Junior Photographer, School on the Trampoline, and a Tree

Little One ran in from outside yelling at the top of her lungs for me to come look at the birds in the yard. (Now there's a future bird watcher if I've ever seen one. We just have to work on the yelling at the top of her lungs part.) She wanted me to come out with my camera, but by the time I made it to the back deck I found her taking care of business herself.

Little One taking pictures of the birds in the back yard- Wednesday, March 7.

 One of the birds, by Little One- Wednesday, March 7.

 Missed the birds. Abstract shot of the garden, by Little One- Wednesday, March 7.

The Other Bird, by Little One- Wednesday, March 7.

Then we decided to move our spring tree with glass birds outside to take some pictures in the sunshine. I had much more fun taking pictures of Little One taking pictures.

Little One concentrating very hard- Wednesday, March 7.

Glass Birds, by Little One- Wednesday, March7.

Mommy still focused on Little One- Wednesday, March 7.

More glass birds, by Little One- Wednesday, March 7.

We had a review day for school today, so we decided to move school to the trampoline. Besides almost getting motion sickness from trying to read while the kids moved around, we had a great time.

Trampoline school house- Wednesday, March 7.

Then The Oldest had to go inside for piano lessons. So I grabbed my camera, and while Little One worked on pumping herself on the swings in between my giant starter pushes, I had fun photographing the budding tree in our back yard.

Budding tree- Wednesday, March 7.

Colorful Shoes and Beautiful Feet

" How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
'Your God reigns!'”
Isaiah 52:7

These beautiful feet, all decked out in Chucks, and plaid, and sneakers, and those funny toe shoes belong to an amazing crowd of young people. As I sat today and watched them working hard, interacting with facts they have learned throughout this school year, I felt a great wave of hope regarding the future. So often we look ahead with dread at what will be, casting a sideways glance at the generation that will rise up to take ownership of those years. But today, I smiled as I looked across a group of kids who are learning to live lives of love, who are storing up Godly wisdom, and practicing its application, who are stepping forward to attempt to accomplish goals that are purposely set high, in order to allow them to see the amazing fruit of hard work and perseverance. I had fun imagining all the places these feet will walk, all the mountains they will climb in order to bring the truth of the Good News in all areas of life. The future is indeed very bright when I imagine it filled with the light carried within the owners of these colorful shoes and beautiful feet- Tuesday, March 6.

Footie Pajamas

Just to make things very clear, I did in fact get dressed this morning. I left the house in clothes to drop off kids, pick up kids, and get a few groceries and other necessary household items at three different stores. It's just that when I got home from picking up the last child, the girls both decided they were cold and wanted to put on their footie pajamas. Kids are so incredibly cute in footie pajamas- something about being all zipped up in fleece, I guess. I must say that adults in footie pajamas are a bit of a different story. I would venture to guess that not many people have had the opportunity to see an adult in footie pajamas before, so they have no point of comparison. Well, let me set the record straight, from first hand experience, that footie pajamas should from this day and forever hence, remain a fashion trend for the young.

To make a long story short, since I didn't even attempt to do that yesterday, My Husband actually bought me my very own pink footie pajamas a few years ago. The poor guy had grown weary in trying to keep all of the extra blankets off of his side of the bed and decided that if I had my own pair of footie pajamas he might be able to fall asleep with only one, very thin blanket on the bed. Plus, he thought it would be really hilarious. Well, the things are so huge and really annoying to wear that I have never worn them to bed. So, while My Husband's hope of not burning up while sleeping has been deferred, his idea of a getting a good laugh out of the whole thing at my expense has happened more than once. They do provide quite a bit of comic relief whenever I feel silly enough to put them on, and they make for fun pictures when the girls both have their footies on. I have also figured out a few other ways I could put them to use. If I ever go to a Halloween party, all I will need is a blankie, a bonnet, and a bottle to pull off a great giant baby costume. Or if I get asked to play the Easter Bunny, I'll just have to find some ears, grab a basket and I'll be good to go. I must say they are very, very warm. So I figure if we ever lose power in the middle of winter, or get stranded on the side of the road on a cold, cloudless night and I actually thought to put the footie pajamas in the car before we left, the girls and I will have a good chance of surviving. It will be a situation along those lines that will make My Husband think twice about laughing at me covered from head to toe in yards and yards of pink fleece.

