Emma has a loose tooth. At last! After recounting numerous “lost” teeth stories from her friends, cousins, and schoolmates, and developing a growing angst over being six (!) and still no missing teeth (!) – It looks like she may have a story, and a gap, of her own pretty soon.
So we wait. And wiggle.
Thought I’d hop back in on the Theme Thursday train. I haven’t joined in since it moved on over to Amy Jo’s house, but she suggested Relaxation for today’s theme, and I happened to have some photos from last weekend that might just work.
One of my absolute favorite things to do is eat alfresco…I love to eat outside. Thankfully we can eat outside nearly year-round, but most of the time, we save it for the summer months.
Most days during the summer the girls and I will take a picnic to the park for lunch, or take a cooler of snacks to the beach, or just host playdates, appetizers and drinks (for the Mommys, of course!) on the patio in the late afternoon. I don’t really care what it is we are eating, it is just so relaxing and fun to be eating out in nature.
A lot of times during the summer we will grill out on Sundays evenings and eat out on the patio. This past week we resumed that summer ritual.
Addie relaxing while waiting for dinner…
Emma recently discovered that she LOVES salmon. Plus we grilled asparagus, another of her favorites. Perfect dinner for her.
And yummy in-season berries with cream for dessert?
That is one delicious and fun way to relax…
Ease on over for some more R&R photos.
I’m a little late on sending our wishes because first of all, I am in denial that it really is the 20th of May. Really?! Wasn’t last week Emma’s birthday? Wasn’t last month Christmas??
And secondly, I know that Nena is down in Orlando and won’t see this anyhow – but we are sending Birthday love and hugs to you, Nena!
Hope you have a great day, fun week, and super year. We can’t wait to see you next month!
Love,
J, C, E & A
1. First of all – I didn’t get a chance to give a little shout out to J. last week. He was promoted. He is now a VP, although he has always been a ViP to us. We are proud of you, Daddy – good work!
2. In other (almost as exciting) news…my new lens came! Woo hoo! (Thanks again J., girls, and Mom & Dad – one of the best birthday presents ever!) I have been in a bit of a camera coma lately. Pretty much just “recording life,” not really “seeing it” through my camera. I ended up getting a Tamron 28-200mm Macro. I really wanted a macro lens, but also needed something between my kit lens and my 70-300mm zoom. This lens seems to have a decent (enough for me!) macro, but some versatility as well. It isn’t too heavy and I’ve had it on my camera for the past two days and have been able to shoot all kinds of stuff. I feel like my photography mojo is back, and I want to pick up the camera to learn and experiment.
Some I shot while the girls were playing at the park tonight…
Eeeeee! So fun. I feel like a five-year old on Christmas morning! Let’s go to the park! Let’s go out into the garden. Let me get my camera!
3. J. is on the road again until tomorrow. He is presenting at a conference tomorrow morning. What does that mean to our household? Mmmm….cereal for dinner. Girls in bed early. And an uninterrupted, guiltless evening full of sewing.
4. Because when he gets back we have all kinds of TV watching to catch up on. Holy cow! We are so behind. Like an entire month behind on Lost!
5. Speaking of catching up on TV… Oh.Em.GEE! Did you see last week’s season finale of Grey’s? I won’t say anything just in case you are further behind than me…but I will just tell you, I sobbed for 10 minutes last night. We are not talking a little teary-eyed – we are talking full-on weeping. I think I scared J a little bit. He actually closed his computer so he could just hold me.
What the…? And now I feel silly, quite frankly. I mean it is A TV SHOW! And I’m not even hormonal, pregnant or postpartum. Sooo…not really sure what was going on there.
6. And speaking also of postpartum, (What? Weren’t we?) I just finished Dooce’s new book that I got for my birthday (Autographed! Niiice. And thank you very much Jeff & Wendy!). Heather is quite possibly one of the most evocative writers of our generation. And flippin’ hilarious, as well. Seriously. Although I don’t think my post-partnum blues were even on the same scale as hers, I cannot tell you how connected I felt as I was reading about her struggles (and triumphs!). I found myself nodding in agreement, laughing out loud, and even crying a little with her. (I know, big surprise, right? See#5 up there!) I finished it in one day. Granted, I am a really fast reader, but it is one of those kinds of books that you want to keep reading to see what is going to happen, but you don’t ever want it to end because you are enjoying the ride too much. Highly recommended. Plus her dog, Chuck, is just darn cute.
