Have I mentioned how much I absolutely adore spring?  And the fact that we have a big, beautiful yard and an awesome swing set.  And the fact that the people who owned the house before us allowed wildflowers to grow freely in the grass, and planted tons of random flowers in beds all around the yard so that there's ALWAYS something in bloom.

It's like heaven for Cecilia (although there's no moonbounce, so not quite heaven I suppose...)

These must be the teeny tiniest wildflowers ever - what I see as weeds, she sees as precious and beautiful, and she will carry them around for HOURS until she's ready to put them in a vase or a bowl.

She and John Paul spend hours out there picking flowers, "planting" various "seeds," finding the most creative way possible to play on the swing set ("chain to chain" is their current favorite game, in which they attempt to cross from the 4th swing to the 1st without touching the ground, only using the chains for balance)...

They picked flowers from an azalea bush and very carefully planted them all around the dogwood tree, making sure to water them when they were done.

Our bud vases overflow.  

Every day that they come inside with dirt under their fingernails and mud on their clothes, I consider it a day well-spent.  And I adore watching them play out there - their relationship is fascinating to watch develop, and it's amazing how little they bicker when they're outside together, exploring all that the yard has to offer.  

I'm going to ruin this photo by telling you that I said, "John Paul, if you want to be in a picture, why don't you put your arm around Cecilia?"
"*Sigh* I suppose I could."

Is there anything better, do you think, than watching a 3-year-old collecting sticks to carry to the stick pile (her own idea), only to hear her proclaim, "WOOK!  I'm St. Bernadette!!!"

Or watching a 4-year-old collect azalea blossoms in his shirt and spill them out to you saying, "It's a miracle!  Roses in December!!!" (Juan Diego, anyone?)

Or watching them excitedly collecting the most precious flower they can find every Sunday morning to bring to the statue of Mary before Mass?

Or watching the 3-year-old shimmy up the mantle to give Mary the beautiful flower she found outside?

We are so blessed - so very blessed!  I do hope that all of you have the opportunity to let your kids roam free outdoors as much as possible.  I know it's not easy (or even remotely possible) in every situation, but I wouldn't trade the simple experience of siblings in a big backyard for much of anything :)

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter - because we've got pretty, happy, funny, and real in here!

Photo Dump! Babies Eating Watermelon, and Why I Don't Even Try Anymore...

I *think* spring weather is finally here to stay!  It wasn't even *that* warm this weekend, but we got out the water table and the kids had a blast (Mary Claire may have had a bit too much of a blast - every time I looked over, she was entirely in the thing, shoes and all)!

I had taken John Paul to the grocery store, just the two of us, and he REALLY wanted to get watermelon.  So we did, because it costs pretty much nothing...  And I was expecting the babies to LOVE it, because John Paul and Cecilia always have!

Elizabeth?  Not so much.  She's kind of hilarious - she has VERY strong opinions about everything these days, but will give a very polite "No." and shake her head about things if you ask her once.  Well, watermelon got several polite "no" responses from her.  I can't help but think that she might have enjoyed it better if she had tried the other end?  But we suggested, and she said "no" again...

Mary Claire was willing to take a bite, I think?  Mostly she was interested in getting as messy as possible.  The bib was her idea.  Clearly it worked wonders.

She is hilarious.  The babies are really into "Is Your Mama a Llama" these days, and if I ask Elizabeth the question she'll give me a very emphatic, nose-wrinkling "NOOOOOOOO!"  Adorable.

I think he probably ate more than half of it (we only got a quarter, I NEVER remember to use up the rest of it if we get a whole watermelon...).

Also, nice style, eh?

I was trying to get Mary Claire, but Cecilia was convinced she was my focus.

So she started posing...

And I had to try to get a picture!  

I did get *some* water table action - Mary Claire wanted to go for full immersion, John Paul and Cecilia wanted to fill the bucket and make the spinny thing spin, and Elizabeth?

She just stood there calmly with the same cup, scooping and pouring, scooping and pouring, a look of determination on her face the entire time.

...

And I was determined to get a WIWS this weekend, since my sister keeps complaining every time I don't...  So we dashed in the house and handed the camera to Andrew, who forgot that you can turn the camera on its side to get a full body-shot?

But it didn't matter anyway, since we kept being divebombed by sobbing babies who wanted to nurse, and me in a DISTINCTLY non-nursing-friendly dress...

And this is why I never get pictures anymore...

This:

Too sad to stand up.

Devastating.

7 Quick Takes: Because My Sister Will Have My Head if I Don't

You know what I'd rather be doing than writing these?  Finishing up Jennifer Fulwiler's book.  Really really really.



