Wonderful things and kids shoes

1. Steel wool. I love this stuff. I just discovered it at the local bulk food store. Less than a dollar for a large chunk. And anything, I mean anything, will come off if you scrub it with steel wool. I would not bet much on the longevity of any finished surface in my house. But grime that it takes ages to scrub away is gone with a flick of the wrist. Well, just about anyway. So is the paint off the range hood. But it isn't grimy anyway.

2. Livie & Luca shoes. Orianna's shoe box contains the following : yellow clogs, pink clogs, orange floral t-straps, and a pair of black mary jane clogs that are almost too little. I have a slight clog obsession. They are just so cute on kids. And on eBay, you can frequently buy them for the price of shoes in Wal-mart and they last much longer. Which is an important consideration when I have three girls to give them a beating. (Wal-mart is my bench mark for prices. When prices drop to Wal-mart prices ($10-$15 for kids shoes) I buy.) Anyway, Orianna needs some good basic shoes. Hooray! I get to buy shoes. I looked around a lot this week (joy!) and discovered Livie and Luca more thoroughly. Adorable. I want them all. But not at $40-$60 a pair..... Eventually I discovered some leather shoes at Lands End in my price range. And they are nice, good basics. But I will always remember that my kids could  have had shoes with peacocks, birds, suede flowers, and woven leather. And just as a side note, I saw a pair of Dolce and Gabbana sneakers for kids on 6pm.com for $160. !!!!!! Sneakers. for $160. for kids. And that is the sale price. Originally $300. Further investigation led to a pair of $690 shoes for kids. Hello first world. Just so you aren't burning with curiosity, here are the $690 pair. And the ugly sneakers for $160. And then a cute pair of Livie and Lucas.



The thing about cute shoes is that they look cute on toddlers, but how exactly does the style translate to a larger size? Probably a bit more awkward looking. Maybe it is a good thing for Orianna that I can't buy adorable shoes for her. She might bring it up in therapy sessions at a later date

3. Taking walks this week, I have heard leaves falling. For some reason, this seems profound. I can hear the leaves falling. Rustle, rustle as they sift down through the trees.

4. I managed to get all the kids fall things out, summery/too little things packed away, and everything neatly back to normal, within 48 hours. This process sometimes extends into weeks. Having Wednesday night meeting here this week, gave me an incentive to get things done. Of course, today it is hovering near 80 degrees. Bah.

5. The sunshine is shifting into fall and winter patterns. Our neighbor has a tin roof, and in the fall, winter, and spring, the angle of the sunlight shines right into our living room at lunch time. Rather blindingly shines in. Often I have to shut the curtain for an hour or two. And just this week, I have been noticing this again. Getting back to normal. For some reason, summer always seems like a departure from normal. And fall is  a return to things as they should be. I blame my northern roots.

Delights

Things that have delighted me this week:

1. Elsie clutching things as she toddles around. Mostly writing utensils, which the kids left out. They are her security--getting very upset when I take away her marker. 

2. Cool weather.  A very hot Wednesday heightened my ability to appreciatethe ability to wear a hoodie this morning and feel cozy. 

3. Penny's puppies have opened their eyes. 

4. Dahlias mixed with aster and loosestrife on my kitchen windowsill. 

5. Walks. I love walks. Really, really. Normally I walk before Justin leaves for work, but this week I decided I would go whenever I could during the day, plopping Gilbert and Elsie in the double stroller. And walking with them is just as refreshing as going by myself. I have more energy, so housekeeping is easier, making me a happier person, which makes me feel generous and patient with the kids, which in turn makes me feel like a better mother, which makes me feel more relaxed and content when Justin is home, making me a better wife. Walks are my miracle drug of choice. 

And here are a few pictures from my walk this morning....

 

The good list

I wrote this yesterday and forgot to post it. So here it is. 

Fall is coming. We had a frost warning last night, not that it frosted, but it got close. Yesterday morning before I woke the girls up for their first day of school, I heard Canada geese in the field behind our house. I love fall. 

We have plans to go visit old friends today who we haven't seen in almost two years. 

I just bought my first ever ticket to ride map, heart of Africa, so I intend to play that this weekend, once or twice. 

My darling man survived surgery and is getting better every day. 

We survived the first day of school. Gilbert was okay without the girls, Orianna and Lily liked their teachers....

Two sweet kids just woke up. Toddling and running to see me. 

Have a gorgeous weekend!

And so it begins

Another school year has begun. And I have not a single picture to show you. Which just goes to show that I am a bad Facebook parent. Everyone else was organized enough to not only take the picture of their kids, but post it in a timely manner. Sigh. But being rushed, did make it less emotional. I didn't cry at all. I guess the rushing "Why is the bus here so early? Oh, whoops, it isn't early." feeling was so familiar, I just felt like we had never had a summer vacation.

Last night I had a moment. We went to the library yesterday and got out a nice stack of books. After we got home, Elsie was fussing, so I went and cuddled her and was contemplating going to sleep myself, since Gilbert was asleep, and Orianna came in and asked me to read her some of the books we got out. But I told her not right now, Mummy is going to have a rest. Then, last night when I was laying out their clothes for today (Ha! I am organized sometimes!) I found her little stack of books that remained unread and I just about burst into tears. HOW could I not have read them to her? Starting school and I couldn't even take time to read her three books?!?!! Somehow, it doesn't matter that there is this afternoon to read them. I missed my chance.

