Outfit of Many Colors

Recently, Em's closet went from nearly bare (due to a random growth spurt no one saw coming) to overflowing. We received a few packages from College Church, another from Grandma, another from Grammy and then some more hand-me-downs from two friends of mine here. Now, the girl has more clothes to pick from than I do... but Todd reminds me that with less than a month to go (YIKES!) I too will have clothes again very soon.

Another recent turn of events has been Em's interest in fashion. In particular, her own. I haven't given over dressing duties entirely, but she is more and more insistant on dressing herself. We've been working on "matching" things (like socks) with much success. Actual clothes, though... sometimes she nails it, other times, she comes down with a pastel purple shirt (which matches the shorts that came with) to a pair of electric purple pants (again, that have a match), and she doesn't understand why purple and purple don't go together. Despite the set-backs, we're pushing on. I'm so thankful that she is now equipped with material to test her new skills, as well as be warm for the coming winter! She put this little number together for church, but I made her wear different shoes.

"I love my boots... I love my boots... I love my boots" sung to the Veggie Tales tune of "I Love My Lips"

This reminds me (and Todd for that matter) of another little girl (actually, she's big now, but used to be small) who would give this same expression, complete with the feathers-masquerading-as-hair when told to smile.

Strike a pose!

6:09am

At 6:09am, Todd came into the bedroom holding Cooper. The two of them collapsed on the bed, and as soon as Todd's head hit the pillow, bellowing from his cargo began echoing through the room. All Cooper could muster was a wailing and pitiful, "Daaaaaddddaaaaaaaa!!!" After ruling out injury, diaper and the likes, it occurred to me that last night, Cooper hadn't eaten much dinner (we'd had company over and he was totally distracted). As soon as Todd asked him if he wanted to go get food, Coop sat straight up, pointed to the door and emphatically blurted, "Daaddaa, milk!!!"

Once fed, he was much more pleasant. The kid may look like his dad, but he has his mom's priorities on food!

When Dad's Away...

Todd has been up in Kenya for a few days. Which means a few things. 1) I haven't cooked since he left. I made a big batch of mac-n-cheese with veggies and chicken in it, and we've been munching on that and PB sandwiches for pretty much a week. The kids don't mind and it's been blazing hot, so I'm not about to turn on the oven or stove. 2) The kids are in bed by 7, but since Todd normally does the bath-bed-story routine, it's never right and they're up and down for at least three more hours. 3) I get bored and turn to getting things organized, which then turns to making things in order to get rid of things that must be organized.

I don't know how to sew, but I have this great new machine and google. I also have all the clothes that have fallen apart, mostly from Todd, stashed for whatever. And, I made the sorry mistake two weeks ago of buying a bulk package of thin fleece throw blankets in hopes of turning them into kids pajama pants. I say sorry because now I have what feels like a hundred fleece projects and this babe is due before Easter. Lent tells me I'm going to run out of time. Oops. Oh well I guess. As I was cleaning and sorting through the bits of this and that in the "craft/sewing" cupboard (don't give it too much credit, it's small and the kids play with it so things disappear frequently), I came across a pair of denim jeans that Todd has had since the 90s. They had more than a few holes and a large gash at one of the knees, but its denim and I loathe paying for denim. But, lets face it, there's a reason why you buy denim and there's a reason why it's expensive. The stuff is hard to work with!

Now, remember, I have no pattern (because I don't know how to read them and don't tell me they're "easy" because to me, they're not... I need to take a class, but that will have to wait a bit!) and Cooper was mostly asleep during these sewing sessions. Normally, I sew a bit, rip out seams, sew some more and then try it on a kid who screams at a pin I'd forgotten. I made these a bit big (and apparently with a 70s bellbottom-vibe to them) so that Cooper can grow into them. I also lined them because this boy of mine is constantly moving and constantly losing shoes/socks/hats/shirts/pants/whatever he has a mind to get rid of. It's so frustrating.

I got to the hem, and realized I don't know how to hem either. So... we folded and stitched, and then folded up one more time because I made them long enough to (hopefully) last through the coming winter.

