~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Did you see Auntie Leila's post yesterday about our new Pocket-Forming, Kindred-Spirit-Finding, Community-Making project? We're so excited by the response — there are already pages started for a bunch of areas! Check out the St. Gregory's Pockets page we have going up there in the far right-hand corner of the top menu bar, and if your area isn't there yet, well, maybe you could start collecting a pocket?
{pretty}
The grass in the empty field near our house is taller than this boy, who is getting pretty big, if you ask me. When you get near the edge of the field, it practically comes alive with all the (giant) grasshoppers hopping deeper into the grass to get away. Pretty fun.
“Our” bunny, Mr. McGregor, comes to nibble on the (crispy, half-dead) grass in our backyard most mornings and evenings. Sometimes he brings his wife, Mrs. McGregor. We love them.
Molly has the most expressive little point of her finger. It is generally accompanied by an insistent “ah! ah!” It's the closest we get to baby sign language.
Together, they form the core of her communication skills.
{happy}
It's happened several times recently that I've had that feeling — you know the one — when I realize suddenly that I haven't heard from my baby in the last several minutes and, come to think of it, where is she anyway and why is she being so quiet? And then I realize that there are doors open that shouldn't be open, and she's clearly getting into mischief, and how big of a mess am I going to have to clean up?
And then I've popped my head into Pippo's room and seen that she's sitting there reading a book — a toddler-friendly board book, no less.
What a good girl.
{funny}
I keep finding orderly little displays of cars, trucks, and blocks lined up on the backs and arms of my sofas.
An attempt to play with them while simultaneously keeping them safe from less careful younger sisters. (Never mind that his parents are the ones who keep knocking them off by mistake.)
And, really, we should give her some credit:
I looked over and she had stacked up all the tea tins!
I'm not sure what the stats are for tea-tin stacking, but I'm pretty sure that's got to be above average.
{real}
For whatever reason, all our light bulbs seemed to burn out in August. I don't know what was going on, but we couldn't keep up with them! Every time I turned around, another one had gone out.
(Actually, now that I've thought about it a little more, I think I know why: it's because all the lights had those awful CFL bulbs in them when we first moved in, and last summer I went around replacing them all. Which is why they all burned out at creepily the same time. In fact, it was logically the same time.)
In our living room, the ceiling is high enough that we need to get the ladder out to replace the recessed lights, and I thought we had extra bulbs for the ones in the fan, when in fact it took me a few trips to the store to remember to buy some more. So basically, we spent a week or two with one lone functional bulb out of the five overhead lights in that big room. (We do have a few table lamps in there, so we weren't actually sitting in the dark. But let's just say I would've been embarrassed to have you come over and try to turn on the lights, and we were really feeling on top of this responsible adult/homeowner thing.)
Finally Pippo and I remembered to buy more bulbs, and then he helped me replace the lights in the ceiling fan. As we flipped the switch to test them, I said something about how now we're one of those fancy families that has working lights in their house.
Now, of course, Pippo refers to it as “the fancy light” and every time we turn it on, he says, “ooh, fancy!”
(We still have not had a chance to pull out the ladder to replace the others, so I guess it really is fancy, comparatively speaking!)
(No picture of the fancy light, I'm afraid. You will have to use your imagination.)
[inlinkz_linkup id=443118 mode=1]
Terri says
Delightful post. I love that you ladies are spearheading the development of “pockets.” I don’t know whether I’ll be able to join one, but I look forward to seeing what comes of them.
anothermom says
Pippo and Molly are growing so much. Love that they each have their own unique style of stacking and lining things things up! Too cute!
Rosie, you’re amazing to have replaced all those bulbs last August and even more so for figuring out why all your bulbs have been burning out in unison. It took us 39 years of marriage before we finally discovered a helpful way to stay ahead of things that burn out, expire or generally need replacing. We note the change of an item in our Quicken, then use previous notes to project (again in Quicken) when replacement will be needed again. For items that get used up, like food, medicines or cleaning supplies, we write the date the item is opened on the bottom with a Sharpie pen. When an item run out we have some idea how long it lasted and project when we’ll need to purchase replacements. We decided to use Quicken to track such things because we record things on it regularly and would be sure to see it and check it for ongoing notations. Can’t believe it took us 39 years to figure out a way to get slightly ahead on something.
