There oughta be a law!

I think there is some kind of natural law here at work. Last week, when we had Calvin, Porter, and Harry here for a sleepover, we got to bed pretty late. We had spent the day at the beach, then had been at Bonny's for dinner and racing about their property. I was certainly tired, but was up a bit later getting things in order. I assumed everyone would sleep late, since they sometimes do, and since it had been a long, tiring day.

Wrong! Porter was up at 6:45 - bright-eyed and ready to go. I have to admit that the kids were not crabby, as tired adults sometimes are! It's hard to be annoyed with someone who is so cute too!

Last night, Eve, Esme, and Annika had their second sleepover night in a row. We got them to bed relatively early, after chocolate milk, Milanos, and stories from Grandpa Bob. Eve had to be at gymnastics by 9 a.m.

Of course I had to wake them at 8:15!!

It still goes against every fiber of my being to waken a sleeping child!!

Way to go Sully!!

Text from Phoebe: "We made it home safe and sound. And Sully did not cry once the entire way."

That's my boy!

"Time to say good-bye . . ."

Getting ready for someone's visit is a busy, bustling happy time. Then they arrive and the it's even happier and busier. But before you know it, it seems like the visit is over - and it's time to say good-bye!!

Phoebe and family were here for nearly 2 weeks, but now it seems like they just came and went!! I do miss them all!

The carport is clear - no scooters, beach towels, bouncy balls, strollers, or car seats. How boring!!

Arcelia came, so the kitchen floors are clean - no dropped waffles, no hook-on high chair, no cluttered counters, no full fridge, no charming Sully to play with!! How lonely!!

I'm not looking forward to my solitary breakfast - maybe I can persuade Dad to eat when I do!!

But wait, maybe Annika and Esme will want whole wheat waffles one morning!!

And maybe they will want to ride the scooters up and down the driveway. And shoot water guns at each other. And play Golf and Mormon Poker. And draw on the driveway with chalk. I'm thinking they will keep me busy!!

But we still miss Phoebe and family!! Come back soon!

What's Wrong With This Picture??

Came home late Thursday night with Phoebe and the children. They were all asleep in the car, so it took a bit of time to get them all tucked in without awakening them. I walked around opening windows, checking the mailbox, listening to voice mails, and then I walked into the dining area.

Something seemed wrong, if you know what I mean. And something was wrong. This Nebeker print usually hangs on the wall - it doesn't sit on the floor!

The wire had broken in half - obviously. But the rather heavy frame just fell straight down - didn't fall over or anything.

I'm glad we weren't home. I'm glad Sully or one of the other kids wasn't crawling or walking anywhere near it when it fell. I'm glad it didn't happen when we had 20 people sitting around the dining room table eating. I'm glad it didn't happen the day I had the luncheon for Anna May - the food table was sitting under the print that day!!

But I'm not glad it happened.

I'll let you know what we did about it when Harry figures out what to do about it!!

What a difference a 43 years makes!!

Here I am at the beach in Mexico in 1968. Dad and I had had driven the Jeep truck down - camping along the way. Now I wouldn't think of going camping in Mexico! (Nor would I pose for a photo in a bathing suit!!)

Here I am at Will Roger's State Beach on PCH near Malibu - yesterday in fact!! I sit in the shade, fully clothed - sitting and crocheting. I'm content to be doing so, but I wonder what this says about me??

The years have changed lots of things. What I look like. What I wear. My weight. What I do with my time. What my priorities are. My energy levels. But I'm still wearing dark glasses! I would not change much - maybe I'd like to be thinner and have more energy and be more flexible (I have a friend who says, "I can't touch my toes, but I'm still flexible.") I want to be flexible physically - I'm not sure how or when that skill disappeared!!

I imagine being retired in some charming coastal town - maybe writing a novel. Oh the places our imaginations can take us!

I imagine being on a mission with Harry - not sure what that will be like, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

I imagine being retired and not having to be anywhere at any specific time. Maybe that would get tiresome though.

I imagine not having great kids who have chosen great spouses - that would be sad. They are work and they have used up time and resources over the years - but it was time and resources well-spent! I don't want to imagine a scenario that didn't have grown kids - problems and all!

I imagine - and it's not hard, since I have so many friends who have few or no grandchildren - life without a bevy of beautiful grandkids. Wouldn't want to go there. They can be rambunctious and time consuming and they leave chaos in their wake sometimes - but I love each and every one of them in a special, individual way. And that is a great blessing in my life - one I thank the Lord for each and every day.

Tomorrow we are going out to my mom's to visit and sew and catch up with my sister Leslie, who is visiting. I am so grateful to still have my mother in my life. That is a great and wonderful blessing - another one I thank the Lord for daily. (And I'm grateful for my sisters and brothers too!)

So what's a few pounds or a few wrinkles or a few gray hairs? I'd take today over a bathing-suit-ready body any day!

An anniversary of sorts

Today is Bastille Day - but for Harry and me the more significant occasion was deciding to get married. On July 14, 1967, we agreed that we did indeed want to be together forever!!

