Snips, Snails, & Puppy Dog Tails

While the oldest is spending three weeks at her first for-real summer ballet program, the boys and I are spending our days doing, you know, boy stuff. 

Like executing a full snail massacre inside a gatorade bottle. 

He is convinced they are soundly sleeping. 

Pictures would be wrong. 

Today I am just plain worn out. 

But that doesn't mean they are. 

I guess my never-ending-smile-please-no-not-like-that!-just-one-more-I-swear is rubbing off.

We should probably leave for the pool before something gets broken.
Have a great weekend!

Toilet

If the toilet bowl was as gaping as the Grand Canyon, I am convinced the little gentlemen I live with would still miss.

Almost

I simply cannot accept that July is nearly half gone.
The days just keep rolling.
The years that used to drag along now seem to pass when I blink.

This sweet little girl is turning nine next month.

She made me a mother. 

And we are growing up together. 

Time feels like a faucet that won't turn off. 

I can't hold on.

She wants it to move faster. 

I want it to freeze. 

I know we are on the edge. 

Toes hanging off. 

Change is coming. 

She is bursting with personality. 

And attitude. 

Total confidence and total apprehension. 

I like her. 

Happy (almost) Birthday to the true love of my life.

Girl vs. Garden

This is my lawnmower. 

It was given to me, by my father, as a gift on Father's Day. 

Yep. 

If you teach a man to fish...

Starting this $20 yard sale gem might be one of the hardest things I have ever done over, and over, and over.
And still failed.
Yes, I cried.
And I might have called it a foul name or two.

Add this to the fact that I only just learned how to mow a lawn in the past year.
I was given the lawn as a chore once when I was 15 and was never allowed to do it again.
My lines weren't straight enough.

Don't worry, I did plenty of other chores well enough to have them permanently assigned.

Anyhow, after several replacement parts, lawnmower and I are becoming friendly.
I even mow lines in my yard.
They're still not perfect.
But that's why I don't live with my parents.

You should know that in addition to my wild 'someday' fantasy of having a second home in the South of France, I also have a fascination with self sufficiency.
Like, gardens and chickens.

I have french linens that I hang on the clothesline because it makes me feel like I am at my 'someday' second home.
You know, in France.
Because that's not pathetic. At all.

And no chickens yet, but I do have my first "real" garden this year.
And by real, I mean more than herbs and tomatoes growing in pots.
Two raised beds full of all my favorites!

I am not delusional.
Obviously I can't possibly live off the grid, or the land, or whatever,
AND have a second home in the South of France.
Obviously.

There is a point to all this.
I swear.

So, in my garden, live some tomatoes.
The tomatoes look a little sad.
I investigate and find said sad tomatoes have BUGS.

I hate bugs.

Especially bugs that are referred to as LICE - plant or otherwise.
300 Google searches later, I determine the tomatoes have aphids, or plant lice.
And apparently, like the hair kind, these lice are hard to get rid of.

I say bring it.
And because Dad says I can't have a garden without using chemicals, and organic is stupid...
I won't be using chemicals.
Because even an adult girl can't listen to her father.

Soooooo....
I learn that aphids also attack roses, and bolt out to the rose bushes to see if they are killing my beloved roses!
I find this:

OH MY GOD, I have an invasion of spiny hairy BUGS!

This is where it gets good.
Why are they spotted?
Thanks to Google and toys for a 4-year-old, I learn that I have Ladybugs!

Okay, ready for the good part?

Ladybugs' favorite food is aphids!

I know, you can't contain your excitement. 

According to the toy, we have some stage 2 larvae and stage 3 pupa.
You learn something every day.

My genius plan was to move some of these ladies over to the tomatoes.
I moved one and watched her devour an aphid, which was strangely exciting.

So far, the kids have had a great time being ladybug runners (we found them in the apple tree too) but sadly, every ladybug has mysteriously disappeared.

I know how nail biting the garden adventure has been thus far, so I will be sure to update you on the success or failure of the great ladybug migration.

Even though I have a bajillion other things that have to get done today and every day, somehow this little garden makes me very very happy.

I highly recommend getting one.

Joys of Motherhood

Doesn't she look peaceful?
My sweet, beautiful girl.

This is the same child who, lately, has made me question my unending adoration of little girls.
I want to know why no one warned me that "teenager" started WAY before 13.
Like, years before.

