Freedom of Fashion

The boy got new shoes last week.  Cool new Skele-toes.  For the record, I think this is a funny trend in footwear.  But the boy says they actually help him run faster and he loves them.  So funny looking footwear it is.  As a parent, I've hit the stage, with all three, where I have to let my children make their own fashion decisions, knowing that we'll all get a good laugh later.  For example, the girls have discovered the fun of colored eye-shadow.  We have recently left the house with each of them having a nice shade of lime green from their eyelashes to their eyebrows.  Laugh (inside) and let it go.  Because I know that my own mom is laughing right now thinking about the family picture we took when I was about Analiese's age.  My color of choice was navy blue, from eye-lash to eye-brow.  In retrospect, lime green is actually a better choice for a young girl.   

Mr. Owl!?

"Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop!?

A good question. Let's find out.
A One... A two-HOO... A tha-three..(crunch sound effect)
A Three!
How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
The world may never know."
-1970 Tootsie Pop commercial

Mr. Owl, how many snaps does it take to get a good picture of four kids!? More than three, that's for sure. Try ten or so, plus another person using another camera taking ten or so more at the same time. Then if your lucky you might get one, one I tell you, where they are all looking at the camera, and, if the sun is really shining down on you, they might all be smiling. But we'll call "all looking at the camera" good enough. Because if you stand there too long you have a full blown child mutiny on your hands and they'll threaten to throw both of your cameras in the shark tank. After all, they're already wearing matching outfits for you and sitting calmly on a bench pretending to really like each other, when what they really want to do is spill chocolate ice cream (or pureed carrots) right down the front of those beautiful matching outfits. So good enough is, well, good enough. Luckily, good enough is pretty cute.

Broken Glass

I have spent the last three days cleaning up glass. Millions of tiny shards of glass.

At 3am on Tuesday morning I woke with a start as a gush of wind that the weather man tells me was around 95 mph shook the entire house. Thunder clashed and lightening flashed. Then the wind hit again. That's when I heard the glass. It wasn't the crisp glass breaking sound of a baseball flying through a window. It was more like the crunching sound of a windshield of a car that's been in a wreck. It sounded like the glass was folding in on itself. Then the wind hit again and all of those tiny broken shards started swirling around hitting the windows and walls. All three kids came running down the stairs. The girls were screaming. Chris thought we were in a tornado and I have to admit I did too. I turned on the TV hoping the weatherman would tell me what was going on. The four of us and the cat sat huddled at the foot of my bed for an hour, jumping out of our skin each time another gust hit the house. I thought there was a good chance we were about to lose the roof. Around 5am the rain came and ushered out the storm. The wind calmed and it was just soft rain falling all around us. We all finally drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

When we opened the door the next morning glass came with it. Our entire storm door had shattered. Glass was everywhere, including lodged into the walls of the house. So were tree limbs and soccer balls and trash. It was a mess. I'm actually grateful though. Friends had it much worse. Huge oak trees uprooted and fell on houses and cars. Fallen power lines and debris laid across the roads for hours, blocking travel until most people just turned around and went back home. Some people are still without power. I just have a little (well a lot) of broken glass.

Although, we'll all be alright with not going through another night like that for a very long time.

Blah, Blah, Blah...Laundry

Just in case I've given you any illusion of perfection...

Yes, that would be two weeks worth of laundry for a family of five. Yes, there were two more loads added to this. Yes, it took me all night to fold and iron it all. And yes, it probably wouldn't take that long if I did a few loads at a time. But the thing is, I hate doing laundry. Hate. It's such a Sisyphean task. Before the clean clothes are put away there are dirty clothes in the hamper. And don't even get me started on ironing. I have a habit of putting that chore off for so long that by the time the article of clothing gets back in their closets my family has forgotten about it and thinks I've bought them something new. Hate, I tell you.

It's really that way with all chores. Mop the floor and sure enough dirty feet will run across it. Wash the dishes and before they are dry, dirty ones are in the sink. This is how I spend my days. It's a little discouraging at times. But it has to be done. All of it, including the laundry.

But at least I can put that particular chore off for a week or so. Jeans can definitely be worn more than once. Sweatshirts washed after one wear, no way. It's when I get shouts of, "Mom, I'm out of underwear" that I know it's time to give in and wash some clothes. And thus the mountain above.

There you go. That's my weakness. Blah to the laundry.

I'm So Easy...

Really, I am.

