friday's musings...

these are the things that i am loving about this week...

1. finley's spin jump on the trampoline.
2. finley coming to me several million times a day asking, "bounce?".
3. watching leave it to beaver with the kids at night before bed (thanks alli for the heads up that this program is on netflix!).
4. calvary laughing with the laugh track without always knowing why he's laughing.
5. figuring out why calvary reacts the way he does to some things.
6. oliver jack's refusal to wear underwear.
7. the way harper always bends to help people enjoy life.  she enjoys making other people happy and she is so, so good at meeting people where they are and including their interests in play...even if it isn't her interest.
8. harper reading the chronicles of narnia series.
9. my little milk bottles.
10. my beautiful paper straws.
11. having coffee with a friend.
12. harper and kyle's road trip to GA.
13. the man i married.
14. naptime.
15. finally starting to work out...even though it was only 2 days this week.
16. the brick pathway to the woods and garden (even though it isn't really a garden yet).
17. i am not 30 yet.
18. harper's ability to understand and question the way the world works...mostly concerning money...but she is asking about and understanding things that i didn't understand until after she was born.
19. pinterest and all of its inspirational glory.
20. seeing through FB that my former students are graduating college...some are married...some have babies...it is beautiful for me to see all they have accomplished.
21. my cousin having her first baby, jameson.  pure joy!

She wants a turn...

Well spoken child...

As I finished lunch today I said, "I enjoyed my soup."
Oliver Jack responded, "I enjoyed my soup as well."

I pretended like it was to be expected from all 3 year olds because most of what I find delightful he finds a way to avoid :)

dress up to the next degree...

(UPDATE: lori's website has better visibility of the pictures :) little red riding hood )

this post is entirely overdue but i wanted to wait until after christmas and then i just got a little carried away with life.  all of this started well before halloween this year.  harper wanted to be little red riding hood so i started looking all over the internet for possibilities for her costume.  most of what i found was sexy little red robin hood costumes...not exactly what i had in mind...maybe next year.  finally, i found a cute pattern for a trench coat on etsy.  i bought the pattern and then went and bought the fabric. once i made the coat i decided that it would be a shame to wear the coat with just one of her regular dresses underneath so i decided to make her a dress to wear.  the dress was 100% improvised because i didn't want to buy anymore patterns.  i used one of kyle's shirts and added the skirt.  when i tried it on her it was incredibly boxy so i added the waistband and elastic.  i found a drawing online that i loved and so i printed it out and used it as an embroidery pattern onto brown felt.  i changed out the buttons on the shirt with some vintage flowery buttons.  i loved the whole look, but after i was done i felt like i had put too much work into the costume for it to be used for one night and then cast off...thus the evolution of a book.

1. i decided that i would make all the kids the different characters.  calvary would be a perfect wolf. oliver jack was born to play the role of the lumber jack. and finley would make the most wonderfully ironic grandmother ever. 

2. i didn't like any of costumes for wolves because most were too scary.  so i decided to make one.  i wanted it to be more max-like from "where the wild things are" so i bought a gray sweatshirt and sweat pants.  i bought gray fur and made a hood with ears and a tail.  then i made simple mitten things with white felt claws and shoe coverings.  it was exactly what i wanted. 

3. oliver jack were much more simple.  i just used things we had around the house with the exception of finley's glasses and white hair spray.  oliver jack's beard was made out of the face paint we used for calvary.  and i picked up his axe at the party supply store for super cheap. 

5. once i finished all of this i decided that it would be so fun to make a story book with all of them in their costumes. 

6. i decided that i would be even more awesome if my friend lori, at unfolding photography, took the pictures.  she is amazing and i knew that she would be able to role with this concept with ease...all the while not making me feel like i am crazy for going through all of this work to make it happen :)

7.  lori came over one saturday morning and i created the setting in our backyard incomplete tree house using a crib mattress, curtains, harper's night stand, vintage style books that jacob has bought for harper, and pictures from our family.  it took lori 45 min to get all of the pictures. 

8.  i wrote out the book and waited for the pictures.  at this point i decided that this would be a great present for grandparents for christmas. 

9.  once lori gave me the pictures, which were so unbelievably perfect that i just looked through them for hours, i put the book together.  i was surprised that she was able to get any usable ones of oliver jack because he was not cooperative AT ALL.  just another testament to her skill.  she caught enough frames of the 20 seconds here and there to make it look like he enjoyed the process :)

10.  the book arrived in the mail and i LOVE it.  it is such a treasure for me as their mom to have this book.  i am excited about one day when i have grandchildren sharing this book with them and pointing out each of my children to them and laughing at how silly they are.  i am tentatively thinking about another book...this could potentially be a fun way for me to preserve our family's history. 

here are a few excerpts from the book...these are just pictures of pictures and don't really do the photography the justice it deserves, but just know that it is better than i imagined...and i imagine big :)

she missed her...

Thanks for keeping me humble (a conversation with Oliver jack)...

O: STOP
M: (dancing) why?!?
O: cause your just mommy!
M: why can't I be an awesome dancer and a mommy?
O: cause you're not awesome.

but joy comes in the morning...

we have had a rough week so far...not really any more so than usual but i guess i am just a little weary.  weary for not having ways to promise teachers that things will be better.  weary for not being able to control my child's behavior in front of family and friends. weary for not being able to help.  i guess we have had more opportunities for not success.  april and may are jam packed with activities and non-routine celebrations which are not always (ever) calvary's strong suit.  after a particularly trying dinner and visit with family i was feeling defeated.  on top of calvary's behavior we are also in between doctors.  we aren't quite "in" with anyone.  so now not only do i feel defeated but i also feel like i have no where to turn for tangible assistance other than the internet...not always super helpful. 
yet this morning on our super short drive to school that song "blessings" came on the radio.  i wasn't really paying attention until calvary started singing along.  i heard his little voice sing, "what if your blessings come through raindrops, what if your healing comes through tears, what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near. what if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise."
i can't even express what it meant to me.  i've heard this song many, many times...but never from the lips of my son.  he knew every word and he sang happily and sweetly. 
remembering that God has not left his throne restored my hope and encouraged my heart.  it breaks my heart when i realize how hard some days are for him but this morning he was singing...so thankful for the joy that comes in the morning :)

what we do when everyone 5 & up is out of the house...

our days in my favorite pictures from my phone: