Who in their right mind...

We periodically receive a bag or five of clothes from a friend of a neighbor. Although I am very thankful for them (a third of Finley and Joe's wardrobe is made of up these clothes, I think), most of these items I would never dress my children with. And every once in a while, there is a real doozy. (See photo on left.)

The disturbing part, however, is that this particular item has been in my possession before.

I received these bibs the first time when Finley was born. Needless to say, she never wore them. About a year ago, I donated several boxes of clothes to the Salvation Army, these bibs included. Inspite of my desire to trash them, I figured there might be some one out there crazy enough to buy them for her child. After all, they are in great condition... ie. never worn.

But when I saw these incredibly unique bibs emerge from a bag in my living room once again, a holy terror arose in me. Either I will be plagued by these bibs reappearing time and again for the rest of my life (scary), or there are more of these in existence (even more scary).

So what do I do? Give them away again and live with the fear of them coming back to haunt me? Put them in a box and shove them into the dark recesses of the basement? Incorporate them into an ugly-on-purpose quilt? Use them as my own personal white elephant baby gift?

Stay tuned to see what I decide.

New Roof

Last week we had some excitement at our house... Our roof was reshingled.

After seeing the new shingle color in action, we are thinking we might need to change some other colors as well. I did repaint the shutters last summer, but nobody seems to like it, and we also want to repaint the porch slab (the intense brick red). If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear your comments!

Before:

After:

Genes and Whatnot

I have always been smaller than most everybody I have known. I can think of one exception. I stand an inch or two taller than A.M. But only if she isn't wearing those stack-heeled shoes. I got my physique from my grandmother, and a lot of my face, too. I'm just thankful I didn't quite get her nose.

Apart from genetic makeup, we may have shared some other traits. She enjoyed gardening and had a talent for crafting things.

But that may have been the extent of the similarities.

We had a special relationship there for a while. I would write her letters about my cat, and she would write back about the stray cat she fed. But she was a little too excited to have a granddaughter after having two grandson, and herself only raising one son.

My mother tells me she was very classy. Loved to dress up, and I imagine she was a flapper. So she tried to dress me up. I regularly got girlie outfits for birthdays and Christmas. And she sent me dolls. Being quite young at the time, I think those things were easily overlooked and forgotten. But then it happened.

One day she was visiting from Montana, and my parents must have stepped out to run an errand, leaving Gramma to watch us kids for a while. My friend was over, and we had gotten these small,red, vinyl mattresses out to play with. There were two things we used them for: 1. to run into each other at full speed. 2. to slide down the stairs on them. We were using them for stair sleds this time, and when Gramma found out what we were doing, "STOP THAT. You'll get HURT!" Or something along those lines.

What in the world? I thought this was the lady I heard used to ride on the back of Grampa Joe's motorcycle... Anyway, I don't remember if I blatantly ignored her, or if we stopped our fun, but I do know that is when I realized she didn't understand me at all.

I know my kids are getting the best of me when...

1. Laundry was done on Monday, and Wednesday, there are 8 pairs of Finley's undies to wash.

2. Joe made it up a flight of stairs without me noticing. (Don't tell Chris.)

3. Finley has eaten PB&J 5 out ot 7 lunches this past week.

4. Wiping Finley's bum in a public restroom, Joe nearly manages to stick his hand in the toilet water.

5. Finley gets ice cream because she has eaten 4 slices of carrot and 2 little broccoli 'trees' for supper.

6. You catch the kids conspiring who will refuse to nap at certain times so that Mama doesn't get a break. (Not really, but sure feels that way.)

7. Ten months old, and Joe can still cry loud and long enough to get each parent out of bed at least once every night.

Pro Sitters

I am incredibly privileged to have my brother and sister-in-law around.
They baby sit for free, and come up with the best things to entertain the kids. Click here for proof.