happy anniversary

Yesterday the day started out with our cocoon having hatched into a gorgeous butterfly.

We showed our next door neighbors who actually taught us about caterpillars in the first place. The kids spotted him at the picnic table and ran to show him, the went running to pound on the door with their glass with the cheesecloth and rubber band to show her.


Then we let it go in the wildflower patch in the garden. I waited a while to get a picture of the inside of the wings, which are a gorgeous maroon, but the wings were still drying, not ready.

When I went out in half an hour, the butterfly was gone, off enjoying a July morning as a spectacularly beautiful butterfly, doing whatever they do.

All that I found was these bugs fooling around.


Then we got the house straightened up, the clean clothes put away, the dishwasher dealt with, and then I made the decision to NOT wash the kitchen floor and go to the little pool instead.

We can't get there again until Tuesday, and you know? To hell with the kitchen floor. It camouflages everything nicely and let's get out of here.

So we swam instead.



And then at suppertime everyone came for a celebration of our parents' 50th anniversary.

What?


Yes, fifty years of the two of them.


here they are going through the memory book

The evening was just fun, and the meal was pretty delicious too. My mom and my dad, my sister and brother and me, all the kids and their kids were here, and it was the best Friday ever.


I wrote this a long time ago,

"We want families where all the people can grow together, where we can all seek our potential and be ourselves, where generations overlap, so that we know for certain because we see it with our own eyes, that love is continuous, and extends backward and forward in time. It was a foundation underneath our lives long before we were ever born and will continue flowing after we are gone."

Happy 50th anniversary, you guys.



a picture with the grandkids, great grandkids, inlaws, everyone

Thanks for making everything you see around you possible.

love, Val

party at grandma's

t.c. = that character

We had a party today, a big old kid party, though that wasn't the plan starting out.

John called late in the morning and asked if he could drop his kids off. Dannell has sick grandparents and had to go to the hospital.

Absolutely.

So there were freeze pops and the sprinkler, and kids in the sandbox, and gymnastics in the grass, lots of laughing and racing around.



I tried twice to get b.g. to rest and take a nap, and he was NOT in the frame of mind to do anything of the kind.

Even with the house quieted down, generous amounts of milk, and his blanket, no way in hell was he taking any nap. After a few minutes of him coming at me like a Spider Monkey, it felt just mean-spirited making him lie down when he objected this much, and I couldn't do it.


Wimp.

Yes, I know.

(I have an old friend who told me kids affect our behavior far more than we affect theirs. I can see this--they're much more single-minded in their purpose in the moment.)



Okay, and here's a dumb story for you:

Last night Jay called me while I was working, which he never does. Never. Maybe a text once in a while, but never calls.

Of course I answered and there he was, "Tim was jumping on the bed and might have swallowed a battery. I need to call Poison Control, don't I?"

"Yeah."

Okay, but ponder on the dumbness of that.

He's jumping on the bed and a battery is in his mouth? He accidentally swallowed a battery some months back and didn't tell us until the battery was out. Okay, that was a family incident. Who eats batteries?

We've HAD this conversation. (The battery caused him no harm.)

But it's so annoying. Why is he in James' room, in James' stuff, jumping on a bed, WITH BATTERIES IN HIS MOUTH?

I'm not gonna lie. Things like this make me nuts.

Tim admitted he wasn't sure if he'd swallowed the battery. In the mayhem, it was in his mouth and then not. They searched the sheets, the floor, and found the battery. It flew out of his mouth. Poison Control was not needed.

Good Lor-ED.

an old picture, but nothing has changed

Oh, but there's more.

Yesterday I had an empty mint container from my purse and put it on the dining room table, intending to throw it away. Julia asked if she could have it. Of course, sure.

Well, a little later, there they were with it and it was clacking like it had mints in it again.

Well, no.

They'd filled it with children's Flintstones vitamins.

