Lifelines

We spent, but almost didn’t spend, Memorial Day with our friends, the James.
Jenny and I flipped back and forth all morning long on whether or not to risk the weather, which was calling for some major afternoon/evening storms, for our scheduled dual family cookout at their place.

In the end, we risked it.
And it paid off!

It turned out to be a lovely, lovely evening and by the time the rains came pouring down, we were on our way home with four happy, tired, chlorinated, Dodge-ball spent kids.

Thanks so much, Jenny and Kevin, for hosting our Memorial Day fun!
We had such a great time hanging out with you guys and our kids have just rattled on all night long about how much they enjoyed the afternoon.

Here’s what I managed to capture in the first half of the evening, before the dads helped organize a very competitive Dodgeball game.
(My goodness, these kids mean business! And the dads are almost WORSE!)

From my perch on the (shaded) deck, I could see this little head bobbing around back and forth in the pool.
He was the last of mine to get out and I think he would have stayed much longer had he not been dusted by his siblings.

Dinner time!

Creux was too busy riding his horsey to eat :)

Emma looks like she’s just having a good time but that run was accompanied by a battle cry as she was chasing down Colin, who’d just moments before tossed her to the ground like a sack of flour.
I love when other sibling pairs beat the crud out of each other.
Makes me feel…right at home!

The slide is way more fun done upside down.

The swing is always his favorite thing to do on playgrounds.
Except he needs a pusher.
Lucky for him, there were volunteers.

Tiny ones :)

Oh yes, these little ones had a great time running around together.

And these two are currently “A Pair”–you won’t find one without the other!

Greer even made a new friend out there :)

Thanks again, Jenny and Kevin!
And thank you, too, Mother Nature for holding the rain at bay so we could get in a little playtime with friends!

Happy Memorial Day!

I didn’t sleep well last night.
Though I’d retrieved my monster, his presence in the house wasn’t some magic sleeping potion.
All told, I think I was up four to five times for potty purposes plus once for the storm.
I was t-i-r-e-d this morning.

Charlie was kind enough to let me sleep in peace and due to that peace, I slept until almost 11:00!
I’m a girl who likes to sleep in but rarely do I indulge that luxuriously.
And even when I woke, I didn’t feel wonderful.
This Mama is starting to drag.

I sat down to have my coffee but popped up to make a muffin.
I saw my monster climb into my seat and I said, “Please don’t mess with Mama’s coffee.”
Why did I even bother?

I heard it while putting my bread in the toaster, the splashy crash that indicated Something Bad over by the table.
I turned to look and saw this:

Strangely, I didn’t even react right away, just turned back around with a sigh.
I’d only taken a glimpse to know that my Favorite Mug was in pieces on the floor.

Do you remember this one?
The one that I found on clearance at Starbucks once upon a time, the one that Charlie convinced me to take to Carolina Beach waaaaay long ago so I could have my special mug on the deck at the beach, the same mug that he packed and then forgot where he packed it and went to open a towel and CRASH! my mug shattered right there at my feet in our condo, day one.

I lamented over that stupid mug, the one that I started my every day with.
I had a mini-breakdown over it’s slivers, in fact.
It was so pathetic that Charlie, who felt bad, ended up canvassing the Internet for a replacement and couldn’t find one anywhere.
Except then he did.
On Ebay.
And the boy paid like $30 for the same stinkin’ mug that I bought for $3.
I received a package one day and there it was!
My Beloved Mug the II.

This time around, I know it’s gone, gone, gone.
And it’s okay.
We had our good times, shared nearly three years together, and I guess now it’s just time for me to move on.
I’ll miss that damn mug and it’s cheery springtime flair.
But as they say, all good things must come to an end.

And with Calamity Creux in the house, this is more fact than fiction.

R.I.P sweet mug.
I’ll never forget you.
MWAH!

Today we celebrated our anniversary!
And our house was KID-FREE tonight.
My mom offered to take all four of my babies for a sleepover–and this was Creux’s first one.

