Side-by-side

Thankful

that after I came out from arranging some clothes, this was all that had happened to Penelope. I can live with a belt and elephant "gun." 

Penelope is Naomi 2.0 (reportedly)

I sure hope my yellow scarf does not become Snuggle 2.0. She was fingering it a bit too lovingly!

When we used to love in Colleyville, we would walk to feed the donkey and cow down the road, feeling rustic in suburbia. Today, feeling nostalgic, we went back for a walk and found alpacas instead. 

Naomi is itching to use my picnic basket with ask the plates and plastic utensils. We compromised with a pack lunch on the side of the path. 

End of the road

Phil's team lost their 2nd playoff attempt today.  PJ represents me well: trying to look concerned and sorrowful, but check out the party shirt! And fly accessory. 

Soccer is done!!!

Bedtime snuggles

Windy day at the zoo!

Peaking over to get a better view. Leif felt that the traditional lunch box wasn't going to work for him today, and decided to go with the Lego case instead. There he could comfortably fit lunch, bevy, toy, and binoculars. 

Hanging with the she-gorilla. 

First train ride for at least two of my kids. Happily, with friends to share the experience. 

I think they'd do it again!!

Full day at the office, er, zoo - check!

Is hard for me to resist new hats.

Naomi is modeling her Easter hat, and Leif his new cap. He worked it every which way: forward, backward, and even sideways. Forward-facing seems to be the fave. 

You can't tell from up here...

...but Penelope was excited to get a bath today.

Pretty from Pandemonium, part 4

Just a boy construction worker, on his "things that go" bedspread. Bravely going where few moms are willing to go: white bedspread on a small, generally dirty boy's bed.

Speaking of where no one dares tread, how many toys can be scattered around Leif's room at any one time? Seems the bed was the safer place to play, definitely most comfortable!

These pics taken 5 days shy of one year from the first pandemonium pics.

Pretty from Pandemonium, part 3

Perfect reminiscing from October 2014 for Valentines 2016: beautiful bouquet from the Petersons.

Oh wait, it is actually the dredges from our dinner party, that may or may not still be on the table 2 days from here.  We had a really good dinner though!!

Happy valentine's day!

Love, my little cuties.

And a new valentine's tradition (hopefully): dinner with good friends where the husbands take care of dinner, dessert, and clean up. 

Pretty from Pandemonium, part 2

 

Oh look, my ironing board is beautiful!

Never mind that 1) I have to leave it propped against the wall the other way or it falls over. So this picture is completely staged. and 2) that I barely use the board because I iron only twice a year or so.

Purely NOT staged, is what happened next: my darling potty trainer (Sept '14) who is caught here NOT making it to the bathroom in time.

Pretty from Pandemonium, part 1

Here is an idea 16 months in the making. I saw one home blog too many where a homemaker has an immaculately artsy house, even though there are little ones living under the same roof. I have fleeting dreams of such creativity and cleanliness, but in reality, I am often quickly dressing or picking up the living room in 30 seconds leading up to Phil walking through the garage door.

So, my idea started as a snarky response to those sorts of blogs. But, really, upon further though, it could be a means for looking at life. Calm in the midst of chaos. Delicate emerging from the disorder. Marvelous out of mayhem. Etc, etc.

So here is the original two-pic brainstorm.

Naomi's purse rack, complete with 2 tree crafts

(never mind that they were done with my friend while I was off at work).

But wait! If you give your neck ten degrees turn, we've actually got a stripped bed, pillow pile, lawn mower inside from out, and sadly, a dead dolphin.

But...the kids are are not playing in the clean corner!

Pics from Sept 2014

 Who would have thought this pretty cup could cause tears at breakfast? We got to talking about Mr. McGregor and how he caught Peter Rabbit's father, and Mrs. McGregor made him into a pie. 

And Leif burst into tears, "Bad people! Bad, bad people!" My tender heart. 

Snuggles with her bunny paci 

after some tent time in the front while mommy attacks the army of weeds that have overtaken the yard. 

And I introduced the kids to Anne of Green Gables today. Leif grabbed his horse to watch with since Matthew drives Anne home with a horse and carriage. Naomi loved it, asking a question every thirty seconds, though an hour and a quarter in she was asking,  "Who is Anne?"

Beginner's statistics

We counted up marbles, divided by color, to see if there were actually 160 in Naomi's Christmas tin (I was dubious).

There were 156 all together (after 2 that were given away outside the family and 2 broken ones).

You'll see grumpy gus there, sad because he has fewer than Naomi.  Never mind that she gave him more than 20% voluntarily. 

Life lessons are everywhere! 

3 kids = Greater respect for family photographers

With one face, and an immobile body, it's pretty easy to snap 15 quickly and pick the best one. 

Sometimes you catch a good one in one snap, like here when Naomi was jumping into the aforementioned series.

And then, there's this. 

Where you take as many as the various kids have patience for and go with the best (or most comic appeal, depending).

Penelope does not know what to do with all the love from her adoring big sis, and Leif is cheering with his "boffee" (actually root beer) sucker.

Going back to one is pretty easy there, huh, mom!?

But all the cuteness comes with a cost. 

A windy day, kites fly away

Not entirely though. Naomi has asked and asked, and finally with a red flag warning, we walked to our park,  kites in hand.

Best 2 dollars I've spent in a while. 

Penelope missed out on the fun, but got a solid forty winks, protected from the cold wind.