Family and firelight

When I had lunch with FireAnt the other day, she said, “Your nest doesn’t seem empty in the slightest.”

And so far, she’s right. Yesterday, for example, I spent the afternoon stacking firewood with Little Biker Boy. He’s a rambunctious kid who likes to help with outdoor chores, and he loves the fact that snakes hide in the woodpile. He lugged logs for me, chattering non-stop. About every three minutes, he’d throw his log down and yell, “I see a snake!”

I ate dinner with my husband and all three sons. Since they’re only at Snowstorm University, Shaggy Hair Boy and Boy in Black are home pretty often, at least on the weekends when there isn’t an Ultimate tournament. This weekend, my daughter and Quick will be home as well.

We were all lounging around the fire when Blue-eyed Ultimate Player and his girlfriend arrived, bearing an apple pie and a half-gallon of vanilla ice cream. Shaggy Hair Boy was quick to reassure me that the pie (which was obviously store-bought) was not nearly as good as mine. He knows that flattery is the way to keep those pies coming. But we all devoured the pie anyhow.

When my husband and I finally convinced With-a-Why that he needed to go to bed and started upstairs ourselves, Boy in Black was just settling down on the couch with his laptop to do some research and Shaggy Hair Boy was at the piano, playing a jazz tune that followed me all the way up the stairs. So far, the semester has not seemed lonely at all.