"Okay, vitamins are toxic if you eat a bunch. How many vitamins did you kids eat? You cannot eat vitamins like mints. I'll buy you damned mints if you want, but, blah, blah, blah." (I was ranting, true.)

They confessed to eating each two--not a lethal amount.

I took it all away, and threw away all the vitamins. Obviously nobody in this house is malnourished. We don't need them. And for good measure I threw away the mint container too, in case they decided to fill it with tylenol tablets or sudafed.

Even Imodium pills could do them in good. Think about that for a minute.

I mean, really now.

My mom was even mad about all this when I told her, "I understood the first part about jumping on the bed, but the part about batteries?! What's he doing with batteries in his mouth? Have these kids no sense of self-preservation?"

She offered to come over and help me this afternoon and I thanked her, but told her the kind of help I need is Professional Mental Help.

We laughed.

Kind of--strange laughter, a little maniacal.

You'd think by the ninth and tenth children, I'd be better at this, but no.

jimmy and a couple nephews

All is well. The grandchildren had fun, and all went home in one piece.

l.c. which stands specifically for little cutie.

heidi's baby, p.j.

No batteries were eaten, nor an excessive number of vitamins.

Afterward, we tackled this house like the team of eight that we are now, and in preparation for my parent's 50th anniversary party tomorrow, the lawn is mowed and the weeds are whacked.

I cleaned all four bathrooms in succession, which I only do when company is coming.

The dog hair has been battled back on every front.

Little Jay took his long, skinny arms and whapped down all the cobwebs he could find.

Big Jay cooked and chopped and let us snitch bites from the edges.


Now Julia and I will frost the cake, and the laundry will keep on churning, and if I were in the car, I'd have the roof open and be enjoying the sweetness of a warm summer night.

But a hot kitchen works just as well.

Glad for grandkids, actual kids, disasters averted, and parents married half a century, and for grandparents struggling with health issues also.


Plus, I mean, come on now--tomorrow is Friday--in 30 minutes it'll be tomorrow. Married 50 years on a Friday? That has to be super good luck. love forever and always, Val

perfect july

Aaaah.




The little pool was perfect today, nice and warm, but not miserably hot. It was sunny, but not to the extent it hurt our eyes.




I brought Maria along to help lifeguard b.g. One baby at the pool, I can manage. Two? No.


But then she got tired.


These two are enjoying a moment of reflection. She plugged his snorkel, and then he hit her over the head with a kickboard.

Whee.

Let's think about being nicer.



Okay, and this guy:


I was dipping p.g.'s toes in the water, and he was roaming around with Maria on his tail. Then I felt little arms around the back of my neck, and his face against my shoulder.

I said, "I love you, Buddy."

And in my ear I heard, "I luff do, Gamma."

Oh. My.

Mmm, mmm, mmm. love, Val

the holiday

We had movies before bed.

Slept late in the morning.



Art.



We had a visit from my grandma. That's her, holding my grandbaby.




There was a kooky fashion show.






Some of this,




and some of that.




And these chickens were pretty cool. The kids argued over naming them, but in the end, I saw a list of names tacked to the wall, made me laugh.


Thanks Mom and Dad for a gorgeous weekend, for feeding us well, and putting up with us. We had so much fun. Onward, July! love always, Val

that kind of a weekend

Perfect quiet, and sunshine, and peace. love, Val

a crowd at the pool

This little peanut came with us today.

Often we have the pool pretty much to ourselves. Not today. That water has warmed up nicely too.




She liked it, but the sun was so bright on the cement and white enamel that it really was a little uncomfortable on the eyes.

And now it's Friday night, and Jay is cooking, and I'm cleaning, and the storms keep rolling through.

I guess John and Dannell and Dan and Alicia and all their kids are up at the cabin without any power, hiding in the shower house when the storms turn vicious. Trees are down.

It could be a long night there. I'm going to call now and check up on them.

Today was a fine Friday, but tonight is definitely not. love you kids, Mom