Thursday, September 25, 2014

sayonara summer uniform

As I type this it's raining out and somewhere around 65 degrees. Lame. Fall is here and, as much as I love it, I'm sad to put away summer clothes. Mainly, I'm sad to put away the boy's cutoffs.






It all started last summer when I was looking for summer shorts for Everett. I don't know what it is about little boys shorts, but they stink. Everything I found had 16,000 pockets, was too large, too long, or too big. So, I did the only thing I could thing of, which was go to Goodwill. I picked out 2 pair of jeans for like 2 bucks each and cut them off at the knee. And thus, my cutoff obsession began.



This spring I didn't need to go to Goodwill, instead Everett wore holes in 4 of his pants. It was even easier than the year before, because I only needed to cut off the back side of his jeans. I cut off a pair of Graham's jeans and may have cut off a few of mine too. Aaron started looking around and asking what in the world I was doing. No jeans were safe. ;) If you saw my kids this summer, you would've seen them in cutoffs. The kings of cutoffs perhaps, they didn't really have a choice.






I've learned a few things from cutting off jeans. First, choose skinny or straight jeans or your kid looks like a pirate. Second, mark where you want to cut the pants or you may cut daisy dukes for your 2 year old. Lastly, don't cut all of the pants of a certain size or you will have no pants for the next kid. Life lessons people, life lessons.




So long cutoffs. We will miss you. Until next year that is...

Thursday, September 11, 2014

two years of the Graham man

I don't even know where to start. This boy of ours. He is so much wrapped up into such a little thing. I liken Graham (and really my kids in general) to a volcano. It's like they lay dormant for the first year of life and then year two they explode. Graham did just that.



This year Graham has been wild, fun, hard, adorable, ornery, sweet, cuddly and crazy. He has had me wanting to just kiss and squeeze him to death and moments later wanting to sell him on craigslist. And then, he looks at me with this sweet face and I am kissing and squeezing him again. It's a vicious cycle. But that face, oh that face. I just melt every time I look at him.



Graham man,
You are making me a better mama. You're teaching me how to have patience and to pray more than I ever thought possible. You have the sweetest face and the sweetest voice. You love to do what Everett does and then often like to do your own thing. You are curious and strong willed. You love keys and balls and hats. You love holding my hand and, man, I love holding yours. You always want to be working and doing jobs.  You seem happiest when you're helping mama. You wander off and don't mind if anyone follows. You look like your daddy and eat like him too. You only use about 10 words, but always know what you want and how to get it. Life is busy and full and better because of you.




Happy 2 years my sweet baby. I'm madly in love with you, even and especially on hard days.

Mama

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

so long sweet summer

We had such a fun summer --- so full of family and friends and fun stuff.
Living on Stern Farm with Grammy and Pop. Feeding the horses. Learning how to swim. Riding bikes at Great Pops. Fishing with Pop pop Anderson. Exploring the burgh with Mimi and Pop. A trip to Canada. Learning how to ride a two wheeler. A trip to the cottage. Playing at the pond. Afternoons with cousins at the pool. Catching fireflies. Laying in the hammock. Afternoons at the Youngs. Eating dinner by the pool. Trips to the library. Cousin sleepovers. Picnics in the park. Ice cream dates with the Tulleners. Catching toads. Having a yard to play in and explore. Campfires and s'mores. Saying good bye to the Lusbys. Kennywood with the Anderson fam. Graham's little left arm run. Helping in Great pop's nursery. Getting a niece! Jumping off the diving board. Going to the Steelers/Eagles game. An afternoon of pony riding.

Summer, you will be missed. You were one of the best yet.