Who, Me?

Just in case there was any question who Thomas looks like....

I'm a Toys R Us Kid

Nancy: "Mom, I don't wanna be a grown up. I wanna stay a kid."

Me: "Why do you not want to grow up, sweetie?"

Nancy: "Because I don't want to be your age."

Momma's in the Kitchen

The smell of freshly baked cookies should elicit sighs of contentment and squeals of delight from little ones in the house. Right? I imagine in someone else's house they do, but in my house, this is the response when I bake cookies:

"Mom, what is that smell??!?"

"Well, darlin'. It's Kate's giant pizza cookie cake thing for her birthday party that Mommy made too big and it overflowed in the oven and burnt on the bottom of the rack. Aren't you excited about eating it?!?!"

At 3:40, the cookie burning happened, then a bottle of red wine was spilled in the fridge and a giant blow out of a diaper happened, plus Kate and I were trying to get ready for meet the teacher. I'm running through a smoky haze in the house without my shirt on, trying not to get poop on me while getting it out of my son's hair, and also closing all the hall doors and opening all doors and windows to the 98 degree heat outside to let the smoke out to avoid setting off the fire alarm. I opened the door to the garage, opened the garage door to allow the smoke to go out, and the dog runs inside, then out, then I forget about the dog for a few minutes until I remember I forgot about the dog and start hollering for her to come, she's taken off on a joy walk around the neighborhood. When my mom arrived at 4:00, all was well and besides the fragrance of burnt marshmallows burning our noses, she never would have known the chaos that was happening just seconds before she came inside. Too bad that wine was spilled. Coulda used some before meet the teacher.

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Our Summer, 2010

I just realized the "Tiny Tidbits" were the only posts I made in July; and truthfully, only 4 of the 7 "bits" were actually posted in July. Before the beginning of the end of the year begins for us - from August to December is an absolute whirlwind - I wanted to capture the lazy days of this summer we had.

"Lazy" may not be the right word. We had a newborn in the house, I was sleep deprived for many weeks, and we all experienced sort of summertime cabin fever from the ultra hot weather that kept us inside with the newborn most of the summer. But the girls learned how to play together, Kate has taught Nancy how to pretend and now Nancy will finally play Little People or with her castle all by herself and make up characters, and Kate read about 8 chapter books this summer, getting her a free pass to the water park from the library.

It was definitely a different kind of summer. No road trips, zinnias or Saturday trips to the downtown market. No morning runs, reading in the evenings because of crummy summer tv or staying out late with the girls because there was not more school. But we had lots of cuddle time on the couch, giggles from our girls becoming friends, and even were able to take our annual summertime date to the Shakespeare Festival at Falls Park. Lots of walks with friends, a visit from my best friend and her family from Aurora, an early morning breakfast with dear friends, canning experiments with one of my best friends, and playgroup on Wednesdays for the 3rd summer in a row. I think I'm ready for school and a routine (and yes, some space), but have enjoyed our sweet summer when we welcomed our Thomas home.

Thomas, 8 weeks.

Happy Little Man! He is so smiley.

Our new circle swing in the backyard. Fun for everyone!

Kate, Nancy and Mary Claire. A visit from the Bradshaws just after Fourth of July was the highlight of our summer!