Some Weekend Images

I say some weekend images, you are going to have to use your imagination here!  Sorry, there were many times I wished I'd had my camera!

One day my little four year-old was walking into an adjoining room with me following, when she tilted her head to the side and looked at me with measuring eyes as if she were just noticing something for the first time.  She poked a little finger in my direction and said "oh.  Look at your ears.  They're very small.   That's why you can't hear good."  (no trust me, I have just gotten really bad about tuning you out!)

We folded an entire weeks clothes, since we've been washer/dryer-less, to the sound of The Black Cauldron (with lots of prompts from me to "listen while you fold!" as little ones drifted into the story).   We sat in our mess and ate pizza with a tired Grandma and Grandpa, freshly moved.

Our after-church lunch on Sunday was as goofy a blend of different-aged chiming-in humor.  Somehow the conversation went from crowns (my tooth), to being dubbed a knight by the Queen of England (and turning to bite the sword each time it touched a shoulder).  Huh?  We were laughing so hard (me, sometimes in horror at things like the latter, or in horror at my own un-funny contributions, or at my husband's bewilderment that any of us could find any of it so funny-- ok, he did laugh a little).

We went for a walk on Sunday afternoon.  The mountains were a gorgeous neon green, with clouds playing checkers on jutting grey granite and black spotted pines and white capped snow.  The sky was a brilliant blue, slow-motion bumper-car puffball clouds, some melting into a misty grey almost as if they emanated from the ancient rock.  We traipsed across the garden, lined with rows of sprouting green and mud, across a pebble path, through some weeds, and across our neighbor's lawn.  We peered into a tree to see a magpie nest and tried to spy one of the baby birds before they've all left the nest, as mama bird perched anxiously on a nearby tree and crowed at us protectively.

When we were somewhat unsuccessful (sweet nest, I tell you) (only saw one baby, who wasn't very cooperative at giving us a good look), we scattered into various directions, little eyes looking at bugs or throwing rocks.  I waded into some knee high grass under a bending white willow thick with the smell of hollow-soil-- rotting wet tree bits and the fresh twang of wet spring grass.  We held our breath when we saw a fuzzy throated baby magpie just on the branch above us, hopping clumsily about on his branch.

Then we swashed back the way we came, leaving a winding tunnel of pressed grass in our wake, and undoubtedly a happy relieved baby and mama bird.

We decided to (redirect) a couple of restless little wandering littles and walked instead down the path in the other direction.  The gravel crunched beneath our feet, the syncopated rhythm of big strides and little as we talked in breathless excitement and breathed in the late afternoon coolness.  The sky to the north had a decided veil of misty grey reaching from cloud-tip to yellow, burnt orange, new green, and brown grasses.  I wrapped my arm around a little four year old's protruding tummy and pointed, showing her how the water in the clouds gets heavy and falls down as rain.   As we walked or skipped in our line of disparate heights and tempos, I breathed in the beautiful sky, the grass, as if saying hello to a long-lost friend.  It hit me in that moment, how much I love all these big and little people I get to call my family, the people I get to share so many adventures with.

We walked toward the white house with the red barn where a man was feeding his chickens.  And then it came.  A few drops and then a whole sheet of gray had reached us just as we were anticipating some chicken feeding, made us stop in our tracks, laugh, wonder, and run!  In a jagged line toward home, with shouts and laughs and littles boosted up on bigger backs.

We rushed inside and closed all of the windows one by one, a happy babble and dripping things.  Then we enjoyed a little treat around the table as we watched the rain come down outside, shrouding everything and sprinkling the windows in happy tears.

One little girl went back out, unbeknownst to us, until we saw her streaking through the rain on her bike, with streaming wet hair and a smile on her face!  (that girl!)

A do-nothing happy day.

Splish Splash I Was Takin' a....

