The Funky Clothespin

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Blur of Summer

Today was the first day of school. Besides the fact that my inner worn-out mama is jumping up and down like a kid in a bouncy house, I'm left scratching my head over what happened to the last few months. Other than the speed bumps of vacation, we've been at home, going ninety-to-nothing holding babies,

making dough,

styling personal pizzas,

and baking a crazy cake all by our little self.

We've been picking flowers,

picking noses,

and picking footwear.

We've been buzzed by a crop duster,

scared delightfully out of our skins once

and twice.

We've lost teeth

and gained them,

drooling all the way.

We've put up green beans,

sweet corn,

and gobs of tomatoes.

We've sneaked off during Daddy's Sunday afternoon nap,

and mobbed him to look up the tractor classifieds.

We've eaten many breakfasts,

many dinners,

and a little bit of ice cream.

We've read voraciously

and slept soundly.

We've been together...

a lot.

We've had a great summer, no matter the speed of life. On the other hand, if my washing machine could talk, it would slap me.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Yes....

That is what you think it is.

Henry!!!

**If you were mesmerized by that beautiful smile, and missed the color change on the floor, let me draw your attention to that schmear of mustard-yellow poopie beneath my baby's feet!

Friday, April 20, 2012

3 Months of Henry

You're showing off a little leg there, my boy. You and all your pudgy sweet self! Gimme some sugar.

I am so proud of Henry. At 15 weeks, he is finally sleeping through the night consistently. In fact, one morning I woke up and realized that was the first time I knew anything since going to sleep the night before. It's been a long time since that's happened. (Even during my pregnancy, I couldn't make it through the night without waking up to go to the little girl's room.) I wish I could say he did it all by himself, but I had to give him a little nudge in the right direction and ignore his habit of waking up halfway through the night for a snack. It took less than 20 minutes of whimpering at 4 am the first night of my mama protest. I had failed to communicate my plans with Jason, and he kicked at me to let me know Henry was awake. Light sleeper that I am, and grumpy when woken up, I may have snarled back.

The next night, Henry whimpered once or twice. The next night he groused for 10-15 minutes. Every night since then has been one little cry or nothing at all, and it's lasted for a week. Thank you, God!!! Now if I could just make myself go to bed earlier...

Monday, April 16, 2012

Easter Weekend at a Glance

Over Easter, our family met up with my parents and siblings in the Smokey Mountains. We kids had put this surprise together a long time ago for my parents, who both turned 60 last year. We gave them clues to the vacation at both of their birthdays, Christmas and on their anniversary in January. It was a wonderful way to honor and celebrate them. Here are a few of my favorite snapshots of our weekend in Townsend, Tennessee.

These girlies were ready for bed before we ate supper. All of the kids were excited to share the bunk bed in the basement.

Henry meets Uncle Lyndon.

The pause for prayer before meal time.

Luca! What a great kid. I wish I would have gotten a picture of her with her pajamas on backwards. Her mama knows how to keep her from taking them off!

Terror in the dark, slippery cave. OK, only my terror! I was afraid one of the kids would slip and fall to death or dismemberment. Here we were throwing coins into a wishing well, and it was safe to release my death grip on the railing in order to use the camera.

But doesn't it look just a little creepy? Cool, but creepy.

It took Jack a few days to warm up to cousins he doesn't see very often. By Sunday morning, he was inviting them into his inner sanctum to play with his tractors.