Something Other Than God

She's running a bunch of HUGE giveaways to celebrate the release, so you should go buy a copy!  I preordered mine and got it yesterday and love it!  And guess what?  I was hoping to be able to use Amazon Affiliate credit to purchase my copy, and right before my birthday I got an email with almost exactly the book price in Amazon credit, thanks to a couple months' worth of Amazon Affiliate credit.  Thank you all SO much for shopping through my page!!!  The link above is an affiliate link too, so if you want to buy aaaanything and click through that link, I get a tiny percentage and it really adds up sometimes!

Anyway, the book.  It's awesome.  And I stayed up WAY later than I meant to last night just to read "one more chapter" approximately 10 times...  And I want to read more now!

But my sister emailed me with a little passive-aggressive "excited to read your quick takes!" so, well, I have to...  But they're going to be QUICK, because the babies are napping and I need to shower!

--1--

Elizabeth brought "Beauty and the Beast" to me, and opened to the first page:

"Mawwy!  Jee-us!"

Um no kid, not every stained glass picture is Catholic...  But in her world, I suppose they all are!

--2--

This should have bought me more time than it did:

Water pouring is a perennial favorite, but then John Paul found an old hidden toy that had run out of batteries, so now that's what's buying me blogging time...

Nobody does bedhead like this kid.

--3--

And speaking of this kid?

One. Hot. Mess.  

All writing implements have been banned from their bedroom, because John Paul has shown that he thinks it's appropriate to draw on walls, furniture, whatever he wants.  Cecilia's dresser still says "Massachusetts" on it from his last escapade.  

Apparently though, he found a rogue crayon that had made its way into their bedroom, and drew this as "a warning to Cecilia."

Just to give you an idea of scale...  That's prooooobably a 3-foot mural, and there's more on the wall behind the bottom bunk.

So I'm gonna link it up with Blythe, because you better believe this is one hot mess.

--4--

His punishment?  No book in bed, and he doesn't get to nap in his room today (guest room instead, which he hates because it means he doesn't get to play with Cecilia instead of sleeping).

And the punishment was FAR worse for us, because he decided to come downstairs to our bedroom at midnight because...  I can't even remember, he needed something?  Maybe a book...  Andrew took care of that one.

And then at 3 am he came down AGAIN, because he needed to go to the bathroom.  

Mind you, he had to PASS a bathroom in order to get to our room.  And he has used the bathroom by himself in the middle of the night MANY times.

So I took him back upstairs, but he didn't want to sleep in his bed because "That wouldn't make me feel better!"

So I left him on the couch for a minute because Cecilia needed to use the potty.  And then he was ready to go back to bed, where he snuggled up to his giant Elmo doll (who has actually been helping keep him in his bed most nights, thank goodness) with his face rubbed up against the book he had gotten.

Cecilia giggled, "We can't use milk to write!!!"

And they both went back to sleep.  Lovely.

--5--

Losing steam...

This week's blog posts:

20+ Household Tasks for the Under-Five Crowd

What They Said: Volume 10

--6--

Sometimes I don't write Quick Takes because I waste all my time reading everyone else's Quick Takes...

--7--

Go check out more at Conversion Diary!

It's Going to Get Easier, and SOON: 20+ Household Tasks for the Under-Five Crowd

I've had this draft in the works for a while and keep being reminded of it with posts like Jenna's and Bonnie's!  Thank goodness for internet fellowship, am I right?  

You know the kind of blog post I love to read?  When moms of older kids remind us that being in the trenches is HARD, and that it will get easier.  But the light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away when you're told it gets easier when the oldest is 10 or 12 or 8 or whatever the magic number is...

"Oh great, only 6 more years!" I think.  At which point I may very well have 6 more children than I have now...  This tunnel seems so very long.

I have no doubt that things will get significantly easier when we reach that point, but in the past year I've noticed that it's getting easier even though my oldest is only 4!

It's the little things, you know?  Things like:

- Brushing their own teeth (with "silly brushing" a few times a week by parents to make sure they're being thorough - thanks for the idea, Micaela!)

- Choosing and putting on their own clothes in the morning (and putting jammies on at night)

And who doesn't love the outfits they pick?

- Putting away their own laundry

- Buckling and unbuckling their own car seats

- WIPING THEMSELVES AFTER USING THE TOILET!!!

- Washing their own hands thoroughly (a little too thoroughly sometimes...)

- Making lunch and snacks for themselves and their younger siblings

Maybe don't give them an entire Costco-sized container of oregano for their pizzas, though...

