the cousin sleepover

(pre)School's out for summer

Preschool ended last week with Graduation, and since I believe we discussed last time how I feel about calling the end of preschool "graduation," we'll move ahead to where I talk about what a great job William did.


After a bumpy arrival William marched up with his class and sat on his seat and performed the entire program beautifully.


He sang the songs, and did the actions.


"If all the raindrops were lemondrops and gumdrops:"






































(such a William face, here:)







































William's teachers loved him. (We were late one morning and I told Miss Heather it was because he pitched a tantrum. She was incredulous. "I can't imagine him having a temper at all," said she, "he is so sweet and polite all the time!" )



Truthfully, William is so sweet and so polite. This year he has been brave and smart and kind. I am proud of everything he is doing (except for getting long and turning into a kid, that kind of breaks my heart).








































Good work, bubbs.



I couldn't possibly love you more.

a thought from the top of my stairs

Babies are always more trouble than you thought--and more wonderful.
-Charles Osgood

I Can't Believe No One Has Contacted Me to Write "Der Strewwelpeter II: Electric Boogaloo"

William: MOOO-OOOOM!
me: No.
William: MOOO-OOOOM!
me: No.
William: MOOO-OOOM! MOM! MOM!
me: No.
William: MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM! MOOOOOOO-OM!
me: No.
William: MAMA! LISTEN. MAMA!
me: I am listening. I can hear you.
William: THEN LET ME!
me: No.
William: YOU ARE SO MEAN, MOM! YOU NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING, EVER, MEAN!
me: William, let me tell you something.
William: YOU LOVE ME, I ALREADY KNOWED THAT.
me: Actually, I'm going to tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a little boy named William, and William was a good little boy but sometimes he would whine all day, ALL DAY LONG. And his mother got tired of listening to him whine, and the fairies loved his mother so one day a fairy came to William and said, "William, you must stop whining! and I will give you a magical wand." But William wouldn't stop whining, so the fairy took her magical wand and cut out his tongue.
William: ...
me: and hung it on the wall.
William: ...
me: the end.
William: ...
me: also, I love you.

beautiful Julia

So my friend walked in the door with this adorable thing, and I was like "WHAT THE WHAT, SHE HAS RED HAIR!"

And my friend was like, "ya."

And I was all, "SHE HAS AN IRANIAN DAD AND A BLONDE SCANDINAVIAN MOM, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I WANTED A RED HEAD? DO YOU? THE WORLD IS STUPID."

And she was all, "..."

And I was like, "I TRIED FOUR TIMES."

And she was all, "I know, right? simmer down."

things I learned (am learning) from my mother

Have patience
be selfless
magazines are a waste of time and money
you should always assume the best of people.
Put your napkin on your lap before eating
be polite
and smile a lot
apologize when you're wrong.
Be kind.
Money spent on shoes is money spent well.
Your memory gets rosy as you age
and if you want something done right, do it
don't whine
or mope,
or procrastinate ( "if you had just done this two weeks ago, you wouldn't have this problem...")
Go ahead and laugh at your kids when they're angry
or when they cry
(but only if it's over stupid things, be sensitive sometimes, too.)
Show compassion
and take lots of embarrassing pictures of your kids.
Be practical
don't fight
forgive.
Take care of yourself
take care of your husband.
Telling people what to do drives them crazy, but sometimes, for your own sanity, you must tell them what to do anyway.
I can accomplish anything
and you love me more than I could appreciate before I had kids.





thanks, Mama.

lost in the grass

time to get the lawn under control, I suppose.

what you see

Charles hardly ever smiles.
Charles mostly looks concrned.
Or just resigned.

speaking of batman

(which we were, if you recall)

BATMOBILE TIME.

Christofer bought himself a birthday present