They Decorate my Life

I am pretty sure that life before kids was black & white, way too stark, and absolutely mind-blowingly boring. I like to craft and create, and am very happy to see that I’ve managed to pass on this trait. Our kids – who are free to be artistic and spread their creations through the house (within reason) as we do not separate “kids’ rooms” from any other area of our home – add a magical touch that never ceases to amaze and surprise me.

I enjoy finding their art, tableaus, dioramas, forts, etc. around the house, as much as I enjoy their playing, joking and dressing up.  Especially when I find it on accident – I open a cabinet, or look under a dresser, and find a bunch of critters gathered for some important meeting or other event… usually with carefully arranged props and other useful items. For example:

We have a nest of dragons congregating in the empty entertainment center.  (Yes, I am the crocheter who made the scarves and sombrero for the dragons – wouldn’t want them to get cold now would we?)

A cave full of cats (and one dragon)

Polar expedition practice

Mythological creatures who take their reading homework very seriously.

And my favorite. The offerings upon the altar of mom. The altar is my bedside table, and … I don’t even know when it started?! Ever since forever? Since both were very tiny. I often find little presents next to my bed. Sometimes they will sneak in during the day and place something for me to find at night, or they’ll get up early on a weekend – when we get to sleep in! – and set up little gifts for me to see when I wake up. Often it is one of their favorite toys that I get to borrow for a while. Sometimes I get notes. I have had arts and crafts of all sorts appear, including legos and water paintings on paper towel rolls.

The one in the photo below was placed, at first, beside my bed of pillows on the floor beside Brian’s bed when he was running a very high fever last week. I had to wake up every hour to check  on him because his temps were not staying down. He’d be at 102F at 9pm, I’d give him motrin, but by 11pm, he’d be back up to 103-104F! I was alternating Tylenol and Motrin for 48 hours to keep him comfortable. The first night, I definitely slept (not well) by his side and set my alarm to keep close track. The second night, he was somewhat more regulated and it ended up that I didn’t have to wake him for medicine as much, but he had still wanted me to stay in his room, and even offered to re-make my bed. The kids went and got cushions from the sofa, my pillow, a blanket, and made up a nice nest for me on the floor. They added some soft toys so I would have company, and Honor also left this little offering of treasures to one side:

A cool rock, two quarters (one US and one Canadian), and a paperclip bent into a ‘snake’. I tried to give it back to her the next day, but somehow, it is back on my ‘altar’ again.

I love these little tokens of love! Although, I love the kids who present them, and who make our home and lives full of surprises and unconventional decor, even more. 

Flowers and green

Usually, I have to browse other people’s blogs for a glimpse of green trees, pretty garden flowers, and other mementos of nature that we had been deprived of during our 5 years of living in a third floor apartment with balconies so sun-blasted it was a minor miracle that I managed to keep any plant alive. But now, we have our own bit of green. I went out and snapped some photos the other day as it rained… it looked so cool and inviting that I could not resist. I meant to post these earlier, but we have been fighting a flu here the past week and I’ve been a bit too tired to write. We’re recovered finally, and so here I am.

Here comes the rain.

The view from my kitchen sink… I’m thinking that a pretty potted plant would go nicely in that little hole in the wall.

The wall on the property border/patio. It’s pretty enough anyway, but I love the vines and plants decorating it.

Another view of the ivy.

Of course, we must have bougainvillea. There are a number of plants of different colors along the walls.

The wall and patio, heading to the grass. Another aspect of this garden that I find amazing, is that this is probably the first time we’ve moved into a house with an established garden, that hasn’t been neglected for years and years. We’ve either had NO garden, or a garden that had to be dug out of jungle and/or otherwise rescued. This garden is happy and healthy, and when the gardener who’d been working here before asked to keep his job, you know we said yes!

I should know the name of this shrub, covered in tiny daisy-like flowers… and I think I do… but I am not sure. My gardening skills are very rusty!

I should also know this one – I want to say that it is some variety of jasmine. Or related, or has a common name that has jasmine in it whether it’s related or not… but I could be totally wrong. I need to study!

There’s even a bit of fresh soft green grass for cooling our toes in! I think next year, I will get the kids some seeds to plant in the little bed at the end of this strip – in front of the trees. I saw some zinnias, other cutting flowers (easy to grow), and sunflower seeds at the store. Both kids had been asking for roses, but we’ve found that there are at least 12 established bushes in the garden already. Can’t wait until they come into season again next year. 

oh, and yes, the patio in the photo above is wet… I was wandering around getting rained on as I snapped these photos. I came in right before the skies truly opened up, but it was refreshing, and as I miss living in the rain, it simply felt good to feel the raindrops hit my skin. 

Did I mention that it's hilly?

I read, before we got here, that Amman was located on hills, but what can I say? I am from Florida. Florida is flat. This is a new experience for me. Ok, not totally new. I have lived in hilly places before, but it has been a long time, and it's not my native habitat, so it feels new. Preparing myself mentally wasn't enough. The idea of living on hills is not quite the same as actually doing so. I am constantly caught by surprise as we drive around town. Round a bend, and we're looking out over a valley, round another and we're looking out at city, climbing up to the sky, far into the distance. It rained yesterday. We actually had quite the downpour (for all of 20 minutes!) and the water was rushing down our street, which is down a hill, in a bubbley stream. I guess it will take some getting used to, but I am enjoying the random sensory surprises I get as I catch these sights and am physically reminded, again and again, of the incredible variety of terrains our earth gives us as home.

One of my favorite views is from this bridge. Unfortunately, I have not had a chance to snap a photo with a good camera. These are from my mobile. I need to go there one day and see if there is a sidewalk so we can experience the bridge as pedestrians.