My Ragamuffins...

Who takes their children to Publix looking like this?

Usually not me! Towards the end of an already successful yet full day (pictures and the pool) I knew after naps was the only way we were getting the grocery shopping done for the week. I didn't need dinner, and shockingly I didn't even need milk, but I did need some items to do some baking tomorrow. More than that, I need my 7 month old to have a chance at a morning nap in his crib without interruption and don't want to take time away from cleaning the house, baking with the big kids or going to the pool tomorrow. So that is why we left the house at almost 5:00 in the rain looking like ragamuffins.

The funny story for the day needs a preface. My now 4 year old is a very cautious young lady and is terrified of the thought of swimming without holding someones hands. Yes, my friends that does make going to the pool with a two year old and a 7 month old a challenge, but we do it. At the beginning of the summer, Frank and I decided that we needed some friendly competition between Mary Frances and Stephen to help overcome her fear of swimming so we made a "Swimmer of the Day" award. (I'll post pictures later.) Today, for the first time all summer Walker went to sleep on the lounge chair making it really easy for me to swim with the other two. I was swimming with MFS when her goggles sank to the bottom of the pool. For some reason I decided to dive down and get them instead of using my feet. She loved it. When I came up she said, "Mommy I think that earns the swimmer of the day."

Laundry and Lifeboats

Not only do I need to catch up on all the odds and ends that have been neglected over the weekend while we have quality family time with daddy around, Monday is sheet changing and wash day around this house. I am always amused to see what my older two find to entertain themselves while I am stripping beds, starting laundry, and putting on clean sheets. Today, after finishing in their room and moving to my own, I kept hearing a loud bang. I left them playing "boats," but there is no telling what my children are going to come up with next. Mind you there were no tears so I knew no one was hurt, and there wasn't the too quiet sensation that tells all mothers that someone is getting into something they shouldn't. Nevertheless after several occurrences, I went to see what was going on. I opened the door to see both Mary Frances and Stephen sitting on his bed amid about 25 books with one being hurled across the floor. They know how much I dislike them to be disrespectful to books so I calmly asked what they were doing. Mary Frances replied that they were playing anchors under the sea. It was all I could do not to laugh. All summer I have been saying Stephen has boats and a love of the water in his blood...well maybe they both do.


Speaking of laundry - why do bananas stain so badly? Since this precious angel began eating bananas I have spent alot of time pre-treating and soaking banana stains.

He gets his picture taken tomorrow - scraped head and all. I haven't finished his outfit yet, but I don't have the heart to cancel for a second week in a row. (Last week we had a runny nose.) I had a brainstorm while brushing my teeth -that and drying my hair are often where they hit- He can where Stephen's first Easter outfit. Maybe I can finish his new outfit for church this Sunday. I'll keep you posted!

Whew...

Finally, I could sleep again last night. If you know me you know I don't sleep very well when I have something big or at least big in my world going on. Mary Frances had her first friend birthday party yesterday. I think it was a success. Just look at that face...

She has been asking for a princess party since October. I am not a big birthday party person, but knew I needed to do one once she started asking repeatedly. I'm also not a girly girl and don't buy into this princess thing so we compromised. We had a princess fairy tea party with the girls. I struggled with each aspect of the planning. I wanted it to be simple yet fun and special for Mary Frances. I wanted there to be a plan so that the girls weren't bored, but didn't want to dictate every aspect of the day. I wanted it to be entertaining but not over the top. I settled on a scavenger hunt for things from the yard to make fairy houses. Frank helped the girls build the fairy house. The fairies came to visit while they were eating lunch. In the end, the girls played on the swing set and in our office which also serves as the playroom most of the time.

Frank's mom was a tremendous help. She is very talented with flowers and made the headpieces for each girl. The food was very child friendly - peanut butter and jelly, fruit kabobs, pretzels, and petit fours. In reality, they would have been content with a bowl of pink m&ms. Who knew? Norval also made precious wands for each girl from sugar cookies and lollipop sticks.

Looking ahead...The week is busy with Norval's birthday present - shh its a surprise, thinking towards fall clothes for the children, dinner for the parents of new babies, photographs of Walker, doctor's appointment for Mary Frances, a stack of monogramming, and two speech presentations to prepare! Yikes at least I slept last night!

To Blog or Not to Blog

Psalm 90:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

No, I do not have time for this and I know that, but I have decided I don’t have time not to. I once read in Real Simple magazine that the majority of blogs are of interest to only two people – the blogger and the blogger’s mother. That is probably true although I hope that my blog will also be of interest to my children, hopefully my husband, and probably my mother ‘n law. My goal in blogging is to create a chronicle of our lives – the joy, the chaos, and the tribulations. I want to capture the everyday moments that make our family. I want to remember it all – well at least most of it. I want to remember this precious time when they are so little because it is quickly passing. A dear friend says, “The days are long and the years are short.” How true that is! Mary Frances is turning 4 tomorrow, and I feel like time is slipping by. I want to remember the sweet things they say, the hilarious things they say and do, the snuggling, the kisses, the giggles, the smiles, the laughs, the determination, the successes, even the failures because they always do it better the next time. I will try not to give the boring details of the preschool board meetings, the volunteer activities, the errands, the sewing I don’t get done in addition to all of the other ideas I have with no time to implement, but I will try to relay the reality of our lives. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I’m not perfect (though the Lord and anyone who knows me knows that I want to be) so it isn’t always pretty…unfortunately I am stubborn and independent to a fault, I lose my patience, I get distracted, my children can whine and be demanding, the kitchen sink gets filled with dishes and sometimes albeit not often doesn’t get emptied until the next morning, the children’s clothes that they have outgrown are in complete disarray, the garden needs weeding, and you can’t even walk in the tool shed – just to name a few of the imperfections. Hey, this is life with a family with three children in less than three and a half years. Yet, we have fun together – we read, we cook, we play, we craft, we imagine, we entertain, we go on adventures, we sing, we pray, we create and most importantly we love each other and the Lord!