Proof that the neighborhood kitty actually let us pet her once… He rides in his own now, and pops his back foot. Fell asleep reading…just like his daddy. Best way to eat greens…a daily ritual for us now. Home made root chips. Not bad! Not a big fan of hot oil splatter burns, though. 🙁 Child labor. But if Daddy’s doing it, it must...
Two of my favorite things to do that fuel my soul are gardening and photography. The harvest is okay so far…not a lot, but I’m ever-hopeful, and constantly learning and changing up different things. May’s highlights were cherries, peas, and some greens. In June we picked little carrots, cabbage, and started getting cucumbers and beans. Here are a few favorite shots since spring. As...
Me: “Dylan, tell Daddy where we went after nap!” Dylan: “poo poo” Me: “Dylan, which book do you want to read?” Dylan: “poo poo” Whitney: “poo poo” <sigh> The potty talk has begun. I should have seen it coming when a few months ago the ketchup bottle squirted and Dylan started laughing uncontrollably. Is it coincidence that bathroom humor is kicking in shortly after...
Happy July from our little patriot… Apparently, Gramby has been pledging allegiance to the flags on their walks. This little guy has got a memory like a steel trap. True, he has no idea what he is saying except that it goes with our flag, but I’m still proud of him. I hope he keeps this ability as he grows! Whitney tapping into her...
My apologies for the dead air for the past two weeks. A combination of busy calendar and kids testing my limits with yet another round of nap wars (sprinkled with a heap of general consistent defiance) have buried my blog thoughts a few rungs down on the priority list. But I’m going to survive. There’s hope. Lately…. The kids break through our slider onto...
Boy’s got some extra spunk. A few new things for him this past week: first blimp spotting. “Woah! MOMMY! Look at that!” and then he tried to explain it to Whitney later “something on Mommy and Dylan’s head, in the air, …” He repeatedly declares “I have an idea….[yes?]…it’s something…..it’s silly” and before ever getting to the idea he says the same thing about...
Here’s a little shout out to my desert family. I married and changed my name to match theirs almost 10 years ago, and throughout the years have learned more and more about what it means to be one of the family. I understand better their language of love, the strength of their bond, and have come to appreciate some of the family favorites and...
Unfortunately, timeliness is not my forte. I’ve been that person sliding into the back seats of the lecture hall and running through the airport terminal carrying my shoes because I didn’t even have time to put them on after the security lines. Each time, I’m kicking myself for letting it happen again. Wrangling kids only amplifies the timeliness challenge – although they also buy...
Hello Friends and Family…we dropped off the grid in the desert for Spring break for a while there. Four 6-hour drives, a 90th birthday party, swimming in 60 degree water, and an egg hunt later we are re-acclimating to our normal life at home. Here’s a little re-cap from our Easter day – which we spent with Tyler’s parents in Phoenix. First time aware...
Lord help us. We have some stubborn kiddos. We are in a stage where they want to do everything by themselves, but can’t quite do it yet…or can’t do it in any reasonable about of time. This is true for everything from getting dressed and buckled in car seats to pulling the wagon and pouring their own milk. Oh that I would be more...
Sleep for our little guy has been a challenge for the past month, we’ve tried a few different methods to help him quiet down and fall asleep. Tyler started reciting poems to him (I love this side of my husband, my Renaissance Man). A few days into this new attempt Tyler called me in “Michelle, listen to this” and he started the lines of...
It’s 3/21 – World Down Syndrome Day (in honor of the 3 copies of the 21st chromosome) Perhaps we will celebrate by ordering framed portraits of our family karyotypes. How crazy is this – the other day I stumbled across a biologist/artist who makes custom artwork out of photographs of DNA. I’d be totally interested in seeing what our karyotypes look like. He sends...