I am so popular among the younger set

This week Clint is on a field mission so I've been letting the kids sleep with me. (It's a beloved treat, for all of us.) I started in the middle last night but around 1am had to shift a kid over and get that little bit more space to stretch out. Tonight I set my terms that I wasn't in the middle and the negotiations began. Sophia claimed the middle and Benjamin got all put out and started pouting about not "laying beside Mama." The deal was that tomorrow night it's his turn to be in the middle, and there was lots of "Benjamin, you always get to be beside Mama!" and "Sophia, why don't you go to your own bed!" but the issue pretty much got settled and they quieted down.

Then as soon as Sophia started snoring (about 3 minutes later), Benjamin promptly rolled over her and proceeded to wedge his little body between us. Now he's patting my arm while I type and savoring his Machiavellian triumph.

I feel so wildly popular.

Mother's Day

I love this picture. It's my great grandmother, Violet, with my grandmother, Ghislaine. My great grandmother passed away a few years ago, but this picture of her, a young mother looking over her shoulder with the sunlight on her back, makes me happy. I have another picture, with her and her grown daughter encircling my mother and her two siblings, that I would have liked to post, but alas...it isn't scanned to my computer. I have a deep, desperate love of old photographs, and I've been lucky enough to be given quite a few from my mother's side of the family.





I had a great Mother's Day. Not only did I get the Best Mama Present Ever, but the day itself was a joy. We went for a hike on a beautiful trail here on base, which circled a pond and was just long enough to be a hike without too much carrying of the children involved. (Ok, Benjamin isn't the best walker and he spent about 10 minutes up on my shoulders toward the end.) It was such a gorgeous day. I can see us doing that walk a lot. Clint grilled after that, and we even had brownies while we watched a movie. Perfect.





This was my present. I found the artist on Etsy and she did a fantastic job on this necklace. I just adore it and have been wearing it constantly. Sophia also brought home a card she made for me in art class, and it's pretty fabulous.

We saw Iron Man on Saturday, and everyone enjoyed it. Benjamin had been pretty ambivalent about Iron Man, which is surprising given his love of super heroes. So when we left the theater I asked him if he liked it, and he said, "Yes. And when I say 'yes,' I mean 'AWESOME'!" Score.

On Friday I got Sophia out of school a bit early because Clint's company was having a family event at the bowling alley. They had a lane set up with bumpers for the kids and they had cake. Cake seems to be a universal happy-maker. It was the kids' first time bowling, and they both loved it. I'm not a big fan myself, but I can see I'll have to suck it up and take them more often.

Anyway, the whole weekend can basically be summed up as: I am one lucky mama.


Happy Belated Mother's Day to all!

It's May Already!

Man, where did April go? Hmm.

Anyway, Sophia gave a gripping performance this week in her school's spring concert as Blind Mouse #3. She had about six lines, which she memorized with great deliberation and delivered with impressively calm perfection. Her favorite part? The tail on her costume.

Also, see those glasses on her face? They're new. You can't see them all that well in that picture, but they're the classic tortoise shell, plastic frames. Sophia does not have a very good track record with glasses. This is her fourth pair since she was screened not quite two years ago. The first two pairs? She simply lost. The last one? She left on the floor and the dog put a few chips on one of the lenses. She continued to wear them until they literally fell apart and fell off her face in school one day. The girl is hard on eye wear. And she wanted me to spring for Hannah Montana frames. Um, maybe next time, Sophia.





Benjamin's new favorite thing is to have his breakfast on a tray. Pictured is a general favorite around here: hot chocolate and oatmeal with syrup and brown sugar stirred in. Earlier this week I had to take him to the clinic here on base to have a tick removed from his head. He was so brave and kept so still, even though it hurt him a good bit while they were trying to get all of it out. They tested the tick, and unfortunately it was carrying lyme disease, so he's on a fairly heavy dose of Amoxycillin and is going in for a blood test tomorrow morning. Good thoughts are appreciated. Apparently ticks and lyme disease are pretty bad in this area.

I think we're going to see Iron Man this weekend. Everyone is excited!