It has been hard to get this little boy in the bath lately.  Yesterday I decided to scrap what  I had planned with the kids and instead play with him while he was in the tub.  He was so reluctant that I had to coax him in with a dive-bombing alien; even then he stood for probably ten minutes before he could bring himself to sit down.  After he got playing, I think he remembered just how fun baths can be!  He kept calling the alien a "ghostie," which joined his little car Guido as a comfort object for the day. (and we discovered Ghostie glows at bedtime)  A few minutes of playing soon melted into nearly an hour of not-wanting-to-get-out.  I was happy to sit for that long since I still wasn't feeling too well myself.

(another little funny side note:  any time a tub toy would drip profusely, he would say it was "pooping")

That beautiful black stuff in the tub is plumbers glue (the previous homeowners sold the tub the plumber replaced).  So the tub is clean, let's just pretend we are trending tub tattoos and couch tattoos around here (I can't remember if I shared the couch tattoo story on this blog or just on Instagram?  We were the recipient of a beautiful bright blue snowflake stamp on our new sofa.  I could not get it out, even though our couches have been stain treated.  For a short time I tried really hard to convince myself that I did indeed want the new couch tattoo I had been gifted, but I was really relieved to receive Amodex from the couch company, which completely removed the entire stain!  Whew!  I think I'd rather have a couch tattoo as a voluntary measure.)

Some day I am sure going to miss those little wrinkled fingers and toys lined up on the edge of the tub and carrying a snuggly little one in a warm fuzzy towel and pink baby lotion and the smell of my baby's head after a bath.

As you can probably tell, even though we haven't reached the actual age of two here, we have reached the age at which certain two year old behaviors are notorious.  That's not to say that I don't just want to eat up this cute little thing every day, of course.  I love this link my sister sent me, called 46 Reasons My Three Year-Old Might Be Freaking Out.  So super funny!  Sometimes its fun to take a step back and realize how funny some of this stuff can be.  And we'll miss that little kid whose "lip tastes salty" or whose "shirt has a tag on it." (and probably wish our problems were that simple again, right?)  Is there something seemingly insignificant that has caused a melt-down at your house?

Thanksgiving Number 1, Part 1

I have been putting off posting my Thanksgiving photos because I have been too busy to sort through and edit them.  But still feeling a little sad over the weekend's news, I remembered that many of the Thanksgiving photos were of my six year-old.  Been feeeling extra thankful for all these little ones.  Enjoy some photos of just plain old childlike play-- they are therapeutic for me. 

Are you ready for Christmas?  I've sure enjoyed this busy but wonderful time of year.

I found these girls anxiously awaiting the arrival of their dad, with all their self-packed things.

A little boy in heaven at Grandpa's farm with train in hand.

 In Grandpa's new self-made greenhouse.  It was nice and toasty warm and my kids were fascinated with it.  Notice they took toys and coloring things because they wanted to play inside.  I love these photos of childlike, quiet play, without realizing they were being observed.

 Don't be jealous of how glamorous I look when I sleep.  Ug.  Thanks to my hubby, I got a nap on Thanksgiving!  He helped with the cooking, too.  Is there anything hotter than a man in the kitchen? 

I heard some muffled cries for help.  They had gotten locked in. 

More to come later! 

Baby Dancing

I have been looking for this video I took of the baby, around Halloween time-frame-ish, and finally found it!  I have been trying to capture his little dance moves for a long time and this one does the trick.  Don't you just love baby dancing?  I love it.

This video is only 39 seconds.  Enjoy!



We've been a little under the weather around here, how about you?

Living in England and Some Little Reminiscinces

The time has come and gone: remembering the time we moved here four years ago, when I was big and pregnant.  I've been thinking a lot about the different places we have lived and the people we left behind (more on this tomorrow).

These two used to hold hands in the car.  They are still best little buds.

There is a part of me that will call those places home, places I sorted life out as I walked or ran, watched the seasons change, brought babies home, helped them learn to walk, laid on the couch all day moaning with the stomach flu together, visited church parties and walked with friends and laughed over my cardboard box Yorkshire pudding served with Salmon or my cold custard (oops). 

