Born and raised

Well, one of the most important moments of my life happened this evening. One of Nate's birthday gifts was this fantastic shirt from Collective Studio, and I had them make my little people matching ones. They all wore them tonight, and I had to get pictures because I am unashamedly cheesy these days. Lucy told everyone she saw about her new pink shirt, and Milo couldn't wait to match his Daddy. All in all, I thought it was perfect, especially since Nate reminds our little people often that Mommy was the only one in our family not born in Texas...

These cuties opted to hold hands for their picture.

Have you ever seen such a gorgeous little lady?

Heart-melting.

My handsome twin boys.

Best picture ever.

Crafted

I watched this yesterday and it resonated so deeply within myself. It's about three different sets of artisans creating, and it felt so important. I guess it's because the older I get, the more of a hippy I become and I imagine this life on a farm somewhere growing and grinding my own wheat and raising sheep to harvest the wool and spin it for knitting/crocheting. Pipe dream, I know, because I was raised in the city and wouldn't know what hit me after a week in the country. But it doesn't change the fact that I am longing for a simpler, more organic lifestyle for my family. Oh, and I love crafting. So there you go. This is twenty-five minutes of pure pleasure and I highly recommend it.

Outdoor activity

Ahhhhh. The sprinkler. When Texas days start hitting 100 degrees, it's time to break out the sprinkler (it was probably time a while ago, but that's neither here nor there). I envisioned us spending hours outside in the water, soaking up sun and staying cool.

My little people had a blast running through the sprinkler (and Lucy enjoyed sweeping the entire yard) for about 20 minutes, and then it was over as quickly as it had begun. So much for summer entertainment. And look at our poor dried grass!

Just give her an old broom and she's good to go. Look at those gorgeous legs.

Loving Milo in motion.

Here's the face Milo makes when he's running to wipe his face on my shorts.

Those legs. I can't say enough about how much I love them.

Goggles helped my shorts stay dry. And contrary to appearance, Lucy did not whack Milo with the broom.

Eyes. Legs. Perfect.

Tea Party: an addendum

Just when I thought it couldn't get any cuter... I forgot that I had these pictures on my other camera. Tea party. There's something about a daddy and his little girl that is too precious for words.

Girls with curls

It's no secret that I have the most amazing husband on the planet, who is also the world's best daddy. But sometimes things happen that make me fall in love with him all over again. Things like this.

"Kate, I need you to show me some things that I can do to Lucy's hair so I can start practicing."

"Well, Nate, her hair isn't quite long enough to really practice braiding or anything. What about her new doll Mayla?"

"Lucy, go get me Mayla. And give me that hairbrush, too."

So Nate and Lucy spent a good ten or fifteen minutes combing out Mayla's hair, starting from the bottom up. He re-pigtailed her hair. And then, just for good measure, he brushed Lucy's hair as well (he loves to brush her hair, and she loves to let him).

And then I thought about how blessed I am that I have a husband who genuinely cares about little things like an adoring daughter's wild curls and how he'll fix them over the years. (sigh) I adore him.

Look at Lucy's curls! Her hair is springier every day.

Safety goggles and hairy dolls and cookies, oh my!

Well, I finally jumped on the bandwagon. I've seen so many people displaying their box of the month, bag of the month, cheese of the month, whatever that I couldn't help myself. I signed up for a "(insert cool item) of the month" club, and I started small with a beauty bag of the month that's $10. Have you heard of ipsy? Once I get a few bags under my belt, I'll give you a full review, but if you're interested in getting beauty samples every month, here you go. Click here for the link.

Now, let me tell you about my little people. I started tutoring this adorable boy on his way into high school. He's the kind of kid a teacher dreams of getting her hands on - he literally wants to do extra work and get ahead. I was thrilled to start working with him. We're doing our sessions from 3-5. Half of that time is during naps... 

The other half involved Milo peeking around the corner, wearing a baseball cap and safety goggles, waving for a full five minutes before said student noticed... 

Lucy Jane scowling at him, eating a cookie, and then transforming into a little attention hound who tickled him in the armpits with the hair of a tiny doll while he was reading with me (and, might I add, he either didn't notice or pretended not to, and I only noticed when she came up from behind him)... 

And sweet Milo sitting at the table tracing every single letter in an entire workbook so he could be just as studious as said student. 

And that was just our first session, so I'm sure we have plenty to look forward to! Here's to being a stay-at-home mommy trying to get something done. If you've ever been one, you know how (un)successful your attempts feel.

If loving a tee pee is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Just a thought...

I was trying to get my little people interested in a tee pee at Hobby Lobby the other day, so I climbed inside and made a big scene telling them how fabulous it was.

Milo looked at me out of the corner of his eye and said, "Oh, Mommy. Daddy, Lucy, and I are all Indian. Why are you in the tee pee?"

