Today is an all-day Scrapathon on one of the lists I belong to, so hopefully I'll have lots of LO's to share.
I was going for art deco, but ended up Southwestern instead. Go figure!
I share my artwork here all the time, so I thought I'd share some of Kayla's.
This is a sheep standing next to a horse.
A chicken.
Kayla and her "three big friends", holding umbrellas in the rain. Kayla is the figure to the left, and she has 2 umbrellas. The
three friends apparently have to share an umbrella. The M is actually "the water", and the rock-looking thing between Kayla and
her friends is a blanket.
I especially like how everybody (even the chicken) has a huge grin on their faces. She's a happy little girl.
For my children. Maybe this explains why they were all "late"?
In all of creation
All things great or small
You are the one that surpasses them all
More precious than
Any diamond or pearl
They broke the mold
When you came in this world
And I'm trying hard to figure out
Just how I ever did without
The warmth of your smile
The heart of a child
That's deep inside
Leaves me purified
I had to look at the calendar today, to make sure it wasn't April 1st and the world wasn't pulling some gigantic hoax on me.
First surprise was that Katie Holmes (girlfriend of Tom Cruise) had her baby on the SAME DAY as Brooke Shields. You probably remember when Tom Cruise made an ass of himself for criticizing Brooke for taking antidepressants, right? How "fucked up karma" is it that they had their babies on the same day?
And then, Mike informed me that the United Nations Commission on Disarmament on Tuesday elected Iran as deputy for Asian nations. You have GOT to be joking. They write entire books of cliches about this kind of thing, the foremost of which in my mind refers to a fox and a hen's den. Can we just pull out of the UN already and let the damn thing die a slow, lingering death? I mean, they vote the US OFF of the Human Rights Commission, and vote Libya on.
Think about that for just a minute.
I say fuck 'em. I mean, really, what has the UN ever done for us?
Tonight I gave the older three kids a round of baths. This is always a fairly major undertaking - three squirming, hollering, shampoo-phobes; all that hunching over the bathtub; teeth-brushing. It's enough to wear a person out, not to mention leave you dripping wet, yourself.
I got Kayla and Thomas through their bath (they shared the tub), then got Adam into fresh water. I washed his hair, then told him he could have some playtime and I'd be back to check on him. Five or ten minutes later, just as I was about to check on him, he came out the door, announcing he'd dried off "all by myself." Before I could tell him to, he headed for his room to pick out some clothes and get dressed.
Yesterday, I sent him to the deep freeze to get a loaf of bread, and he obliged. He even got his bedroom door closed again (the door to the garage, where the deep freeze is, lies in his room), though I found out later he'd forgotten to close the lid on the deep freeze.
He brushes his own teeth. Rarely has potty accidents. Gets his own desserts out of the cabinets. Fetches water bottles and paper bags.
These are all small things, I know. But these small things make a huge difference. Not only do they make life in general SO much easier, they are reminders that my little bird will one day be capable and independent enough to fly my nest. Someday, he won't need me. That's good.
And sad.
I'm proud. And awestruck. How is it that in only five and a half years, a person can go from being so clinging and needy to drying, dressing, and feeding himself? Every little step he takes - every new thing he does on his own - leaves me surprised, and a little misty. How DID he learn to open the refrigerator door? When did that happen?
One day, when he's a little older, he'll come back and read all these old entries, wondering what I said about him. So here it is, Adam: I'm proud of you. You're the best parts of me, and the best parts of your daddy, all rolled into one amazing, special little boy. I'm so grateful to be your Mama, and I know I'm blessed to be able to stay home with you, and not miss any of these little steps. They're not the ones you find in the books - first word, first haircut, first tooth - but they're no less significant. I love you.
"I think my name is Kayla because I'm cute." - Kayla
No, love, your name is Kayla because you're vain. ;)
This face is gonna break hearts. Mamas, lock up your sons.
"Mommy, there's some drips of water coming out of your eye." - Kayla
Aside from my family (of course!), here's what I'm loving lately:
I took Adam to the Palouse Discovery Science Center today since his soccer practice got rained out (again!), and at one point we wandered over to their dinosaur toy area - Adam calls it "Dinosaur City." I laid Lindsey on the carpet mat to watch him while he played (I was right next to them), and she just cooed and gurgled and talked and ate it up. A few minutes later, two little boys - about 3 or 4 years old - joined Adam and played with him, all noisy and rowdy, the way boys play. Well, that little girl was in Hog Heaven! She was as bright-eyed and alert and happy as I've ever seen her. She almost twisted herself in pretzels trying to follow them around the room with her eyes. At one point, I picked her up to get her out of the way of the predator-ing, and she had a little hissy fit. She did NOT want to be away from those boys! So I laid her back down nearer to them, and she was once again happy.
That's it. It's official. My Babygirl is boy-crazy.
Oh, well. As my Dad would say, "She comes by it honest."