Daddy and Mommy (a.k.a. Vic and Betsy) enjoying a carriage ride in Central Park

We have had few opportunities to get away since the triplets were born, or, even since Big Boy came into our lives.  We went to the beach when the triplets were 8 months old, but we did take Big Boy.  Finally, in 2010, with much persuasion and great desire for adult-time, we went to Cancun for five days.

But since then I’ve gone back to work and time off is precious.  We usually spend it with the children.  Why not?  We don’t think we see enough of them!

Yet, as I reminded my husband, we need time alone.  I observed other couples I admire in my family taking time to travel by themselves without the kids, so I know it’s something mommies and daddies need, but it’s always hard to plan and to take the time.

Finally, we did it.  We went to New York last week, stayed near Central Park, and walked everywhere.  I shopped.  He read in the park some.  We had good Italian and enchanting Mexican, as well as good old-fashioned deli food.  And, then, of course, we did one of our very favorite things. We went to Broadway shows, two plays and two musicals. (More on that in future blogs about the trip.)

To our delight, we met up with our dear friend Lawrence Hamilton, who happened to be in New York for a few days himself.  (Lawrence is an Arkansas-bred talent who’s been in local shows at the Rep, taught at Philander Smith College, and is a Broadway star himself.)

My husband suggested he find tickets to a show, a matinee, and that we all go together.  None of us had seen The Gershwins’ revival of Porgy and Bess, so Lawrence acquired some house seats from one of his friends in the show, Phillip Boykin, who plays “Crown.”  There’s some talk Boykin may be nominated for a Tony, and we hope so!

Me near the theater with the "Porgy and Bess" poster in the background

What I noticed about the poster outside the theater was not just Audra McDonald, a Broadway superstar and her picture as “Bess,” but Norm Lewis was “Porgy”!

So what?  What does this have to do with kids and families and mommies?

A good friend of ours and our children, “Aunt Mary,” gave us the 25th anniversary dvd edition of Les Mis at Christmas because she’d indoctrinated Big Boy with some of the music on their special Razorback football weekend in Fayetteville.  (She doesn’t have any of the Wiggles cds!)

Big Boy loves the conflict between “Javert,” the policeman, and “Jean Valjean,”  the prisoner and convert.  In that, dvd version of the show, “Javert” is played by Norm Lewis!  So, we were going to be watching “Javert” in real time!

Let me say that this might not be an exceptional story for most children, but our oldest has been in dance for four years, so his interest in the theater is real.  We don’t care if he ever does anything more than appreciate the arts, but these are the kinds of experiences parents ought to work toward.  That doesn’t mean you have to go to New York.  We see lots of good shows right here in Little Rock at the Arkansas Repertory Theater and locally.  We take him when it’s appropriate, like the recent production of “The Wiz” at the Rep.

I’m packing up this morning for us to head to Fayetteville to the Walton Arts Center.  We’ll be seeing Case Dillard tomorrow afternoon performing as “Bert” in Mary Poppins.  Dillard got his training right here in Arkansas at Shuffles!

So last weekend, I had time off from work and enjoyed my husband, just the two of us.  Tonight and tomorrow, I will have one-on-one time with a good friend, “Aunt Mary,” and Big Boy.  At the theater!

Finch eggs in my Easter wreath

A few weeks ago, I came home from work one Sunday and noticed a finch was flying in and out of my wreath.  I looked in the wreath near the door and discovered a pretty little nest taking shape in the midst of my silk hydrangea blossoms and ivy leaves.  I doubted she’d keep it up. That’s our front door. The main door, and there are a lot of boys coming in and out of that house through our main gate way.

What do I know?  Maybe she likes the chaos of the Snyder household.  She stuck with it, finished her nest, and laid some beautiful blue eggs, which have since hatched only a few days ago. (Boy, I’d say they are in the preemie stage with just a little fluff and not much else!)

Every year near Easter, I get my boys’ pictures made.  I have a long-time photographer friend I’ve been using for a long time, before I ever had kids.  Although we usually go to her studio, Dixie came out this morning with her assistant and shot photos in the front yard.  It was great fun and by far the easiest shoot we’ve ever had.  It also allowed Mom and Dad to get in the act, and we even had one made by ourselves.

And the thought of us in a photo alone leads to my next big milestone.  Mom and Dad are headed to New York next week for a four-day getaway, the first in six years by ourselves.

Somehow we’ve built a nest in the midst of an amazing amount of chaos. Occasionally, I do get stressed, but I really don’t know what I did before my eggs hatched.  I’m sure I had way too much time.

Sullivan, Penn, Wyatt and Aubrey

Big Boy rides solo! (Note the new rock garden behind him--more on that in the next post!)

When I was learning to ride a bike, I had a two wheeler with broken pedals.  I’d go up to the top of our street and coast down.  There were no brakes, so the one time I lost control, I scraped my face after a flight over the handle bars.  I think that may have been when my mom decided to get me a new bike.  But the truth is, I learned to ride by balancing, not by training wheels.

Right after the triplets were born, I got Big Boy his first big bike.  It took him a year or two to really consider using it.  He preferred the oversized trikes at pre-school.  That’s when I decided to buy three of those for his brothers.  He’s continued to “share” theirs with some minimal progress on his two wheeler with training wheels.

Recently, one of our babysitters pointed out that in France, they take off the pedals, as well as the training wheels to teach kids how to get that balance thing.  That seemed right to me, since I learned to balance with defective pedals.  My husband tried to remove the bike’s pedals, but couldn’t. He did get Big Boy’s training wheels off, and they’ve practiced some balancing.

But Tuesday night was the big night.  Big Boy was riding a trike, one of his brothers.  The boys had started a game of coming down the grassy hill of our side yard and landing on the concrete drive.   Big Boy was forced to hand over Wyatt’s trike, and began a major pout and whine that he didn’t have a bike.  I grabbed his bike, and reminded him that he could do the same thing, since they weren’t pedaling down the hill, just coasting.

In less than five minutes, Big Boy had begun to put his feet on the pedals and push himself forward.  I ran in and got my camera, and took a bit of video.

Where does the time go?  My husband and I are coming up on 9 years of marriage and four kids.  It’s spring again.  All those dead-looking bulbs are coming alive.

I’m reminded that there’s no day like today, is there?

Sullivan, Wyatt and Aubrey at the garden center. Their 3rd spring!

The boys enjoying "my" cupcakes.

I guess it’s partly their age, but my boys love to gather ’round my new Kitchenaid professional mixer.  Daddy gave it to me for Christmas.   I’ll admit that it’s really too fancy for me.  I love to bake, but my cooking has suffered these last few years.  I simply don’t have time to do it anymore, not creatively anyway.

Still, as busy as I am with work these days (I’m a pastor and our church has had 7 funerals in the last 8 weeks) I try to bake something with the boys at least once a week.  They love cupcakes, so I pull out a baking mix, they pull up their stool and bar chairs, and we begin the process.

I love batter, but my husband, being a doctor and all, is not keen on me passing out dough with raw egg because of the salmonella risk.  That means I have to pass out a “taste” before the eggs go in.  I know they like the tasting, but they also love that big old high-tech whirring mixer, they love its loudness, its whipping noisiness, and its product!

I haven’t made much from scratch lately.  I’ve been daydreaming about a Liza Ashley (Thirty Years at the Mansion) pound cake, but instead I’m cheating, pulling out my helper the Pillsbury doughboy or my good friend Betty Crocker.

It could be worse.  I could be buying Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes.  If you’re nostalgic about those horrible, wonderful treats, check out these recipes for duplicating them at home.  I don’t have time to make them, but it sure was fun reading about it!