A weekend full of fun

We've been having some super fun cousin time around here. Do you already know how much Lucy adores babies? And really, if a child is a day or so younger than Lulu, she considers said child a baby. So she's quite delighted when we get to watch or play with her cousin Mia. And Milo is the world's best big brother and has a soft spot for babies himself. Last time we watched Mia, Lucy told me, "Mommy, I sing a song about Mia. It say 'Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia Mia.'" (that's the short version...)

Lucy wanted to "help" Mia ride the fire truck.

My sweet Milo, who loves a good costume.

We also took an outing to the splash pad yesterday with Sarah and her little people and Delaney and Spencer. I have lots of photos of them playing. I do not, however, have any pictures of Lucy and Spence sitting on my lap for an extended period of time because Lucy wanted to hold Spence. He was an amazingly good sport about it, considering all the splash time he was missing out on.

Milo got new water shoes so he could run around freely without slipping (let's not even speak about the last time I took my little people and they ended up seriously scraped and bruised). He wanted nothing more than for Lily to run around with him. When he figured out that THREE cousins are better than one for running, he was even more thrilled.

Yes, the photo is blurry, but look at the pure joy on Milo's face and the pure sass on Kaylee's. :)

These two had so much fun running and playing tag.

Look how cute Sarah and her twin daughter Lily are!

Do you know how hard it is to get 5 little people who are all varying degrees of ticked about leaving the splash pad to smile at the same time?

Adorable Delaney made an adorable Spencer. I'm sure Philip had something to do with it...

Lucy and her giant curl.

Pre-splash pad smiles. I love these people.

Never a dull moment

Look at those two faces (and look at the curls on that girl). Do you imagine I get much downtime?

I was wearing some polka dot leggings the other day, and Lucy patted my leg gently and said, "Ooooh, Mommy. I like your busy pants."

Then the three of us were in Milo's room, and I squished a spider with a shoe. As I ran out to get a tissue, I told them, "Do NOT touch that." I didn't have to say it to Milo. He was across the room with his nose scrunched up. But as soon as I walked back in the door I saw Lucy, squatted down in front of the dead spider and poking it gingerly with her index finger. When Milo noticed he told her, "Ewwwwww, Lucy! Now you're going to have to be unclean until evening!" (a recent Torah lesson)

There's never a dull moment around here, people. Never never never.

Woman in Gold

Have you seen this movie? Wow. Wow wow wow. Nate and I watched it last night and I was pretty much floored. It combined multiple things I enjoy - art, World War II history, and true stories.

I remember being so horrified by the Holocaust when I studied it in high school. I couldn't get enough information because I was stunned that something so evil could have transpired, and even more stunned by the people who allowed it to happen. I'm German. Overwhelmingly German, in fact, and I have no idea whether my family fled, participated, or resisted. I'd like to think that my ancestors passionately helped people escape, but there's no telling, and I digress...

Imagine what would happen if a Jewish woman tried to recover the possessions stolen from her family by the Nazis, including great works of art now seen as symbols of the Austrian people. There you go. Please watch this. It's amazing.

Life with Milo

I'm normally a fairly delicate person when it comes to confronting people. I usually opt for politeness over directness, and I think it's one of my major shortcomings.

Life with Milo is teaching me otherwise.

"Milo, (insert random information)."

"I don't know, Mommy. I don't think that's true."

"Yes, it is, Milo. Mommy knows."

"No, I think it's different."

"Milo, Mommy is a lot smarter than you. I went to school for a long time, I have multiple degrees (do you even know what those are?), and as long as you live, I will probably be smarter than you, so why don't you just listen to what I'm saying?"

That's great, isn't it? It's excellent when you have to resort to reminding your four-year old how smart you are, especially when you're about to start homeschooling him.

Or how about this one?

"Mommy, Lily calls you Titi. And so do Conner and Chloe. I'm going to start calling you Titi."

"No, Milo, you're going to call me Mommy, because that's what I am to you."

"Nooooo, I want to call you Titi. I like Titi."

"Milo, you are going to call me Mommy. And you are going to do that because I carried you around in my tummy for close to a year, and then I squeezed you out and gave birth to you and nursed you for another year (don't even ask me what that is right now), and because I did those things, I earned the right to be called Mommy. So that is what you will call me."

The terrified look on his face was worth it all as he replied, "Okay, Mommy."

Milo's first swim lesson

Guess who had his very first swim lesson today?

These goggles were a bribe and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

So little, just checking things out.

LOVED kicking with the kickboard.

Milo has been really apprehensive about trying things out in the water, and I was wondering if it was because I was the one trying to teach him. He did fantastically well with his new teacher Marisa, and I did a fantastic job of staying in the bleachers when he cried (oh yes, there were tears - but only once). I think I'll be able to get him back in the pool on Thursday for his next lesson... Although the new swim goggles I bought him were my only bribe, and I used it up today. But here's to learning new things, and here's a peek into why Milo cried...

Enjoying the 4th

Happy 4th of July. On the 6th of July. From my three very favorite people in the whole world.