- Refilling sippy cups and fetching drinks for themselves

- Cleaning off the floor after meals, particularly when the babies drop a ton of food

- Watering plants in the garden (and being "hose boy" and "hose girl" and scrambling behind the bush to turn the hose on and off for me when I'm doing the heavy watering)

- Fetching herbs from the herb garden and washing and prepping the herbs for dinner



- Making side dishes for dinner - get them a crinkle cutter and the right ingredients and your kids can make veggie plates and caprese salad, no sweat!

- Collecting renegade shoes from around the house

- Recycling all the paper scraps from their self-guided "art projects"

- Wiping down tables and baseboards

Even the under-2 crowd can help with this one!

- Vacuuming up the messes that they (and their younger siblings) make (LOVE our cordless hand vacuum for this!)

- Sweeping the floor and vacuuming up the pile of dust and crumbs

- Fetching diapers and wipes for the babies

- Taking wet diapers to the wet bag

- Choosing clothes for the babies to wear in the mornings

- Putting on their own shoes, buttoning and zipping their own coats, packing the diaper bag, etc. before leaving the house

- Folding washcloths, towels, napkins, diapers, and stacking cloth wipes

The face says it all.

- "Supervising" the babies while watching TV so Mom can cook dinner in relative peace

- Loading and unloading the dishwasher (I only let them do silverware and their plastic dishes because our everyday dishes are VERY heavy and have been broken by over-zealous helpers)

My oldest will be 5 in July and does all of this.  The next is 3-and-a-quarter (and SUPER-mature) and does all of these things except buckle and unbuckle her own car seat, and that's just because the buckle is tricky even for ME.  And I don't *always* trust her to wipe herself...  Girls are a little trickier in that area!

Bonus: Eventually they'll be big enough to hold a baby with them on the swing!

It's not everything.  It's not even anything particularly huge, but when you look at how all these little things add up?  IT IS BIG. 

And when you're in the trenches with your 2-under-2 or 3-under-3 or 4-under-4, it seems like it will never get easier because they're all so helpless and really just do nothing for themselves except make messes.  But cultivating a general desire for order, and a general desire to "be a helper" is so huge in lightening your load, even just a little bit.

Life is still crazy, no doubt about it.  But I promise you, there will come a day in the near(ish) future when your 3-year-old keeps begging for more "tasks in the house" and you look in the kitchen to realize that your 4-year-old has laid out all the snacks and served all the children because he happened to be hungry in that moment...  And you didn't have to do anything!

Moms in the trenches and experienced moms - what are some ways your kids help out, even when they're not very old yet?

Amazon links are affiliate links - thanks for clicking through and purchasing to help me earn pennies and pennies for blogging!

What They Said, Volume 10

John Paul:  "M" drawings are my favorite kind of letter picture!

Me:  Why?

John Paul:  Because "M" is for "Mom" and I love you!!!

Some day he'll ask me to delete this picture from the internet...

John Paul, putting on my sunglasses: This filter is early bird!

Someone is a little too obsessed with instagram...

Cecilia:  Mom, I dwew Jesus' cwoss!  And I dwew a hat on da cwoss!  And I dwew a cwown of thorns on da cwoss!  And I dwew eggs!

Liturgical artist, coming right up.

JP: What if I went to the middle east and I went to the holy land and I visited there???

JP: We need to go to the middle east so that we can really act out the annunciation. To Mary's house!

Cecilia: 'Member when I saw a jawa with a star in my room?
Me: When you pretended there was one?
Cecilia: A dead jawa.
Me: When was this?
Cecilia: When I was under my sheet.

Mystery solved?  I don't think she even knows what a jawa is...

Cecilia: We want to have a moonbounce in the backyard and dat will be heaven.

Pretty much.

Me:  John Paul, who is your favorite person?

JP:  Grandpa!

Me:  And Cecilia, who is YOUR favorite person?

Cecilia:  TOE!!!

JP:  Toe is not a person!!!

Cecilia:  If my toe turns wed, we can put a band-aid on it, and dwaw a face on it, and it will be a person!!!

Brilliant, that child...

Cecilia:  Um, when we eat raw lentils, we don't even die!!!

Cecilia:  John Paul, ask me 'Do you like leggings or skirts better?'

JP:  D'you like leggings or skirts better?

Cecilia:  Skirts!  Because dey're better for twirling!!!

In a tender mood...

Cecilia: Mom, I love you...  All da time!

I love you in a rainbow...  

I love you in da sun...  

I love you in a...  ANTHILL!  

I love you in a...  BEEHIVE!!!!!!!!!

Yup, we've got the next Raffi here, folks!

Add your links below - I love reading all your posts :)