Me and My Daughter

At our first ever mother/daughter date Lindy was asked to fill out a little survey to see how well she knew her mom. She was supposed to answer the questions as I would answer them. I'm not sure if I should be very concerned or very proud:

During our "date" we both got ourselves some glitter toes, made some fantastic flip-flops, and Lindy made some peppermint bath salts. It was AWESOME!

Well, because I have an awesome daughter!

Exhibitionism

As a mother of three highly energetic children, I have been mercifully granted the gift of tuning out the incessant chatter of my beloved little ones. Minute by minute I am barraged by never-ending tidbits of information I simply can't process in this scattered brain of mine...therefore, I am typically grateful for the filtering system provided to me.

However, when my 8 year old screeches something like "Mom! Curtis is naked in the back yard!" it's usually good if I'm listening. This simple, yet important, statement requires immediate attention. Because having my three year-old standing outside in all his glory isn't necessarily something I can encourage, right?

(For the record, I didn't immediately reach for the camera. I ordered his nudist-self back in the confines of our home...but, since my camera was on the counter next to the door, I couldn't resist snapping a couple shots as he resolutely stood, hands on hips, enjoying his momentary freedom.)

Taking His Cue From Uncle Wade

(Let's pretend that I let his hair get this long on purpose...and not because I was lazy, okay?)

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls...

So, Curtis found a Sharpie today.

Apparently what you're looking at is a waterfall. A big, "beeeyoutifull" waterfall. Can you see it?

Me neither.

Side note: Just in case you're ever in a similar predicament...you can't clean off Sharpie. You can't paint over Sharpie. You have to buy a particular oil-based spray paint and prime those walls up before you can then paint over it all. FYI...just sharing the knowledge.

The Jones Family Goes Camping

Ian and I used to camp. Like, a lot. Something happened when we had kids, however. I suddenly became overwhelmingly aware of how much dirt actually covered the earth. And my offspring seemed far too willing to let the majority of the earth's surface fall into their mouth, on their clothes, in their ears...etc., etc., etc. Blame it on the OCD, but dirt and I suddenly had a falling out. Needless to say, our family hasn't done much camping in the last few years.

Last summer I suddenly felt an urge to get ourselves out in nature again. Ian and I discussed it and decided to go ahead and reserve a campsite super-early in the year so that we could a) have it on the calendar, and b) be able to choose a campsite suited to our little crew.

And it started out great. We did a little hiking (a.k.a. walking around and looking at sticks/rocks/bugs).

Curtis screamed a little for no reason.

We also invited some friends up to join us for dinner.

And then...it rained. At first we tried to ignore it. A little sprinkling can't hurt, right? Especially when you're cooking some delicious tinfoil dinners. Then it started raining a little harder. No worries...we tied the shade umbrellas up to the picnic table to give most of us a little spot to eat our dinner and still enjoy our time together. We were able to serve up a few dutch-oven scones (which I totally recommend, by the way) with some of Amy D's incredible honey-butter...

...while the kids ran amuck. Just a little bit.

Then...the skies opened up and the rain came tumbling down. We bid a hasty farewell to the Davidson's, threw all the food/etc. in the van and hunkered down in our tent. It was a wet and cold night (at least for me...Curtis decided he needed to steal my bed AND my blankets. I shivered on the hard ground for the majority of the night in a state of half-sleep while everyone else snored away...grrrr).

Morning eventually came and with it, the sun! Hallelujah! With the kids all bundled up, they were able to enjoy a little more hiking (a.k.a. walking around looking at sticks, rocks, and bugs, and playing with the flashlights).

Oh, and drinking WAY too much water.

While it may be a while before the memory of this particular trip fades...I'm sure the Jones family will eventually brave mother nature once again and find ourselves equally covered in dirt...and equally happy.