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.

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.

a couple of flakes

A snow day morning started with two sets of feet padding their way to the side of my bed. I have a feeling Joey told Katie to wake me up. Tapping my shoulder she said, "Wake up, Mommy! Look outside -- it's a glorious snowstorm!"

It was a beautiful morning, with Lizzie still asleep, but I got up to view the glorious snow that had fallen in the night.



Everything is new and pretty with snow on it.
I wouldn't normally take a picture of my flowering pear tree out front (with Christmas lights still on), but I would with some snow clinging to the branches.

The kids went outside to play right away. I think the only prerequisite was to let mommy have her cup of coffee first. Then they got all "bungled" up and headed out. Some day someone will tell the children that it is bundled not bungled, but it isn't going to me. I just bungle them up when they ask me to.



The swing set was suddenly much more fun and entertaining when covered with snow. Falling down the slide into a heap of snow was cause for great excitement.




Joey just radiates his glee. When he is having fun, he doesn't hide it.


And the pink snow princess? I don't exactly know what she was doing with the snow chunks she was piling up in the fort, and since I took all these photos from inside my kitchen with my zoom lens, I wasn't close enough to ask. But I love that she needed sunglasses to do it.


Lizzie noticed the snow as soon as she looked out the window in the morning, and then she tried to talk to me about it with her baby points, sounds, and nods. When it snowed last time, I got a bowl of snow for Lizzie to inspect when the kids were out. Joey wanted a chance to see her reaction to the snow, so he got a bowl for her this day.



While intrigued, she wanted nothing to do with touching it. It doesn't fit into her baby picture of what is normal in this world and she is fine with the snow staying outside, away from her personal space.


You can't tell in this picture, but she is shaking her head "no" as we would bring the bowl close to her, trying to get her to touch it. Of course, then we all enjoyed watching her shake her head in defiance for a few more rounds before I told the kids to leave her alone.


When the kids came inside from one of the many trips out, I peeled the layers of snow gear off of a rosy cheeked Katie and she told me, "I like playing in the snow. It's like taking a walk with Santa Claus in a dreamland."

I have never taken a walk with Santa Claus in a dreamland, but it sounds pretty good. :)
Too bad I don't have any elves. They could help clean up this:



Because that is how a snow day ends.

twas the day before Christmas

The two weeks before Christmas were filled with the stomach bug, the flu, and other unexpected dilemmas. But I wanted Christmas Eve to be fun. I was hoping to maybe start some family traditions; I think I may have succeeded. The day was filled with two fun activities.

#1: Christmas Cut-out Cookies



We all had a great time mixing and rolling and baking and decorating.
Well, almost all of us.



She sat in her chair and wavered back and forth between looking cute and making a stink that she was stuck in the high chair.




Now here is a picture quiz for you. Look at the photo very closely and tell me what doesn't belong. Can you spot it?



Need a clue?



Yes, you got it! A jar of tomato sauce. But you see, when one leaves her rolling pin at her sister's house from cousin-cinnamon-applesauce-ornaments day, a jar of tomato sauce does belong because how else are you going to roll out the cookie dough?



I love the big brother/little sister dynamic when doing something like this all together. She is always looking to him for cues


or to get a kick out of what silliness he has drummed up



and then, of course, to be just as cool as he is.



Joey is so much fun. He loves projects that include any sort of artsy aspect. Some serious concentration and planning resulted in some real beauties.




And then there was this one by Katie which she entitled, "Worms eating a rocking horse."



Disturbing? Just a little bit. :)


My recommendation for cut-out cookies with small children is a 1:1 adult to child ratio. I did cookies with the kids by myself back in the fall, and lets just say this experience was much more enjoyable. A little less mean mommy, and a bunch more smiles.





We had so much fun together. It was one of those times where you know that the picture in your head can be very different from the reality that occurs, but on this day, the picture and reality were pretty close. The fact that I love artsy stuff was a bonus. As I stood at the counter squeezing green icing out of my make-shift ziploc piping bag, I turned to Adam and told him, "I could do this all day long!" There is a part of my brain that delights in the occasional art outlet.

They weren't glorious works of art, but in my book they were cookie success!



#2: Marshmallow Fight

I think I may have read in a magazine that one family's Chritmas tradition was a marshmallow fight, and I immediately thought now there is a tradition I could enjoy! It was worth every penny of the $1.78 it cost for two bags of marshmallows to delight in the wild rumpus of marshmallow blitzing, tossing, and zinging that filled the house.

And when you don't let your husband know what you have planned, but let your son help you devise how to spring the surprise on Daddy, the fun factor goes up exponentially. I wish someone could have been there to tally how many times I hit Adam in the head that night, because my aim was unusually dead on that evening.

Joey smiled so big during the whole marshmallow frenzy, I think he may have strained some cheek muscles. Katie would gather up a bunch in her arms and sling them all at once in a barrage of marshmallows that didn't hit anybody. Lizzie just did her best to stay calm and figure out why we had all gone crazy. The animals nibbled on marshmallows strew about the house. And I didn't take one picture, because it was one of those times that couldn't be weighted down with photographic desires.

Pure, family fun, and I loved every minute of it.

And what do you do after a marshmallow fight? You find a few marshmallows that don't look too dusty or chewed on and you plop them into mugs of hot cocoa while you watch some Christmas cinema and eat a cookie or two.





And that, my friends, was a really great Christmas Eve.

I love my family. I am so thankful for every one of these splendid people God has given me.
I hope your days with family were filled with laughter and love as well.