Overflowing Heart

Most of you know that I am a fantastic murmurer.   Probably the best I know.  You give me any situation, and I will find the negative, speak eloquently and provactively of that negative, and never let it go.  

Well today I'm trying to use my powers for good and find some positives in my life, since there are so very many.  A few are listed/described below.  

1. Nighttime with the kids -- since moving to AA, I now get daddy time at night in stead of the morning.  What a difference it makes.  At night, Max and I can play hide and seek with flashlights, put together puzzles by firelight, and cuddle in bed while Max falls asleep.  I love playing hide and seek with Max -- he's fairly predictable (as am I) in his hiding spots, but he always loves being found.  Aviva also loves when I come home.  So I immediately pick her up and my little "tumor" stays with me until bed time (except for when I visit the bathroom -- then she just stands at the door screaming until I'm done).
2. Nighttime with Kristin -- even though we sleep in separate rooms, and even though she devotes as much attention to the computer as she does to me, I love that Kristin becomes a new woman after 7.  It's like the inverse Cindarella effect: instead of turning into a pumpkin, she turns into a princess.  She's a great story teller that keeps me posted of all the days events, she is a great thinker and we have had some great conversations about the turmoil our country is now in, and she doesn't mind that I exercise really loudly while watching some of our favorite shows.
3. Cousins -- Keely and Ben play such a special role in my kids lives and in mine.  I love that they make for good playfellows for Max and Aviva, that they live right down the street, and that little Keely is alternately the easiest person to tease and the most brilliant little child ever.  I wish Max and Aviva had more time with all their cousins!
4. Grandparents -- I don't get to see them enough, but I feel their presence on an almost daily basis. 
5. When Max and Aviva play together.  This morning, they played "I'll throw cheerios at you while you run around the kitchen."  Max took the role of cheerios-thrower and Aviva the role of runner.  It was so worth the extra cleanup when Max turned and said, "Daddy look, I play Awweewa and she happy!"  And it was true.  Aviva of course loves to play with Max, and she's very good at helping me find him when playing hide and seek and at holding puzzle pieces while Max and I work on puzzles.
6. Puzzles -- Generally, I hate puzzles.  Oma tried to teach me the beauty and I never learned.  Kristin and Garret like to puzzle.  But I hated it.  Until now.  That's because Max is a puzzling fool.  He'll puzzle anything.  And he's really good.  He can see dimensions and shapes better than I can and it's pretty amazing to see how it works.  Nice to know that he got some of Kristin's genes.
7. Kisses from Aviva -- she only knows how to soul-kiss, which is a little troubling.  I figure I can teach her to close her mouth later.  But for now, some times she just dives at your mouth, snot/saliva/tongue all mingled together in one giant open-mouthed kiss.  Pretty disgusting.  Except that it's possibly the cutest thing she does. 
8. Aviva hates to see me rough-house with Max.  At first I thought she didn't like the violence.  Turns out, she just wants in on the action.  The other day she tried to get involved by body slamming me while I lay on the ground after a particularly intense rough-house with Max.  And that was it.  She just threw her body on me and laid there.  Apparently she thinks she's Andre the Giant and thinks one body-slam will be enough to subdue any opponent.
9. Aviva is FOCUSED.  Nothing deters her ever.  I've never seen such determination in anything not named the Little Engine That Could.  It makes me so proud.