a serious complication...

...to our otherwise quiet (albeit SUNNY!) tuesday morning...

...this is lil grey kitter, in front of two very distraught little girls...

...lil grey kitter, again, and the little girls after telling me of the sad and traumatic event...can you see the concern in nea's face as she looks at her visibly upset big sister??

...and this is the scene of the crime, errr, trauma.

apparently lil grey kitter fell in the toilet water when she was potty-ing.

ikes!

and so this is where lil grey kitter (and horsey, big giraffey & doggy-woggy, too, who suffered from "the splash of lil grey kitter") will be for the next 40 minutes. followed by 38 minutes in the dryer. not exactly the way her morning was supposed to be. wren said that nea was holding lil grey kitter while she went potty, and that it was nea who dropped her in, and it was nea who then fished her out. of the yucky, cold toilet water!!!! not sure if lil grey kitter was more traumatized with her fall, or wren for having to watch nea put her hand in toilet water.

luckily it was clean water...
thankfully my girls flush when they really do use the toilet...

back at the y...

well...it's been 8 weeks since my surgery and today was the day to get back to the y to workout. last year we, as a family, did such a great job of going to the y. i took the girls swimming 2-3 times a week...karl and i would try to get there to workout 3-4 times a week. well...then i got to not feeling too well. and then we put our house on the market. and then we sold the blue house. and then we had to be packed and out. and then we found our new home. and then i had surgery. and then we were between homes for 2 weeks. and then we finally moved in. and the snow fell. and then more snow fell. and then it got really stinkin' cold. and then it got even colder. and so...we ran out of excuses. so we are finally back at the y...

13 days & counting...

...until someone i live with turns f-i-v-e. and, do you know how huge this is??!! i mean, i know that five is big...she is embarking on being just a "girl"...without an adjective, such as "little", in front of it. she will be in kindergarten next fall. i mean, i do get it. but my almost five year old apparently does not think i get it.

almost everyday (and sometimes more than once...meaning, like, double-digit number of times...) i get this question:

"momma?" she asks.

"yes?" i reply.

"does this shirt/dress/outfit/hairstyle make me look five?" she asks.

"well," as i look her over. "yes, i think it does!" i'll reply enthusiastically. now, please don't take this wrong - my enthusiastic reply could possibly be heard as sarcasm to an adult person. it is lost on my almost five daughter. and that is okay. and it is not that i do not think she looks five in the shirt/dress/outfit/hairstyle, it is because unbeknowst to her, she has looked like a five year old since she was 3-1/2 years old! i am serious! she is very well spoken - not only in dictation, but in usage of many words. i attribute this to the fact that she did not walk until she was 16-months old. she had to learn to do something when she was busy not walking. (or crawling. she was a bottom-scootcher...) and she is tall. always has been. of course it is called "long" until the child walks, so she was "long" for a long time. and then tall.

here is an example (my favorite example, truth be told):

about a year ago, on a weekday, the girls and i were at the y getting ready to go swimming when a woman i did not know, asked me if the schools were closed. i told her i wasn't sure. she then asked me if i home-schooled (in a particularly judgey tone...) and i told her "not yet". she then got blunt, because i was just not understanding. she tells me: "shouldn't your daughter (pointing to my then brand-newly four daughter) be in school??!!" her tone was a mixture of accusation/horror/bossiness. and that tone was not lost on me. so, i made eye contact, cleared my throat (mostly to stifle my laughter) and merely said: "i suppose if she were older than four, she should be..." as i kept eye contact i saw her look at my daughter, look back at me, and tell me "oh, no she must be older...she is so tall..." to which i again, made eye contact, cleared my throat (to stifle another laugh...) and said: "nope, she is four...i'm her mom. this i know."

so, yep, my dear daughter...

you

most

certainly

do

look

five!

1 peter 3:4

you should clothe yourself

instead with the beauty

that comes from within,

the unfading beauty of

a gentle and quiet spirit,

which is so precious to God

sundry...

these showed up at my home last saturday afternoon. when hubs and wren got home from their errands. which included taking wren to pick out part of her birthday present, more on that later.
this gerb was the "starting flower" for our wedding. that was 6.5 years ago. and this flower still makes me remember that day. one of the best days of my life!

well, except for the part of the day when i made the entire wedding party go for outdoor photos. in july. the temp was a mere 96 that day. and, as it worked out, most of the tuxedo'd fellas were not in any of those photos. none. except the groom. he was a'smilin' amid sweltering in his tux...ahhhhhhh, good memories for all.

and this girl above is the 4-yr-old who asks nearly everyday: "does ______ make me look like a 5-yr-old?" usually it is what she has chosen to wear. like this new coat. (and since her new stocking "matched" it, she wanted it in the photo, too....and, yeah, i bought a new coat, mid-winter...but i just could not pass up the old navy 50% off the already clearanced item...which meant this fluffy red/white number was a mere $8.99 folks...regularly priced at $39.99...). and usually i tell her that she most certainly does look like 5-yr-old. you see, her birthday is in just couple of weeks. and yeah, she'll be 5. how did that happen?? what i don't tell her is that she has "looked like", and been mistaken for on more than one occasion, a 5-yr-old since she was, umm, like 3.5 years old. she is tall. she is well-spoken. and well, she is just about too beautiful for words.

and this one? the daddy with 3 of his favorite girls. all in the "snuggle chair".

and, three girls enjoying a bit of tv-time on momma and daddy's bed...

and this above?? it's garfield carousel. that i got for my 30th birthday. because i did really like garfield...when i was 18. anyways....the girls love it. and it have let them play with it. it is breakable. and they have proven that. but, i figured someone should enjoy it, right??

hawaiian hula girls

the girls informed me this afternoon that they needed to put on their hula dresses and go to hawaii. right now!

