Generation 01, Chapter 10: Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing

NOTE

The quote in the title is by Phyllis Diller.

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Mystic finally gave birth to two foals, Magic and Miracle (both girls), last week so that probably explains why I'm riding them in my dreams.  They're carrying Adam and I through a jungle when all of a sudden a monkey speaks to me. "Mom, mom! You need to get up."

"What?" I ask. I must be delirious. I shake my head and turn away.

I open my eyes and see James staring out the window of our room. "Mom! Look, it's snowing! Wake up and see!" He repeats. I shake my head and rub the sleep out of my eyes. 

Then I shake Adam's shoulder.  "Honey, wake up. Look outside."

Adam groans and peeks his eyes at me.  He smiles and then looks over at James.  "How about you go put on the new winter gear we bought you, James.  We'll be out in a sec."

James stands there and then squeals and runs out of the room with Kadie in pursuit.

Adam embraces me under the covers and closes his eyes.  "Adam," I whine.  "You can't go back to sleep."

"Just a few minutes," he murmurs against my neck.  His hands wrap about my sides and he pulls me close to him.  I have to admit, it's very tempting to just stay inside next to this warm hunk of man but I don't want James to be outside alone.  Plus, this is the very first snow that we've ever seen.  We should probably go out and enjoy it.

His breath is warm against my skin as he whispers, "So, have you thought about more children?  Or are we done?"  I'm stunned by his question (considering that it's too early in the morning for clear thinking, especially about important topics such as the former) but tell him that I have to think about it.

The girls' cries bring me to my feet.  Adam finally gets up too and we get the girls ready for the outdoors too.  I look out the window and see James has somehow already built a large igloo. 

It takes about forty-five minutes but Adam and I finally get ourselves and the girls ready for the coolness of the outdoors.  I step out the door and the snow crunches underneath my feet.  It's a pleasantly cushiony substance and I just want to fall into it.

"Let's go see what your brother is doing," I say once Adam and Calla come out.

I glance over at the stable and realize that it was good thing Adam called for a roof to be added to the horse stable because there's a lot of snow and more is falling down.

Calla and Zoe go into James's igloo but apparently, it's not very interesting because they both pop back out a few minutes later complaining about the cold.  James entertains them a bit with a game of peek-a-boo to distract them from complaining and it works... for a little while.  Adam and I bring them back inside and they eat their breakfast and watch cartoons.  They seem very content so I carry out a baby monitor and Adam, James, and I continue to play outside.  

We start off by making snowmen.  It's laborious and I feel like my fingers are going to freeze off.  I'm still tentative and have no yet touched the snow with my bare hands.  Adam and I invite James to build our snowman with us but he's convinced we're too old and so he starts making his own right next to us.  I have to admit, Adam does most of the building.

I'm just in awe of the snow.  It's such a strange substance that I can't help but constantly admire it.  I never knew I could direct my attention to such a simple thing for such a lengthy period of time.

Well, by the time James leaves for school, Adam and I have completed our snowman and James had fun ruining his.

Adam quickly drops the girls off at a friend's house for a play date and then he and I spend some time together making snow angels and building a snow cat.

James makes an amazing big brother.  He did get a bit jealous having two younger sisters stealing the attention but he discovered quite quickly that it doesn't help to pout and complain about them.  He constantly helps take care of them and because of that, he is privileged.

I find my two boys taking care of the girls while I cook dinner.  James is hanging out with Zoe while Calla babbles about her best friend, Chartreuse Flavius, another little girl who is Calla and Zoe's age.

For dinner, we have breakfast foods.  It has continued to snow all day today so much so that James' school was cancelled at noon and tomorrow there won't be any school either.  So the breakfast food, which is James's favorite type of food, is in celebration of no school.

Despite not having school tomorrow, James still decides to get started on his homework.  He's learning how to do long division so Adam sits down and helps him while the twins play contently by themselves with the new dollhouse they received on their last birthday.

"Oh, Cal!"  Adam exclaims.  "I forgot to tell you, Dexter and I are planning on going out of town to a horse show that only comes around every ten years or so.  It's not until the summer but I'm just warning you ahead of time."

"Really?  Okay, you'll have to remind me when it comes around."

"Dad!"  James whines.  "You're supposed to be helping me.  I don't understand how to get rid of this number...."

At last, James gets his homework done.  Adam and I put the little girls to sleep and James, Adam, and I go downstairs, snuggle on the couch together, and watch a movie with a bowl of popcorn in our hands.

The next day, on James's day off, Adam put up beautiful holiday lights up on the eaves of the house where a million icicles grew over night.  Adam and James spend more time outside.  Honestly, one day was enough for me.  I'm still getting used to this cold so I stay inside with the little girls.

James takes care of the two foals.  He's been given the responsibility of taking care of the foals and he's stated that one day he's going to grow up and take care of the horses "just like daddy."

We drop the little girls off at another play date and then Adam and James convince me to come outside and go ice skating.  Fortunately, Adam and I have gone ice skating on a rink before but James has not.

We walk over to a local pond that has been deemed safe to skate on.

James is wobbly at first and spreads his arms out to keep his balance.  Adam stays close behind him just in case he falls, which he does a few times.

He's a quick learner and is soon able to follow behind Adam and make full trips around the entire pond without tripping.

His confidence rises and he and I skate together in the middle of the circle while Adam shows off his moves.

"You showoff!"  I giggle as he skates around James and I backwards.

After many many months of snow, it's finally the beginning of summer.  Adam has gone with Dexter to the horse show so it's just the kids and I at home.  James does a great job of taking care of his little sister and even helps me put them to bed each night.

Kadie is getting old now.  She can barely walk up the stairs and prefers to sleep most days.  In a way she is like a cat, except bigger, of course.  The little girls give her plenty of entertainment what she's not asleep.

Summer should be a nice break from Winter, definitely.  Adam should be coming home soon and when he does, we'll be celebrating the twins' birthday as well as James's.  With the children getting older, I think back to Adam's question from earlier this year.  Then I text him:

Our family is complete.

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NOTE

Thanks for reading!!  :)  OMG, I cannot believe Calista is finishing with 103 children.  That's so strange to think about.  O_O

Meh, I tried to keep it somewhat interesting but I pretty much had to make a smooth story line out of a bunch of random pictures (because I was super excited to test out Seasons so I just took random screenshots of everything without thinking about making them make sense), which wasn't too successful but... oh well.