Happiness is the World

a poem by Jovie Ruf   © June 6, 2016

 

Happy.

Happiness.

Happiness is the world.

Child.

Adult.

We should all be happy.

Happiness is the world.

Big.

Small.

Happiness is the world.

Happiness is the world.

Happiness is the world.

Person.

Animal.

Happiness is the world.

Boy.

Girl.

Happiness is the world.

Happiness is the world.

HAPPINESS IS THE WORLD.

 

*pic May 2013;  she picked this one because “it looks like I’m on top of the world”

oh this girl

tonight before bed, jovie was watching Barbie & the Secret Door.  in the show, there’s a bratty girl singing a funny but bratty song. (of course it’s The Mr.’s favorite!)  as soon as it was done, jovie cracked me up for a full minute.  completely unexpectedly as soon as it was over, she gave a great rendition of the “mwahh haaah aaahh”  and i couldn’t stop laughing!

one day, we got a sitter and jovie was very excited about this and went outside to wait for her.  The Mr. went outside to hang out with her but was immediately sent away.  “Go back inside, Dad. I’ve got to get back to my business of being bored.”

at christmas we were watching Rudolph for the first time this season;  jovie was getting nervous at everybody’s attitudes and behaviors. i said, remember- there are a lot of mean people in this. and she immediately said “except Abominable… he’s nice”

back in summer, jovie was telling me about some bug bites that The Mr. took care of and said “i can’t show you one of them because it’s deleted”

the other day i was joking around a lot.  (i’ve learned from The Mr. apparently) i can’t even remember what it was i said, but she answered back:  “mom? are you truthing??”

one day in the fall, i put jovie to bed, and when i turned out the light and was closing the door, she asked if i could make nutella pancakes.  i told her i was actually hoping to (reading my mind again!) i then saw her in the dark raise her hand and whisper “SCORE!”

she may look like me, but she makes me laugh like The Mr. does.

12.13.14

yes i know.

The Mr. is even wondering when this blog will get updated.  Maybe it’s the best way he has of finding out what goes on without him here.  Luckily he’s been around this week, and the year is coming to a (quick) close.  Let all the fun end-of-year events continue….

Here’s what’s been going on as of late:

we finally had a chance to have a firepit

rarity. 

shortly after that picture, she woke up confused and said “it feels like i just woke up!?!”

we got super dirty at the park

we got super silly at the park

thanksgiving snacks were had

a great thanksgiving was had

we were a gingerbread for the christmas recital

we had fun decorating for christmas

 

uncannier

so i’ve mentioned before how uncanny jovie has been.  people who know us in person knows about the time she read my mind and asked “mommy, is gum healthy?” at the moment i thought about gum-  even though we don’t chew it in our house; and at that time she had never had a piece herself….

but a couple of weeks ago she did it again.  it prompted me to ask if it’s ESP if my mind is blank.

to be fair- i don’t believe in ghosts or ESP or anything like that.  however, i am documenting a lot of stuff jovie has done through the years just in case she gets her own TV show in the future.

so for who knows what reason she asked me about MY grandparents.  she asked what they were called, and i told her i had a Gramma Gursey, a Nana, and 2 Papas.  I explained that i never knew either of the grandfathers.  and for some reason that wasn’t what she had in mind.  she wanted to know their real names.  so i ran down the list.  i said:   Ida, Catherine, Julius and…….   ummmmm    hmmmmm  uh oh how do i not remember my grandfather’s name?  wow.  ……… ummmmmmm

just as i was about to pick up the phone to text a sis, jovie said “Charlie??”

at that exact moment i remembered his name was Charles.  and i freaked out a little.