Life in England wasn't perfect.  I was sick all the time.  We were separated from our family by time zones and distance.  We lost our dear mother only a short time after we returned due to cancer.  My house was frequently a mess (now it's worse, ha ha), as I adjusted to new motherhood, pregnancy, and new motherhood again.  While we were there, I tried to force myself to spend a certain chunk of time with my little ones each day, as I'm trying to do now as part of my project.  It was not easy.  It was hard.  (not hard in the sense that I loved it, it was just hard learning to juggle all of the housework and stuff on top of it)  I resurrected this poem I wrote after we returned.  Isn't it funny, looking back with the clarity only time can give, what it is I remembered most?  Yes, I loved England the country and all her little quirks and beauties and customs.  No mentions of wishing my house were cleaner or that I had chosen more fashionable furniture or something, the things I remember best, the memories that are fondest, are of people, especially my little ones.  It was worth every little sacrifice.

Sorry, this poem is super sentimental, and choppy, and won't always make sense (though it does to me).  But you get the picture.

PS The Elizabeth reference is to my daughters, the first of whom was born in England.  It is in reference to this drawing by Da Vinci, which was (probably still is) hanging in the National Gallery and which I fell in love with.  The Windsor reference refers to our first trip to England, when we were house hunting, and how we fell in love.  So many happy memories there.

Goodbye, Cedar Drive

Goodbye, number 49

Where we brought baby home,

Listened to clickety-clacking trains,

Returned from rambles

With leaf in hand--

And sticks and rocks.

Goodbye little footpath,

Through our forest -- slanting sunshine,

Kade’s “yah” roots,

Skipping down our dirt path,

Leaves trickling down in red and amber,

Old stream,

And bridges of sink or float.

Goodbye park,

Goodbye book truck,

Goodbye little horse trails around

The solitary fat oak tree

We passed in rain,

Under stars,

Early morning mist, and sunshine.

Goodbye church spire,

Little room where we sang to

“Sleeping Bunnies,”

Stroller walks and autumn walks.

Goodbye Sunninghill High Street of donut days,

Walks from work and Stock Exchange,

Goodbye Sunningdale train station,

Waitrose.

Goodbye Ascot,

Where I cried,

The only person in the world,

Because of the perfect life inside me.

Goodbye St. Peters and Frimley,

Where He gave you to me,

Elizabeth.

Goodbye Bracknell,

Coral Reef,

And Sainsburys,

Christmas dinner with the Joneses,

Little drive of swans,

Midsummer Night’s Dream,

And Rudges.

Goodbye little church of friends,

Summer Sundays

Chasing baby across the grass.

Goodbye London,

Where St. Paul's rose

Above me

Over a spanning cable bridge.

Goodbye winding streets,

Trafalgar,

St.James Park,

National Gallery.

Goodbye, Sir Winston,

Presiding thoughtfully over

Parliament’s golden spire,

Goodbye English countryside,

We loved your cottages,

Ivy,

Garden walls.

Goodbye

Winding cobblestone

Streets,

Climbing roses,

And ancient thatched roofs.

Goodbye creaking streets,

Bending into

Surprise endings.

Goodbye Windsor,

Happy wanderings,

Family days,

Queenly Mc’D’s,

Doll houses,

Bustling shops.

Goodbye, Queen Victoria

And a Christmas tuba

Under twinkly pine garlands.

Goodbye Great Park,

We loved your ancient trees,

Your promises,

Your Long Walk,

And your silent Copper Horse.

You were our

First

Love.


Tell me, how do you carve out time for your little ones? Share your secret.

Mr. E. Goes to the Beach and Other Summer Round Up Pics (#2)

I didn't mean to take so many of just the baby...but aren't these photos of him enjoying the beach so fun?  I love watching babies discover something for the first time.

Here are some at home from the end of the summer, from the kids making a cardboard bed to baby climbing on the piano when I wasn't looking to kids playing with their animals (from craft jars), to my sister visiting (my kids LOVE my sisters...she was shocked when the baby, who never goes to anyone, plunked himself down in her lap for a photo!  He was still a little wary of her, though).