April THREE (and other stuff)

Okay, here goes speed blogging!  (I have to leave very soon to go pick G up from school.  Oh, how I will look back and laugh at this year (well, really two years) of whisking June and Waylon straight from their warm beds where they are napping, directly into their carseats - no shoes, no coat, do not pass go or collect two hundred dollars, we have somewhere to be!  I can't imagine how shocking that must've been for them all winter, but I guess they were too groggy to complain.) #meanmom #efficientmom

But I digress! And this was supposed to be speedy!

Soooo, anyway, we went to Columbia for a few days, because apparently it is so hard for me (us) to keep our home "show worthy" for more than 5 minutes straight that I had to flee the state and brave a 7 hour road trip with three children by myself just to get out of the way.

No parks seem to have teeter-totters anymore, I guess for liability or injury reasons, so I was thrilled to find a legit one, and so like duh, I had to take pictures.  And then we all proceeded to bonk and slam and injure ourselves - seriously all three children in the span of about five minutes.  But they loved it anyway, and I still think there should be more see-saws in the world, it's just that my kids have zero experience using them and therefore no sense.
 
The first warm sunny days of the year feel so damn good, don't they?
{Photo by June.}


This kid. Such a mix. Practically a baby in some ways, and yet she says and does other stuff well beyond her years. Like the three days of Spring Break when she spontaneously got up, showered and dressed as if she were heading off to work, and then showed up in our room to say good morning. (Why does this never happen on school days?)



The kids had a blast hanging out with my friend Kelly's kids, Miles and Evelyn, or "Elevyn", as June kept calling her.

Our best attempt at a group photo while we went to open gym time at the ARC.



Lots of hugs. This is about one of fifteen pictures like this that I could've used.

Did you know Shakespeare's has a special chute for throwing dough balls to eager children?



Fast friends. 

And then we fought over who got the purple dress, and it was time to go home.

March THREE

The point of this is to make myself take at least one photo a month that includes all three kids.  Once I've completed that task, I have a really hard time picking just one.  Which one is your favorite? (PHOTOGRAPH, not CHILD!)  I think that together they tell a story best. 

January THREE

Yes, it is the middle of February, but I have a good reason for being behind. We're moving.

Well, we're trying to move, anyway. Our place is not yet on the market, but it will be soon, so the process of getting it "show worthy" is somewhat consuming our lives. My favorite saying right now is, "Cleaning with children in the house is like brushing your teeth while eating Oreos." So true. 

Also, there is the minor detail that we do not know exactly where we're headed. The western suburbs, that much seems clear. However, getting to know these communities and picking one, much less an actual house, has been rather overwhelming to me. I think it doesn't help that I didn't grow up around here, or even in a major metropolitan area that has suburbs, for that matter. The whole prospect of moving is a bit of a leap of faith for me. Don't get me wrong, Joe and I are in agreement that this is the right thing to do and the right time to do it for our family. But I'd be lying if I didn't admit to feeling hesitant. I like our life here and I like our place. Change is kinda scary. 

Now that we've started house shopping, my fears and negative attitude are starting to dissipate. I think once I can picture us living in a new home it will be easier to focus more on what lies ahead, rather than on what we're leaving behind.

So, there you have it.  The news from these parts (for those of you who didn't already know).  At least we have packed the essentials. 

[Note:  repeatedly getting in and out of these sealed storage containers was their idea of fun, not mine.  No children were harmed in the taking of this photograph.]

December THREE

Well, that was a first. Our heat was off on the 3rd of December. On purpose.

September THREE and October THREE

Did anyone else notice that I neglected to keep up with this little monthly to-do?  Probably not, but things like that really hang over my head.  I ought to stop beating myself up for missing artificial deadlines and breaking "rules" that I invented in the first place.   

These pictures from Millenium Park are really from the very end of August, so I'm cheating.  Wait, there I go again.


These next two are pretty accurate. 


We've had some chilly October afternoons.  I spent too much money on this hat for Waylon, because I love this hat so much I might divorce Joe and marry it if I could.  For that, it gets a solo shot.   

Time Marches On

I think most of you already know this, but I feel like I have to say it here at least once, so here goes.  My dad died last Thursday.  It's been a rough week, but we're getting through it. 

Here's a little catch-up post to get this blog going again:  my belated May calendar page and belated June THREE entry. 


Oh, Waylon. If you only knew how dedicated I am to this stupid photography project. Sigh.


And just for fun, here's a "June nine" photo from the same day, which was actually June four. Everyone still following along?

Sara, Tom, Margaret, Fred, Bryce - it was great seeing you all. Wish it had been under better circumstances.

May THREE

Front stoop just before it started raining and the girls decided they wanted to go to the park anyway, so we did. Fortunately, the rain was short-lived, and the sky afterwards was spectacular.

April THREE

Gotta look closely, but they're all there.

Mother of the Year selection committee update: I got June all dressed and ready for preschool today, packed her lunch, drove her there, and only upon pulling into the empty parking lot did it dawn on me that it is SPRING BREAK. Woops, turn around. As you can tell, we've got tons of exciting stuff planned. Ha!

March THREE

There is nothing quite like the humidity, warmth, and strong scent of soil in the Palm Room at the Garfield Park Conservatory on a snowy, windy day. It feels good for the soul.

Technical Note: Hey, you techie types, does anyone know why my pictures look every so slightly more grainy and less crisp when posted to this blog than they do on Flickr? (Click through to Flickr to see what I'm talking about. It's subtle but driving me crazy.) Someone suggested that it has something to do with the column width of the blog? Which may be true, but I don't know how to fix that. Also, this site is in need of a facelift since it hasn't changed in several years, but one time ages ago I monkeyed with the column width, so now I'm afraid if I pick a new blogger template that the whole blog will be screwed up or evaporate or something. Help! I'm tech clueless.

February THREE

It is so not the third anymore. But here's what I got yesterday. Oh, and my apologies because I'm totally becoming one of those people who prefers my iPhone camera to my point and shoot and will therefore likely be posting weirdly filtered pics and passing them off as "artsy" until one day I wake up and realize that the reason most photos these days don't look like they were taken in the 70's is that a lot of photos actually taken in the 70's were probably more "poor quality" than "artsy" per se. Anyway, do you like the new ottoman? Got it on Overstock and had it recovered in houndstooth.