 

florida!

we had such a great (most of the) week in FL visiting my 2 sisters and their families.  we actually drove down there last year at the end of june to surprise Barbara for her birthday (and what a FUN surprise that was!) and that trip went really well.

this year we knew we wanted to get jovie on a plane for her first time; and south florida is a great way to start.  it was less than 2 hours to fly, and jovie is so good with traveling now (still in amazement, by the way).  she was so excited about this trip and we booked it (and have been talking about it) since late January!

all set!

the pilot actually came on and gave both Jovie & Flopsy wings.  i’ve never seen that before.  (of course, the novelty wore off about 35 seconds later; and they are now clipped on her suitcase).

we got there last sunday and Aunt Barb was kind enough and thoughtful enough to make us all dinner so we could just get settled in our (awesome) rental house.  we had a house full of kids and adults and enjoyed it greatly.

jovie, tyler & hogan (as taken from the top deck)

camryn & jovie

delaney’s not pictured because she wasn’t in the water.  jovie was enamored with the big girls.  and hogan was enamored with jovie.  everyone got along and had a good time to start!

monday morning, we woke up and i made breakfast for us to eat while looking at this from the kitchen:

i think that’s Estero Bay

after breakfast, we went on the deck (scooted to the right of this picture about 2 feet) and had our coffee:

look over the roof and through the trees… there’s the bay again

after lunch, all the gang came over again so we could hang out and grill out for memorial day.  more swimming was to be had

behind jovie is the canal. seriously such a great house

just as we were thinking of going to the beach before dinner, a nice storm rolled through which was perfect to view on the lanai (and then in the spacious living room when the rain beat down).  so we grilled and headed to the beach that evening for sunset fun.  we got on the beach and hogan and camryn promptly discovered “creatures” which were alive and well and moving.  the kids made a creature pile.  (i was concerned some of these poor guys were now lost from whatever their mission in life is since they were picked up and moved to the sand for our enjoyment).

jovie was less of a fan of the creatures.  i was a big fan of the sunset (even though the west coast setting was blocked by the cloudy sky)

jovie was thrilled to have tyler and camryn spend the night.  nevermind that she was also awake until 9pm (unheard of around these parts!)  it was absolutely the quietest spend the night anything in the world.  granted the 2 girls had a different room than jovie, but even the next day, jovie just sat enamored and slack-jawed at them; and the girls were just awfully quiet.  we all played games together, and still no words were uttered except for the ones that had to be said (like “uno”)…  still, jovie loved it.

then we headed to LJ’s house and played at their big pool again.  this place was a hit last year!  i wanted to be sure to have some time there again.  too bad it rained us out; but there was still time for some fun.

and then aunt LJ & uncle Phil made us delicious snacks & supper.  afterwards, i was fortunate enough to hear Delaney sing.  (incredible, y’all!  amazing!!)

Wednesday we had a day to ourselves and went to Sanibel Island.  we took a boat/nature tour because i was hoping to see dolphins; and jovie’s never been on a boat.  it was good.  Sanibel’s cute and all, but hardly worth the same toll as it costs to come to San Fran over the Golden Gate bridge.  jovie enjoyed being on the boat; and she did GREAT at helping out at the touch tank.  she was very brave to go around to everyone and shake an egg-sac-thing for everyone to hear the jingle.  and THEN the captain had her stick her hand in the tank and let a horseshoe crab crawl up her arm.   WOW.

that guy; right in the corner!

and whaddya know? we DID get to see one dolphin:

couldn’t get a pic of him flipping; looks like a shark from here

after lunch on Sanibel, we drove to the lighthouse and got rained out before we could explore anything at all.  so we headed back “home” to see if the rain was holding off.  it was enough that we could enjoy some time at the beach for playtime this time.  jovie loved every second of it!

after we got cleaned up, we headed to dinner and then to Kilwin‘s for dessert where jovie uttered the best quote of her life…  after i had tried to order a small (so sad- only one yummy size), jovie saw my large waffle cone and immediately said “wooooahhhhhhhh. do you need someone to share that??”

this was of course after we bought her her own fudge!                          the guys behind the counter cracked up and so did we.

thursday we spent the day alone again and took advantage of a beach day.  again, she was thrilled.

afterwards we headed to dinner with LJ, Barb & the crew to say our goodbyes.  and then friday we left and got home just in time for us to rest and then do this:

she had her recital and we missed rehearsal.  but it was all fine.  she had fun up there on stage and did decently.  what a busy busy week we  had last week!

this week has not slowed down either… swim lessons and play time with friends.

what a great summer it’s been so far!