As I stood there holding the books last night, trying not to cry, I realized that I had been telling Mom not to be ridiculous the other day when she was feeling bad about not having this or that the way she had wanted it to be before Tori started school and Livie started college. "Of course it doesn't matter." And then I find that in some parallel universe it does matter, so terribly much. I doubt it matters as much to the kids as the mother. School starting makes me think of all the things I was going to do with the kids this summer that I never got around to doing. All those missed opportunities. I didn't make them a priority and then silly things got in the way. I don't believe in doing everything your kids want at the moment they ask for it, but I know I wasn't as good about doing things with them as I should have been.

I know, I know. Get over it. They are happy, healthy, seemingly well adjusted kids. And they probably aren't giving two thoughts to the fact that I didn't take them on walks as much as I should have or I didn't take Orianna, by herself, to town. But I am. They are just such good kids.

It has been a busy week. We had the pig roast this past weekend and then Sunday night, Justin and I spent the night in the ER, discovering that Justin had an inflamed gallbladder. He was admitted to the hospital, and then had surgery Tuesday morning. He got home late Tuesday, in a bit of pain, but managing. The worse part seems to be the carbon dioxide (I think) that they inflated his stomach with to help the surgeon see things properly in there. It is making him uncomfortable all over. With this happening so quickly, neither of us had given a thought to the afterwards of the surgery. Justin can't lift over 20 pounds for three weeks. Which alters his work schedule drastically. It should all work out okay, but it takes a bit of sorting. And then yesterday, we had a busy day, running errands that had been let slide while Justin was cooped up. Not how I thought I would spend the week before school started and Lindsey was back from Alaska. But I am so glad she is  here. She watched the kids all day long on Tuesday. If she hadn't been here, things would have been a lot more difficult. Yeah, my sister comes home from Alaska and spends her time watching my kids, doing a bit of laundry, dishes, keeping the kids happy... I have a pretty nice sister. And I know if Lindsey hadn't been here, my other sisters and family would have stepped in and made it work. I am pretty lucky.

I have lots of pictures to put up, but my camera is missing in action. Possibly on top of the piano at Mom and Dad's. So you will have to wait for those. Sorry to be so wordy. Pictures are much more interesting.

Here is one of Gilbert after the girls left this morning. One of the reasons I didn't get a picture of the girls is that I was trying to get Gilbert dressed so he wouldn't be in his jammies for the picture. (There. Perfect example of missing something good because I was trying to make it better.) Gilbert has new gloves from Uncle Owen. Meeting was at Owen and Ashley's last night, and Owen decided Gilbert needed these gloves, since they are orange. The large size would give him something to work towards Owen said. Gilbert loves them and they helped make it okay that Gilbert couldn't get on the bus with the girls. Because he has to help Owen be a farmer. He had to put these gloves carefully beside his bed last night before he went to sleep. I love him. And I am glad I have another year at home with this little farmer and his sister.

                      

Joy

This week was full of joy. One of those unexpected surges of joy that seem to come from no particular event. I felt thankful, thankful, thankful for this sweet life I have. This life is not perfect. But it is good. 

Things that gave me joy this week

1. Watching Elsie toddle around

2. Seeing the kids be good friends

3. Perfect summer days

4. The fragrance of lilies

5. Old friends

Summer afternoon

We had a lovely time with the White kids. They were absolutely wonderful. Generally when they get together, there is a day or two of happy cousin time and then it descends into fights, bickers, and over tiredness. Somehow, we circumnavigated most of that this time. It was such a nice kid filled few days!

I had misplaced my camera in the most obvious place (which meant I didn't look there, since I knew it wasn't there) for 3 days, but finally, I found it. After organizing a lot of stuff in hopes of uncovering my camera under library books, important things, and mail. Now I have my camera and clean counters. Win-win!

I managed to find my camera in time for this picnic Monday afternoon. The sort of afternoon that makes people lyrical about summer.

And just so you know, Lily and Rilla were on a hair brushing kick, so they look like hippie children.

The kids had to dig holes to put their sticks in. And Gilbert was convinced his bike was broken and needed fixing, which he happily did with his little stick.

Lily and Lincoln made a doughnut tree out of sticks and honey nut cheerios

Little picnic scavenger

Cheyenne's welcome home

Clothes on the line shadow

Lilies are in bloom

My diaper clothesline. One of those everyday things that won't always be so ordinary. 

Justin is a marvelous uncle and pushed them around the yard in the wheelbarrow. 

Then Justin got a call and stopped running. But Elliott hopefully sat in the wheelbarrow for awhile.

Cheyenne is a great babysitter

Orianna demonstrating for Cheyenne the monkey dance they worked on that morning. 

When Elliott got tired of waiting for Justin to get off the phone, Gilbert climbed in.

Justin tipping Orianna and Elliott out

One of the dahlias

My hydrangea that is supposed to turn pink. Currently looks like it has a case of measles.

A march into the house, carefully leaving all bits of their picnic to be picked up by adults.