lunch break

...33

...Tonight I am 33.

You can say it. I'm old.

We started the day early. Way too early. I tried to figure out a way to get the toilet in every shot from the day but this is the only one where it worked out:

...then my teenage son, who I had to wake up at 8:30, and I took off for his last day of school:

...momma went to Starbucks, where she read every facebook message, every e-mail, and every text that had come in, while drinking the largest drink possible because somehow Starbucks knew it was my birthday:

...then we had a date with all Charlie's classmates (and teacher) at the park, where he received the award for, "Never pooping at school."A mother couldn't be prouder:

Everyone was really happy to be there.

Then we came home. There's no better feeling than coming home to this:

My cleavage looks 33.

Dinner out and home for  baths:

(Clara looks extremely muscular. She does some tough upper-body workouts).

Dessert. Chocolate covered strawberries from my local farmer and a cupcake from, well, Acme:

A stack of magazines:

...and a very, very smart, sweet husband who must have heard me in the middle of the night the other night when I grumbled, "All I want for my birthday is a night in a f*!^&* hotel:"

I have to say, I feel 33. I am tired.  Today's to-do list included dropping off the check for the mosquito control program, paying medical bills, and making an appointment to fix the burners on the stove. Three year-olds don't understand, "But it's my birthday" when they don't want to nap. Nine month-olds don't understand, "But it's my birthday" when they are up at 5 a.m. But even when that three year-old was whining from not napping, it was music to my ears to hear him moan, "Mommmamommamommma." And even though that nine month-old was up way too early, it's hard not to love her, "I love you so much" grin. Yes, birthdays are not quite the same these days, are they?

...calling it done

...I desperately need to feel like at least one area in our house is done. Complete. Finished. So I am now considering the foyer a room and calling it done.

Mirror (thanks, Mom). * Rug (yes, the new "Shops" at Target are bad, bad news). * Nest and Eggs (from Carron, who has impeccable gift-giving taste, lucky me).

...well, yes, I'm watching, thanks for asking

After a few seasons hiatus, I will be watching The Bachelorette again tonight. And I really, really hope the guy arriving in the helicopter is Chris Harrison suited up to be a "contestant," you know post-divorce and what-not.

...a mother's day miracle

...everyone's smiling, everyone's looking at the camera, and I only had to photoshop the bags under ONE of our eyes.

...things i love #4

When I am up too late, entirely too late, way too late, seeing this in the kid's bathroom at the top of the stairs makes the fact that I'm only going to get four hours of sleep somehow slightly OK. Slightly.

...thank you

...for understanding...for sharing...for loving her (almost) as much as I did.

"Not the least hard thing to bear when they go from us, these quiet friends, is that they carry away with them so many years of our own lives." John Galsworthy

...two years

Two years. Hard to believe. It still feels like she's at a trip to my mom and dad's and will come panting in the door any minute. Even though she wouldn't know this door. And she wouldn't know Clara. And Charlie would look like a grown man to her now.

She is constantly on my mind. On our minds. She would have loved it here. She would have been eleven now, an old lady in dog years. I imagine she would have lived out her twilight years on our screen porch, chasing all the wildlife in her mind.

I miss her when Clara's 9,492th puff lands on the floor.

I am still not sure we will ever get another dog. My heart, well, it's still broken. She was...the best.

...we are on day two of post-tonsillectomy recovery

...and I have to say, if I never hear the Thomas theme song again, I think I'd be OK. Although I've already decided it will be the mother-son song at his wedding.

(Picture from Charlie's day out with Thomas for his birthday).

...things i love #3

...I told you about the one perfect spiral curl Clara has on the top of her head, right? The humidity of the last week has made it even sweeter:

...we have landscaping and the sweet smell of mulch:

...our porch door is no longer the door to nowhere! And a little boy who loves to say cheeeeeese:

...My first few holes in the walls:

...My "see you later" bowl:

...well, she's not quite Charmer, but we have a new pet. She's a turkey. And she thinks she's ours. We named her Charlie (please note this picture was taken through a screen on the window because I have an irrational fear of wild turkeys):

...and I found my scrapbook desk. It was buried under a pile of paper. And guess what? It's a humongous desk! At least compared to the 2x3 space I was working on at our rental. And I made a few things using Studio Calico's latest kit:

...and just like that

...he's three

...things i love #2 - the scenery

...I love that Charlie wakes up to this every morning:

...I love our driveway:

...I love her eyelashes. I love that she is getting up on all fours and starting to move. I love that today she went from those all fours to sitting up and I was so freaking proud of her like she'd won the Olympics, figured out the solution to peace in the Middle East, and performed brain surgery all at the same time. I realize none of this has anything to do with scenery:

I love that even on the rainiest of days, my drive home from Target was still so pretty and green:

I love our library. I love that you park your car right in front (for free!) and just walk right in that big front door:

I love our town:

...things i love #1

...I want to share pictures of the house, I really really do, but there's still so much to do and I don't want to show her off until she's ready. Kind of like modeling the pink sequined prom dress for your date before you get your hair and makeup done (oh, come on, you know the pink sequined prom dress had to come back EVENTUALLY!)