Footie Pajamas. Picture by The Oldest- Monday, March 5.

The start of a pretty sunset. Picture by me- Monday, March 5.

The Weekend

Yesterday I continued to plow through some cleaning out. It mostly ended up being cleaning up, not quite as much out as I would have liked, but a good day none the less. At some point I slipped outside to take some bird pictures. What day would be complete without some bird pictures? Plus, the trees are starting to bud and once the leaves come out, my bare tree, sky and bird combinations will be a faint memory and a hope held for next fall.

Ten birds. I photoshopped a half bird out of the far right of the picture. I figured a whole number worked best for birds- Saturday, March 4.

Then My Husband's brother and his wife came down for the afternoon. They are expecting their first baby in May. She is an adorably cute pregnant person (she is adorably cute when she is not pregnant, but carrying the little guy around, the cuteness goes through the roof). They came down so My Husband could do their taxes and then they watched the kids so we could go out for dinner. I must say, I love the barter system, especially when I don't have to do any of the work involved in the barter and I get a nice dinner out with no kids.

So with just grow ups to think about, My husband and I decided to eat at a place that does not boast of french fries as one of its main menu items. The first place we stopped had over an hour's wait. We almost stayed since we had no kids to fill the entire time with whining, but I was hungry so we moved on. The second place we stopped had only a 45 minute wait, so we got a buzzer and headed outside to watch for the flashing lights. But it quickly got colder than our lack of jacket planning had anticipated, and we went to wait in the car. For some reason (I think it was the hunger pangs. I've heard people can do crazy things when they are hungry.) we started driving away. Now that I think about it, the idea of going to one of the stores across the street was mentioned, but we ended up going out an exit that you could only turn right and before we knew it we out of the shopping center and driving right by a bill board for another restaurant in town. Something looked really yummy on the bill board and we decided to see if we could get in with no wait there. I was feeling angst about the buzzer from restaurant number two that was still in our possession, but My Husband assured me we would promptly return it when our bellies were full. Hunger outweighed my guilt and I began to have images of me cutting into a crab pretzel. When we pulled into the parking lot of restaurant number three, the lights started flashing on our buzzer and it began singing an annoying tune that would not stop. We weren't sure if it was a built in anti-theft mechanism and we had just left the safe zone, or that our turn at restaurant number two had come a whole lot quicker than they told us it would. (It is times like those when I am glad to have a common last name. They would only have had 10 full pages of the phone book to comb through in order to track down their buzzer by the name we gave to secure our table.) We figured even if the buzzer meant our table was ready, there was no way they would hold it until we drove back. So we left the singing buzzer in the car and headed into restaurant number three, where we were promptly seated and consuming a crab pretzel faster than I could count the fake plastic sea gulls tied to the ceiling.

The whole of restaurant number three is decorated, to the point of being overdone, in seaside items. For the most part they work and make you feel a tiny bit like you might be eating at the beach instead of in the middle of a landlocked town. But the plastic seagulls, they are a bit much. I tried to avoid looking at them as much as possible, but no matter how much I ignored them, I kept fighting sudden urges to cover my food in order to protect it from swooping predators- Saturday, March 3.

After a very nice meal, made up of all things crab, we drove back to restaurant number two and My Husband wove through the still waiting throng to return our buzzer. He handed it to the hostess and told her we had decided not to wait. He didn't mention we had decided not to wait while being ushered to a table at another restaurant. But it all worked out and we even stopped at Rita's afterward, but don't tell the kids- Saturday, March 3.

Today, after coming home from church, we all did a whole lot of nothing. I love Sunday afternoons like that. After naps and rest and a movie, the kids did decide to brave the cold to jump around on the trampoline. I followed them out with my camera and flicked on the sports burst setting. I got some fun mid-air shots, but was especially surprised, in a sort of creepy way, to have captured the effects of gravity on the facial skin of The Oldest. More on that in a bit.

 Mid flip- Sunday, March 4.

On her way down- Sunday, March 4.

If you click to enlarge the pictures and then toggle back and forth between the next two images, you'll feel like you were right with us in the back yard this afternoon. Either that or you will start to feel a slight case of motion sickness.

Sunday, March 4.