7. So, we just got Addie’s forehead healed up, I don’t know…I couldn’t tell you what she did, but she had a pretty little cut up there. She was supposed to be “resting” this afternoon and she calls down, “Mama, I think I have a little bump on my head.” So she comes down to show me and…UM….
Yeah, so that is not a little bump! Can you see it? Underneath the lovely purple bruise and cut? A big ol’ goose egg. I tried to figure out how she did it, and I still can’t tell you how it all went down. Apparently she was trying to get a new dress out of her closet and had a run-in with the hanger and closet bar? I don’t know. Again.
I do know that it goes together so beautifully with her purple/pink stained hands…
I do know how she got those, though. She apparently painted her hands at school. Of course. Crazy kid.
8. I just had to (like, right this minute!) check the earthquake site, because it felt a little shaky in the living room here. But, I am either deliriously dizzy from hunger – or a large truck just rumbled by. The site doesn’t seem to think it was a quakey quake.
Nonetheless, I’m going to go get some dinner cereal (mmm…the best kind!) and check to make sure our earthquake supplies are not too buried in the garage.
And I’ll leave you with another of my favorite photos from the park (and the new lens!)…
Man…I actually DO have a real, honest-to-goodness project to show today. But alas, not very good photos of it. Bah! Sometimes you just can’t win.
So I finished the little dress for Em that has been in pieces for a good two months. I had found these cute little dresses on Etsy and now I cannot find the dresses or the artist. But I tried to eyeball it and make a little pattern that I could use to make some of the dresses for the girls. They are pretty easy, just little slip dresses with ribbons in the collar that tie at the shoulder. Em actually had it on this afternoon, and instead of taking a photo of it on a live model, in good light, I got sidetracked. So you get this photo instead…
I will take a photo of it actually on tomorrow – she has already decided she is going to wear it to school. Because of the stupid flash I had to use, you can’t see that it has a little glitter stripe in the fabric – so Emma calls it “fancy” fabric. 🙂
I have Ad’s all cut out and ready to go as well, but I am in the process of making 20 tunics for the church’s spring musical. So I’m going to try to power through all of those tomorrow and maybe get Ad’s done for her for to wear to school on Thursday. She is so very concerned that her dress still has pins in it!
What other crafty goodness do you all have that we can gaze longingly upon?
Dear Emma Grace –
I often tease that perhaps “Grace” may not have been the best choice of middle names for you, for it seems you might have inherited Mama’s complete lack of physical grace. I don’t want to say you are necessarily clumsy, but…take it from your bruise-covered Mama – I think you may need a back-up helmet, knee pads and a first aid kit always in arm’s reach, possibly for the rest of your life.
But in your six short years in this world, you have learned something that is far more important than being agile, or coordinated.
While we were at a Birthday party on Friday, I watched you selflessly give over half of your loot from the pinata to a girl that had walked away without a single piece of candy. She was holding her empty bag looking a little forlorn and you went up to her, put your arm around her shoulder, and asked “Here. Would you like some of my candy?” And then you proceeded to put half of your candy into her bag.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I found myself breathless as I watched your (completely unprompted) generosity unfold. And I simply could not have been prouder of you.
When you saw that I was watching you share, you gave me a little shrug and smile as if to say, “Eh, it’s only candy.” It gave me a small glimpse at the thoughtful and loving person you are becoming. I was also reminded that the word “grace” has more than just a physical meaning.
And I think your middle name suits you just perfectly, Peanut. You truly are full of Grace.
Love,
Mama
J. has been intrigued by the game of cricket for many, many years now. When I was working in London he came over and managed to scavenge an old cricket bat from the Portobello Road Antique market. At the time I was not entirely sure why he was buying an old, beat-up bat. But now it stands beside our bed and I feel a little safer on weeks like this one, when he is traveling out of town, and that bat is within arm’s reach.
(Note to any potential robbers and thieves – the bat is HEAVY and SOLID, and I’ve been doing the hundred push-up challenge, so keep it movin’. Nothing to see at our house.)
So, where were we? Oh yes. J. And crazy about cricket. So this past weekend he asked us if we would like to go to the Hollywood Ashes cricket match.
