This weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in a long time. It seems that "Life" can over take you and it is so easy to forget all the joy that is right in front of you everyday. I have been really trying hard lately to let go and just enjoy life, in the moment. This weekend really reminded me how important that truely is...

I'm not sure that I have ever said much about my son in my previous stories so let me give you a small glimpse of the little boy we named Julius...

He has always been well, let's just say, spirited. He fills the room when he walks in. He can make you laugh and pull your hair out at the same time. He loves mischief. He is daring and courageous. Ask me sometime to tell you the story about Julius aka. Spiderman (as he was so dressed at the time) vs. the kitchen counter. Just a hint, Spidey was way off his game that day! He lives for sports and has been playing "baseball" since he was 18 months old with a plastic bowling pin and a small rubber bouncey ball, much to the chagrin of some very breakable things. Julius loves to wrestle, fall and scrape his knees every chance he gets. Baths? Who needs 'em and Power Rangers, gotta have 'em. He loves dirt and monster trucks. Karate is his new passion. He picks on his sister with unbridled ruthlessness, waiting to pounce at any given moment. He has a built in stealth mode that has flown under my radar on numerous occasions especially when he is on a mission for sweets...

His imagination takes my breath away. His stories... you just live in them. When he puts on one of his million costumes he really becomes that character and you can't help but to become part of the story yourself. The things he says he "does" at preschool, like driving a big truck, fighting a fire or sailing a ship across the sea... your heart just yearns for those adventures. He is so rough and tumble on the outside but he is so gentle, loving and caring. It just shines from his eyes. I am always telling him what a good Daddy he will be someday. He genuinely loves babies and loves to be around them. My niece Lily captivates his busy mind in ways I can only dream of. Julius watches over her like nothing else... his eyes filled with love and admiration. He has his own cabbage patch named Donovan who is very well taken care of. He always has his binky and Donovan is often sporting the "stretchy pants" that came off our Nacho Libre DVD-that actually are the perfect size and match great with the Nacho Libre costume Julius put together for himself (I think I may have posted a pic of him in that costume in my album). "Father" and "Son" often go on adventures together wearing their matching "stretchy pants". The woman that catches this boy's heart will be very lucky indeed. He already has many to choose from and boy does he love it. There is nothing in the world like trying to explain to a little preschool girl why it MIGHT not be okay for Julius to have a sleep over at her house just yet or should I say ever!

Well, this little boy of mine will turn 5 on Friday and I just can't believe it. There have been many-a day that I have felt every painstaking minute of these past 5 years and other times where I just want each nano-second to last forever. Grandma and Grandpa came in for a long weekend and we celebrated. I let Julius pick what kind of cake he wanted me to make for his birthday and it was a toss up between a alien/rocketship cake and pirates. Suprise, suprise as the little boy who is plastered with pirate tattoos chose the latter. He was so excited. We shopped forever looking for the right stuff for his cake. But we found what we were looking for and had a great time painting his treasure chest and filling it with booty. We baked his cakes Saturday morning so we could have them cooled for decorating by the evening. I think he ate more batter than we put in the pan! I made the frosting and soon the cakes were transformed into the ocean and Treasure Island. We even included "treasure" in between the layers of the island cake, which Julius proudly did all by himself. The cake was ready for his party the next day.

Sunday started out foggy but it turned out to be a wonderfully nice and sunny day. The family got together and we enjoyed celebrating Julius. He was definately the little "man of the hour". It is so hard to watch and be a part of these kinds of things without a little tear leaking here and there. Just seeing the joy on his face while he opened his presents... new fishing gear from Grandma and Grandpa and a Superman backpack filled with treasures from Aunt Peggy (including a new Power Ranger, yup, uh huh, you heard it, nothing like a little Power Rangers-Jungle Fury to brighten a little boy's day). No camera can catch that, no matter how clear the shot. He spent a lot of time passing his new football around and living it up as if yesterday never happened and tomorrow would never come.

The weekend is over and I can't help but wonder, at what point do we forget the pure exhilaration of a simple celebration? Be it a birthday, a new job or even the celebration of the sun rising bringing with it a new day. If I could just reach back and find a moment in time that brought me just that pure and honest happiness, like for Julius, opening a present and making a cake, if I could not only just gather that moment and put it in my pocket but, REMEMBER that it is in my pocket and bring it out everyday. LIVE it everyday. What a day, no, what a life it would be...

Now, as I empty my brain onto this page, to get a good night's rest, I try to let go of the days events, Genna knocking out her front tooth on her bike, pulling the never-ending weeds and winter growth out of my butterfly garden, Julius digging for treasure next to my sidewalk and start think to tomorrow tasks..pulling more weeds and filling the hole where "X" marked the spot... I am going to try to remember to celebrate a little more.

And at the end of the day tomorrow, when my energy is all but gone, my head a little balder and Julius crawls up on on my lap and snuggles in, I will enjoy letting it all just melt away... He is my "Bubby-Boy" and I wouldn't trade him for the world. Maybe I will try and put him in my pocket...