Gee Baby, Ain't I Been Good To You...

Hanging out today in our outdoor "living room",
waiting for dinner to finish cooking.



I've been counting my blessings lately. Realizing what a whiner I am at times, most of the time, I have to admit. My car is still running, there's money in the bank account, the septic field move is in the works officially with contracts signed and checks sent out, we're all healthy, food in the fridge, Mom came over to play with the kids while I caught up on vacuuming and housework, Todd helps with the kids,the housework, changes lightbulbs and maintains the computers and my sanity. He is more patient than I will ever be and the sun was shining again even though the weather report said rain. I could go on and on with this positive streak in my attitude. I finally feel as though I'm making some real friends with the moms at Finley's pre-school. I am recognizing that I am basically a shy, private person who often thinks the worst and judges people before they can judge me. Not very condusive to making new friends, eh? Making new friends has not been so easy for me but I am making a conscious effort to create space in my life for doing the work of building relationships. And it is work for me. Work that I know is worth it though.

Finley has been singing so much lately. I love it. My car may be running but the radio doesn't work right now so we have to make our own music. Not such a bad thing. We sing everything: theme songs from Nick. Jr, our own rap tunes and scat solos, Sound of Music, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, jazz standards, kids songs from pre-school and of course, campfire songs.



Evelyn is becoming increasingly mobile and able to get herself into all sorts of trouble. Today, Finley had the door open and ran outside. Before I could get there, Evelyn had crawled out the door across the porch and was half falling, half crawling her way off the porch and onto the grass. I explained to Finley that he has to let me know when he is going outside and that we have to be careful that Evelyn doesn't follow him or fall off the front porch. So, 15 minutes later, he opens the back sliding glass door, picks up Evelyn and takes her with him, setting her gently on the lawn out back while he climbed into the hammock. When I came out to see what was going on and where they were, he explained that "I was careful with Evelyn. She wanted to be outside too." Yikes! I swear I do actually watch my children. They are just getting too fast and able.







One of Evelyn (and Finley's!) favorite toys. We got this from our neighbors who were moving last fall. It keeps both of them entertained with all sorts of musical sounds and instruments. Yes, sometimes those modern, plastic, battery wasting toys are indispensable as is a large, empty cardboard box!


Evelyn at Finley's pre-school. I signed her up for the one-year-old's class for next fall. Unbelievable that she is already 8 months old!