I get a lot of flowers. A LOT of flowers. I have a box in the attic just for dried roses. My husband knows that a fresh bouquet of flowers for me can cover a multitude of sins. All he has to do is walk in the door with some wildflowers and a smile. Maybe not even a smile. Just the flowers and I melt. I'm way too easy to please.

And it's not just in my marriage. I'm really easy all around. If you want to win me over buy me a thoughtful gift and I'm yours. I am a fantastic non-profit worker because I require very little compensation. I work at an art studio where I don't make enough to even buy our groceries. I spend two or three days a week volunteering at my kids school. And of course there is my primary job, being mom to three super cute kids, which is pretty much thankless and all consuming. It's all a lot of work, a lot of time, and I'm not going to lie, sometimes I feel a little under appreciated. But a small gift of some kind and I'm eager to keep going. I recently received a gift card from my boss. That was enough to sign me up for another year. I got a gift bag of the cutest note cards from my daughter's teacher yesterday that totally made all of the work this year worth it. And an "I love you" or a hug from my kids gets me through the most stressful mommy days.

See. I'm easy. I'm OK with that. Because, really, I like what I do. I love my husband and my children more than anything, so I really don't need a lot in return. But the lovely vase of flowers in the living room does make me smile and love that man a little bit more.

To Market, To Market

Yesterday as I was stocking our pantry, fresh from a trip to the co-op and the grocery store, I thought it would be fun to share the goods. I think it's fun to see what people eat. We all have those things that we buy weekly. The basics. The things we can't live without. It might change as our tastes change or as the kids grow, but for months at a time I buy the same things every week, sometimes twice a week. Here is what our little family considers the "basics" right now:

• We go through at least three gallons of milk a week. The girls and Steven drink soy, so we go through two cartons of soy milk a week.
• I'm a coffee drinker and my guilty morning pleasure is International Delights French Vanilla Coffee Creamer.
• We think Simply Orange orange juice is the best orange juice.
  
• We eat fresh as often as possible. We don't do a lot of canned goods. So our fridge has a lot of fresh produce. What we don't buy fresh we pull from the frozen and preserved produce of last summer's harvesting adventures.
• Sicily and I eat spinach and mushroom omelets for lunch almost every day and I love to bake, so we go through 1 to 1 1/2 cartons of eggs each week.
• I love Immaculate Baking Company's break and bake cookies. They're really good, they're local, and they majorly support the Folk Art Foundation. All good reasons to indulge in some chocolate chip cookies.
  
• My husband is a beer snob, as most of you know, but that's a post for another day. What you probably don't know is that he's also a cheese snob. He thinks Cabot Cheddar Cheese is the only cheddar worth buying in grocery stores. I happen to agree.
  
• I love Stoneyfield Organic Yogurt. It's so smooth and creamy. The kids love the YoKids Squeezers. We go through two or three boxes a week.
• My new love: Stoneyfield Oikos Greek Yogurt. Mmmmmm. Especially the one with honey. Immediately after I took this picture, I shoved those to the back to hide them from Steven and the kids. I have no shame. You know you have a secret stash too. All moms do. It's our sanity saver.
• We are on a serious pastrami kick. I know, a little weird.
  
• We go through a lot of fruit each week, especially apples and bananas.
• PB&J is the school lunch item of choice. If I try to switch it up I get serious complaints, so why switch it up. We use Jif Natural Peanut Butter, because as Chris say, "it tastes like peanuts". Go figure, a peanut butter that tastes like peanuts. Steven prefers Trader Joe's Almond Butter. All of those sandwiches have us going through two loaves of bread a week.
  
• I've told you before we aren't good at mornings so we do easy breakfast. You will always find frosted mini wheats, honey nut cheerios, and oatmeal in our pantry. The exception is Saturday when we always have pancakes and I can whip up some wonderfully creamy grits if cravings call for it. I am a good southern girl after all.
  
• I can't live without sweet tea. (Have you read the title of this blog?) My husband will only drink Luzianne Iced Tea (maybe he's just a general food snob). I'll drink any tea, as long as it's sweet.

So those are our basics. At least for right now. On reflection, I spend a lot of time in the dairy aisle. We should have very strong bones.

What's in your fridge or pantry that you just can't live without?

Guest writing for the bragging mommy...

I got the very exciting opportunity to write a guest post for The Bragging Mommy this month! It's a short post on visually appealing blogs. So stop by and check it out!

The Bragging Mommy

Flip Flops in January, Really?

