A very merry unbirthday...

You only get one birthday a year, Mimi - but if you wait a whole month to share the pictures it almost like you get to have it all over again!  The lovely Mimi - oh so dear to the kiddos, celebrated her birthday on May 5 - and while we did a little coconut cream pie to acknowledge her special day - we waited until the real party that weekend for the full celebration.  It wasn't easy planning a party for Mimmers - as she appears to be much more comfortable in the role of party giver rather than party receiver.  Moreover Mimi goes all out on our birthdays - cooking favorite foods, making individual birthday treats, and finding just the gift you were hoping for.  She's pretty amazing, which is why we all wanted to be sure she had a special day as well.   

Is it summer yet?

As soon as Memorial Day weekend comes students, teachers, and mommies from coast to coast are bitten by the summer bug.  The three day holiday is like a sweet promise of things to come - warm weather, lazy days, suntan lotion, bare feet... For kiddos and those fortunate enough to enter the teaching profession, summer seems to promise an endless holiday - a much needed break from the onslaught of stress that we deal with day in and out.  The world turns into my beach and every day seems brighter than the next.

The stuff they dream of...

I think that one of the absolute without a doubt most fantabulous things about kiddos is how easy they are to please.  The littlest things make them happy - extra hugs, the tickle game (which basically involves an adult never really leaving the couch - just stretching your arms out and wriggling your fingers a bit while making some sort of "I'm gonna getcha" noises), painted toe nails, a plucked flower, chocolate milk, ice-cream from a store. Today PopPop took all 6 of us to dinner at Shells before going to see Mimi's wonderful Art Show.  After our tour Daddy took the boys home for tubbies and PopPop took all his girls (mommy included - HURRAY FOR COFFEE FLAVORED ICE-CREAM) to dairy swirl for a little post show treat.  The girls were SO excited - twirling, hugging PopPop to say thanks, thanking the cashier, grinning from ear to ear while choosing their flavor and sprinkle combination... The cute HighSchooler behind the counter smiled and said "I don't think I've ever seen two kids this excited about ice-cream!"  What can I say - we don't get out much... but then this sage 17 year old added "The thing is - most people forget that ice-cream is a treat".

Daddy's Helper

It's one of the greatest mysteries on Rosebud Street.  The child who covers his ears if the conversation gets too loud - yet screams the loudest also runs terrified of the Vacuum - but insists on pushing the dust buster.  Each time the garbage disposal is turned on the little man runs to your side, looks up, eyes wide and says "dada okay? okay dada?"  The same situation with the hair dryer.  And he absolutely will not leave your side until the sound has abated and he is assured of your well being.  He cries at loud horns.  Runs for your arms when neighbors cut their grass... so why is it that when Tony cut the grass this weekend, Jackson followed along until daddy had no choice but to let Jack help too.

Full Bloom

I'm sure that you're just about as sick of garden posts are you are puke posts - but what can I say - that's what the last few weeks have been - puking inside, garden outside.  Hurray for you though, this time, I pick garden. 

I can't say just what it is that I find so captivating about our little garden this spring.  Out of curiosity I looked back over the last few years of photo archives and as I suspected - not a one.  So why this year?  Is the garden better?  Perhaps.  It's certainly fuller - lusher.  Could also be that the last few years of my life are a blur, so I didn't actually ever really notice the garden aesthetically before.  But I think it's something more - if you'll forgive my blatant sentimentality, I think I associate the garden with my children.

Spring on The Deck

If only I knew what was in store for me on Sunday I would have picked up Saturday and given it a big ole hug - because it was just about as perfect as Sunday was terrible.  (There were lots of lovely things about Sunday - really!  But it ended with such a bang that the rest of the day was overshadowed by fallout from the explosion.)  Saturday was sunny.  Saturday was warm.  On Saturday no one was sick.  We took long walks before lunch, snacked on the deck, and ran barefoot through the grass.  It was the calm before the storm.

while you weren't looking

It was like the perfect storm for Alex:  Mommy was tied up with work, Daddy wasn't home yet, big Sisters were still sleeping, and someone accidentally left the bathroom door open.  I kind of knew this was happening - even though I couldn't see it... I had to finish a phone call with a parent and post the recordings of today's lessons, and I really really had to pee.  Parenting Code dictates that in a situation like this your child will either a) cover themselves with vaseline, b) take one bite out of every piece of fruit in the bowl on the table, or c) dump the toys  in the toilet.