 

completely logical

this is actual conversation from yesterday on our way to dance class (woohoo!!)

since dance is in the same complex as The American Cancer Society, when we drove by it it, i told her:

• that’s where i used to work…..  before you were born.
• when?  was i 2 months old?
• no… it was before you were born.
• was i one month old??
• no.  actually, you were still in my belly.     <oh god…  woops………..shudder………..waiting….>
• <confused silence.  for about 3 point 2 seconds>
• Mommy??—  did you try to eat me?!?!

so very glad we were already at dance class.

*i am amazed at how even though she is extremely observant,  and somewhat fearful of things that aren’t her usual, she has never once asked anything about any of our 3 friends who have been pregnant and then had their babies.  (one friend has had 2 in jovie’s lifetime!)  large tummies?  no problem!   a baby suddenly appears at your house?  super cool!

she certainly knows her boundaries.

*so glad that, so far, i have been able to dodge the questions of her existence.

there’s no pleasing her

in keeping up with more conversations of depth….

today, we were listening to some music on itunes.  (Elizabeth Mitchell, You are My Little Bird) and in one song, she says “soul”.  so jovie asked me what soul means.

my reply: “uuuhhhhhhh, well….. um,….. it’s who you are??…  it’s your complete self?”

her response, (please envision with a confused look on her face):  “that sounds….. … boring.”

mini-conversations with jovie

• the other day, while we were in the car, jovie asked if we could hear the Beastie Boys.  i responded, no.  we’d have to wait for daddy to help us with that.  she asked why? and i told her honestly:  because some of their songs are inappropriate.  she didn’t skip a beat when she answered back, “but i can’t understand ENTY of it!”   (i love how she emphasizes some words!)
• my daughter is a little more interested in death & the great beyond than i would really like.  several times a week, she asks a question or makes a comment about it.  her latest thing is saying she doesn’t want to die.  i mean….  really?  what 3yo does that??  believe me, i do what i can to reassure her and answer questions the best i can.  and i do everything to keep ugly subjects away from her until it’s appropriate.  even the word “die” wasn’t spoken by me until a few months ago.  …when she would ask about meemaw or poppa, i would just be plain and say they aren’t living anymore.  and, i can see how this sounds very morbid.  she’s not fearful or scary about it.  she’s just as matter of fact about things as i am when i have to reply to her.
• so one day, she asked me point blank “how do we get to heaven?  do we ride a cloud?”  this was very much out of the blue. and, no, i didn’t get evangelistic on her and say “pray hard and pay a lot”.  i replied:  “i think that’s a perfect thought.  maybe when you die, magic happens, and you can ride a cloud without falling through.”  she asked “does jesus or god help us?”   “they must.”

wow, this kid.

(man, all this talk about beastie boys and heaven at the same time.  didn’t really mean for that to happen.  but yes.  i would like to think that Adam Yauch, did indeed, ride a cloud)

 

uncanny

i’ve been wanting to write for a few days just to share how completely uncanny it is that jovie is so much like me.  there have been many times i’ve thought she was channeling me.

last year, there was this in which she declared that she had 7 brothers & 7 sisters.  in that conversation, i just posted that she mentioned her “funny” brother.  anyone who knows the potters (i actually have 6 of each, so she’s not exactly precise) knows that we did, in fact, have a particularly funny brother.  although we have a few of them, Danny definitely is most known for that trait.

then there have been so many countless times where The Mr. will be silly or zany or joking.  without missing a moment, jovie usually responds in the way i would.  the latest one i can recall is on picture day when Daddy said “don’t forget to say cheeeeeseboooogies”  and, since boogies are what we call boogers, she immediately replied “daddy, that’s inappropriate”

but now, it’s beginning to be a bit more eerie.

