Kat and James return

We had another nice visit with Kat and James on their trip back through Atlanta, the final stop before they head back home to the NL. Kat's parents brought them up from Valdosta, and spent the night at Dot and Tom's, but not before stopping at our house for lunch. We had a nice visit, they were delighted to see Michael and Emily in the flesh, and to observe James' interaction with his cousins. James really took a liking to Sophie's princess shoes:



3 out of 4 isn't bad!

Luckily, the ratio of cars/trains/things with wheels to number of toddler boys was about 10:1, so it was easy to keep them happy.

Yesterday we had a playdate with Steph and Dagny, and Anne, Rollie and Tiller. Add in me, Michael and Emily (Sophie was at VBS) and Kat and James, and you have 5 children under the age of 2, (James is 2 in August, all the rest in October) and one almost 4 year old. I think Rollie enjoyed being the oldest, and the little ones got along really well. There were a few swiped sippy cups and snacktraps, but what's some germs between friends? (no pics, we were too busy yakking, eating and passing kids back and forth) It was nice to see Steph again, and to meet Anne in person. Glad I got the chance to hang with my baby bro's peeps, know I know how Mary feels when she runs into my friend Nancy all the time!

Friday the 13th....

turned out to be anything but unlucky for us. We had friends over (9 kiddos, 4 mothers) for some pool time, and fun was had by all. Even the weather cooperated, it was overcast, but plenty warm enough for the ice cold hose water.....please don't report my illegal water usage!

Noah, Sophie and Katie check out the pool


From left: Samuel, Josh and Elizabeth on the slip and slide. It is fun for this age group (3-5) but they don't actually slide on it, which is probably a good thing.

Moms hanging out, from left: Kathleen, Paula, Rebekah

Doing some kick drills, maybe next year they'll be ready for swim team.

Katie and Noah have some downtime, and maybe a pretzel or two.

Dining al fresco.

After lunch, they took a break from the water and went to the basement to play. We mothers were enjoying a nice lunch ourselves (m and em were napping) when we were interrupted by an impromptu dress up parade.

It was so nice to hang out with friends all day, the kids really enjoyed playing together, and we mothers had a chance to catch up as well.

A Big Ole Messy Mess

One of Sophie's favorite Laurie Berkner songs is "I'm A Mess". The lyrics describe a "a big ole messy mess", the child's shirt that contains all the meals of the day. I feel like that is how my house is on most days....walk through it, and you can see what was being played with and by whom.

Here is Sophie playing kitchen, she is wearing her Krispy Kreme hat (thank you Aunt Karen, Uncle Jack and Nana) holding a"cookbook", and has out most of my pots and pans. She even supplemented the scene with her own play food and dishes. I have to give her credit, she told me she was steaming broccoli, and when I lifted the lid to look in, she had my steamer in the pot, with her play broccoli. This is the type of mess that I really do not have a problem with, and actually welcome. Setting up and playing with this kitchen took the better part of an hour, and I was able to work around her in the real kitchen while she worked in hers. I think that was part of the allure. She enjoyed telling me, "Mom, be careful, this pot here is really hot and I don't want you to burn your foot." And when playtime was over, she cleaned it all up.

And here is the type of mess that isn't so great, but it is funny, and I am glad that I am now able to run and get the camera to document it instead of rushing to pick it all up right away. If truth be told, I think these crayons remained on the floor for at least another day. Unlike Sophie, Emily likes to make a mess out of anything. The more off limits it is, the better. This is why we still have the front room gated off, it is the supposed safe place for Sophie's stuff, so much for that theory. And no, Emily didn't scribble those pictures, they were some game of Sophie and Noah's that she was adding to.

Noah was over today, and he and Sophie played with their Webkinz (not on the computer) for over an hour in the basement. Again, a mess I can live with: It kept them busy, quiet and entertained while Michael and Emily were napping. I ate my lunch while reading the newspaper while they figured out what kind of food each Webkinz would eat, then found that food for them. And, when they were done, they cleaned up. A beautiful mess, really.

After they had their lunch, and we made popsicles and put them in the freezer, they did a craft from Michael's . Very messy, but very worth it. I got some bills paid and laundry done while this was going on. Note the Webkinz with their food on the highchair, they really wanted to watch the action.

As anyone knows, popsicles make the best mess of all, but that's ok, tonight was bath night.

Tomorrow the whole gang is coming to our house to play in the little pools and hang out. More messes will abound, I am sure, but that's ok. All too soon this time will be over, and some part of me will miss the mess.

Happy Birthday.....

to my oldest sister Clare, who lost her battle with lung cancer (non smoker's) in 1994. She was just a month shy of her 41st birthday when she died, and would have been 54 today if she had lived. Clare at 54...what would she be like?? Maybe by now she would have built up a big real estate business, as she got her license just a year or so before she became really ill. One thing is for sure, she would be proud of her kids, Frank, now 24 and Carly, now 21.

I was 28 when she died, and am now 41. Thinking of my life being over now is staggering. What must have gone through her mind when she knew her time was coming to an end? One consolation for us is that we were all there, at her bedside, when the time came. That was the first time I had ever experienced death so intimately, and the peacefulness of it surprised me.

I don't want this post to be a downer, but really a reminder that life is so fragile, and we must never take a day of it for granted. I love you Clare, you are never far from my thoughts, and oh how I wish you had gotten a chance to know my own family. Yes, I know you wouldn't be able to help yourself from giving me advice, but that's ok. That's what big sisters are for.

Fireworks

Well, we didn't make it to the fireworks in person this year, but Sophie did stay up to watch them on TV. No mean feat since she had a sleepover last night at her friend Katies' house. I feel like I got some fun time with Michael and Emily today, since I wasn't caught in the fire between an almost 6 yr old who wants them to leave her alone, and the toddlers who want whatever she has. Here is the start of our day...at 8:30 for me, since that is when the twins woke up. I didn't have my Sophie wake up call at 6:30ish, that was a nice treat. Although I did have to give Michael more motrin and some milk at 4:30...he was inconsolable. I think he and James are on the same teething schedule, inscisors due any day now, both top and bottom.




After getting dressed we headed downstairs for breakfast. Emily contemplated throwing on a load of laundry, but the lure of waffles and bananas was too much for her.

After breakfast, they played in the family room for about an hour while I cleaned up. Again, I love my Sophie girl, but oh, how calmly they played without big sister there to stir things up. We headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's for a visit, and ended up having lunch over there. No pics from their house, I was too busy keeping them occupied/contained/out of things. Back home for nap, then over to Katie's to pick up Sophie.

We had a really nice time at the Bottitta's. They had a new playset installed just yesterday, and the kids had a blast on it. Katie and Sophie enjoyed playing dress up, Michael enjoyed sitting in a booster seat, and Emily enjoyed about 3 pieces of watermelon. Oh, and I can't forget Josh (Katie's 3 yr old brother) who SO enjoyed his cupcake and ice cream.