Hair Drama Trauma

We hit the wall today.

The hair wall.

The preteen hair wall.

And there were tears.

I kinda saw it coming.

She doesn't want cutie box braids anymore.

And she's right.

She is too old.

But she doesn't want corn rows either.

For years I have just done whatever I wanted with her hair.

Lots of braids.

Lots and lots of braids.

Did you catch that?

What I wanted?
What we have to work with is copious, beautiful hair.

Lovely, gorgeous, fluffy locks.

I suppose it's back to the drawing board.

And youtube.

Help?

Yesterday was a day for sisters.

And siblings.
Getting a decent picture of this crew is
close to needing a divine intervention.Best I got.

Slide action.

The nice thing about twins is that there is enough to go around.

This Is Love

We had a church picnic on Sunday.

There was face painting.

Balloon animals.
And food.

And then there were old fashioned games like

the three legged race.

Trey and I got in line to be a pair.

I figured if it came down to it, I could just pick him up and run.

About 2 seconds before the "GO", I felt a tug on my pants.

There stands Micah, with forlorn eyes, holding a tie.

I scanned the crowd for a likely partner.

Husband, sisters, brothers, anyone?

We are under 5 seconds now.

Nobody available, nada.

So I did what any self-respecting mother would do...
I simply tied him to the other leg.

We invented the four legged race.

I am here to tell you it can be done.

And we weren't dead last.

Almost.

But not quite.

This is pure love.

That Magical Moment In TIme

Today, Kloey and I had a date.

We got to spend the whole morning together.

Shopping.

Nothing glamorous, just food and supplies.

Just the two of us.

And it was fun.

After getting up earlier than usual, much earlier, we were out to the door and on our way to drop Jerrod off to take his SAT's. The closest high school proctoring the exam was an hour away. Since there was no way I was going to drive all the way home, I invited Kloey to spend the morning with me.

Here is the thing: I only brought her today to take her out of the mix left at home. She is the wildcard. I wish it wasn't that way, but it often is. Kloey did a lot of living before she came to be part of our family at 5 and 1/2. More than any kid should ever have to experience. We cannot underestimate the trauma in a childhood like hers, but we must learn to cope with it.

Our first stop was a 1950's diner. You should have seen her eyes when the waitress brought her French toast. She said, "Mom, I have never seen so much whipped cream in one place."
Kloey has been in a very good place lately. On the way to her doctor's appointment last week, I told her how much I appreciated her attitude and how much nicer it was to be around her.

We have had lots of giant steps forward and lots of baby steps back. We hang on to progress wherever we can find it, a nice reply, good table manners, a sincere apology.

Halfway through breakfast, I had a very humbling moment. I realized that I was grateful that we were having this special time together. I am always happy to have one on one time with my kids but today seemed different somehow. We had delightful engaging conversation. We talked about an article in the newspaper, the food, the grocery list, the decorations in the diner.

Kloey has definite ups and downs certain times of the year. But lately she seems to be in a better place. She thanks God for her family at night in her prayers. She seems to want to belong in a new way.

Here's another thing: Kloey and Cora came 5 and 1/2 years ago. Kloey has been with us as long as she wasn't. There seems to be an unwritten rule about that magic moment in time when they have spent more of their life with you than without. I've seen it before and it makes every tantrum, every spoiled outing/holiday, every broken thing worth it to get where we are today.

What a journey.

I LOVE this girl.

Day In The Life

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A day in the life of our family.

Field Day with our home school friends.
The kids had all kinds of fun with races, tug-o-war,
and capture the flag with parents.

Afternoon naps followed.

When we (I) awoke, we headed over to the pool
for the final swim lesson.
Jerrod is taking the picture and
Bob came from work to watch.

As promised, on the last day of swimming
we went out for ice cream.
We take up the whole eating area. Isn't that a riot?

Strawberry cone.

Vanilla cone. Lick, Micah, lick.

Cake Batter. Uck!

No way, Mom. Cake batter too.

Coffee with chocolate sprinkles.

Copycat. Coffee with choco sprinkles.

Lemon chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles.

Lemon chocolate chip with chocolate sprinkles.

"Cora, why do you have two ice cream cones?", I asked.
I thought someone had given her their cone to eat.
"Oh yeah, you are holding mine while I take pictures."

This man would NEVER pass up an ice cream cone.
Flavor: Reece's Pieces.

I think these two look a lot alike.

A work of art. The cone.

After we came home, Erika came running in and said she had made some art in the driveway with a water bottle that I HAD to go see. I am glad I did.

What made this day most special is that we were all together for the first time in quite a while. Lindsey returned from Ireland and Jerrod was around, those big kids have busy lives.

We had fun.

Together.

We Have An Announcement

Erik has babies!
Nature is an amazing thing.
A little how do you do and 30 days later...
you get small, hairless, pink and black, squirmy things.

Proud first time Mama!
She is doing a good job so far.
She has pulled out her hair and covered them.
We were relieved that she had them in the nest box.

Six newborns that we can see.

More mouths to feed...

Current Rabbit Count = 11

Back To The Land

Back to the land we go.

Decades ago we had a mini-farm with a large garden and lots of critters.
I fell in love all over again with my city boy husband who worked the land for me.

Somewhere along the line we decided to put our efforts into growing children.

Lots of them.
As summer dawns, the land is calling again.

There are no babies to tend.

The smell of the soft sweet earth beckons the pioneer woman within.

I must heed the call.

Our token garden in the land of pine trees, ants, and sandy soil.
Two towns over and a few miles as the crow flies is a farm with room to share.
I fear my eyes are bigger than my stomach.
The landowner happily tilling up more soil for the 4 families participating in our community garden.
We women were on our hands and knees.
She showed us how to make the perfect moat around each plant.
Taking a break from hoeing hills; close to 50. He willingly breaks out in blisters for me.

Where are all the children you say?
All 15 of them? No kidding.
We decided they were on weed duty for ever after.
Or they don't eat.
Period.

Every planting needs a celebratory cookout.

I have about 100 black fly bites but...

I'm happy to have dirt under my fingernails again.