It’s summer!

(more…)

Happy Mother’s Day, internet! I planted my traditional flower pots and vegetables. The flowers will traditionally look beautiful on the front steps and the vegetables will traditionally die before I ever see a single tomato or eggplant. But I wouldn’t want to stop planting them. It’s tradition.

Sunday:

Super sunny soccer game

I told them not to try chasing it.

So happy to be OUTSIDE

Bonus Sunday picture: Caroline goes “LOOK, ITS BABY LINC!”

Monday:

Playing Star Wars…

Watching Star Wars…

Wearing Star Wars. May the Fourth!

Tuesday:

Still recovering from doing ALL THE THINGS over the weekend

We are becoming experts at this back wrapping thing

This is the face he makes when he sees Caroline get off the bus

Wednesday:

These are my ridiculous new pants. I love them. I wore them to the dentist.

Sweaty nap head

Taking a walk down by the river

Thursday:

Doesn’t everyone eat their cheerios in the doorway?

Clingy McClingerson

The filthiest child

Friday:

Sleepy snuggles

She wasn’t happy about the bib, but that was already her third outfit of the day

The family that slides together, ends up in a big pile of crying children together.

Saturday:

You can’t tell, but he’s crying. Because some of his Cheerios fell on the floor. Because he threw them there.

Somehow, she did not fall in.

That is not the face of a healthy child. Poor baby had fifths disease (we think) but once you get the rash you’re not contagious anymore.

I really wanted to get a picture of myself with the kids for Mother’s Day, but that didn’t happen. There were too many meltdowns, too many dirty faces, too many things to do, too many kids to wrangle. But while we were making s’mores for dinner both Evan and Caroline said THEY were having the best day ever, so at least the kids enjoyed their day. If that’s not basically what motherhood breaks down to then I don’t know what it.

I have both Easter pictures and Evan’s birthday post to write, but instead of eating Easter candy I stole from the kids and sitting on the couch this morning I went for a walk. I am feeling the “summer is coming” stress and really regreting bascially everything I’ve eaten for the last 9 months, so I’m making a conscious effort to increase my activity level and decrease my candy consumption. At least I will, after all these Reeses Eggs are gone.

Sunday:

When it comes to vintage spring dresses, she’s covered

HEY GUYS I FOUND THE EGGS THEY’RE OVER HERE

I sold this wrap. I’m pretty sure it was because of this picture.

Monday:

We did this a lot this week

No, that’s not disturbing

This art is delicious

Tuesday:

That’s supposed to be MY spot

Happy to be outside

WTF is this? It doesn’t look like nursies.

Wednesday:

Caroline the creeper

Every. Single. Wall.

Sad baby needs daddy cuddles

Thursday:

He loves the baby in the mirror

Porch ennui

LASHES

Friday:

The kids have asked to have this happen again EVERY DAY since

Neither of these children plays piano

Sure. Go ahead and eat that cardboard. Hashtag third child.

Saturday:

Saturday morning photo session

Why are you letting this goat eat me?

I’m going to steal this one.

I need a weekend to recover from our super busy weekend. I also need the weather to get above 70 degrees just for ONE DAY so I can open every window in the house. “Fresh linen” scented candles can only do so much when you haven’t had any fresh air inside in 6 months. Plus we all pretty much permanently smell like goats, so that’s not helping.

A few weeks ago a friend posted a photo on Facebook of her daughter surrounded by baby goats. I clicked the picture, which was geo-tagged, which led to a place name, which I then typed into Facebook and their page popped up. (Technology, man!) It turns out the place with the baby goats is called Oak Leaf Dairy and it’s only 20 minutes from my house. So after ballet class on Saturday I forced my family into their coats and put the directions into my phone and said “WE’RE GOING TO SEE GOATS EVERYONE IN THE CAR.”

I have about a 20% success rate with Family Fun Days. 80% of the time I am slightly-to-very disappointed because the Family Fun I had pictured never materialises. The kids are hungry, the weather is bad, my husband doesn’t think “wandering” or “browsing” count as fun activities at all. The more kids we add the more often I am stressed instead of relaxed and the picture perfect day trips I image for our family ends with everyone just needing a nap and a break from each other. It’s something I struggle with a lot – I WANT to be a family that loves to do lots of things together but most of the time we do better just watching a movie. That’s not much of a photo-worthy occasion.

BUT. Sometimes. Sometimes everyone remembers that they actually like each other and we have an awesome time.

The goats were an awesome time. Oak Leaf Dairy gets an A+ for Family Fun.

Since it was snowing/raining we didn’t get to walk around the farm for the full tour, but we spent more than an hour in the baby goat shed just cuddling and petting baby goats. You can hold the goats. You HAVE to hold the goats, because they will literally leap into your lap. They also nibble your clothes and hair and phone and shoes but they have baby goat teeth and it doesn’t hurt. There were tiny babies literally born THAT morning in a separate quiet pen but the children could climb in and out of the other stalls (if they WANTED to be covered in goats) or hang out in the main room if they wanted a little more space. There were a few other people there and they were all as overwhelmed with the adorableness as we were – one of them FaceTimed her sister to show her how much fun the kids were having playing with the goats. Even my husband, who rolls his eyes at everything, loved the baby goats. BABY GOATS ARE THE BEST.

I would like to recommend baby goat therapy be added to Ways To Avoid Hating Everything.

After we got in our baby goat time – even Lincoln liked petting the baby goats – we stopped at the cheese room to try out some samples: aged cheddar, cheddar curds, 4 kinds of chevre, feta, and caramel sauce. They also sell soap, but we couldn’t eat that so we didn’t buy any. We DID buy an obscene amount of everything else and then stopped for bread and ice cream on the way home so we would have cheese and caramel mouth-delivery devices.

It was an excellent Family Fun Day and we are going back as soon as possible.

It’s March now, so why is it snowing?

Sunday:

Multi-tasking: Nursing and yoga

Baby’s first official dance party

Help-yourself candy bar totally blew their mind

Monday:

STOP THINKING ABOUT CRAWLING

First successful crib nap!!

Big version, little version

Tuesday:

She is not so sure about this side-swept bangs look

Old Man Lincoln demands you get the GOOD cheese, not the STORE BRAND cheese, you hear me young lady?

Luck o’the Davises

Wednesday:

I’m super thrilled about her new favorite game

Making sure he loves fish as much as I do

WHERE’S WALDO?

Thursday:

LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF I CAN PUT IN MY MOUTH

So over me

Evan obviously needs boots

Friday:

We are both bad at lipstick

Guilty face

Now that’s impressive baby wearing

Saturday:

No I will not stop taking pictures of his eyelashes

Go ahead and judge my dinner choices but also please judge these IDIOTS who don’t know how to PULL FORWARD in the line.

The, uh, face of a kid who ate three tacos

It’s snowing. Again. I haven’t heard a single plow, so I’m assuming we’ll have a delay in the morning if not a cancelation. If they can get the roads even the least bit clear I am dragging my children out to someplace public, like the aquarium or the seaport, so I can wear them out and escape my house. I am really, really tired of my house. I am having the urge to repaint and redecorate ever room again, which is expensive and also mostly impossible with three kids to keep track of. It’s more likely I will just throw out a LOT of stuff in the next couple weeks. Does anyone want 47 souvenir glasses from various restaurants and a huge pile of baby advice books?