god willin and the creek don't rise...

i have two hours.

two hours until i escape from the nuthouse and head into boston to see ray lamontagne and david gray at the bank of america pavilion with lee and kate. !!!!! i could not be more excited.

some tunes in my new ride, a little dinner in the city, music on the waterfront, time with other adult females whom i quite enjoy?!

i think i might be dreaming.

until i realize i haven't finished putting away the groceries, or flipped the laundry, or unloaded & loaded the dishwasher, or watered the garden or flowers or shrubs, or prepped all the meat i bought at the grocery store OR showered and gotten ready. (not like dave cares, and i don't know about you other moms, but i can't leave a mess and then go out and live it up. what's up with that guilt?! i'd leave it any other day for any number of other reasons...)

SO. i shouldn't be sitting here, eh?

except i needed a moment to rest my back so i can handle this oppressive heat and get it DONE. ready set...GO.

and while i'm at it, buy every CD they ever made.

straight up

let's be frank: i think i might need one of these

today: was 95 degrees and humid
and: i am almost 6 months pregnant
with: poison ivy on my arm...and hand...and face (spreading, in the heat, as it does)
and? i decided to have a yard sale today.

which was a great success, thanks to our friends cody and nickey.
who are awesome, and occupied our children allllll day.

and i don't always recognize that i overexert or overextend, but yesterday setting up (with the help of nickey, thank goodness) and today being out for 8 hours, setting up, pricing, peddling wares, cleaning up, and re-orging the garage...i actually realized that i AM in fact, a little crazy.

it's good that at least i know i have a problem...right?

whoa whoa.

wait- is piper really turning 2 on friday?!

and am i really 5 1/2 months pregnant?!

and have i seriously only blogged 8 times since the beginning of may?!

and did i really just consider writing back-dated blogs?! (yes. i did. and i really just may, so watch out.)

blogging is a funny thing, and i honestly do blog as much for myself as i do for family, friends, and the occasional random person. i want to remember this crazy time in life, because i already don't know what exactly has absorbed my time since may.

so i'm going to recount our busy lazy days of summer.
where we've been, and what we've been doing.
right now.
before i forget.


let's start with baby. as you know,

which we recently discovered at one of my innumerable appointments at BIDMC in boston. YAY! is it november yet??

and then there was eli's 4th birthday party (i owe him a birthday post, and like i said, don't think i won't back date one)

of course, he chose a star wars theme, and we spent a very warm and sunny afternoon with all of eli's favorite (and my favorite) people, swinging light sabers at darth vader's pinata head and having squirt gun fights. WAY fun.

then there's our couple's group every other friday, filled with the best people ever, where we get to talk about our marriages and books like this one, which is the one i'm trying my best not to ruin over the next few weeks


and there's the moms group, which i try to organize meetings for twice a month. moms need other moms. these get togethers are good for the soul, for serious. you want to come? hit me up!


and there was our trip to florida. which was so so SO fabulous. and even relaxing. and beautiful, and exactly what our little family needed. we got to celebrate dave's grandmas birthday, and elias and piper were especially ecstatic to see dave's "cussins"




happy 90th birthday grandma skip!

and then there are fun days out to places like the artesani water park in brighton with our friends, the bazdars. this place is awesome. you should go.


and trips to the beach with some of my kids' very favorite people (and my favorite people)


and parties! graduation parties, welcome home parties, tons of birthday parties...man, we've been partying like it's 1999.

and in between we've painted our skin blue like avatars

and done a fair amount of swimming in nana and gp's pool with family


and made as many spontaneous trips to the beach as possible. like dennisport last week to see the shea's. oh, how we LOVE the beach.



and when we're not planning fundraisers, or hosting small groups, or enjoying time with friends, doing play dates and spending time with family and as a family, or doing house projects (more on that soon)?

well, we're goofing off.
because that's what this mom likes to do in those stolen moments.

the real diehl

i know, i know. i couldn't help myself with the homophone. it's just true: john diehl is the real deal.

i asked johnny if he's mind if i spotlighted him on my blog in light of his very own art gallery opening celebration tonight. at 28 years old. right?! yeah...it's like that.

i've always been a big fan of johns and have followed his art career for almost a decade, from when he used to sketch me in college (i was more than happy to be his muse), to when he studied at RISD and then in florence, italy. i told him the other day that i was proud of him, and not in a mothering or patronizing way, but in a friendly, awe-inspired, impressed, and amazed kind of way. and i am, because God has gifted him immoderately, and that is something to celebrate.

so tonight, along with droves of others, will be spending the evening with a wine glass to say "salut!" a very talented artist. want to see for yourself? check out his website or his blog or his facebook page. see what i'm talking about. and if you're local, you should come check out all of the amazing pieces adorning the walls of mr. diehl's very own art gallery (if you're not already, all you wbhs alums) :) and if you're not local, you should go shopping online and get yourself an original for that empty space above the couch.

