A Random Observation

I've been going through all of the endless photos I took throughout the summer getting them captioned, tagged and filed and made a random observation....

Chloe's hair has indeed grown. A LOT!

BEFORE : (April of this year):

AFTER (3 weeks ago):

Every day when I attempt to turn whispies into "piggies" I feel as if the fates have conspired against me...and that she will never have any hair, solely because I really want her to so I can make it cute! But, thankfully, there is proof in the pictures that this is not the case. Sure she is still a little more bald on the right than the left and her hair in front is a little skee-wompus due to the right/left imbalance, but at least it is growing.

And, hey, with those eyes who needs good hair?

Hope for the hopeless!

Going, Going, Gone

All of a sudden, I feel as if I am watching my life fly by me.

My kids are growing up a little more every day and I wonder why they seem so old. Things have been crazy around here. Church callings, Seth at work, pre-school, playgroups, family canning, cooking, planning, harvesting, other church callings, Seth at school, laundry, commitments, friends, play-doh making, grocery shopping, cleaning...

Please Slow down, time.

I need more time to enjoy Chloe singing songs, hosting tea parties, calling every dress she owns a "dancing dress", twirling around the house with her dollies...and me...and daddy...and Callie, playing pretend, reading book.after.book.after.book.after.book and quoting disney movies.

I need more time to enjoy Brynn doing the elephant crawl all over the house, scooting herself backward while she is sitting up, stacking rings, filling buckets with blocks and then taking them back out one at a time, grunting for food in between bites, and giggling like crazy just because big brother or sister are.

I need more time to enjoy Morgan telling me every detail of his day at preschool, demanding bedtime kisses before I leave his room at night, getting so excited about the scripture stories, asking if he can dust the house...or water the flowers...or clean the leather couches, his silly giggle, his delightful sense of humor and his rediculously bright logic that either leaves us laughing hysterically or beaming with pride.

I need more time to enjoy the sunny days, harvesting my garden veggies, delighting in the daisies blooming all over my yard...but especially the happy gerber daisies by the front door, my beautifully lush and green backyard, trips to the zoo, picnics in the park, flip-flops, and middle-of-the-week movies with my sweetie because it isn't quite time to study for midterms yet. :)

But, alas, time doesn't stop or slow down. It just keeps spinning on. The sun is setting earlier, the nights are getting chillier and before I know it, September will be gone...and soon enough, these moments will be replaced with new moments that I'll want to cherish and savor. So, I must slow down and take it all in. I must enjoy every second of this life...right now...because it is lovely and wonderful and fleeting...and I don't want it to pass me by before I take the time to enjoy it!

I always thought

...that canning food saved you money. That is, until Seth planted 16 tomato plants in this year's garden and they all started producing at the same time and I had to start buying a dozen or two bottles a week, just to keep up (not to mention the time it takes to can). Nope...canning is not an inexpensive endeavor!

I bet next year when I am reusing bottles I will feel differently, and besides, stewed tomatoes sure look pretty in mason jars! Next project: cute jar labels!

Been There, Done That

Preschool. No nostalgia...no tears...no emotions of thinking my baby is so grown up as he walks right into the classroom, hangs up his bag, puts on his name collar and finds a seat without a glance back to see if I have left the room. Nope...we've been there and done that and this is just a continuation after a little break.

But...

this year is different and special and wonderful in a whole different way. Morgan has Miss Fidge. Wanna' know who else had Miss Fidge for 4-year-old preschool? ME! 22 years ago a little curly haired girl - most likely wearing a dress - walked into Miss Fidge's classroom (in a different school building) holding her mommy's hand, placed her bag in her cubby, put on her name collar and found her seat without a glance back at that mommy.

While I can't remember a whole lot about the details of day-to-day elementary school, I remember everything about Miss Fidge's preschool class. I remember Thanksgiving dinner dressed up like an indian, I remember the Easter Egg Hunt with my basket made of a milk carton, I remember performing 5 Little Ducks Went out to Play in the graduation ceremony wearing my graduation cap, I remember bossing all the other kids when we played house (with the same wooden kitchen set Morgan gets to play with), I remember my Mom coming to help on her co-op days and getting to help her serve the snack. I remember singing Alligator Soup, Tiny Tim, Wide Mouth Frog, My Name is Stegosaurus and all the other wonderful songs we learned. Most of all, I remember feeling so loved by my wonderful teacher. I am excited for Morgan to experience all of this for himself...and I know he will, because Miss Fidge is just the same!

And of course...here are the pictures of Morgan the " Stud Muffin" on the first day!

Chloe helped to calm any nerves Morgan may have had with big hugs before he left for school.

Miss Fidge, Morgan, Miss Allyson - Morgan got a little timid when we walked in...

But with some fingerpainting, song singing and puzzles...he warmed right up! And he got to answer the question about siblings...he was excited to tell about his 2 sisters, Brynnie and Chloe.Then we played on the playground for good measure before we left to pick up the girls.

They have a Class Family Photo Album in their reading center that they can look at during their free choice time. We were asked to create a page showing our child and their favorite things. Here is Morgan's page.

(Note: This assignment was given to the parents...not the kids...I don't do his homework for him. I did make him help me pick out the pictures though, and he listed off the things he liked, wrote the signs and posed for the pictures!)

front

back

Ahem. Houston, we have a crawler

And, not only that, but today when I set her down on the floor on her tummy, the next thing I knew she was sitting up. That's right...from laying to sitting all by herself!

Yay for our sweet little Miss Bean!

As a matter of fact...

Today I picked Morgan up from his buddy Wyatt's birthday party. He got in the car and told me all about how much fun he had...particularly playing with the ball shooting gun that Wyatt got as one of his presents. (Side note: I like to have the kids pick out the gifts they want to give their friends for birthdays and make/write the birthday card on their own. After combing the toy aisles at Target, Morgan picked out a super-cool play-doh play set and some transformer stickers for Wyatt - I am a terrible friend for giving your kid play-doh, sorry Judi). I asked him if Wyatt liked the present he had given him...

(very matter-of-factly) "Ummmm, yeah. He liked it VERY MUCH. He had just been waiting to get some play-doh."

How old is he again? 25? How am I ever going to keep up with this kid?

(edited 9-10-09 - I realized I misquoted him when he said something similar again yesterday...it wasn't that he really liked it, it was that he liked it VERY MUCH! lol!)

Eloquence

I just love, love, love reading this blog! A post from earlier this week (that I am just reading today...I know) just struck me to the core. What a beautiful moment it is, when you read a collection of words that together, describe an emotion so perfectly that you can instantly feel it yourself. And it is so familiar that you know you have felt it before, but didn't know how to describe it. Not until now.

True eloquence.

P.S. Seth, now you know why I cry so much!

Just so you know...

These flowers are lovely

and they bloom at the loveliest time of year

and they are absolutely gorgeous in flower bouquets

and you just can't help but smile when you see them

which is fabulous because they are just about

every.where.you.look

but...

they make me sneeze

and sniffle

and make my eyes water

A LOT.

So, just in case you ever want to buy me flowers

can you just be sure there aren't any sunflowers in the bunch

...

or at least include some really strong allergy medicine.

Just so you know.

(note to self:

for future reference, hiking through a sunflower field and spending the rest

of the day playing on a beach surrounded by sunflowers is probably NOT a good idea

...especially without a working allergy perscription)