I am a frustrated consumer today. My middle child has three pairs of shoes. There's the nice, "I'm sorry honey, we only wear these on special occasions" pair. There's her tennis shoes, great for p.e. but not a good daily shoe for my dress wearing daughter. And then there's her boots. They look like uggs, only they aren't. They're the cheap Target knock offs. More power to you if you buy your kids uggs, but I just can't bring myself to spend that much on something she'll outgrow in a year. Though after this little adventure, I may be changing my mind on quality vs. dollars, not that I have the dollars to justify changing my mind. See her favorite black boots ripped. I repaired them once but this is beyond mama repair. So I set out to find her a replacement pair. Let me tell you, no one has boots. What am I finding instead? FLIP FLOPS!!! Come on, it's the middle of January. Yes, I know we're in the South and that it's somewhere around 60 degrees outside. But here in the South we like to at least look like we're braving a fierce winter and be very prepared for that flash snow we might get. Besides 60 degrees is relatively cold to us and it may drop to 40 any minute now. (Those of you farther north, I'm fully aware that you are laughing right now.) It's not even anywhere near Easter which is the proper time to whip out the sandals and pretend like your toes aren't ice cubes. So where, I ask you, are the boots? My poor princess has been forced to wear pants for days now because she has to wear her tennis shoes. Oh, the horror! I offered to let her wear her nice shoes, but it's not just the special occasion thing that keeps her from wearing them. Apparently they're also somewhat uncomfortable. This middle child of mine is pure drama and actually pulls the back of her hand to her forehead in mock faint form. Bootless days are cause for such over the top gestures. Are boots in January too much to ask of major retailers and thrift shops? Do you really make that much more on sandals by displaying them in the middle of winter? What if we do get that flash snow I was talking about? (We'd better. Snow is the biggest thing I gave up when we moved here. I need my yearly fix.) For now I guess we'll just have to deal with a bootless existence. Maybe it's just the character building experience my drama queen needs.

On teaching a child to read...

Have you ever taught a child to read? Have you watched her eyes work hard at the code in front of her? Have you seen the frustration and the elation? Her brow furrowed in concentration. Her lips puckered trying to sound it out.

I think reading is something that we take for granted. I doubt any of us remember learning to read. You may have a memory of sitting down with mom and reading a book to her. But do you remember learning to decipher the code? It's just something most of us know and once you know it you move on as if you had been born reading. But it's hard to learn, hard to teach. It's like you're an archeologist that's just uncovered a whole set of ancient books. Only you don't know what it says because to you it's just a bunch of symbols. Isn't that what it's like for a child? Just a bunch of symbols and sounds that we expect them to piece together into words. And then just to keep everyone confused, we throw in extra sounds to go with some of the symbols. I don't think any thing else they learn in these early school years is as difficult as reading.

It's hard to watch them struggle. It's hard to see my child so frustrated. I hurt for her when she gets tired of it and we have to push through to finish the homework. My children's school principal likes to say that "reading is truly magic". I wish it was magic. I wish I could just blow a sort of fairy dust and poof she can read. It takes work though. For both of us, but mostly for her. She tries so hard. And oh, when she gets it, my heart melts. When she reads a whole sentence without stumbling I'm so very proud. Her smile in that moment makes all of the frustrating moments worth it. Maybe I've just heard that phrase a few hundred time too many over the last few years, but reading kind of is magic. It's a sort of treasure in itself. Knowing how to read is a gift that maybe we shouldn't take for granted.

brown paper packages tied up with string...

...these are a few of my favorite things.

see you in a bit

Well everyone, in the last post I made a comment about moving in a week. Some of you may have thought I was being poetic. I wasn't. Because we waited so long for the short sale approval we all wanted to move on quickly once we got it. So we have one week to move our two story house into a one story house. And considering that I put off most of the packing in case the sale didn't go through, I have a lot to do!
That said, I'm sure you'll forgive me if I'm a little absent here this week. I promise a full update once we get somewhat settled. And by settled I mean surrounded by boxes and furniture in a new house.
I'm off to pack another box (ughh). See all of you in the bloggy world soon.

