Because you care...

Playing around with different exposures on my camera - kind of fun, right?!
But, it has nothing to do with the rest of my post... so you can stop thinking about it now...

Yesterday I opened a banana using only my thumbnail to puncture the skin. This is a momentous occasion, folks!

Historically my thumbnails were strong and could be used to do a number of awesome things. Like untie small, tight knots, or scrape hard, dried food from off the counters, or clean out dirt from underneath any of my other fingernails, or, say, open a banana. But something went tragically wrong the month after Carson was born... my thumbnails became weak and brittle. But the interesting phenomenon is that it was only my thumbnails that were affected. Both of them. The rest of my nails were as strong as ever, but all the sudden I couldn't grow my thumbnails the tiniest bit before they would split painfully into my nail bed. Or flake off in layers until the nail was so thin it could be bent like paper. I figured it was probably postpartum hormones that were to blame, so I wrapped my thumbs in band-aids and waited for the strength to return. But, much to my dismay, the strength didn't return, even after I tried nail-strengthening nail polish. Carson turned one, and eventually four, and my thumb nails were still just as weak as the month he was born. I eventually learned to protect them - often I find my thumbs tucked securely behind my pointer finger to decrease the chance of snagging and tearing.

And then a miracle happened. Last Friday, while my thumbs were tucked protectively behind my pointer finger as I reached into our laundry basket to grab dirty clothes (which is where most of the painful snagging usually occurs), I noticed that my thumb nails were not bending under the pressure of my finger. I quickly pulled them out of the laundry basket to look at them, and after almost 5 years, I can see some white tips at the end of my thumb nails! And they feel so strong! Both of them!

What happened?! My diet is the same, my hormones feel the same, I haven't been protecting my thumbnails any more than usual... any ideas?

I may be rejoicing prematurely, but this seems to be the end of the snagging, bleeding, flaking mess my thumbnails have put me through for the past 5 years. And, well, wouldn't you be happy if you were me?

A Few Random Things

Thing #1:

Rubber band idea given by my mom this morning after I used this baby, AGAIN, as an eye makeup remover.

Seriously. Once? I'll give myself an allowance for. TWICE? What's wrong with me?! It gets even better: notice that the liquid inside is BLUE this time...it doesn't even look like my eye-makeup remover! And, it was buried underneath all of my nail polish underneath the bathroom sink, whereas my eye makeup remover was easily accessible in the top drawer with my makeup. I'm not sure where the disconnect is happening here - my brain just knows, 'I gotta get it off' and the default is, apparently, nail polish remover. At least I figured it out after only two swipes this time...

Thing #2


I can't find Carson's preschool calendar they sent home for May, and I knew his 'leader day' was coming up sometime soon. On his leader day he is in charge of bringing the snack for the class and I didn't want him to miss out because I had misplaced his calendar. So, I sent a snack to school today with a note explaining the situation and asked the teachers to keep the snack until his leader day and to please send home another calendar. When I went to pick Carson up, his teacher helped him into the van and said to me, "I am so impressed with your preparedness in sending the snack this morning, and for remembering that we were doing a backwards day! Backwards day is actually not until tomorrow, so he can do it again...and there is a new calendar in his bag." I tried not to look confused as I thanked her and gave her a smile. I took a better look at Carson and realized that his shirt was on backwards. A big, bright, bold picture covered his back, and his front was blank with the tag sticking out under his chin.

See, the thing is, I hadn't remembered anything about backwards day, and I'm pretty sure I would have noticed if Carson had left the house with that shirt on backwards...but...maybe not, I guess...hm.

Thing #3 and #4 and #5 and #27894021


What are these things? They are everywhere. Like, really, really everywhere. They crack out of their exoskeletons and leave them lying around on everything - not appreciated by me. I'll bet I swept up at least a hundred this morning on my porch (which is quite, quite small). And, oh, are they ugly!

I went outside this afternoon to try to get a picture of just how invasive they have become, but after snapping this ONE picture looking up at one of the trees (where you can see hundreds of their little exoskeletons), one fell directly on my head and left me screaming and swatting and running for my life. So, this is all I have folks...squint hard and you can see that all those little black dots are grossness -


I wasn't quite as scared taking their pictures when they weren't hanging over my head, but you can be sure I didn't stick around for long -



Someone please tell me they're almost gone...

Candy Grumbles

Ridiculous, I thought as I pushed my cart through the isles of WalMart. Sugar, sugar, sugar and more sugar. Chocolate bunnies, ring pops, gum, jelly beans...I do not see the symbolism between candy and Easter. And yet, I emptied my wallet of $40 so my children could wake up on Easter morning and delight in the fact that Christ was resurr...I mean, that the Easter Bunny came. I'm happy that the Easter Bunny brought some things like chips and flip-flops and pennies to balance out the sugar.... but I have got to figure out a way to involve Christ more centrally in his own holiday because, as it is, I am a very grouchy Easter celebrator.


I try to keep my Easter grouchies away from the kids. In fact, I think I even scored a few good-mommy points because there were almost no rules about how much candy they could consume in one setting. Eat it, I think. Eat it all. 'Cause once it's gone, well, then it's gone.