Flower

When Bella was a baby she called flowers Mamu... I can't really say where it came from - Tony and I used to think it was a combination of Flower and Mommy because she knew that I had painted the flowers on her bathroom wall.  We still laugh about the night when we had both girls in the tub.  They were about 1 1/2 years old.  Emma pointed to one of the flowers on the shower curtain and said "flow-wuh".  Belle smiled and clapped:  "Mamu!"

little necks

 Of all the baby parts that I love to love - I believe that my absolute favorite is little baby necks.  At times I feel I'm almost obsessed with them - pulling their collars aside to give them a nuzzle.  Their little necks are always so warm, so soft, so perfect.  Every time I see on of the babies like this I marvel at their straight, strong backs, that little curve from their neck to shoulder - the line of their arm as it presses against their side.  My fingers itch to grap a pencil and sketch them - see if I can create that curve again.  At times the desire to do so is so strong it's almost painful - and yet I've refrained from doing so, because something tells me that my re-creation attempts could never come close to the original.

A bow or two...

It's a lovely rite of passage when your daughters decide that they will do YOUR hair, instead of you doing theirs... and boy {bow} howdy were they excited about this!  They went through their hair box very carefully, selecting each and every clip-able bow - and then they completely adorned the top of my head with them.  I'm not going to lie - I think I look pretty radical here.

...Bring May Flowers

They all arrived a few weeks early, coaxed into spring by our unusually mild winter.  The April showers were sparse and light, but May first brought with it a splendid array of flowers in our little garden.  After dinner, the girls, daddy and I took a tour of the yard.  The girls helped me snap these pictures.

Tiny Tushies

Just when I think there couldn't possibly be enough new events in this house to warrant a picture a day you find yourself pushing the boys on the swing and watching your daughter walk down the deck stairs until you're eye level with her little naked behind.

Watching Daddy Go

I so wish that I could have snapped this particular photo with a high res. camera and that I could have recorded the boys voices as they called bye bye to Daddy on this morning. It could have been any morning really. They do this nearly every day as Daddy goes to work - pad to the door after him and then get a bit teary as they press their noses to the window and call for their favorite guy to come back.  They wave and cry and yell bye bye for a few moments and their Nono comes to the rescue.  He lifts them up high so they can watch Daddy's work truck dive away and then cleverly distracts them by pointing out trucks and cars on the street, birds in the front yard, and clouds in the sky.

Sand Box

A few sunny shots to remind us of the spring weather we had last week.  Tony and I actually pulled out the deck furniture (realizing that waiting to paint the deck = not having any deck furniture this season), and, more to the point, opened up the little hand me down turtle sand box.  I can't even believe how great the kids were - no sand throwing, no tantrums, just lots of fun.  The girls built little towers for the boys to smash, and then I built big towers for the girls to smash.  We killed the better part of 2 hours out here one evening and it was like a little slice of heaven.  There's nothing quite like getting your hands and feet in some sand to life your spirits.

A Little Bit Prep

My OCD comes out of the closet when I get the kids dressed in the morning.  It's a real problem.  Whenever possible, I like to dress all of them (and myself, if possible) in co-ordinating hues, trends, or layers as though we're all on our way to a photo shoot.  The shit of it is, I hardly ever manage to get a picture of all the kids together, so it really is a wasted effort on my part.  I can tell myself this, but when the opportunity arises, I will pull out polo shirts for everyone (skinny jeans and a navy izod sweater for mommy), and I will feel great about the organized and picture perfect start of our day.

Spring

The first tree that was planted at our home was a cherry tree, purchased for Tony and I by my mom and dad.  I know that there are all sorts of lovely trees out there, but cherry's have always been one of my favorites - I love those girly pink flowers that seem to so happily announce that winter is, once and for all, behind us for another year.  I have wanted to take a picture of the blooms every year, and every year I've failed.  Usually a storm blows through right as the blooms reach their peak and in the morning the still tender branches have dropped all of their blossoms on the grass below them.

A Spot of Tea

Their eyes were wide with anticipation as they pleaded silently... desires yet unknown to me.  I knew something was coming as I tilted their heads back in the tub and tried to rinse the soap out of the bottom of their hair.  

"Mommy, can I tell you a question?" 

"What is it, muffins?" I asked - braced for something crazy.

"May we have tea as our snack tonight?" they exploded... "That would be SO great!"

Early Riser

There must be something in the blond chromosome in this family that perpetuates a desire to rise with the sun.  Alexander has now surpassed Amabelle as the first person to rise in the DiStefano home.  He's like clock work... a little 5:45 alarm clock, so reliable that I have stopped setting my alarm.  He's better anyway, I've checked and there's no snooze button.

The obsession continues

Ever since I ate that proverbial frog a few weeks ago and organized the be-jezus out of my closet I've been walking around the house like a slightly deranged person... all wild eyed and jumpy, head darting this way and that... This is out of place... That doesn't make sense there.  Do they really wear these shoes?  No?  Trash them.  Trash them now.  It seems that any amount of extraneous clutter and unkempt areas are mocking my previous attempts at organization and I pounced all over this particular disaster over the weekend.

Concentration

It's an amazing phenomenon.  When my children are removed from their siblings, all of their crazy ADHD like tendencies seem to vanish.  I am always in awe when I witness one of my babies deeply entranced in some activity of their choosing {especially if that activity doesn't involve playing in the potty}...