yet another bday celebration

no, i'm not done with the birthday stuff.........
yesterday was the official celebrating day for me with all my guys...
not just my sons.....well, most all my guys.....
so it was me and five of my men.

and i chose to go downtown.

several of the guys hadn't met the einstein statue yet.
a must in this group.
and i really wanted to see a few paintings that were visiting for
the summer.......

so off we went.

all in one vehicle, which in itself was super fun!
the family banter is really apparent while driving together.
what's really cool is there's different kinda banter between
different people...there's brother to brother banter, father
to son banter, brother to step brother, mother to son,
partner to partner......all that stuff.

and each dynamic holds it's own flavor of teasing and laughter.

i love to watch them all.

wandering an art gallery with this group is an experience like no other.
'i don't get it.' 'don't sneeze on the rembrandt.' 'is this an original?'
at times it leaves me speechless........always leaves me with a smile.

just the parking in itself was an event. the broken meters, josh calling
the numbers on the meters for help, the pounding of meters and trying to dig
stuck coins out, the conversations between meter people while quarter sharing...

watching the guys climb up on einstein to say hello and get a picture.
seein' one climb up on his shoulders, see another grab his nose...
knowing that this kinda thing was precious....

the search for caffeine when the energy was getting low.....
ohmygosh.....that was an event all by itself.

it was a good fun day.

but the ending.........that was the part that took my breath away.

sitting around my living room, after eating a dinner the guys made...
just chatting....and then someone bringing up something they wanted
input on.

it started out slow.
looks of confusion.
people unsure of what was being asked.
we were all tired by then.
i hopped in to get it goin'. just rambled off a few thoughts.....
and then.....this magical thing happened.

the quiet one spoke. gave a thought.
i looked at him, tickled.
and that thought got another rolling.
which got another rolling.
and suddenly there was this taking of a thought, tossing it around the group,
building off of each other.......with everyone thinking and figuring and
adding...

i watched.
delighted.

i watched the group dynamics.
it was happening because of the dynamics.
it was happening because of the respect we all shared for each other.
it was happening because there was trust.
there was interest.
i saw the light bulbs go on for each of us.
i saw a topic build and get deeper and clearer and more workable.
i saw input grow on input.
people's thoughts being valued which grew more thoughts.
it went on and on.
it seemed like a long time.
maybe it wasn't that long, but i was pretty beat by then,
it seemed a long time.
but i was loving it.
i was loving watching what was going on.

for me, it was pure magic to watch.

for a mom,  the homeschooler, a partner, a family member,
it was the goal of all the relationship work i'd done over the years.....
it was the prize. it's what came from all that other stuff you did......
it's what the work was for.

and i knew it.

and there it was.......all around me.

one heck of yet another birthday celebration.......
and one heck of a feeling of gratitude over here......