Crickets? Yes! I want to see crickets…
Who can say no to crickets? Plus there were some celebrities slated to be there. And it was free. So off we went.
(This is Addie’s non-stop “skip” caught on camera. For some reason she has been led to believe that she is a great “skipper” and proceeds to skip everywhere we go now. For the record, she is not really all that coordinated in the skipping department, but it is awfully cute.)
Imagine Em and Ad’s surprise when the “crickets” looked like this…
And this…
But they quickly discovered the bounce house that was set up, and pretty much just spent the rest of the afternoon jumping their little legs off.
The bit of match that I got to see was pretty interesting. And it got MUCH more interesting once J. found a quick little fact/rule sheet so I knew what was actually going on. Plus (and I didn’t take any photos of them!) they had pasties! Mmm….not nearly as good as my Aunty’s – but they were tasty.
And Daddy ended up buying a practice set (a new bat, ball, and wickets) and is now planning on teaching his little crickets how to play.
The girls playing with the bubble wrap from my Mother’s Day gift, we had at least a good hour of fun – what with all the popping, and designing bubble pop dresses…
More eye-popping fun over here!
The girls have been crazy crafty around here again this week.
Mama? Not so much. But J. is out of town this week, my project is done, and nobody is visiting (boo!), so it looks like I may get a chance to get to my sewing machine and maybe a few layouts done, too? We shall see.
In the meantime, you can see all the goodies I got for Mother’s Day! I can barely keep up with the art projects that infiltrate our house most weeks, but the girls created some real “keepers” this week.
Addie came flying out of her classroom on Thursday, “Happy Mahzer’s Day, Mama!” (she still cannot say her th’s!) she yelled, as she thrust a card into my hand and demanded that I read it right there and then.
There are tons of flowers on the front, this drawing of Addie and I (??) on the inside, and a little dictation from Addie – transcribed by Miss Mary. It says –
“My mom’s name is Carrie. I call her mommy. She’s tall. She works on her computer. She cleans up stuff. She cooks. She likes to go to Target. I like to go to the park with mommy. I like fish sticks with mommy. She covers me up. I love her. ~Addie
Eeeee! How precious is that? I love that the girl knows my Target weakness – and my weakness for little peeks into what goes on inside that curly-haired head.
Emma became very concerned watching this exchange because she was home sick, and she realized they were supposed to be bringing their Mother’s Day creations home! Luckily, Daddy brought her homework to school for her and her teacher made sure Em’s creation came home in time.
Sweet, sweet photo frames.
And I love the flower/garden/growing theme they had throughout their gifts and cards…
Then on Sunday while I was eating my breakfast, reading the paper, she also made this card…
It reads – (design and spelling all done by Emma!)
“Happy Motehrs Day Mommy. I love you. I hop you have a spashl (special) day. I hop you like my sing. Love, Penut. (Peanut)
Double Eeeee! And I did love her singing. (The Cherubs sang in church for the moms). I especially love that she knows how to write a letter and that she is trying to work it all out herself. It is so endearing to watch her learning and growing.
OH, and speaking of growing…we have been growing in other ways, too!
We’ve got BUGS. Ladybugs. Lots of ’em!
And while I was making dinner last night Emma came running in, shrieking. I thought something was horribly wrong. But, no. We just have butterflies. Two of them have emerged. So much excitement. Meet one of our Painted Ladies –
Appropriate name for Crafty Tuesday, wouldn’t you say?
Q: How did I spend my Mother’s Day afternoon?
A: Lying beneath our avocado tree in the hammock watching the girls entertain themselves.
Q: And what exactly were they looking for?
A: Roly Polys (Pill bugs) – naturally.
Q: Did they pick the bugs up?
A: You betcha!
Q: How many did they find?
A: I think there were more than 12 at one point all hanging out in Em’s hat!
Q: What is one of the funniest things to watch?
A: Your very girly-girls all decked out in their very girly outfits, playing with bugs in the dirt, of course!
Q: Which shot to choose for my BSM?
A: This one. I love her intense concentration, curiosity and wonder. My little bug girl.
Stay tuned for more bug adventures around Chaos. The butterflies are about to hatch and we have almost grown ladybugs, too! In the meantime hop over to Tracy’s for some more adventures.