see you there!

a legitimate amount of cuteness.

here's a photo story of the past few days. we've been enjoying this beautiful weather, and our friends and family. it's hard to drag myself inside to write, even though i love to write, but there is a legitimate amount of cuteness to be shared. here we go:

here's elias and pip in their "sunday best." i figured i ought to hurry up and capture them before elias "gets dierdy" and piper drools everywhere. the best of the bunch will hopefully be going out in a spring mailing. before it's...well, summer.

sunday afternoon, dave's aunt carolyn, uncle ted, and cousin daina came by on their way back from daina's apartment in coolidge corner to their home in new york so we could all kiss and hug daina before she leaves for nicaragua with the peace corps. isn't that awesome? daina's cool like that, but elias sure is going to miss her. he loves daina- and elyse (in the video i put in at the end of the post, he sweetly asks where elyse was...cute), so he was happy to play with her, and ran screaming and crying when she left- dramatic and honest, my boy is. we had a nice afternoon drinking iced tea and chatting. here's the kids playing and wrestling. and playing peek-a-boo in the video below.

don't they look innocent? ohh, the lies we believe...

"my co-sinn daina" as elias calls her

daina, piper (mostly her bum, actually), eli, me, and davey

pippa attacking elias- trying to, i don't know, eat his face?

piper's got some wrestling moves, too.

we dedicated our monday to garden planting and preparation. really- gardening is not as simple as it seems. the research to make sure the plants are seeded properly either inside or outside, the planning to know how much light they'll need, how big/tall/wide they'll grow, getting the soil ready, the fence up, the gate made, the layout laid out, the watering, the nurturing. i think i just took on about 100 new babies- except they're plants. i think it will be worth it once i get over the learning curve...i guess i just didn't realize how curvy the curve is. here's dada and elias getting some tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers ready. (we've managed to add peppers, corn, lettuce, and maybe onions to our repertoire. yeah- we may need a farm stand...)

hey eli, you've got a little something on your face, bud :)

my flowers. i love purple, but only in flowers, really.


"big helper"

tuesdays are my friend leelee and i's play date day. ever since elias and cadence were small, we try to get together once a week to escape mommy prison. err, i mean, to socialize and stay connected. here's jaxon and pippa today.

jaxon's like "uhh, what are you doing, girl?"

elias and cadence...playing in the dirt piles. of course.

this is eli and piper wrestling and playing peek-a-boo on sunday when dave's family came for a visit. pretty cute, really.

the madness.

you all know about the madness, right?

the kind of times in life where you turn around and it's been an entire week? and you don't have any idea where all the time went, exactly?

well. this past week i've been living in the madness. and currently, the war of madness wages on. between not sleeping, because my daughter likes to cry about 6 times every night (get her OUT of my room!), elias getting sick last night and this morning, throwing up...well, everywhere, having play dates (yesterday at monkey joes with ams! and tuesday with lee), trying to finish piper's room, and having dinner guests or plans every day since friday...

i'm spent. more than spent. and i'm sitting here feeling nauseous, just like i have for the past two weeks (oh no, i'm not pregnant...i checked.) and wondering if it's because i'm blimey exhausted or because elias is lending me his sick germs. time will tell :)

(side note: eli calls pukies "mukies" which is about the only cute thing about kids throwing up.)

on the plus side, elias slept through the night last night, even though he still got sick twice already this morning. piper, on the other hand...she did not. what happened to my 2 month old baby that slept through the night!? somebody find her and give her back! and truly, it's been a great week, despite the exhaustion. don't let me fool you with my downtrodden inclinations.

we had a great couples group meeting friday, elias played with our friends (and his obsession) drew and deanna saturday, which gave me a nice break, we had a some really honest and meaningful conversation with our friends jeff and savannah sunday night, we made some progress in piper's room (room is painted, crib is almost painted) on monday, eli and piper got to play with cadence, jaxon, benjamin, and baby lucas this week, i got to take the kids shopping with my mum to find her some new shorts (i love shopping for other people. i considered being a personal shopper at one time. seriously.), and we had dinner with our friends (and eli's infatuation) beth and matt, AND i've sold a couple things on craigslist.

and in all the madness of having piper's room strewn about, now i have pukey laundry, bedding, and the like scattered everywhere. not to mention piled up laundry, and the fact that my daughter, who i've deprived of naps because, darn it, i want to be social, is awake upstairs after a 45 minute nap. grrrr...not gonna cut it. c'mon, piper- SOMEONE'S gotta sleep around here!

but you know what? i'm no defeated mama!

it doesn't matter what our circumstances are, does it? we can do ALL things through Christ who gives us strength. i can't do weeks like these alone. i can't find kind or good words to say in the midst of exhaustion and puking kids. but i CAN with Jesus strength! i can say positive things, i can rely on him instead of myself, and i HAVE to, because if i don't, the madness gets hopeless and suffocating and heavy.

and despite this past week, and if you can see through any of my complaining, i am trying my best to tell myself that sleep will come, wellness will come, and my house will eventually be put back together. and what matters the most is how i can act in and through it.

so i'm gonna hold my boy and snuggle the heck out of him, and i might even brave the outdoors with him and piper so they can get some fresh air! because mamas hold it all together. and i can serve and take care of my little love doves EVEN if i don't feel like i can...or that i want to ;)

as mums, maybe our trials aren't 40 days in a desert, but they are challenging. what do you all do to make it through the madness?

