Squeezably Soft

Huggable, kissable, and oh, so irresistible. Found this one of Savanna in the archives. Have I ever mentioned how much I love chunky babies?

Just When You Thought You Were Accomplishing Something...

On Tuesday this week, I was feeling really good about getting some things done around the house without any interruptions. (Note: This never happens.) Amazingly, I got all of the floors downstairs swept, mopped, and vacuumed without so much as a "Mommy, I need..." It was truly miraculous.

Of course, I knew in my heart of hearts that there would somehow be a price to pay for this 45 minute interval with no appearances from my little friends. When I heard the DVDs being dropped onto the floor upstairs, I sensed troubled. Immediately following said noise, Savanna sounded the alarm: "Mom! She got your buttons!" (Thanks for the warning, Savanna. Oh, and thanks for opening up the jar of buttons for Lexa so she could dump them out all over.)

I came upstairs to witness the following:

So, whatever time I saved on floor-cleaning sans interruptions, I made up in DVD-picking-up and button gathering. 

It's good for me that I have the girls to remind me who's really in charge of my life these days.

(Hint: It's not me.)

For J

Our poor, sweet first-grader seems a little under-represented on the blog these days. Since she is at school for a large portion of the day, her shenanigans aren't quite as prevalent as those of the other two monkeys who spend all day around here. 

Little Julia, though she always did really well in kindergarten, really seems to have had an emotional growth spurt over the last couple of months. She is becoming more patient, more empathetic, more understanding, more responsible, and it is both exciting and nerve-wracking to see what a great older sister/student/daughter she is becoming. (Exciting because it is wonderful to see her mature, nerve-wracking because we know this means that she isn't so little anymore.)

I know we are a few weeks into the school year already, but here is a little something to commemorate J's passing into first grade. (In the meantime, I will be trying to get my head around the fact that, in a flash, she has gone from this:

to this:

Julia's First-Grade Poem

'Twas the night before first grade and up in her bed

Laid a little ex-kindergartner resting her head.

Her  backpack was left by the front door all packed

And her sandwich sat ready in its brown paper sack.

The children were put in their beds pretty early,

(With hopes that they’d rise in the morning not surly).

And daddy on his laptop, and I with my pen

Were feeling alright about school starting again.

Yet soon before our bedtime plans had been made,

The panic set in: “Wow! She’s starting first grade!”

(And though we both know that first grade is required,

we still were not sure it was what we desired.)

It seems that this baby we welcomed so gladly

Is determined to grow up (she wants it quite badly).

So while we remember her sweet baby fingers

We sadly admit that her youth cannot linger.

As children get wiser, well, so do their folks;

(yet they do it gladly; ourselves we must coax.)

So off to first grade we did send our sweet girl

Knowing she’ll make a great mark on the world.

  

This growing up business, we may well dislike,

this coming of age of an innocent tyke,

But since we agreed we would raise them up rightly,

We will let them grow up (and in secret, hold tightly)

To all of the joy that their littleness brings

(Begrudgingly cutting those dear apron strings.)

And though it requires an earnest endeavor,

We’re happy to note that they’re still ours forever...

Fin 

(Julia, you are the awesomest first-grader we've ever met! Thanks for being ours.)

Day in Flagstaff

 We recently improved a miserable summer-in-Phoenix day by escaping to my sister and her partner's adorable cabin in Flagstaff:

(Yes, adorable. I wish I could eat its toes off, it's so cute.) 

It was heavenly to be away from the desert sun for a 

few hours and spend the day doing practically nothing. 

Highlights included: playing with Gus-Gus, 

the cute-headed little boy of Laura and Amy's friends 

(with whom Savanna is completely enamored)...

Sweeping pine needles off the roof of the wood shed,

precariously balancing on a make-shift
teeter-totter engineered by Aunt Amy,

and hiding Daddy in the ottomans
that surround the dining room table.

Other highlights (not pictured here): being outside for more than 30 seconds without sweat running down our backs, devouring delicious chicken curry and couscous, (also engineered by Amy) going for a walk without suffering heat stroke, meeting friendly neighbors, sitting in a room in August with the blinds and windows open, and hanging out with people we love. (Oh, and La helped me with homework, too. Thanks again, Profesora.)

Invite us back soon (please)!

Now I Know

While this is what I envisioned motherhood would look like...

it turns out, it actually looks a lot more like this:

And that's why I try to focus on the rare, calm,
beautiful moments like this: