Joseph is staying the night at his grandparents' and called to say goodnight.  At the end of the conversation, I made kissing noises in the phone.

"Wait, Mommy!  I'm going to go outside and blow you kisses and then they'll fly to you.  Go outside!"

I walked to the door.  "I'm outside."

"Okay.  I'll blow the kisses now."  He blew a million kisses.  "Do ( Read more... )

I took the kids to the post office today to mail 1) a much-belated set of birthday gifts and b) Sandy's new earrings.

I don't know if it was because it was almost 100 outside.  I don't know if it was because the kids woke up fresh from naps while Mommy was worn out from spending like amount of time cleaning.  I don't know if it was because the post ( Read more... )

Originally from June 10:

Early this morning, as I lay on the bed nursing Elizabeth, Joseph crawled in beside us.  "I'm not tired any more," said my sleepy little boy, "I just want to snuggle with the girls."  He wrapped his arms around his little sister and snuggled close.  Elizabeth, being Elizabeth and a social creature, immediately stopped ( Read more... )

I've got a couple of snippet posts to share.  You know...posts too short or too banal to stand on their own.  And yes.  I used the word "banal".  If you think that's bad, the other day, I actually used the word "hastened".  Somebody's been reading Regency romance novels again.

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Pickle Face

You know that picture that ( Read more... )

A couple weekends ago, I helped my sister out with her mini sessions at Avila Beach.  It was so much fun to see her work. And, since I was there, I sneaked the kids in for a micro mini session.

One of the best parts about having a sister who happens to be an amazingly talented professional photographer is getting pictures like this...


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How do you know your son has played too many video games?

When he sets up the living room with his sister's big blocks and then tells his daddy to "click the space bar to help me jump".

Time to get really strict with screen time limits.

And I should probably not sit and play Mario Bros.
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You knew it was coming didn't you?  The signs were all there...refusing to believe what a to-scale grid said I could plant, the first rush of tomato buying madness at the nursery, the websites, the films...they all pointed to a repeat of last year's downward spiral.

Even I knew trouble was brewing.  Just three days ago, Joseph and I stood in the ( Read more... )

Three months ago, in a fit of oh-my-God-I-need-to-plan, I asked Joseph what type of birthday party he wanted.  No surprise, it was pirates.  I buried myself in a sea of craft blogs, Etsy shops and even drew a little redheaded pirate to grace the cover of his invite.  (I use the term "drew" loosely.)


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