Wordless Wednesday..."The Many Faces of Joshua"

Smile and Say Cheese!

We went to The Children's Museum last week.
A long-promised, long-anticipated trip to the museum.
We spent the whole day there...the whole day.

Instead of buying expensive museum food (which we usually do, because I'm lazy when it comes to packing lunches), we decided to pack our own morning snacks and lunches (that's where yesterday's upside-down peanut butter and jelly sandwich ended up too).

Following is what transpired during morning snack time...

I packed banana "puffs" for Matthew and a cheese stick for Joshua.
Somehow, they ended up trading their snacks.

Here's Matthew giving his newly acquired cheese stick a not-so-sure sideways glance.



And here is Joshua checking out the situation to see if his cheese stick has been kindly accepted, while Matthew is trying to decide whether or not to take a bite.



And still trying to decide...



Going for it...going for it...



"Hey Josh, are there any puffs left?"



Here's the funny thing.
As much as he seemed to not like the cheese stick, he couldn't help himself from trying it over and over again...each time making the same "yucky" face.

Another funny thing...
Check out his little pinky finger. It's as if he really doesn't want to even be holding the cheese stick at all.

"I think Mikey will eat it. He eats everything!"
Did I just date myself?

What's a Girl to Do?!

There was a little game that my dad and I used to play.

Before Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder had a name, I suffered from it.
For example, if I turned around in one direction, I would have to turn the other way before being able to continue what I was doing.

Today, I have to cut the fringe off my rugs, because I cannot stand for the fringe to be all messy looking.

Your fringe? That's O.K. Your fringe doesn't bother me. It's my fringe--the fringe that I have to live with--that bothers me.

My OCD? It's not what I would call extreme.
It's really just...a bother.

I have passed some of the tendencies on to my kids, genetically speaking.
Or maybe I should say, I have passed the tendencies on to some of my kids.
Notice the change-in-placement of the word "some."

That's right.
I have a son who does not seem to be bothered by, say, which way the bread on his sandwich is placed.

As I was saying, there was a little game that my dad and I used to play.
And now, I see, I am playing the same game with my son...in reverse fashion.

Picture this.
A mom (me) makes a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich for her beloved son (Joshua) to take on a trip to the museum.

Suddenly, Joshua begins "messing" with his sandwich.



"What are you doing, Joshua?"
Response?
A smile. Just a smile.



Joshua peels the top bread from the sticky insides of his sandwich, all the while, smiling.



Then, just as quick as you please, he flips the top bread. This causes the top of the bottom bread to be lined up with the bottom of the top bread!
Are you picturing this?!
This sandwich is all backward!

And the crazy thing is, he did it on purpose.
And he is totally enjoying his sandwich this way!

As for me?
It absolutely drives me crazy!



Many moons ago, my dad would do the very same thing.
He would sit there, right in front of me as he was making his sandwich, and with a flourish all his own, he would slap that top bread on upside down.
And smile.

Try as I might to switch it around...sometimes even on the sly...he would catch me and put it back the way he made it.

It became a little game for us.
One that I secretly enjoyed.
And one that I had nearly forgotten until last Thursday morning.



Teasing=Love in our house when I was a little girl.
And apparently, it still does.

Making Some New Memories

May 2, 1993.
That's the day Mom died unexpectedly at the age of 50.
I was 24 and had wedding plans on my mind.
Mom did too.
On June 26, Paul and I were to be married.
Mom and I were in the midst of wedding plan bliss.

May 2, 1993.
My life changed.
May 2 is an icky day. The best part of May 2 for me is when I go to bed. That means that another May 2 is over.

Several weeks ago, I received a post card in the mail from our local greenhouse. May 2, 2009...a container gardening workshop from 9:00 until 11:00.

Wow.
What a great way to spend a May 2 morning. Those morning hours on May 2, 1993 were probably the most difficult hours of my life.
Doing something that Mom absolutely loved sounded like a way to celebrate her life rather than do what I do every year...which is to mourn and brood.
Mom loved to garden. She had a very, very green thumb.
Sadly enough, I did not inherit that green thumb.

This morning, I had so much fun!
I was able to be creative and stick my hands in the dirt and play.
I was able to spend some precious time with two of my most favorite girlfriends...Carrie and Judy.
I was able to remember Mom's life...not her death.



Judy and Carrie putting into practice what we just learned about container gardening.



Here's Miss Creative herself.
Carrie brought a plastic carrier that she thought would make a cute container for her flowers.
Look at the beautiful sun-loving plants she found--especially that spiky one on the right!



Here's Judy with her finished container. It was so pretty! She used such subtle colors and textures. It looked just like something she would create.
Did I mention that Carrie gets her creativity from Judy?