last weekend, we were outside playing in the gorgeous weather, and jovie was off in her world.  a world of pretend that we can hardly follow.  it comes complete with all kinds of people-  imagined friends sometimes, but mostly her daughters (??), sisters/brothers, and even granddaughters (????).  anyway-   normally, she’ll give these people names like Joop, Raw-rah, Alyssa, Baby & a few others.  Other than Alyssa, they’ve never been very real names.  however, that particular day, she said twice that these 2 people were named Susie & Goldy.  she said it like that together.

but there is no way she could know that when i was little, my first 2 fish were named….  Susie & Goldy.    i mean, really?  even The Mr. never knew that.

then, on tuesday, i told her that Daddy & I would take her to lunch.  and i asked where she’d like to go.  those were the only words i spoke to her.  but somehow she answered “Moe’s” which is never on her list of places to go.  i really thought she’d say Ruby Tuesdays or Partners, or even Chickfila.  we haven’t been to Moe’s in over a month, and i actually had a craving for it myself.  plus i knew we would be next door to it while we were running errands.  but she knew none of this.

and just a few minutes ago, she found our book DK’s Annotated Art that i was excited to buy just out of college.  [one of the greatest classes i ever took at Clemson was “Art & Architectural History” with Janet LeBlanc.  it was awesome!]  jovie flipped through some of the pages and then studied one page in particular.  for about 5 minutes.  when i stopped what i was doing to look over at her, she was on my all-time favorite painting & the SOLE REASON i bought that book to begin with.   Arnolfini’s Wedding Portrait

i mean, what?

 

goings on

as i upload pictures from my camera to talk about “donuts with dad”, i noticed that i have 89 pictures…. going back to valentines day.  so ummm, yeah- i guess i’ve been pretty slack with the pictures and posting as of late.

so, yesterday The Mr. had the pleasure of accompanying jovie to his first preschool activity.  they both really enjoyed themselves.  and The Mr. finagled his schedule to do this.  he has fond memories of doing things like this with his dad (grampa, around these parts) and i think it was special for him to share this with her.

jovie just enjoyed the “donut circles” and chocolate milk!  when i called them donut holes, she laughed and said “no, these didn’t have any holes!”

The Mr. brought home a picture of jovie as a mousepad, a broken (oops) change holder.  you know? – that thing we always made that we called ashtrays.  and a Q&A story they all wrote.  like “my daddy is very old.  he has a lot of jobs and he makes $30 a day” kinda stories.

i’m so glad The Mr. is her daddy.  it’s very special.

******

last weekend we went to Greenville & Columbia for a whirlwind weekend for The Mr. to fly through run his first half-marathon.  my BFF becky did it, too, and she also nailed it!  unfortunately, i was supposed to run my first 10k, and wasn’t able to.  but i had a great time cheering them on.  (seriously, yo-  he ran 13.1 miles in less than an hour & 45 minutes!!)  gramma & grampa enjoyed having jovie for a night; and we 3 adults enjoyed uninterrupted conversations that lasted after 7:30pm.

they both dreaded all the hills; they both did great and the word on the street was, "it wasn't as bad as i thought!"

******

today itself was a blast!  after losing interest and staying out for 2 sessions, we are starting the music class again.  we’re all really excited to do this again. [this is her 8th one!]

while we were all galavanting in SC, we missed our first class.  so today we got to do an extra make-up class.  after warming up, jovie enjoyed herself.  we also went to a playground for a short bit and came home for a lunch playdate with 2 fun girls and my friend “the nanny”  (hi, christina!)

we had a blast making a fun St. Patty’s day craft:

before the mess really began

******

we also enjoyed Dr. Seuss’ birthday, and Valentine’s Day.

she enjoyed making the pizza herself; and the little extra pizzazz i added, too!

(thanks to weelicious.com for the idea to use a tortilla for the pizza and cut it in a heart shape!)

******

Clearly a fun month was had by all!