a baby.

So on Saturday, we hadn't been there five minutes when Marie ran up to me, patted my tummy, and said, "You have a little baby bump!" The truth is that my stomach is not perfectly flat {but I'm okay with that} and that I was wearing a tight-fitting shirt and that the lil' "bump" Marie was so excited about was nothing other than chocolate chip cookies and rainbow chip frosting. That girl is bound and determined that I am pregnant!!

Tony-baby has grown into the sweetest, funniest, snuggliest little man. Considering that I moved out when he was one and a half, I'm amazed that he remembers me and loves me so dearly--but he also remembers Mike each time we visit, and he positively lights up when we walk through the door. He is seriously the cutest little guy ever. Period.

Anthony is a creative and self-confident little mister. Last time we visited, he had a flashlight in his pocket. The flashlight was nearly as long as his legs, but he managed to stuff most of it in one of his pants pockets and Neli said he refuses to go anywhere without his "light." He is all about protecting his mom and sister from bad guys and shows us how he fights "ninjas" {lots of sound effects and karate-type swinging of arms and legs. Hilarious!}

This time, he was excited to show us his slippers, which he adores. As you can see, they are blue...but they have little bunnies on the strap. I just about died laughing. Such a tough boy with ninja moves and a pith helmet and a tiger shirt, with cute little bunnies on his feet!

Kids are the funniest things on the planet, aren't they? I'm so glad God decided to have people start out that way!