Blog Empty

I have felt blog empty this week. I feel like I have nothing worthwhile to report. Which gives the illusion of an easy, unremarkable week. Unfortunately that is not the case. I have been too busy to be creative this week. Ugh! Instead I've been nursing kids with the flu, attending to a long (very long ) post inspection repair request from our potential buyers, and getting ready for a yard sale that's suppose to be held tomorrow if the rain holds off. I wouldn't say any of those things are particularly fun, but they have held quiet a bit of my attention. As long as the rain holds off we are headed to the pumpkin patch tomorrow. It will be a nice break for us all. And I'm hoping for a more creative week next week. With Halloween coming I imagine it will be. Happy weekending to you all.

with love from grandma

My grandma is a wonderful lady. The last time that we went to visit her we were welcomed with this:

If you look at this picture and don't know what it is, then you don't have a southern grandma. If this picture makes you happy then you know the goodness that is a southern meal cooked by grandma. Those pots in the background aren't leftover from the cooking, they are still full of the cooking. This kind of spread may not be the healthiest meal you'll ever eat, but it feeds more than your belly. It feeds your soul. There's more than food here. There's love. A southern grandma doesn't stop at one side dish, she makes sure everyone has a favorite on the menu. She cooks and thinks of you the whole time. And oh, is it good. (Mmm, I think I'm getting hungry.)
Today my mom arrived for a visit. And of course she arrived with gifts for all. For me there was this:

My fellow crafty artists are excited by the sight of this picture and maybe a little jealous. It's ok to be jealous; you should be. It's an entire shoebox full of vintage patterns. And guess what. It came with a vintage Singer sewing machine. I'll show you it later. It has to go to the sewing doctor immediately because it has been a little neglected. (I think I can hear it crying.)
My mom also came with a little care package from my Grandma. When I opened it up I laughed out loud. It's an old sewing box filled with random goodness. And I would like to really highlight the word random here.

It only got better as I dug deeper. It was full of sewing notions, embroidery hoops and patterns, mints, cash, all kinds of stuff. It was great. So, thanks grandma.

Remember that family ache I was talking about the other day. Do you understand now why I have it? How can you not ache for people who take such good care of you? We all need to be taken care of sometimes. We all need to be loved, in whatever form that takes. My mother in law sent me a message a while back just letting me know that she was sending a little gift. She said that when she was younger she used to go home with vegetables from her grandma's garden. Her grandma nourished her, took care of her. Now she wanted to do that for her grandchildren. It may have taken a different form, but it was nourishment just the same. We all need to be taken care of. And caregivers are a beautiful thing. I am incredibly blessed to be surrounded by them.

Family Ache

I have an ache for family. Not just blood family, friend family too. That happens sometimes when it's been far too long since I've seen them, hugged them. It creeps up on me and becomes so strong that I get just about crazy enough to pack us all up and make the 14 hour drive home. In fact, when the kids were younger that's exactly what I did. Now we have school and other activities to consider. Spontaneity throws a wrench in our gears. So I just let the crazy thought pass and bide my time until the next appropriate travel time. This ache hits me randomly. Often it catches me off guard.
This time I know what spurred it. One of my favorite bloggers, Amber from The Run-a-Muck, challenged her readers to have a sister party. A party to reconnect with all of the wonderful women in your life. You know, the ones that support you, love you, and aren't afraid to tell you that you look bad in that dress. Sometimes as moms we let those relationships go by the wayside a bit. So having a party to pour into one another is a great idea. Except for the fact that when I think about who I would invite to such a party my mind bounces from coast to coast and everywhere in between. I can count on one hand the number of those ladies that are in this little town with me (one, maybe two). It makes me a little sad and it makes me ache. There are times when I wonder if we should have moved back home. Closer to, well, anyone we knew. (It's not just me. As I write this Steven is moping behind me because he wants to be a Bikes, Blues, and BBQ with Sean right now.)
It's hard for me to make close friendships. I'm not that giddy personality that can find a new best friend in a matter of minutes. And I don't want a lot of acquaintances. I don't feel the need to surround myself with people. I like having a few close relationships but I do feel the need to surround myself with those people. I need community, a deep, understanding community. While I love my blogs, and I'm not opposed to phone calls, sometimes you need the physical in person hug of a sister. So, how do you stay close to the people in your life that live far away? How do you still the ache of missing them? Well, how do you?

randomness...

I just had to share this. These are the names of the kids in Analiese's class this year:

Aireyuanna, Analiese, Anastasia, Andrew, Ariana, Brandon, Chase, Cile, Darrian, David, Finn, Gracyn, Isabella, Jai, Jessica, Luke, Olivia, Samuel, Sebine, Shelby, Torri

Poor teacher! My grandparents had such a hard time when we named the girls. Analiese Cosette and Sicily Nicolle were not easy for them to remember. Maybe they were right and we've all gotten a little out of control. Granted, some of those are easy, but I'm sure Ms. Craig would love to have a few more common names. Can you imagine trying to remember all of those names, much less spell them all correctly? I now feel badly for correcting the way she pronounced Analiese; she had enough on her plate!