And I will love her through it all.
Even if I don't like her some days.
We will be friends again when she's 24.

Until then, we will muddle our way through as she transforms, slowly, into a beautiful and confident woman.

I love him.
I don't get many good shots of this cute boy.
He wiggles a lot.

And he really likes to chew gum.

That little one on the right?
He was not in a mood for having his picture taken.
So there aren't any.

Except this lovely group shot.
There are only about 10 of these on my computer.
And this was the best one.

Little, drive-you-crazy, and somehow, still-adore-them, loves.

Inventions

Photo courtesy of April Allsyon Abel, a woman who inspires daily invention. 

People think up new ideas all the time.
Some people just think about them.
Other people do more than just think.

They take action.

I wonder who has better odds of success - the folks who act on every single idea, or the ones who really focus on just one thing and make it happen?
Is it like sales? The more calls you make, inherently by statistic,  the better your numbers are?

But what if the invention is yourself?

I used the be the kind of person who picked one thing and went after it with all the force and focus I could muster.
Pretty exhausting when the one thing turns out to be the wrong thing.
Or at least wrong for me.

Alas, in my "old" age, I don't know what the one thing is anymore.
I find myself stirring and jumping into 12 different pots at once, having no real clue which one is "right".
But I do know what is wrong, so I guess that's something.

Maybe there isn't a right answer. Maybe our parents idea of picking something, one thing, and doing it forever and forever isn't the right way, just the way they did it. Maybe the world really is different now.

Can we be happy with an undefined career?
No, that's not a cop-out or a carefully worded disguise for no career.
Is a broad brush better than a pigeon hole? I don't know.

But the truth is, no matter what, staying relevant in this world is hard. Really hard.

Everyone wants to be relevant.
Everyone needs to be relevant.
Our disposable mindset moves from objects to people.

Does constant reinvention keep us out of the trash?
It sure can keep you busy. I know that much.
Getting comfortable with the great unknown, closing your eyes and jumping takes some getting used to.
Ah, but the promise of true fulfillment is an addicting chase.

I have never taken bigger leaps than I have over the past few years, and for the first time, I  see a real opportunity to live a complete life. I just have no idea which pot I will end up in.

Scariest. Thing. Ever.
Tossing the comfort and camaraderie of common daily misery is, well, nausea-inducing.

So, I offer applause to all my friends and colleagues who have chosen to stand, undefined, proudly reinventing for a greater purpose, and a chance live truthfully, as they are.

Much love and admiration.

What to Give

So, every year, like everyone else, I have to figure out what to buy the "difficult" people on my list.
It isn't that they are actually difficult.
(That may be too generous)

Let me explain.

All of my grandparents are still alive (I know!).
So - what in the world do you give to people who have everything?
And by everything, I mean every last thing a person could want.
And they stopped collecting circa 1972.

You should also know that I have been harassed of late.
For not giving any of them updated photos of the kids.
How am I supposed to remember they're not on Facebook?

Photobook.
I took a lot of pictures this year.
Serious hit. All the way around.

There is this company I like - Blurb.
I have used them before, and my sister did her wedding album with them.
Basically, they have awesome software so even if you are horrible at design-y type stuff, your book should still turn out great.

This is my middle guy's first day ever of t-ball.

This is a full two-page spread, with a full bleed.
Just don't choose a photo with a face in the middle.
It ends up in the crack.

And of course, Miss Ballerina.
The page layouts are predesigned but you can edit the pre-designed design to suit you.
And the color around the photos? Yep, you can change that too.

The software also gives crop lines and crack lines.
So you know if you're chopping anyone's head off.
Or if you forgot, and put someone's face in the crack.

I did this book in chronological order, but the choice is yours.
It took me about 3-4 hours total to put together.
And about 5 days to get them here.
Not bad when you get to knock 6 gifts off the list.

I decided to give the book to my parents as well.
Everyone really seemed to love it.
They have been passed around offices, parties, and extended family visits.
I highly recommend making one for your nearest and dearest.

Blurb can also automatically generate a book from your Facebook photos. (comments included...yikes)
AND they do a super cool Instagram book - straight from your Instagram account!
They pretty much rock.

So, for my family and close friends who have requested a copy...here's your chance.
If you would like to preview and buy your very own, here you go!
http://www.blurb.com/my/book/detail/2836401


Have fun book-making!!