S is for Snail

My friend, Nicole, has a blog where she had an entry called 'L' is for Ladybug and super cute pictures of her kids holding ladybugs at the beach. You might think I could have the same sweetness with my little ones. Well, Jamis loves lady bugs, but thinks snails are REALLY cool. I gave him a plastic bag the other morning and told him to get as many as he could, and he was in heaven adding to his collection out in the sunshine. Meanwhile, I was busy around the house and after a little while came around a corner and imagine both, the shock and awe, of what I saw (please note picture!). Jamis decided to free the snails. What a darling! So, my kid doesn't have a handful of cute lady bugs, but slimy snails. What's that saying? Slugs, snails and puppy dog tails, that's what boys are made of!!

Air Races

A weekend or two ago we went to the Air Races down on the bay, at Seaport Village. We had a great time just spending time together and watching these planes fly & turn so fast, doing quick maneuvers through giant pylons out on the bay. Jamis could not get enough! He was absolutely enthralled by them and the experience only further cemented his love of airplanes. You can see in the picture with Troy above just how upset he was at having been pulled away from the view of the races to take a picture by the duck pond! Andie just liked watching the ducks in the pond there and riding on the carousel. Paige liked being pushed around in the stroller and tried not to get burned (not easy with the skin that comes from Dad!). We thoroughly wore everyone out on our family outing and they crashed when we got in the car. What a good day!

Sit. Stay. Good Paige!

Paige is now sitting all by herself! On Mother's Day I went in to her room to get her after her nap and there she was, sitting up by herself! Now, the second command: stay? Yeah, right! She's already doing the army crawl across the floor and it will be no time at all before she is crawling all over the place. I can't believe it! Believe me, I am so happy to see my children growing and reaching wonderful milestones and phases in their lives--it's so exciting and brings so much joy to be here to witness these beautiful moments. But, on the other hand, it's hard to move on and know they will never be that small again and I just try to take in their small hands, chubby cheeks, smooth skin, and their head on my shoulder and burn these images into my memory forever. Author, Anna Quindlin, said it better than me: "The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one most of us make...I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less." (Loud and Clear [2004], 10-11). These are my babies, and I guess no matter how old they get, they always will be. What a wonderful thing to be a mother. I am so blessed.

What Will Become of Princess Andie?

As we all know, Andie is totally into princesses right now...well she always has been!! I thought we were on the right track with all this princess stuff when Andie trained Jamis to say to me 'thanks, your highness' when appropriate. I wasn't sure if I had heard that correctly the first few times he said it, but after consulting with Andie, she assured me indeed, that is what he said. However, as I have been trying to teach her to be a helping member of the household by picking up and being responsible for her things, Andie seems to think her position of princess has been comprimised. No longer is she the lovely, pampered princess. Andie has determined her role in the house to be not unlike Cinderella's. Last night, after deep thought and a big sigh, Andie informed Mykan of her social ranking in the house: "I'm ALWAYS the servant in my mom's house." It was obvious she feels this is a big injustice and can only hope the queen will free her from servitude. After all, dreams do come true....

Here We Go!

I admit, I am not the most tech-savvy girl out there, but if I can figure out how to set up and keep a blog going, I will consider myself an accomplished woman!! And as a very good friend of mine said on her blog, 'I can't decide if blogging is a good way to keep in touch or just another way to waste my time on the web. But either way, here we go.' But, she did have a wonderful quote on a why an attempt at one might not be so crazy:

President Gordon B. Hinckley: 'You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of these meaningful, significant things. Some of them may be funny. Some may be of significance only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience.'

I have found that President Hinckley's words ring true in my own life. I've always enjoyed reading back on journals kept from High School and College. So, maybe I'll find this way of recording thoughts and memories just as fulfilling. We shall see! At least I get to show off the kids every once and a while. And so, here we go!