While I Was Reading the Newspaper…

…Piper was licking her plate clean. You’d think I never make them mac-n-cheese the ways she is scarfing down her second helping.

Quick—It’s Not Raining!!

We had dry, uncold day today and we took advantage of it! After naps, the girls helped me mow both lawns and then we got out the tools.

Last fall, I bought two Adirondack chairs for $100. (They were able to sell them so cheaply by not including assembly directions.) With help from my slave force, we went from this…

to this:

[Note: if you are assembling a similar chair, and the package says you will need a 7/16th wrench, it is a lie. A 3/8ths won’t work either. Find a 10mm for a perfect fit. Sigh.]

“We” were only able to assemble one of them and probably won’t get to staining it until a sunny Saturday. They will go under a shady tree near the swing set this summer.

Kyla and Piper got tired of getting in my way eventually and started fixing the car. The car desperately need measuring, it turned out, and is 8:30 tall, according to Kyla’s calculations. Piper worked on the wheels with the 7/16th wrench before she got her turn to measure the car. According to her, it is “dis big”.

[Unintentionally, I was able to capture Kyla’s last day of wearing diapers on camera. Friday, June 4th, is her lucky day. Let’s see who’s more stubborn, parents or Kyla.]

Wesley just wants me to know that he has better things to do than hang out in a backpack all afternoon.

Pipes

A funny nickname for a very funny girl.  (Even if she is driving me crazy this afternoon!)

All kids are imitators, but Piper seems to do what we do even more than Kyla ever did. That’s her doll’s leg sticking out there.  The frame is about a quarter-inch above the floor.

 

 

She looks pretty cute in pink punk.

 

 

Riding a horse for a quarter.  Does this make it a quarter horse?

 

  

Swimming lessons were a new kind of adventure.  This kid couldn’t follow the two rules (stay in the pool and hold on to the edge when you aren’t swimming) to save her own life, swallowed lots of pool water, jumped without hesitation into the water every time, always put her face in the water when instructed (the only instruction I believe she listened), had the only time-outs in the entire session, and never, ever stopped smiling.  Her teacher would speak sternly to her, but then turn away to smile so Piper wouldn’t see her.  She’s infectious, that one. 

Why Do We Even Bother To Buy Her Clothes?

Kyla loves being naked (as does her copycat sister).  There have been days that I unbuckle the girls from their carseats and by the time I get inside with Wesley and our groceries, there are clothes strewn everywhere.  How’s a mom supposed to keep up?

Kyla puts a pillow in a basket to cushion her sled down the slide.

 

Then, because it is raining and about 50 degrees outside, Kyla gets the great idea of putting on a sweatshirt and her red cowboy boots and getting Piper to lay soccer with her.  Pipes is at least wearing a pull-up and a full rain jacket.

 

Notice how little of their boots you can see?  We had our lawn overseeded, so I last mowed the weekend before it was done and then had to wait two more weeks before mowing it again.  I mowed between showers, but at least I won’t lose any kids out there.

 

Then Kyla gets too hot wearing her sweatshirt.

  Cutie!! 

Books, Books, Books

Warning: as the title suggests, this is all about books. Not kids. Not me reading books to kids. Not naked kids reading books. Just books to myself, for myself.

This started as an email to Daniel and Talinn who graciously shared some recommended titles with me. They have excellent taste, and because I think I have excellent taste (after all, I like every book that I recommend), I wanted to return the favor.

Here is my measuring tape for good books—(1) great storytelling, (2) superb writing, and (3) the kicker, makes me feel good.

I actually have Love Walked In and Belong to Me because after checking them out of the library, I had to own them for myself. So far, everyone I’ve lent them to has loved them as much as I do. I want to be the main character’s friend.

This is the first of six books of a fantastic fantasy series. Each one is better than the last until the final book, which I suspect Butcher rushed. Like the two novels above, I have bought these so I can read them over and over. Everyone, except one scrawny little boy, has at least a little magical power in this ancient Roman-like world. Always makes me laugh and cheer.

Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants was recommended by Sheryl in our book group. She is always right and I loved this book.

You will swear Jude Morgan is Jane Austin reincarnate, but with another century or two of experience under her belt.

Did you know there was a place called Guernsey? Okay, well I didn’t. This is this month’s book club book, and Juliet’s letters (written and received) make up this book about post-war London and Guernsey. Entertaining and educational, it made me feel good whenever I picked it up.

I listened to Magic Thief and its sequel as a book on CD while I was working on some projects last year. Excellent story-telling and I loved the main character. Truly worth picking up.

If you can skip one page early on (it deals with a particularly unjust tragedy that you can spot ahead of time), Prayers for Sale is an amazing book that deals with friendship, hardship, and impossible forgiveness. Like Help (blogged about March 2), the novel made me feel like I had a good understanding of its setting, the high mining country of Colorado in the 19th century.

I do actually read and enjoy nonfiction as well. SuperFreakonomics and books by Malcolm Gladwell are interesting, well written, and contain so many new (to me) ideas that I am energized just reading them. Nurtureshock (blogged on March 11) did this for me as well. Whether or not I agreed with the ideas, I certainly thought about them!

More Pictures

[Our portrait wall in the office.]

I posted earlier the link to our annual Mother’s Day pictures.  Well, I still had one “free” 8x10 to get and I wanted to try once more to get shots of Wesley smiling.  Nailed it!  Check out these pictures.

And just in case you want to see the first portrait session, here’s the link.

Kylaisms

I wish I wrote down the last hundred things she said that made me laugh—and I swore I wouldn’t forget.  But here’s two of them:

1. [Regarding the baby shower I went to yesterday. I brought Wes with me.] Mama, how was the baby shower?  (A minute later).  Did Wesley like being showered?
2. [On why her light was on after the timer dinged for her to turn it off.]  I did turn it off, Daddy.  But then I couldn’t see anything.