This next picture is not for the faint of heart, or for those of you who are feeling at all queasy from experimenting with the last two pictures. I caught The Oldest just as his body was starting to enter its upward motion from the bottom of his bounce. Unfortunately, the skin on his face had not yet caught up. If anybody wants to know what you might look like when you are say eighty or so, just come over, bounce on our trampoline, and I'll take your picture. Then we can go to Target together and get lots of face lotion with anti-aging serum.

The Oldest, looking a little older than usual- Sunday, March 4.

I got bored with the trampoline pictures pretty quickly, so before my fingers started turning to ice, I snapped a few pictures of the sky. There will never be a picture as beautiful as the sky in plain view. I love how God made it so simple and yet so beautiful. Blue, white, shadow, light- He really is amazing.

Sky- Sunday, March 4.

I'm glad the water tower in our town has been painted sky blue. Except for an occasional prop in a picture, it really is just in the way. At least it sort of blends in- Sunday, March 4. 

 Unlike this water tower, which does anything but blend in. I did not take this picture, I just got it from the Google. I can't think about water towers without this one sticking out like a sore thumb in my mind. This is in Florence, Ky, a town about an hour and a half from where we lived in Kentucky. It sits right along the highway in a giant parking lot. The story goes that they (This is one of those stories with the nebulous group of people referred to as 'they'. Don't know who 'they' are, but 'they' did it.) were going to build a really big mall and so they went ahead and painted "FLORENCE MALL" on their already bold water tower. Well, for some reason, the mall never came to be, and instead of  covering the whole thing in a nice sky blue, they decided to just paint over the M and create a saying that, even in Kentucky, makes no sense at all, y'all.

Since I started with a bird picture, I'll end with a bird picture. The pair of doves currently residing in our yard is quite friendly and only scared away when one of the children comes ferociously running toward them. I really love these doves, but they blink so dang much that I have a hard time getting a picture of them with their eyes open. At least they don't know how to make funny faces- Sunday, March 4.

Some Signs of Spring

So yesterday at 2:30, the sun came back out and I started to think of how great it would be to be sitting on the curb in the warm sunshine eating some Italian ice. Rita's won out, and pajama day was cut short. But it was worth it!

We got a little chilly sitting on the curb, so we climbed into the van to finish our ice. Oh, how we all love Rita's- Thursday, March 2.

In addition to the robins spotted in the front trees and the early season taste of Rita's, we've also felt the approach of Spring within the walls of the house, very specifically within the walls of two bedrooms occupied by three children. I spent glorious hours today boxing and bagging clothes that don't fit, toys that aren't played with, and piles of plain old junk. I even dusted, and then had to lint roll my all-black outfit afterward. We now have two wonderfully organized rooms. If only I could figure out a way to keep the kids out of them, at least for a little while.

 Two clean rooms- Friday, March 2.

The purging- Friday, March 2.

This is a picture that First Grader made of her and Little One. I hung it up in their room today. Sister love is such a beautiful thing- Friday, March 2.

I Heart Thursdays

I really wanted to put a little heart in my blog title today, but I couldn't figure out how to do that. The pointy sideways bracket thing plus a 3 didn't turn into a heart, and I can't find any buttons that will let me insert an image. So, I had to revert to the old fashioned way of writing it out with words. It will just have to do. Plus, I really don't care because it is my favorite day of the week and it takes quite a bit to fluster me on a Thursday. Why do I love Thursdays so, you ask?

 This pretty much sums it up- Thursday, March 1.

But since you may not read the same thousand words I would from this picture, I'll briefly share the source of my felicity. I took this picture at 12:47 this afternoon. I am still in my pajamas. (I did have to throw on a sweatshirt because the sun went in and I started to feel cold, but other than brushing my teeth, that has been the extent of my personal hygiene today.) You see, due to multiple kid-related scheduling conflicts in the early part of every week, Thursday is the first day that I do not have to leave my house all day long. We do have church on Thursday nights, but that works out pretty well, because right around dinner time the novelty of not showering and wearing the same thing I slept in the night before begins to wear off, and I start to look forward to taking a shower and getting dressed in real clothes.

