Spring Again

Options for filling in holes and low spots in a yard:

1.  Hire someone to do it.

2.  Get a load of dirt or sand and spread it around.

3.  Dig a trench around the flower beds, toss all the hunks of dirt into the low spots and let your sons handle it.

I looked up yesterday and saw Tate in blue jeans, no shoes, no shirt, muddy hands holding worms.  If regular life had Disney-type characters walking around for entertainment value, Tate could be the Huck Finn.

Pineapple Skirt and Honesty

It's too misleading to just say that I made a gold and aqua pineapple skirt for Hols and she's now ready for a trip to Miami and everything is so perfectly together.  So along with photos of the skirt, some additional confessions:

I bought fabric and zippers and such to make dresses and more fabric for more skirts.  Nothing is happening with that.

I forgot how to make the simplest article of clothing and did it incorrectly, adding time to the process.  I also initially made it upside down.  (In my defense- THERE WERE A MILLION OTHER THINGS HAPPENING SIMULTANEOUSLY.)

 Sometimes I put clean, folded laundry back into the dryer just because I need to get it out of the way.

I fall asleep in my clothes pretty much all the time now.  2 AM is the unofficial the deadline for waking up to brush teeth and put on pajamas.  If I sleep past that...it's the whole night in jeans.

If I find popcorn on the couch, I just throw it behind me onto the kitchen floor so it can join its buddies, cracker crumbs and additional popcorn.

I don't shower every day and I love the days when I don't shower because it's not as much work.  But somehow I don't get up any earlier on the days that I do shower.

Buying a Diet Coke from the coke machine at church makes me feel spiritually horrible because I could have found a better use for that dollar.

I want to make my kids healthy lunches, but today I bought Handi Snacks.

I have never once done a workbook with any of the kids.  I must give off the workbook vibe because people give them to me, but no.

Once I threw away every coloring book in our house.

Once I threw away a stack of thank you notes that I had already written because I couldn't seem to get them to the mailbox and I needed them out of my way.

Our van is the quintessential minivan with layers of crap.

I have a lot of other nice qualities as well.

Looking at you, Singer

I like to stop in Old Navy before I go fabric shopping.  It's really encouraging to spend $8 on a super cute dress for Holly first, then look at fabric that starts at $10 a yard and will require notions and hours of labor before a dress appears from it.

I can't seem to get past blues and reds. I finally forced myself to put back one and find something pink and whimsical.  It's all washed and ready to be ironed and cut.

Things are comical at our house- water bottles are constantly splitting across the bottom and leaving illogically large puddles, there's still always a contraband sharpie without a lid turning up somewhere, Holly can rapidly undo whatever was just completed.  And there are so many gross things.  In an effort to watch  my language, I up end up yelling nonsense:  Fuuuudge!  Ugh Aghhhh Pete!  Cremini!  
Somehow -very seriously without any sarcasm- I think undertaking some massive dress sewing is going to help me.

I like my Tuesdays like I like my babies: FAT

If I had stopped to think about it beforehand, I would not have predicted that the Crystal Beach Mardi Gras parade would be kid friendly.  But, surprise!  It was!

And now we can spend all of Lent with huge piles of beads.

Happy Valentime's!

Friendly

 With maybe one exception, ALL my friends love camping.  Until recently I thought that everyone except Trent and me loved camping, then I realized these are just the kind of people I get along with and I don't 100% fit in with them.  If I'm sleeping in a tent it's going to mean that something horrible has happened, like the world has turned into that awful book The Road or the rest of my family has been brainwashed by the Boy Scouts and they kidnap me for weekend activities.

All my camping loving friends share another common trait:  high ideals that I love in theory but can never manage to live in practice.  For example, my friends say things like, "We don't tell our kids that Santa only brings presents to you if you're good.  It's like God's love and grace, you don't have to earn it."  I love that idea.

(dramatic pause)

My kids know alllll about the naughty list.   Someone always says that sweet statement around December 5 and I think, yes, I totally agree with that.  Then five minutes later I'm shouting IF SANTA EVEN STOPS AT THIS HOUSE ALL HE'S LEAVING YOU IS A GIANT BAG OF FARTS.

And now I honestly can't remember where I was going with this.  I started with pictures of Holly after she found the lipstick in my purse and some school Valentines.  Glad to know that spending half our life savings on stain proof carpet was a good investment thus far because with sufficient scrubbing that lipstick came right out.

End with the Valentines in your head so we seem like a really sweet family sitting around the kitchen table peacefully making Valentines.

A Tale of Two Birthdays: More Catch-Up

We have a real whirlwind month with Holly's Birthday-Christmas-New Year-Tate's Birthday.

Most of Holly's friends are church friends, family friends, so we had a birthday lunch for her after church one Sunday.

Tate had a Summer in January Party.  It was one of those house-full-of-5-year-olds-and-total-calm paradox parties.

As requested, Tate's birthday cake in the shape of the sun.