And in the end, we were home alone for exactly 35 minutes before we were heading out to retrieve our monster after coming back from a nice, long dinner (and being totally ready to settle in for the night).

As it turns out, he’s not so ready for sleepovers just yet.
Has an issue with the whole “sleep” part of that equation.
He thought he was at an all-night party or something.
Silly little monster.

So we were KID-FREE in our own home for the first time ever for 35 minutes.
And do you want to know something?
I’m glad he’s back.
This house isn’t my Home without my babies here–it feels too weird and quiet and just…unnatural.
I probably wouldn’t have slept well in the end because things just feel off when they’re all missing like that.

SOME DAY it will be nice to have an empty Home in which to celebrate an anniversary.
But that day is not TOday.
Today, I am still happy for the quiet commotion that another little body brings to this place, even a tiny slumbering one.
And tomorrow I will welcome the rest of them back.
AFTER 11:00 :)

We had a wonderful time together tonight!
Charlie, thanks for 12 beautiful years and all of the beautiful times we’ve shared in those years.
(And I must say, we’ve used the time well, haven’t we? ;))

At Em’s party yesterday, there were water balloons thrown in the mix.
Greer loved them.
Creux hated them.
Isn’t that the way it goes?

Check. Her. Out.
Scary, isn’t she?
I think she was mentally re-visiting all the times she’d been done wrong and she was out for revenge.
I took this picture and then I got the hell out of there.

A little tamer but still.
She wasn’t messing around.

SPLASH!

A little shocked at the wet, poppy violence.
Really she’s a lover, not a fighter.

Fleeing the scene of HER crime!

She tries again…

…and realizes this: he HATES this game!
He was beside himself with anxiety over those popping balloons and had raced around sobbing, gathering up a small stash of his own, begging me to “SAVE THEM!”

Her moment of clarity concerning the origin of her brother’s distress?
Right here.
Doesn’t she just look super sympathetic?

(Oh, that little snot!)

And this one is my favorite.
She’d just banged another from across the room and giggled mischieviously as it exploded.

If I didn’t think Creux would have a nervous breakdown, I’d buy some of our own just for fun :)

Emily has officially graduated from high school!
We gathered today up at a beautiful park in Delaware to celebrate with Charlie’s family and had a wonderful time!

These are just a few of the 7,367 that I took but I thought I’d toss up a few before settling down for the night.

Congrats, Em!
We’re super proud of you and excited for all the good times to come!
And we’re REALLY happy you’re staying local ;)
XO

Rhyse came ready for a good time.
As usual.

When we arrived, our Littles were a bit…shy.
And dangle-y.
(Just imagine Charlie with an infant strapped to his front because I do. He’s like a Super Fantastic Baby Hanger.)

Uncle Jonnie had some special lovin’ for Creux.

And I did, too.

Can you name the trend that I’m photographing here?

“Charlie With A Phone?”
Ooooo, I’ve got him good.
I’ve got photos of him on that damn thing everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE.
(Paddling a boat in the Chesapeake Bay, in the pumpkin patch, on the beach in Miami, hiking in the woods of Maryland, at Sea World with baby Creux strapped to his back. Am collecting for a really snarky post one day when it suits me.)

Now THAT’S a playground!

And THAT’S a cutie!

Playing balloon ball with Great Uncle Jon (in town from Indianapolis).

My ever-growing Chas with his Aunt Angie (in town from Atlanta).

A cake-slimed grad with Chas (who was not cake-slimed, thankfully).

We did a quick gathering of whoever was available at the moment and this is the family shot we ended up with!
(Some of my gang seen here with Uncle Jon and Aunt Jacquie, Jonnie, and Angie and her two wee ones, Gavin and Dylan.)

And another quick sweep found my full family plus one cute little sneaker-inner, our nephew Gavin.