I have turned this whole thing into an experiment of sorts, mostly to disprove the idea that you perform up to the level you are dressed. I have to say that I think the laundry gets just as clean when I am wearing my pajamas as it does when I have to get dressed in my standard mom uniform of jeans and a shirt I think is cute. I may also go so far as to say that I think I am a better teacher to The Oldest when I am sitting on the couch in my super comfy pajamas than when I have to deal with those pesky jean waistlines- you know the ones that seem to gradually expand ever so slightly all day long so that by the end of the day you need a belt just to keep your pants up.

Here I am trying to justify my pajama days, when to be totally honest, I need no reason to wear my pajamas all day long other than it makes me happy and I don't really care what y'all think. Though I did sort of care when a guy knocked on our door to hand me a flyer about free carpet cleaning this morning. I had to answer because he could see right into the living room through the glass storm door and there I was sitting on the couch in my pajamas. I also had a bit of a problem a few Thursdays ago when My Husband emailed asking if I could run his lunch to work. He had forgotten it in the refrigerator. I emailed back saying I could, but that he would have to meet me at the car because I was still in my pajamas and had no plans of either getting dressed or going into his office that way. So, he met me at the car, grateful for his lunch and for a new subject for sarcastic jesting. Every week since he has sent something to my inbox containing references to my Thursday way of living. This is what he sent me yesterday.

 It is an email announcing the season opening of Rita's Italian Ice. But in case you can't read his comment at the top, it says, "will pajama day outweigh ritas?????" Now that is a tough one. I love Rita's, but I really love pajama day. I can get Rita's any day that I already have to leave the comfort of my house. But today, when I only have a few more hours before I have to make myself presentable to the world, is it really worth the sacrifice? The jury is still out. I'll let you know tomorrow- Thursday, March 1.

P.S.

The front trees were full of Robins this morning. Spring really is on its way- Thursday, March 1.

Living It Up on Leap Day

It was rainy and dreary most of the day today and I spent a whole lot of it playing taxi driver. Sometimes I wish I really was a taxi driver because then I could have one of those windows that divides the driver's seat from the back seats. Then I would not have to listen to three children fighting over why it matters who gets into the car first and the lawyer-like arguments for what CD should be playing instead of the one that is currently not being listened to because of all the fighting. The other advantage of being a real taxi driver would be the little meter running on the dash board. Imagine it- pulling up to the YMCA, "Okay The Oldest. Your stop for home school gym. That will be $18.50" Driving on. Stopping in front of preschool, "Have a great day, Little One. You owe me $11.75." Okay, back to the real world, the wet, dreary real world. Our last stop before I could put the Off Duty light on the top of the van was at the library. We had a video to return and upon entering the children's wing, realized today was the very last day of the February half-price movie rental deal. For some reason there is a section of DVDs that you have to pay $2/video to rent for a week. All the other kids' DVDs are free and you get the full two weeks, plus multiple renewals. Well, one week ago today, we happened to see a sign that was covered in hearts and read something like, "February Special: Pink Dot Movies Only $1 for One Week" We had never before paid money to rent a DVD at the library. Something about forking over cash to borrow an item in a place full of free things never sat right with me. But when I saw I could save 50%, there was no holding us back and we took home our first pink dot movie. And again today, thanks to Leap Day, we left the library with a one dollar deal. Hopefully it won't be raining next Wednesday when I have to return it!

The kids are currently downstairs watching their movie. My Husband is at a work meeting somewhere and before I sat down to post this I was eating ice cream and looking at the Where's Waldo book First Grader got at the library. I like sprinkles on my ice cream, but we are out of sprinkles, so I had to use Christmas Nonpareils. But I figured, it's Leap Day, why not live it up!?- Wednesday, February 29.

Speaking of living it up on Leap Day, my Grandma is busy celebrating the 21st birthday of one of her close friends today.

Here is the birthday girl almost four years ago (the delightful lady on the left), visiting us when Little One was just a baby. Her name is Miss Betty and, as you can see from the huge smile on Little One's face, she is a joy to be around. She's the kind of person you look at and think, it won't be so bad getting old if I can be half as fun and full of life as she is. Miss Betty gave herself a trip to Disney World for Christmas and, from what my Grandma says, has been busy planning a rockin' 21st birthday party. I guess when you've waited 84 years to turn 21, you deserve a pretty big celebration- Picture taken Tuesday, June 17, 2008.