A death

Her first bike.  My two ton jeep.  An unfortunate accident.

"Honey, you're probably going to be really upset, but I just ran over your bike with my car.  It's ruined."

Daughter (smiling)  "Seriously? YES!  I was so sick of those princesses."

So, the ice cream outing that Dad had promised for an awesome report card made the easy transition into Academy and a hula bike worthy of the beaches of Maui.

Don't expect this every nine weeks, sweet girl.  I might start heading for your guinea pig cage and an unfortunate encounter with the many dogs that urinate on my daffodils.  (hmm hmm)

Happy biking, princess.

Dear Lord, please help her love reading and always want to bury her nose in a book.

Amen.

Sisters

Then. 

And now.

Your Mother and I plan on storing lots of poignant antiqued sun kissed photos in our computers for the inevitable day you two fight over your first boy or decide you have a new best friend.

Here's to your future clothes sharing, phone whispering, bike riding, fort making, little brother avoiding, bridesmaid dress wearing, world traveling, lifetime adventures.  

Once upon a time there was a buttery yellow tooth. Or five.

Raegan lost a tooth yesterday.  I came home after playing my violin at a friendly church (Great Grandpa is gasping for air) down the road and my little girl had grown a foot.  She was taller, less babyish, and had pulled her own tooth for the first time.  No big deal.

It's like God's little way of making a child's eventual separation less painful.  They don't need you anymore, but start pulling their own sweet little baby white teeth unaware that the monstrous yellow ridged ones are sure to follow.  

Why are big teeth so weird looking at first?  I'm sure we must grow into them at some point because I have never gone around contemplating how huge and ridge-y my friends' teeth are.  Maybe they're like babies' big heads.  Weird and bumpy and enormous (although kind of cute) and sometimes yellow-y.

That's my thought for today.  I wish I could have pulled that tooth and I'm wishing she would have cried. I like needy co-dependent children.

Please son, keep hollering for my help when you're done using the restroom.  I have parented your sister too well.

Sincerely, Mama.

A haiku

so teeny tiny

resting in peace

little snail


-Issa, 1825


I could find no haiku involving placing snail shells in acorn tops,
but I thought this was beautiful just the same.

Looking forward to today and all the wonders it holds.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Yesterday was Raegan's 2nd Grade Program.

Love this sweet clown and her friends!

R's teacher

The best music teacher in the State.

Assorted Sunday thoughts

It's Sunday

My movie with girlfriends was sold out and I had to leave the group and head home.

Home to do dishes and practice with the kids.

Husband took the usual Sunday afternoon catnap due to slight Sunday mouth pain/ headache.

Darn headache. Happens every Sunday.

Said husband is slipping away to a much deserved Stone Temple Pilots concert

with two friends and VIP passes.

I'm sitting at the computer thinking I need to change deodorants and possibly vacuum the car

before heading to Bible study.

Glamorous.

This is the bible study where we pray about the schoolyear and lament

how our children are growing up.

I guess two of us will be lamenting from a rock concert.

Anyhow, it's been a great weekend.

Ready to start tomorrow refreshed.

That will probably begin with a trip to Walgreens ans a deodorant change.

And just because these two goons make me happy....

New do. For real this time.

This cut is no joke. It took me seven years and forty plus consecutive days of 100+ temperatures to finally get around to cutting my daughter's hair. I'd say it's about time. Note to Mothers: long hair is lovely, and it is so so so so so so so so so so so much work to take care of. I'm sure it will be long again at some point, but I'm thinking this is a great second grade look. I will wail and gnash my teeth about second grade at some point in the near future, I assure you. For tonight, a short hair celebration.

True love

This little guy is the first thing she holds in the morning and the last thing she cuddles at night.

He doesn't run around frantically like the hamster, has only pooped outside of the cage once (as opposed to five million hamster droppings), and he makes little happy noises when he's being pet. Despite the mess he slings out of his cage, I think he might be the perfect pet.

And the winner is.....

Looks like Raegan lost in the game of pool, and Greyson won in the game of drool.

First Cheerio and the Zoo

In that order. The cheerio happened a few days ago, and was soon followed by random table-samplings of all sorts (ie roast beef and spaghetti). Probably not recommended by my pediatrician, I am sure.

My mom and I took the kids to the zoo today. Ahhh, the beauty of a zoo friends membership. We saw the aquarium, meerkats, playground, and giftshop, and we were out of there. How all of that took two hours is a little perplexing. Maybe because I spent an hour of that in the aquarium just trying to get one family shot with Raegan smiling (yeah, right) and Greyson actually looking at the camera (yeah, right).  It never happened, but here are the best of the day.

Pumpkin Patch

Raegan and I just got back from the Orr Family Farm with a bunch of kids and moms from school and church. I stress the word bunch. We pet animals (two to be exact), rode on a hayride, picked pumpkins, rode a train, and ate lunch. A few other events transpired in between these 'highlights" (pumpkin patch meltdown due to bumping heads with Brenna, salmon fighting upstream scenario in animal barn, complete lack of interest in pumpkin story time - devoured bag of chips with friends instead, and general bewildered look on the mothers' faces during and in between events.) All totally worth it for a few priceless pics with mom.

Rainy day playdate

So I'm an official blogger now. This is what happens when I am awakened at 5:30 in the morning by my teething 7 month old. Strange, yet productive things seem to happen. The dishes are washed, laundry is drying, my blog is up and running, and art play day has come and gone. Whew!

Here are pictures of the girls in Raegan's room. Eagerly anticipating the arrival of the trash man, (oh to be three again) and sitting on Raegan's bed. I can't wait to torture them with these photos someday. I can already see them in the senior slideshow at church......