More fun later, time to put my feet up for a bit.
The late pregnancy super fun swelling has begun–yip-pee.
I love when my ankles resemble tree trunks.

Tuesday was my only Home Day this week.
And I was strangely…lethargic.
I had all this time on my hands (no school these days–HURRAY!) and absolutely no ambition for an around-the-house project.
It was sort of maddening, really.

There were two looming items on my Grit List that involved the kids and since it was a gorgeous day, I decided to supervise really, really well and call it a day.

The boys were tasked with a sandbox clean-out–we’d left it open in the rain last week and it was mucky and nasty so I wanted it sparkling nice again with fresh, new sand.

And while they finished doing that, I pulled out a bucket, some soap, and a few towels and requested that my Littles give the deck furniture a fantastic wipe down. We’d started eating dinners out there last weekend and I noticed how grimy everything was and wanted to remedy that ASAP.

They actually did a terrific job and I let them do the whole thing on their own!
Tonight we sat down (with a special guest, I might add–well, THREE special guests!) to a gleaming outdoor dinner table and it reminded me of these photos, just waiting to be shared.

P.S…this little job took FOREVER but it was only because they were having so much fun and since I had no other plans, I just let them wash and wash and wash. A WONDERFUL way to occupy small ones on a hot, boring afternoon, FYI. (And they washed all the sand toys, too, and the dog after that! Nothing was safe from their towel-wielding hands! If it had even a speck of dirt, it was lovingly and repeatedly rubbed raw.)

(Rhyse and Chas helped out a little here, too–those are the hurricane candle holders that decorate the table and they were yucky inside. Rhyse dumped out all the old sand and shells while Chas, under the threat of bodily harm should he not be vigilant about not breaking one, carefully walked them over to the hose and washed them out before I took them off to the dishwasher. It was a family affair!)

Look who just realized that he can SWIM!

On Wednesday, Creux finally took a leap of faith and trusted in his vest.

Actually, it had nothing to do with that.

He just had impatient catchers that he’d jump in to and then who would sort of shove him in the right direction of the stairs instead of carrying him over each time, like they had on Monday.
It really was a case of sink or swim for him :)

But once he realized it, he was GIDDY with happiness!
He did even better today, finally just floating free around the pool with the other kids.
He’s been the one hold-out on the stairs, sort of trapped there until some one “big” agreed to drag him around for a bit.

Not anymoooore….

A popsicle with your best friend, after a day spent bobbing around in the pool, before summer has even officially started?
You can’t beat that.
Go ahead and try but I’m telling you.
You just can’t beat that.

Contrary to what you probably think, I did NOT spend the week taking photos of my kids swimming with their friends at music camp.
I took Wednesday off :)
Well, almost.
I did snap this one because the pool was just crazy crowded with homeschooling fun-finders and I couldn’t resist.

And I wanted to say this:

Jenny, I know the week has been long.

Your pool has been trashed, your house has been filled with other people’s crap (um, like mine–four extras of everything swimming related) and kids (an extra nine on top of your four–GAH!), today your yard smelled like a spoiled milkshake after our whipped cream battle (I think you’re nuts to do it but am so glad you do!), and your kids have been worn ragged.

But thank you so much for such a wonderful week.

Thanks for (always) hosting, thanks for opening your pool and your fridge (owe you two organic Stoneyfield yogurts at my last tally–one strawberry, one banana) and your home (I don’t think we broke anything but I wouldn’t bet my life on it) to all of us so that we could meet and play and learn together once again.

I’d like to say, “I’ll do it next time,” but we both know I’d have a nervous breakdown by day two ;)
(And we both know that I sound like I’m joking but I’m not.)
But I WILL keep you supplied in snacks and juices all summer long!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks.
We had the best week ever with you guys.
XO

Chas would whole-heartedly agree!

For all his monstery ways, this boy (and his wee crack) is just irresistible.
As it turns out, we’re all pretty big monster fans around here.
Who knew?