"because we are hawaiian hula girls, momma!"

and because it is warm in hawaii, not cold like here.

of course, not so warm that wren would take off her argyle tights, though apparently...

the joinery....a lovely quote...

"so everything is necessary.

every least thing.

this is the hard lesson.

nothing can be dispensed with.

nothing despised.

because the seams are hid from us, you see.

the joinery.

the way in which the world is made.

we have no way to know

what could be taken away.

what omitted.

we have no way to tell

what might stand and

what might fall."

-Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing

ruby oreo larson

this is ruby oreo larson.

she is 5 years old.

she is very sweet, quiet and docile.

and sometimes she snores.

we are adopting her through the midamerican boston terrier rescue group. ruby came over on friday evening for a "home visit", and well...she just stayed! we have a "2 week trial" with her in our home. to make sure that we are the family for her, and she is the dog for us.
she loves the girls. she loves the karl. and well, she is rather fond of me, too, it seems. she likes to follow me everywhere...she loves getting petted and loves belly-rubs! she is fond of being a lapdog. (and in fact she is snoozing happily beside me as i type this.)

she is becoming more active each day, which is helping to increase her appetite and thirst. and she is doing really, really well with potty-training! so, unless something hinky happens in the next couple weeks...she will be staying here with us as a larson! i think she is really, really happy and excited about that! (we are, too!)

and to celebrate?
a big, ole snoozer!

"toe priddy" (or what one can accomplish in a couple hours' time)

plain, boring, white room.

plain, boring, white room.

from another angle.

after some "authentic pink" put on the walls.
ummmm, what is this??

ahh, linnea was supposed to be getting her new curtains out of the dryer. which she did. but they went on the floor when she realized that sister's best buddy, kee-kee, was in there, too!

the new curtains all hung up.

another angle.

and one more angle. with the sparkly flower.

and what does linnea think of her room thus far?

"toe priddy, momma! i wuv it toe very much!"

'nough said!

rather

that is what i would like to be doing today.

on a snowy, blowy, bitterly chilly day at home.

and i have plenty of books begging for me to spend the day with one of them...4 new ones happily lumbering on my "pseudo-nightstand" (my "real" nightstand is still at one of our friends' garages...)

but, instead, i am gathering my receipts and mileage log and commission statements and all the other "pertinent tax information" that i have for my little business. and i am going to not only organize it...but get all the numbers crunched for my "tax professional"! such a tangible and productive goal! yeah me!

and then i remembered who my "tax professional" is.

it is me.

i am my own "tax preparer". sigh.

yep, when you work seasonally at an accounting firm as an actual "tax preparer" they sorta make you prepare your own. bummer, huh?? (especially if you remember THIS post from last year...)

me likeys

proper english it is not. but it is just fun to say some things. such as, "me likey _____ a lot". of course, it is sometimes best to not do this around small children who like to parrot. but, oh well. there are probably worse things my 3- and 4-yr-olds could be saying. or doing. right?? right. (even if you do not agree with me, just nod your head. thanks.)

we our now just a day shy of being in "the new house" for one month. and i wanted to show off what i have done thus far. i do not like white walls. if i want to feel like i am at a spa, i will go to such a place. for me, white is not warm. but i have not fully decided on wall colors...except for a couple of rooms. i painted the laundry room "beach glass", which looks brighter in the photos than it really is. and i have a portion of the paint for the girls' rooms: "authentic pink". wren wants some green and silver in hers (but i am waiting for her new bedding to arrive...) and linnea wants some yellow and blue in addition to the pink. i am secretly hoping that the snow makes the daddy have a "stay-at-home" snow day and i can get started on their room! anyways...eventually there will be color on the walls. there will be real blinds on the windows. heck, there might even be curtains on the windows. but one project at a time. this is enough for now.

enough

with the beginning of a new year,

everyone scrambles to get their resolutions chosen.

written down.

ready to adhere to.

but, i am not much of a list person.

and besides, lists of resolutions

are so last decade.

instead, i am doing a

one-word-for-the-year approach.

and mine is:

enough...

as in...

it

is

enough...

to

have

"breath in your nostrils,

light in your eyes,

flowers at your feet,

duties at your hand,

the path of right just before you..."

"...then do not grasp at the stars,

but do life's plain,

common work as it comes,

certain that daily duties and

daily bread are the sweetest in life..."

(quote by robert louis stevenson)