Rosie says
Wow, that sounds very organized of you! I’m impressed!
Confession: by “I replaced all the bulbs last year” I mostly mean that I hounded my husband and visiting brother-in-law to do it all for me. 🙂
Lorraine says
I love Molly’s green dress!
Sukie says
Lorraine, I’ve been wondering if you were aware of and appreciating Molly’s green dresses!
Annie says
Stacking tea tins is not only very advanced, but a early sign of excellent taste. Way to go, Molly!
Kathy@9peas says
Pippo and Molly are just adorable, and how fun to have your own bunny continue to visit. The lightbulb thing is always an issue for me and I always forget to pick them up. I usually break down and just buy a big box of them to help overcome this constant memory lapse regarding bulbs that happens every time one burns out. I hate to admit it but I have seem to have the same memory lapse regarding toilet paper, LOL!
Logan says
I am sympathetic about light bulb changing sagas. It’s something that is always so hard for me to just get done! A couple weeks ago I also made a huge effort and replaced every light bulb in the house and you know what happened next day? A lightning storm came in suddenly and blew every single bulb! It’s moments like those that make me think it probably isn’t worth it to try too hard.
Rosie says
No! That’s terrible! I mean, I guess I’m happy for you that there wasn’t more damage, but that’s so frustrating!
Margo, Thrift at Home says
My son was Pippo’s age when he lined up all his cars in careful displays all over the house! My daughter, 2 years older than him, never did that with any toy. So fascinating.
I didn’t like early CFL bulbs for their cold light and awkward sizes, but the warm ones that they have now are great. I like the ones with the cover that hides the ugly spiral. They save so much electricity (money) and last for years. We have only a few incandescent light bulbs left, and next time they burn out, they’re getting replaced with LEDs, also for energy efficiency.
Jill Foley says
What a fun post…love seeing how grown up your kids are!
Jennifer says
I always feel badly when I chase one of the kids down, panicked over the mayhem that I will find, and then end up interrupting a lovely, quiet, visit with some books.
Kylie says
Your baby is obviously a genius.
Rosie says
Haha… right??
Virginia says
I love the idea of him saying, “Ooh, fancy” whenever a light turns on. It’s little sayings like that that keep being said for years and years. It’s how families develop their own unique languages.
This was a fun post! Your kiddos are lovely.
Mary says
Yes, I agree, stacking tea tins is clearly a sign of a vintage and tres chic taste.
Also, I HATE the CFL bulbs! Because clearly what is better for the environment and our health are lightbulbs that contain MERCURY and need hazardous waste disposal. Right. Honestly the whole outlawing incandescents thing makes my blood boil! I just scored some 100 watts at the dollar store and it made my day. I need to go back and stock up!
Mrs. Pickles says
My son loves lining his cars and trucks neatly along the edges of things too. And yes, it’s Mom who keeps messing up his groove!
Oh my gosh Molly is so amazingly cute! In the shot of her looking out the window you can totally tell she’s Pippo’s sister. And I’m sure her tin-stacking skilz are indeed WAY above average.
And, hey, all our light bulbs burn out at the same time too! Actually, they seem to go in waves about once a quarter — I’ll suddenly have 7 or 8 go out within the space of the week, and we have to live like cavemen until I have a chance to stock up at the hardware store again. (It’s getting harder to find good ol’-fashioned incandescent ones — I refuse to use CFLs on principle, and halogens get so hot they scare me!)
Woman of the House says
Somehow I missed the deadline for this even though it’s only 11:35 ET. So I thought I’d post my link here: http://womanofthehouse-blog.blogspot.com/2014/09/pretty-happy-funny-real-sept-7-2014.html. I hope that’s okay.
I can’t believe Molly is already a year old! She is so adorable. Also, I love the trucks lined up on the back of the couch!