Here's my finished product.
I bought this container years ago because I loved the colors on it.
Now, it's a container that fits in just right on my front porch...meaning that I needed to find some shade-lovers.

 

And Carrie's container.
She found the neatest plants! Look at the one "cascading" over the front of her planter! She did such a great job of choosing and placing her plants.

My favorite, though, are her sunny yellow snapdragons. I love them, because I remember my paternal Grandma making her red snapdragons talk to me by squeezing them.

 

I wasn't the only one who loved Carrie's arrangement.
She won the most votes for "Best Container" and won this season's award-winning rose bush! The fragrance of the rose's blooms is amazing!

I love that she won this rose bush on a day that has such meaning to me.
She will someday be able to dig up her rose bush and move it to her home with her...and remember that special day that we spent together.
That is...if we don't kill it off first. Hopefully, she also inherited my mom's green thumb. :)

Did I mention that she's named after my mom? Carrie is short for Carolyn, my Mom's name.

 

So, it turned out to be a pretty special day.

We got home and found places for our flowers.





Dad called to check in on me.
William and I mowed the yard.
(I have to say here that William has just started weed-eating our yard. What a great job he is doing! He is a quick learner and takes correction and suggestion very well--always with a smile. I'm very proud of him.)
I weeded some of the front flower bed.
We had our Saturday night pizza.

May 2, 2009 is over.
But this year, I wouldn't mind if it had lasted a little bit longer.

Guess Who's One?!

That's right!
Little "Matty Boo Boo," as Joshua so affectionately calls him, has turned one.

Along with the official title of "One" comes increased frustration with being bound to four-on-the-floor...although, I think walking is just around the corner.

We have quite a mouthful of swollen gums to brag about too. Matthew still boasts only two bottom teeth, but his upper gum line suggests much more on the horizon.
As you can imagine, there's much to cry about lately.

And that's not to mention how sick everyone has been...again!

Lately, I've been pretty frustrated too. I love blogging, but I just can't seem to get to it. Homeschooling, keeping up with a very active 3-year old and a crawling baby, a messy house, loads of laundry, grocery shopping and meal preparation, and sick kids have kept me from it. And I don't feel like I'm doing a very good job in keeping up in those areas either.
I know, waaa, waaa, waaaaaaa!
Who's the baby?

I must also admit that my own "perfectionistic" tendencies are to blame. In fact, those tendencies may be the main culprit. I tend to be an "all or nothing" kind of person. If I can't do something exactly the way I want to do it...when I want to do it...I tend to put it off. Then, of course, it never gets done.

Enter blogging.

I think it began with Paul's birthday.
Wanting to say "just the right things" about the love of my life.
Then William's birthday. Sweet, sweet William.
Then all of a sudden, Easter was here!
And Matthew's birthday!
Wow. I am so behind.

So, I'm done trying to do this the "right way." Maybe tomorrow you'll get to see a few pictures of William on his birthday. Or maybe it will be Matty's frog cake. Or maybe some thoughts from Easter day.

I'm also done with feeling guilty about not doing this the "right way."

I'm going to get back to original reason I started writing this blog...to give my kids something to read someday when they're old. To give my family from far away a peek into our everyday life. And now, I have a few new blogging friends from far away to invite into my daily life.

Enter joy!
Enter simplicity!

Brotherly Love

As you can see, there was a whole lotta lovin' going on at our house this morning!





What else has been going on?

School.
Birthdays.
Joshua using my computer for Starfall.com.
Lost dog.
Easter.
Laundry.
Matthew is crawling.
Cleaning up messes.
More messes. Remeber...Matty is crawling now.
Laundry.
Housework.
Homeschool convention.
Meals.
Laundry.
Sickness.
Lots of sickness.
Playing.
Laundry.

It seems that just as I sit down to blog...or do anything for that matter...I get distracted by whatever is happening in the house at that moment. It's all good, though.

Yes, even the laundry.

An Itsy Bitsy Ebb and Flow

My life has many areas that experience an "ebb and flow."
My prayer life.
Housekeeping.
Gardening.
Personal endeavors such as reading.

And blogging.

I guess I've just been really busy--busy with the everyday things of life and with catching-up on the everyday things. I've also been thoroughly enjoying the beautiful springlike temperatures in our part of the country this week.

I've noticed, too, that when I fail to take pictures, I tend not to blog. I like pictures. They are my "story starters."

I "received" some story starters last night.

Carrie had just given Matty a faux-hawk and was wanting me to take some pictures of it after supper.







The photo shoot ended with a rousing rendition of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," one of Matty's new favorite songs.
Until this moment, we had no idea that he could do "Down came the rain..." hand motions.


Please pardon the absolutely angelic singing of Matthew's mother. :) I was "got" by Matty's enthusiasm and was having trouble singing the song for him.

But please do enjoy the antics of an almost 11-month old little boy.