It was a good choice!!

To celebrate, we went to the Hollywood Bowl and saw Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn in parts of Swan Lake.

And it was so long ago, we parked in a nearby residential area and walked into the bowl - and got $2 seats!

My how times have changed!

Things happen when you start cleaning out the garage!!

Getting ready for Phoebe and David's visit meant restoring some order to the room in the garage. While doing so, Dad and I both came across some forgotten treasures. Dad found his grandfather's pipes and solid ivory napkin ring. I found my Grenoble scrapbook. And we found a heretofore forgotten Pritchard print from 14 years ago!! We are remembering that Nebekers sent it to us - and it was oversized for the folder where I keep all the others, so I'd filed it in a portfolio of artwork belonging to Hannah and Eliza. I took it to Aaron Bros. today for matting and framing - watch for the great unveiling!

I also found the tape of Eliza reading Lion for Lewis!! I need to figure out how to post that - it's a real treasure!!

And the forgotten silhouettes - not only ours, but all the girls from my Young Women years!! I will see about reducing them and scanning them in.

circa 1952

circa 1951

Sometimes I'm in the car when The Writer's Almanac comes on. I love the details Garrison Keillor comes up with - did you know today is Henry David Thoreau's birthday? And that he inadvertently caused a 300 acre fire when camping? Many believe that's why he went to stay and reflect at Walden Pond.

And I love how Mr. Keillor says at the end,

"Be well. Do good work. And keep in touch."

Seems like a worthwhile motto to live by!!

"Snapshots"

I had Eliza take a shot of me with Lars - I've been here nearly three weeks, but have not really taken lots of photos - we are pretty busy around here doing other things!! But I did want to be sure to at least have one!!

I love holding little babies. Last night friends of Matt and Eliza were here, and their new baby - a couple of weeks older than Lars - was kind of fussy. So I offered to hold him. I guess I just wanted to see if I could still calm a fussy baby - it's my dad in me coming out!! He did settle down - even burped a couple of times. I think he was tired too. They have three little boys almost under 3 - their oldest will be three in September I think! So Mama has her hands full. The boys are all cute, and Mom is calm and resolute - that certainly impressed me!

(Lars is not fussy at all - I do get lots of chances to hold him, but he settles down almost instantly, so I wasn't sure if my fussiness skills were still intact!!)

But I was reminded of Bonny's infancy. Bonny was a long-awaited, much-loved baby- but she was colicky!! She cried a lot. Sometimes we just put her in her bassinet, and turned the stereo up loud! Fortunately, she cried in the daytime and slept all night! And once she got over colic, she was a wonderful infant who was predictable and easy-going. She slept well, ate well if you fed her her favorites, and entertained herself well.

As I was sewing this afternoon, I was thinking about each of our kids and wondering what "snapshot" would come to mind as I thought about each of them.

Bonny would sit on the floor with an old grocery box I had covered with fabric. She would take her toys out of the box - and then put them back in. She was 6 or 7 months old, and this was pretty much a favorite activity of hers. As a first child of struggling students, she didn't have lots of material possessions - I'd piece together fabric remnants my mom sent to make dresses for her! But she enjoyed what she had!

Harry was a calm, quiet baby - ate and slept well from the get go. He would sit on the floor with 2 year old Bonny and follow her lead. He would sit in an infant chair and she would lay toys on top of him - he didn't resist at all! He had the curls though, and everyone thought he was the girl and Bonny was the boy - mainly because I dressed her in unisex clothing so I could pass it down to Harry! And she had a little Dutch bob for a haircut. She was pretty cute though.

Phoebe was a baby who did not like to be cuddled - at least when she was fussy. She wanted to be laid on the couch on her tummy and have her back patted - and patted!! I watched lots of late night TV during her early infancy!! She always got attention from passersby when we were out - even back then she was "working the crowd" with her smile and her big blue eyes!

Eliza enjoyed a lot of attention as a baby, since there was almost 6 years between her and Phoebe. She spent her first couple of months sleeping in her car seat - all night, but she wanted to be tilted that way - the tilt of the car seat seemed to be just right. She was pretty mellow - either that or someone was always holding her, so she didn't need to get our attention by hollering!

Hannah was adventurous - she was my only climber. She was pretty mellow too. And of course, she had her casts for a few months, so carrying around a baby with casts is a lot of my memory of her. They certainly did not deter her - she crawled and got around just fine with them. She had a cute smile - and people always thought Hannah and Eliza were twins - at an early point, Hannah caught up size-wise to Eliza, so they were the same size for a time.

Noah was also mellow - maybe I was just real nervous with Bonny and that's why she was colicky!! My favorite memory of him, though, is the way he was totally willing, as a very young baby, to be read to. He never tired of being held in your lap while you read a book to him. I spent lots of time in that big blue and gold chair in the window corner of the living room, reading stacks of books to him - I especially remember one called Dad's Back by the Australian author.

I wish I'd kept journals about my kids. I sporadically made notations about things, but there was not a systematic effort to record the things they did and said. So lots is lost in memory.

Make this a cautionary tale!!