But, as you can see, pocket placement is apparently one of those things where you really, really should take the time and wait so see where they should go instead of just guessing. Glad he won't actually use them since anything that gets put in those bad-boys will be sitting just at his knee crease. Hehe!!!

And all through this 'photo shoot', poor Lani was banished to her pillow because otherwise, I inevitably get a tail in every picture. She was so sad and pitiful looking that right after this picture, Cooper crawled up with her to make her feel better. LOVE these two together!

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Almost every time we receive a package/letter from someone in the States, there is attached an, "I'm sorry I didn't get this to you sooner" type of note. The thing is, every last one has been in perfect timing. It's amazing how great God is to orchestra something so small as detours on the way to the mail for a few days, so that whatever encouragement is sent comes at JUST the right time. I received a package from my mom, and it came right as the kids were getting better, but that meant that I was drowning in toy-sterilization, sheet/blanket/pillow/stuffed animal washing and no food in the house since I'd been holed up with two sick babies for days. Even though it was blazing hot, as soon as I opened the box and saw the hot apple cider packages, I made one and sat down to indulge in the goodies.

It was so nice to be able to pretend-shop through the box. It was so much fun and exactly what I needed. It was rather comical, as I reached the bottom of the box, to find these...

The idea that these pants were made in Africa, shipped to the States, and then back to Africa... I don't know. Something about it made me laugh out loud, and it had been days since I was able to let loose and laugh. It was one of those things where you thank the Lord for the perfect timing of sparkly-pink toddler pants made in Kenya and thank Mom for being mom and sending the sparkly-pink pants (because she's Gran and thus, knows your child's affinity to show off her panties at church!).

Green Kind of Day

I seriously love using cloth diapers for a number of reasons, but one is for moments like this when the stars aline and your kid chooses to be super cute in his big sister's rain boots and his perfectly matching diaper!

These boots were made for walking... so here I come!

Mom knows that when I'm THIS cute, I can get away with just about anything, including playing with her cell phone :) "Grammy... is that you?"

Pigpen

I was doing laundry. We'd just walked in the house from a birthday party and I forgot to move the clothes from the washing machine over before we left, and thus, I was trying to maneuver a large laundry basket and my larger belly through some not-so-large door jams. I was in the middle of a particularly precarious maneuver when Todd came running in for a camera and told me to, "Come see your son!" I wasn't sure how much trepidation I should muster before going out to witness whatever it was I was supposed to see, but away I went. Apparently, when a child has an affinity for a certain patch of garden (my one and only flowerbed in this case) then that affinity becomes 10-fold stronger when the bed has been freshly watered. AND, if that same child is inspecting the wet flowerbed and falls, well...

THIS is what you get. For the record, there are "good" clothes and there are "backyard" clothes. Not a single stitch of this child was prepared for an all-out assalt on my flower garden.

But then, he looked at me with that, "What Mom, nothing is going to be permanently maimed or damaged because of a little dirt!" face.

Or my favorite, when he wants to put those chubby, grimy hands all over me in a big hug... because he knows without the hug, he'll be in serious trouble!

And Cooper has discovered this one: when all else fails, he puts on a show of his many faces, until he finds one that I can't help but laugh at. Then, he knows he's golden. I'm such a sucker for my little boy!!!

Frosty the Snowman

We've been struggling lately with keeping in touch. I've been exhausted and things seem to always fall by the wayside when that happens. But a few days ago, my sister called and we just happened to hear the ring from outside, and everyone was awake. We had a great time talking, and the older cousins (both nearly 3) were delighted to share their toys, books, and latest songs they've learned. At one point, Braedon brought one of his favorite books, and both kids settled in to hear it. These things are amazing- I guess they now sell books where people can record themselves reading the story, so that whoever receives the book will hear the sender reading. Well, both kids listened to Grammy (my mom) read them the story. Amazing. A grammy from California read a story, simultaneously to her grandson in Kansas and granddaughter in South Africa. It was a great moment!