the pot, the kettle, & their new daisy scout

i'd been on the look out for a fun activity for miss mia to get involved in when i heard a radio interview with a 16 year old gold star (eagle equivalent) girl scout. she had done research and reports on a dangerous intersection in her city. she had presented all of her data and a proposed solution to the city council. unfortunately, the city counsel didn't heed her warnings, and a fatal car accident in the intersection she'd worked to fix followed a few month later.

i was blown away by this young girl. her empathy was off the charts. she could have passed for an expert in the field of transportation safety with the way she articulated the facts. the reporter complimented her on her maturity and intelligence. she gave credit to girl scouts. while other kids her age weren't even aware of a world outside themselves, she was working hard to make her community a safer place. that, is the kind of teenager i dream of having. lets hope that my mother's 'you are going to have one just like you' curse lifts before mia hits the double digits.

that interview sent me to the computer in search of a girl scout troop for miss mia. i was linked to the local council's website where the following jumped out at me: "girl scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place." that quote sums up what i want for my daughters. as it turns out, we don't have a local daisy troop (K-1st). the local brownie (2nd-3rd) leader asked me to lead a new daisy troop. this is what it sounded like when i excitedly relayed this to brian-

kettle: i'm going to start a girl scout troop and mia's going to be a rad teenager!
pot: you're biting off more than you can chew.
kettle: what-ev.

as usual, the pot was right. just getting the troop established has required way more effort than i'd anticipated, but i have no doubt that the reward will be worth all the effort.

a swimming victory

katrice and her buddy wade

after katrice's pace maker was put in, her cardiologist told us that she could require oxygen indefinitely. that news brought my sister in law to tears. the thought of katrice never being able to swim was more than liz could bear. these experiences made katrice's latest special olympics victory even sweeter. her bus driver, favorite cousin, favorite sister, and mom turned out to watch her win the bronze. as usual, tiff provided me with awesome pictures that made not being there to cheer her on in person suck a little less.

goooooo tweece!

katy, katrice, favorite cousin (see- she can't take her eyes off him), mom

katrice & her favorite sister

sometimes happiness comes in plastic

levi: where are we going?
me: to see dr. liu, so he can fix the ouchies in your ear.
levi: can dr. liu fix my big wheel?

while i believe our pediatrician can heal almost anything that ails my kiddos, i'm afraid the broken big wheel is a hopeless case.

the day after the aforementioned conversation, i found change in all of levi's shorts pockets. when i asked him what was up, he replied with great inflection 'for my new big wheel!'. we've all been busy scrounging change and scouring stores. there seems to be some sort of cross country big wheel shortage. i feel like the tickle me elmo crazy mom.

team lucky visit the lake

there are disadvantages to stay at home motherhood, dawning a swimsuit and sunscreen while your husband is suiting up for work is not one them! we (chelsea & marisa) are lucky enough to have time for impromptu trips to the lake. lucky enough to lazy in the cool water while absorbing the hot sun. lucky enough to snap countless pictures of beaming faces without having to request a single smile. we knew how lucky we were that day at the lake. as we shooed the laughing children away from our raspberries, we reveled in it!

blogger won't let me resize chelsea's pretty pictures. they look a thousand times better on her blog! santa, can i get a fancy blog for christmas?
did you see my new haircut? short hair makes me so very happy. boring blog, but happy hair!

to toil

before

during

toil (noun)
1. hard and continuous work; exhausting labor or effort.
2. how brian spends his spare time.

please direct your attention away from the patchy/weedy lawn and toward the beautiful fence/rv gate that brian just finished. we still have a lot of planting to do in the front, but it will have to wait until spring. the winds are a commin! i noticed that this space has been unusually void of cute little kid pictures. i'll have to do something about that soon.

not now though. must................................read.............................beowulf.

front porch before & after

a front porch was on my 'wish list' when we started looking at houses. a swing has been on my wish list for as long as i could remember. i told brian about my desire to swing. he responded with an uncharacteristic amount of complaints. apparently, hanging a porch swing is more complicated than the couple of concrete anchors i'd envisioned. it takes reinforcements, mathematics, two able bodied men, and a few hours spent in the oven-like crawl space of the attic. the swing has, arguably, been the most valuable upgrade we've done to the house. we're all spending so much more time outside. the front porch is the official home of after school otter pops, bike ride supervising, and sleepy time stories.

the pillow was handmade with materials i had around the house: an old set of canvas drapes, leftover paint from the front door, and some needle and thread. i really need to get over my fear of the sewing machine- it took longer than i care to admit.

big thanks to the able bodied men in my life!

sunshine sleep

my intact keyboard posing with a crafty mess

the other night i quickly published my cute crocs/awesome sister post and then began writing about a super fun playdate and the benefits of stay at home motherhood. the sound of my girls attacking one another from the other room interrupted my happy flow. they were both wielding weapons and cursing one another through clenched teeth. i escorted their screaming bodies to bed and tucked them in for the night.

i returned to my computer to find levi prying keys from my keyboard with a tea set knife. and that is how all of my children ended up asleep before the summer sun had a chance to set in the smoky california sky.

just because i love you.

 

sometimes i think my sister lays awake at night thinking of new ways to make me cry. the package came first, containing nothing but these addorable silver crocs. the e-mail came next, containing a picture of the note she forgot to put in the package. two different surprises, followed by two different episodes of gratitude tears.