Blow the dust off

Last night, it was the end of the weekend. My husband and I were sitting in the family room and all 4 of our kids were around us, playing and running around. Sometimes, I still look at them and I cannot believe that they are mine. As I was sitting there staring at my offspring’s, I turned over and asked my husband, “Did you ever think so many years ago when you talked to me for the first time, that one day we would have 4 kids together?” He just looked at me and said very openly, “No.” Lol..ok so then I said “Thanks, I was pretty much planning our future after the second we met and you were pretty much trying to get my number so we could just hook up for some fun..lol” I guess that is the difference between men and women; we are all about love, and they are all about...well...you know..lol.

I rounded up the troops, put on their pj’s and plopped them in bed. It was Sunday night and I needed to rest before the week began. As I was flipping the channels, I stopped on SLICE (I love that Network) and there was the ever so popular “Till Debt do us part” show on. I like to watch it because it just amazes me to see how these people get themselves into these financial messes. As I was watching this marathon of money problem people, there was a newly married couple that were already having problems due to their financial funds. This couple had no children because they were only married 18 months. In the background in their home, there was a large 24x24 wedding picture hung on top of their mantel. I couldn’t help but laugh because I was remembering the days of my first year of marriage. I remembered caring so much how large our perfect wedding picture was going to be, and exactly where we were going to hang it. I was so proud the day I picked it up. We picked the most perfect frame for it, and we proudly hung it up for all to see. It was not too long after our son was born, that the picture we wanted so badly the year before, was moved to a more “private” part of the house.

I did not know then, the day we got married, that eventually that picture was going to be used to hide a hole in the wall. I did not know then, that our wedding picture would have been just as special if it was only an 8x10. As soon as our children are born, we automatically think that the “us” that existed before they arrived, should be forgotten and placed away in a closet. I don’t think we intentionally do it; it just happens that way. We think that pictures of our kids around the house, is much more interesting than the people we were, before they were born. We forget to look at our wedding video because it is long gone, and part of the past. Instead, we pause, rewind and play all the wonderful first steps of our babies, and all their special moments.

Sometimes we forget that before our children were born, we were a couple. A “real” couple. A couple that went to the movies, or went to dinner. We were a couple that fell in love enough to spend the rest of our lives together and make babies together. It is very hard to remember that while going through the motions of parenthood. We become a tag team of chaos. High fiving the other to take over a sticky situation, that needs refreshing.

Last night when I was looking at my beautiful children, I realized that Franco and I made those little critters. We are the 2 people that are responsible for their perfect little toes, their perfect little arms and legs, and their perfect little faces. Maybe we don’t have our 24x24 wedding photo hanging up for all to see, and maybe we don’t watch our wedding video on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. But what we do know is that, we are the ones that brought 4 children into this world, and we are the ones that got married many years ago, because we hoped for a family with lots of kids. We met, fell in love, got married and we were blessed to experience parenthood..together. Last night, I felt like I wanted to refresh my memory and look at some old pictures. Some pics of when we were dating, some pics of our lives before we became parents. It didn’t take much to do. It didn’t take a lot of time. All it took was for me to rummage through some photo boxes, open up some albums, and just gently wipe the dust off.
That’s my peace today!

Ricotta Quiche
1 tub ricotta
1 pizza dough
2 eggs
1/4 grated parmesan
4 springs chopped parsley
6 small chopped bocconcini

Spread dough onto pan. In a bowl mix all ingredients until combined. Spread on dough. Place in middle rack of oven at 425 degrees for 20 - 30 minutes. (Until golden)