...So I'm going to start sharing some snippets of our new life here and call it, "Things I love."

Today's, in random order:

1. We were passing the farm near our house the other day and the farmer was out tilling his field (tilling! new word!) I slowed the car down and actually stopped so Charlie could see this massive machine at work. The farmer stopped his tractor, got out, and waved at Charlie. People here are nice. And not in a, "I'm going to be nice to your face and then turn around and say how ugly your pink sequined prom dress is" way but in a genuine, "I'm going to wave to you when I pass you on the street, and I mean it" way.

2. I had Charlie's IEP meeting at what will be his elementary school yesterday and feel SO good about the people he will be working with on his speech.

3. I did a search on etsy soon after we moved to see if there were any local artists (long shot). And came across the work of Lindsay Bolin. I quickly snatched up two prints:

If you want to see more, here is Lindsay's blog.

4. I threw a baby shower last weekend. I needed it to be as low stress as possible. I got the idea from Pinterest to keep baby food jars and fill them with flowers for a favor. I love when other people think creatively for me.

5. Charlie started t-ball last weekend. It's going to be interesting as he was far more interested in swirling the dirt and playing on the playground. Here he is, "warming up,":

7. Just because she's cute. And wants to move so, so, so bad. And has one perfect little spiral curl right on the tip-top of her head:

...around here

...Feeling a lot like The Hangover.

Complete with baby-wearing men (pardon Ken's head injury, the result of a dermatological procedure, not me beating him over the head about finishing unpacking the garage):


And toddlers sporting oddly-Mike-Tyson-esque tattoos:


Our internet connection is circa 1996 so please stay with me...more to come.

...studio calico blog blitz

...I found a spare square foot in my new scrapbook room so I could participate in today’s Studio Calico blog blitz featuring some of my favorite new products. My box of SC goodies was among the last unpacked and it was worth the wait.

This is the cover to a mini album I’m using for a baby shower next weekend. More details to come. Supplies are the Take Note Wool Bow Paper Clips, Classic Calico Collection Volume Two Encircled Paper, and Wood Veneer Alphas.

…And I get to give some away! Leave a comment by 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 12 and I’ll pick a name to win the new Classic Calico Volume Two Collection Pack (my personal fave).

Blitz your way over to Lisa’s blog for your next chance to win! (And here’s the link back to the Studio Calico blog if you get lost along the way).

...if i told you this was progress, would you believe me?

No? Me neither.

...charlie has something he'd like to share with you

Still waiting for him to look at me and say it, but with Charlie, I know this is just the beginning...

And thanks to gamma for capturing it.

...why, yes

...We did win the mega millions. You didn't know I have a side job at McDonald's? Momma's gotta pay for all those happy meals some way. (I love the number of calls/texts/Facebook messages/carrier pigeons I got from my non-Maryland friends assuming we'd won because we live in Maryland. Along with 5.8 million other people. I have driven by the 7-Eleven where that ticket was sold and just that fact makes me a little bit bitter).

We're here. Without much of an internet connection, no phones, and no TV. And yes, Ken's in his socks with a few days of facial hair growth. I'm in slippers. Clara's like, "WTF?" And Charlie's like, "Trains, trains, trains, TRAINS, trains." And yes, that's our entry table on the front porch. And there are still a million gagillion tratrillion things to do.

...home

...no Internet, no phone, no tv. Primitive living at its best. How did people from the 1930's survive without an iPhone?

We are home.

...the graduate

...in the midst of our craziness, Clara graduated last week from the physical therapy she was receiving through Maryland's Infants and Toddlers program for low-tone and torticollis. Since she is rolling all over the place, sitting up and playing, and doing triple axels, they didn't feel she would qualify for services in our new county.

She was first in her class and wore ruffles for an exuberant speech that involved a lot of raspberries. We didn''t have the heart to tell her she was the only kid in her class. Some day.

...let the games begin

...and by games, I mean, "It's a good thing Ken took the week off work to assemble all this IKEA furniture."