Post Category → just life

life.

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day.

Not because anything super fun or spectacular happened. Just because I got up with my alarm, started laundry and went walking and greeted the kids cheerfully and the sun was shining and school was fun. And at 2:30, instead of crashing, I put on a movie for the boys and took the girls on a grocery run. I felt zippy and on top of the world! Woo-hoo!

And then on my drive home I got a text from a friend, wondering if Jameson would still be able to come to her son’s birthday celebration? (You know, the one that started almost an hour ago?) Gah! Wait! You mean, this awesome day was Wednesday, not Tuesday??

That pretty much sums up my life. I wish I could blame it on having four kids, but I’m pretty sure it has far more to do with this idealistic-flake melancholy-sanguine thing I have always been. Oh well! Thank goodness for gracious friends who say, “Oh, no problem!” And for totally sanguine sons who jump up without missing a beat, ready for a birthday party he previously had no knowledge of.

*****

While the boys were out (since Daddy saved me and did the birthday party-run after Fiona had scream-choked the whole way home from the grocery store), I cleaned the fridge. It now looks awesome, and I would say, “That wasn’t such a long chore. I need to do it every week!”, but see? That’s idealistic. Reality is that one extra chore happens every month. Or so.

Anyway, while I was in that totally torn apart refrigerator, Beatrice stood right by my side, totally enthralled. Finally she burst out, “Good job! Good job, Mama-girl!” Mama-girl is what she calls me when she has decided to assume the superior role in our relationship. It’s adorable, and you know what? I’ll take all the good-job-mama-girls I can get!

*****

Beatrice took this photo. Because Apple has made it possible for even 2 year olds to apply filters to photos. And black and white is her favorite.

I just love the baby in the photo.

And friends who understand that it truly is possible to forget what day it is. On a weekly basis.

eleven weeks

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Today, this newest miracle is 11 weeks old. To celebrate, she decided to become huge. Overnight. Jameson said today, “Look how big her hands are!!” So fast.

Also, to mark the end of 11 weeks successfully weathering Life On The Outside, she found her fist. I noticed her staring at it with bug-eyed excitement, waving it around and marveling. I’m not sure she’s figured out that it’s her fist, obeying impulses from her brain, but we’ll get there. (I’ve noticed that by the time any of my children have needed their fists in self-defense, they’ve figured out that hand-brain connection.)

She’s adored. Beatrice came up to us while I was cuddling Fiona yesterday, and said sweetly, “Mama, I love your Fiona Elspeth.”

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#nofilter

Monday was a Girl Day.

We went for a walk — Fiona in the Ergo, Beatrice in a stroller.

It was a mild October day, full of that strange and wonderful light that simultaneously threatens rain and bursts golden sunshine.

I keep going back to these photos. Can’t you almost hear the geese when you see such colors?

I love October.

autumn in the adirondacks

I love Upstate New York. (And by Upstate, I mean upstate. Westchester County doesn’t count.) I love living in the wide space of the St. Lawrence valley, I love the rhythms of farm life all around me, I love the seasons and colors and variety of the year, and I love the blue haze of mountains in the distance.

This weekend, we got to celebrate autumn a bit.

First, apples. The first Cortland of the season, just picked that day, with locally made fresh cheese curd. Enjoyed at a picnic table with these favorites:

And apple cider donuts, still crispy from the hot oil bath from whence they came.

Second, mountains. Yesterday, we packed up our four kids, our friends packed up their four kids, and together, we shocked the world with our small-human population! With lunches packed, we journeyed a short distance into the Adirondacks and enjoyed trails just perfect for young explorers and strollers alike. We passed lean-tos and bridges that brought back fond memories from my childhood days, and watching my kids enjoy the world in the same way was just too fun. The sky was blue, the temps warm (thus the white undershirt gang!), and the trees at their peak of color. Three hours later, we parents were warm and tired — and the boys were ready for Round Two.