1 Peter 4:11 says "If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ."

tuesday play dates

just about every tuesday for some time now, my bestest friend leelee and i get together for a play date. we keep getting pregnant together (coincidence?), and we each have a girl and a boy- elias and cadence, both 2 1/2, & jaxon, 8 months, and piper, 6 months. ever since eli and cadie were babes, we've tried to get together once a week to maintain our sanity, our connection, and our adult intelligence (many times via the hot mamma book club)

mostly, we chase our two year olds, bust up fights, feed infants, prepare lunches, and try to keep ahead of the toy trail. we reprimand, counsel, and negotiate. we try to encourage sharing and discourage screaming, hitting, and whining.

we don't always get to do a lot of chatting.

but today...today was different.

our children were fairly quiet. they played nicely together. they shared toys- i mean, they literally asked one another to take a turn. there was no screaming. they ate their lunches without persuasion or bribery. there were no wrestling moves (elias). there was no whining (cadence). there were no melt-downs, no fits of rage, no major issues. jaxon played quietly, piper slept the entire time.

HALLELUJAH!

it was so...nice.
so...enjoyable.
so...different.

cheers to play dates and cheers to friends! i'm so glad i know some beautiful young mamas to share in my journey with. near or far.

how else could we ever survive?

family fun-day mondays

since dave became a lead pastor two years ago, he has taken mondays as his sabbath. we call them "fun-day mondays". i'm pretty sure that it was leelee who coined it as so ;) it's our sacred day where we don't talk church (trust me, we talk a lot of church. not in a bad way. really. just A LOT. it's his job, you know. and what we do is a lot of who we are, isn't it?) and we just enjoy each other and our love doves. this is what we usually do:

sometimes we go out and get breakfast at a little place down the road called the milk bottle. i call it the milky bottle. their breakfast is oh so good, and it's quiet, and quaint, and inexpensive. bliss.

we typically go to the library each monday to get elias some new books and usually a new movie of sorts. whatever he's into at the moment ("the yi-yon show!" [madagascar], books about "fiyrtrucks", "nemo shuckbite {sharkbait} show!" [finding nemo], etc). he'll run and look at books, find one with a jacket that looks interesting and say "read it to me, mummy!" as he takes a seat at one of their mini tables. so cute. we love the library. i typically take out magazines. maybe better homes and gardens...or this old house (now i subscribe, actually, so no longer)...sometimes people if it looks interesting :) dave tends to read sci-fi series. he takes out books that are like 800 pages. it's his favorite "non-church" reading. i like to buy books much more than take them out of the library (unless they're fiction) because i like to write in books, and the librarians tend not to appreciate that so much. so i'll take them out to see if i want to buy them. and then i go on amazon and buy a nice used copy. i think it's brilliant because there's nothing worse than buying a book and thinking "way to go author, you said nothing i haven't heard a bazillion times already."

we tend to hit up wal-mart on mondays ("wul-maht!!!") for diapers and other randoms. elias loves that they have a "doy stoah" (toy store) inside. he lays around in the aisles like he lives there, presses every button he can find, whacks me with swords, and desperately pleads for me to "take it out mummy" so he can play with the toys for real.

then we come home for lunch and nap time, then sometimes we'll watch a show or take a nap, or i'll do laundry and dave will read, or any number of combinations. today davey fell asleep watching the rest of the football game we didn't finish last night (on TiVo {best xmas gift ever}) and i am blogging/doing laundry/cleaning up the house. both kids are sleeping. GLORIOUS!

and the icing on this delicious cake? i'm going out with leelee for girl time tonight!! back to our old stomping ground: burlington coat factory for some cheap but chic accessories to glam up our house dresses, and then hopefully to the better bean (formerly the daily grind, or dg, as we called it. much better name, i think, but they never ran it by me to see what i thought) for a latte. we never get lattes, but i consider all yummy coffee-type beverages lattes. it just sounds better than saying "i'm going out to get a coffee." boring.

mondays are my favorite. it's like having a day where we don't exist. no one is looking for us, no one needs us. well, except scibbles and bibbles. but that's okay. we love them, so we're cool with fulfilling their basic needs for food, rest, and play.

life is good. but life is even better on mondays.