Yes, I am one of the millions feeling somewhat shocked that Michael Jackson has died. I haven’t listened to Michael Jackson’s music in years, but his ‘Thriller’ album holds a special place in my childhood. I believe ‘Thriller’ was the first tape I bought with my own money, way back in 1983(ish) (though later as he fell out of coolness, I remember stringing the tape out through the house for fun). I also remember feeling oh-so-cool back in first grade when my parents let my brother and I and two family friends watch the Thriller video – I thought the dancing was amazing! Here’s to childhood memories and getting to revisit them again.
We spent the weekend in Port Angeles and on Saturday when everyone had left the house and Jonah was down for his nap and I’d finished all of the prep work for our BBQ I was left with some free time, which doesn’t happen often. Don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of relaxing, but at home I always do it to the detriment of something else like cleaning, laundry, or whathaveyou. Being at my Grandma’s though, I didn’t have any of those things. So, instead I made myself some iced coffee, sat outside with my feet in the pool and made a packing list for our upcoming trip.
That half hour was blissful!
Iced Coffee, Yum!
My intent with the photo was to have the cup in sharp focus and water blurry but what turned out was the ground in the sharpest detail with everything else at varying levels of more blurry. I find that when I’m photographing outside it’s impossible to see the finer details of what you’ve captured (or not in this case!) because the sun makes it hard to see the view screen. Oh well, you get the idea!
This past month has been significantly easier than the one before. I’m not exactly sure what prompted the change in Muriel’s behavior, but whatever the reason I am grateful. She’s much less fussy. She will ride in the Ergo on my back and the stroller for longer stretches before getting angry. She doesn’t spend all morning crying anymore because I have to get the big kids and myself ready and can’t hold her all the time. Nights are kind of hit or miss, but more often than not she has decent nights with only one waking. Thank goodness!
Other milestones? She has four teeth now-two on top, two on bottom. She has ditched the pacifier completely and relies on her two fingers and her duck (reminds me of Rowan). She LOVES to eat, though interest in breastfeeding is decreasing rapidly. But I guess that’s not a surprise given her history. She sits up unassisted and just the past few days has started crawling on all fours rather than the army crawl. She pulls herself to standing on anything more than five inches off the floor. Just normal baby stuff that I of course as her mother find fascinating!
scrunchy faced, crooked grin:
Standing:
getting into mischief:
better than a paci:
Muriel adores legos–definitely her favorite toy:
Wish you all could meet her.
Until next month!
Most of you probably haven’t heard tales of the Slanky green thumb – a new and improved version of my husband, depending on one’s particular perspective. Five years ago I would have laughed in anyone’s face who said Slanky would be a gardener or care at all about what our yard looks like. It all started last year when he built some raised beds in our backyard and gardened all summer, with the help of our friend, Tami. This spring we decided to get some of the yard landscaped and so a neighbor who runs a gardening business redid some flower beds and it turned out quite lovely. And then Slanky took on the project of redoing the grass. This is what I have warmly named, “The freaking never-ending backyard project.” For several weeks now he has spent most of his free time in our backyard. The project reached its pinnacle when he was finally spreading the grass seeds and a mild rain turned suddenly into a massive rain storm that flooded large parts of the newly flattened dirt. We weren’t quite sure for a while if the seeds would actually sprout but they are. Not quite in an even layer but we are getting grass nonetheless. He’s also got most of his garden planted and I can’t wait to once again reap the rewards with none of the work.
In recent news, Slanky has discovered that a mole lives in our backyard. Much to his dismay, the mole has been tunneling all around the yard and uprooting the new grass. Sunday Slanky spent a chunk of time outside, shirt off, soaking in the sun, listening to his ipod, drinking beer with a shovel in hand, ready to whack a mole. I don’t think all of these accoutrements or activities usually go along with normal gardening, but if they do, perhaps I should lend a helping hand.
The Mess
Jacob and his stone wall
New stepping stones and grass seed
Slanky warms up
More pictures of the backyard progress will be coming soon. Meanwhile, I’ll try and avoid thinking of myself as a garden widow. Though it’s been difficult at times (I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve whined and complained) he’s really done an excellent job of things and I’m very impressed with the changes and his dedication. I’ll be proud to show off all of his hard work.
It’s official. Jason and Heather had their baby girl on Tuesday, June 2. We went to visit them in the hospital and all seems well.