little people live here

Little people make the house noisy. They fill it up with crumbs. They leave artwork on the refrigerator door and on the wall in the foyer.

And they do things like this:

An interesting discovery I made while turning off the bathroom light before bed that made me smile and enjoy her Katie-ness just a bit more.

There is an even littler little person in this house who discovered she can do things like climb on top of the kids table,

stand on top of stools to see what is out of view,

and climb on top of the kitchen table when she needs to study the nutritional value of a Happy Meal.

(She realized that sadly, the food standards in this household have taken a turn for the worse since my stomach got all weird and icky with the pregnancy. Hopefully we'll be back to normal in a couple weeks.)

And, alas, I am stuck with no clever way to finish this post.

I will blame that on being pregnant too; which, I guess, is the result of a little person living inside of me, so there's my ending after all. :)

So, what have your little people been up to lately?

(update: I just re-read this post at 9:50 and found a typo in each of the first three sentences. Arg! What is wrong with me?!)

good for something

Do you know that first day of summer weather in the spring?

Do you know what that day is good for?


It's good for a picnic at the park



and hanging out.



It's good for showing off how awesome your hair looks blowing in the breeze



and eating soft pretzels.



It's good for discovering how mulch feels



and discovering how mulch tastes.



It's good for showing off



and cooling off.



It's good for making new friends



and finding friendly creatures.



It's good for climbing the highest



and showing that you can do it too.


(and for showing off that awesome cloth diaper rear)


It's a good day to just be a child.



And it's a good day



to take way too many pictures



of some piggy-tails.

better together

A couple weeks ago Adam had a day outing with Joey, so Katie and I had some special "Mommy-Katie" time. In the morning, my mom watched the girls while I kept a commitment at church. Grandmom does much better braids than I do.



After we got home and I put Lizzie to bed, Katie wanted to do crafts together. Katie and Joey do crafts all the time, but they usually do them on their own. We have an abundance of easily accessible supplies at their disposal, so when the mood strikes, they just get out the tape, or glue, or scissors, or beads, or string, or pom-poms, or yarn, or paper, or play-doh, or ribbon and make a mess create beautiful masterpieces.



But for our special "Mommy-Katie" time, Katie wanted me to sit there and do crafty things with her. I love doing crafty things, and I love being with Katie, but I have to admit that it was really hard for me to sit there and focus on our craft, when my brain was thinking about all the laundry and all the picking up and all the dishes I could have been doing while the baby was sleeping and Katie was happily crafting at the kitchen table.



It was hard to stop my never-ending list of things to do in my brain from removing me from the precious girl sitting beside me.



Do you experience this too? Are you thinking of what you could be doing when you have something wonderful to do right in front of you?



Katie needs me for lots of things. But sometimes all she needs is for me to just sit still.



And if I hadn't sat still and done crafts with her, I would never have discovered that I really have some awesome bean-gluing skills.



And you never know when bean-gluing skills are going to come in handy.

fever and dots

Lizzie had a fever Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and today she has spots--

Can you name that illness?

Ding! Ding! Ding!

If you said "Roseola" you are correct!

So that is what I have been doing this week: tending to a fussy girl, helping a fussy girl with high-spiking fevers get back to bed a few times each night, bringing the fussy girl into bed with me so I could get some rest, taking the fussy girl to the doctor yesterday to be sure it wasn't ear infections, and holding a fussy girl who feels much better today but has grown quite fond of the arrangement where I hold her all day.

I'm a little tired. But all the rest of us are healthy, we managed to do schoolwork each day, and at least it is roseola and not leprosy, which is what the kids keep calling it.

There is always something (well, lots of things) to smile about.

(& feel free to share some of your reasons to smile)

this week

Sunday
was the first time the four and five-year-old Jr. church class met Chester the Chimpanzee. He wears an aqua blue onesie with the letters ch glued to the front. He was a big hit. Bring puppets when you teach this age group and you are guaranteed to be considered a "fun teacher."

Monday
was the first day of spring, with rain and a few snowflakes.
The day started out with a great beginning that too quickly came unravelled by pulling the threads of a health insurance appeal and a trip to the library with two books that didn't have their cds with them. Grrr.

I never got my groove back after that, so I threw in the towel and put on Beauty and the Beast.

After Lizzie woke up from her nap, I plopped her on my bed to watch along with Kate while I worked on some laundry in the next room. Those two little girls were being awfully quiet and when I went to check on them, this is what I found:









Katie told me she was taking care of Lizzie so she wouldn't be afraid of the beast. Lizzie rested there on her sister for quite a while. It was precious.

That moment totally redeemed my failed Monday. That and my husband cleaning up the kitchen and folding laundry when I went out grocery shopping after the kids were in bed.

Tuesday
didn't feel like spring, but we still hit the swings.







Wednesday
it snowed.


It snowed because last week I washed all the snow pants and heavy coats and put away most of the hats and gloves and scarves.

You're welcome.

Thursday



it snowed again.


But the sun came out in the afternoon because Spring realized that the joke was getting old.

Friday
was lunch at McDonald's playland with friends where four little people ran around until they were tired and sweaty, while one very little person walked around enjoying her first playland adventure, and I forgot my camera.

Saturday
was a day. A day that began with waffles, saw a few house projects completed, and produced the best cheeseburger that my grillmaster has ever made. Ever.


(guacamole, watercress, tomato, grilled pineapple, cheddar, juicy beef, bit of mayo, toasted bun)

All the more yummy when served with a side of sillies.





My day actually ends with me eating a bowl of cheerios with banana for a snack while blogging, but I don't think anyone wants to see a picture of that.

In one hour and fifty-four minutes another week begins.
I hope it's a good one.

life is good, you know

Today was full of mothering and teaching and reading and cleaning and washing and diaper-changing and cooking.

And swinging.













It was a good day.

not so poetic

silently snow falls
in my home no peace is found
teething baby screams