I made this skirt today!!! 

I made this dress! 

Two year olds are fun, but challenging... She likes to say, "Go away, Mommy!" (It hurts my feelings!) :( 

This may make me old fashioned, but I love to sew- 

:) 

Masie sandwich! 

fun with Dad! 

. 

Sweet Blythe 

Out from a walk- everyone is grumpy! 

Dancing in the bathroom 

Lila's flowers.... 

helping B 

. 

hmmm. what is this??? 

First bite of real food..not impressed 

Thank you, Baba!!! 

bathrobe 

. 

. 

Funny!

Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box ofTampax and proceeded to the checkout counter.

The man at the counter asked the older boy, "Son, how old are you?" "Eight," the boy replied.The man continued, "Do you know what these are used for?"

The boy replied, "Not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him.He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. He can't do either one."

Thanks Terri!

This was sent from my aunt in SC. It is written by one of my favorite writers.

On Being a Mom by Anna Quindlen

If not for the photographs, I might have a hard time believing they ever existed. ALL MY BABIES are gone now. I say this not in sorrow but in disbelief. I take great satisfaction in what I have today: three almost-adults, two taller than I am, one closing in fast. Three people who read the same books I do and have learned not to be afraid of disagreeing with me in their opinion of them, who sometimes tell vulgar jokes that make me laugh until I choke and cry, who need razor blades and shower gel and privacy, who want to keep their doors closed more than I like. Who, miraculously, go to the bathroom, zip up their jackets and move food from plate to mouth all by themselves.

Everything in all the books I once pored over is finished for me now. Penelope Leach., T. Berry Brazelton., Dr. Spock. The ones on sibling rivalry and sleeping through the night and early-childhood education, all grown obsolete. Along with Goodnight Moon and Where the Wild Things Are, they are battered, spotted, well used. But I suspect that if you flipped the pages dust would rise like memories. What those books taught me, finally, and what the women on the playground taught me, and the well-meaning relations --what they taught me was that they couldn't really teach me very much at all.

Raising children is presented at first as a true-false test, then becomes multiple choice, until finally, far along, you realize that it is an endless essay. No one knows anything. One child responds well to positive reinforcement, another can be managed only with a stern voice and a timeout. One boy is toilet trained at 3, his brother at 2. When my first child was born, parents were told to put baby to bed on his belly so that he would not choke on his own spit-up. By the time my last arrived, babies were put down on their backs because of research on sudden infant death syndrome. To a new parent this ever-shifting certainty is terrifying, and then soothing. Eventually you must learn to trust yourself. Eventually the research will follow.

I remember 15 years ago poring over one of Dr. Brazelton's wonderful books on child development, in which he describes three different sorts of infants: average, quiet, and active. I was looking for a sub-quiet codicil for an 18-month-old who did not walk. Was there something wrong with his fat little legs? Was there something wrong with his tiny little mind? Was he developmentally delayed, physically challenged? Was I insane? Last year he went to China. Next year he goes to college. He can talk just fine. He can walk, too.

Every part of raising children is humbling, too. Believe me, mistakes were made. They have all been enshrined in the Remember-When-Mom-Did-Hall-of-Fame. The outbursts, the temper tantrums, the bad language, mine, not theirs. The times the baby fell off the bed. The times I arrived late for preschool pickup. The nightmare sleepover. The horrible summer camp. The day when the youngest came barreling out of the classroom with a 98 on her geography test, and I responded, "What did you get wrong?" (She insisted I included that.) The time I ordered food at the McDonald's drive-through speaker and then drove away without picking it up from the window. (They all insisted I included that) I did not allow them to watch the Simpsons for the first two seasons. What was I thinking?

But the biggest mistake I made is the one that most of us make while doing this. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less. Even today I'm not sure what worked and what didn't, what was me and what was simply life.

When they were very small, I suppose I thought someday they would become who they were because of what I'd done. Now I suspect they simply grew into their true selves because they demanded in a thousand ways that I back off and let them be. The books said to be relaxed and I was often tense, matter-of-fact and I was sometimes over the top. And look how it all turned out.

I wound up with the three people I like best in the world, who have done more than anyone to excavate my essential humanity. That's what the books never told me. I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were.

Tracy Chapman

Her voice is so rich and beautiful... The depth of her somehow manages to reach me, even when I am far away-

Marie

Turn up your volume and listen. :) I think you can scroll down to see the video.

Marie

Turn up your speaker. Video at bottom of screen!

This music reminds me of so long ago. It makes me happy and sad. I swear sometimes I feel too grown-up. I remember being in my twenties and feeling wide open. Of course writing this I feel like I need to immediately assure you that I am happy where I am, too. I am, too- but melancholy over old times on occasion; maybe everyone is like that.

Mom, here are the recipes I promised. Bev and Harl liked the chili and cornbread, also. Actually, I love it and have made it three times in the last 3 weeks. I think Heath is over it! :)

Red Bean Chili

Large sauce pan, add around 2 lbs of hamburger and brown.
Add onion (1 large one chopped) Cook about 5 minutes
Add 5 cloves of minced garlic. Cook 1 minute more
Slowly add 2 cans oc beef broth (yes, mom, you can use consume! :) )
Stir in the following: 3-4 tbs. of Chili powder, 2 tsp. cumin, and a 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Then, add the following: 2 15 oz cans of kidney beans, 1 can of black beans, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tbs of vinegar (cider).
Stir well and simmer for as long as you like!

DELICIOUS!!!!!!!

Corn Bread/Spoon Bread

Combine the following:
1 bag of Jiffy Cornbread mix, 8 oz of sourcream, 1 can creamed corn, 1 can sweet corn, 1 1/2 sticks of butter melted (I know!!! Very bad), and 3 eggs (my God!!!) 1/2 cup of sugar. Stir WELL! Bake in Carrserole dish on 400 for 30 minutes

Marie

xoxoxox

Masie taking care of Baby Blythe 

Our favorite shot! 

A kiss 

Masie the Great! 

What Masie insisted on wearing- a princess bathing suit over flower tights with a necklace. Now that I really see the whole ensemble, perhaps it is charming?!