And, awesome news for me, their candy was gone by Sunday night. All of it.


Easter aside, I'm not sure where my grumbles about candy come from. There's just something about seeing one of my kids with a face full of it that makes my stomach churn and my teeth hurt. I have never really relished in candy myself...even as a kid, after the chocolate was gone from my Halloween candy, the rest of it was likely to survive all the way to the next Halloween. Do you know what a basketful of candy smells like after a year? Just generally gross.

Now, let's not pretend that I don't love sugar! I am happy to make a batch of chocolate-chip cookies almost any time - and we usually have one or two big new desserts to try every week - and there is pretty much always a gallon or two of ice cream in our freezer. But, it's the gum, and the hard candies, and the chewy candies, and the cheap chocolate balls that get to me.

You know what I think the grouchiness might come from? Candy-drool. The sticky, colorful trails of goo in your carpet that lead to a child covered in it. Then they reach out to you, and nothing says love like sticky, drippy child fingers coming your way. Bleh.

Or, maybe it's the strings of gum connecting a child's teeth with his outstretched hand.

Or, maybe it's the chocolate melted into the blankets.

Or, maybe it's because my kids always turn into hyper-emotional zombies with tummy-aches when they eat it.

See, then they look at me with these big, happy grins and I feel a pang of regret that I don't offer them candy more often.

I do wonder: If I had more candy readily available for them throughout the year, would their candy cravings subside? Do most people have candy in their homes to snack on? What would happen if I just had a bowl of candy out on the counter for them to pick through? Initially, I would have to refill the bowl a zillion times, but - eventually - would they treat the bowl of candy like I treated my Halloween candy as a kid? I wonder...

I tried not to laugh...

One late night in college, I lay on my bed staring up into the darkness and talked with my best friend and roommate about things we wanted to remember when we were mothers. She told me of a time when she was young (hope you don't mind me sharing, Becky!) when she found a small bump on her arm. Embarrassed by it, and not sure what it was, she showed it to her mother - who wasn't sure what it was either. Later, her mother's visiting teachers came to the house and Becky was called over to have them examine the small bump.

Becky laughed as she recalled the story and said, "I was mortified that I had to show that bump to them!" I laughed, too, because of the silliness of the situation, but we decided that - when we were mothers - we would always try to make whatever was a big deal to our children, a big deal to us.

I failed the other day when McKenzie started crying frantically from downstairs, "Mom! Come help me - I'm stuck!" I rushed down there to see this:

but instead of being understanding and helping her out, I ran to get my camera. She was quite embarrassed and I think, someday, she may lie in her dorm room and tell her roommate of a time when her mother posted pictures of her embarrassing situation on the internet.

And maybe she, too, will decide that - when she is a mother - she will try to make whatever is a big deal to her children, a big deal to her.

But, then she'll become a mother and...........

Talkin' about Spring

Picture taken by McKenzie - pretty good, huh?!

Well, the sweat rings don't lie...spring is turning into summer, folks. The temperatures are getting just high enough to remind us of just how uncomfortable these hot, humid summers of North Carolina are. (A note to my family, I'm totally joking...the summers aren't so bad - you should move out here...) (A note to the rest of you, I'm totally not joking - the summers are terrible.)

Here's a bit of what we've been up to this spring:

"Green" Smoothies

What?! Spinach in a smoothie?! And not just a little bit either, but a whole handful for your glass. When I first heard about it, the thought was enough to stimulate my gag reflex. But after a good friend guaranteed that you could not, in fact, taste the spinach AT ALL, I decided to give it a try. As I watched the gloppy green mixture splat around in the blender, I'll admit that my hopes were not high - but after adding the colorful berries, it started to look like something I might actually enjoy. I'll let the picture above sum up the results. :)

Swimming Lessons

McKenzie and her friend, Carolyn

This year, I decided it was time to have my children learn the ways of the water. Perhaps overdue, since we spend so much of our summers in the pools. (A note to my family - wouldn't you love to live in a place where you could swim for so many months out of the year? So refreshing!) (A note to the rest of you - sometimes the pools are so warm they feel more like bathtubs. Not refreshing.)


Carson spent most of his time glancing over to the bleachers to see if he could catch my eye. Once caught, you could count on a thumbs-up from him. This was his most improved area - - - he got awesome at keeping afloat with one hand out of the water.

McKenzie picked it up fast and is now able to get herself across the entire pool with no floaties.

No drowning for us!



Seussical Mussical

McKenzie's 1st grade musical... and this picture cracks me up. One boy sneezing, one boy picking his nose, a girl in back admiring her fingernails, and a boy looks to be waving right at my camera (funny because I was standing at the very back of the auditorium using my zoom lens). The show was cute, the kids were cuter. :)

While we're here, meet Jack. He's the kid that belongs to that pair of eyes down in the bottom left corner of the picture. Cute, cute kid...and McKenzie's new boyfriend. They are, apparently, in love. Definition of 'in love' from McKenzie: I chase him around the playground every day.

Basketball

Brian got a basketball hoop for his birthday this year. The directions said that assembly would take a couple of hours, so Carson and I decided to set it up while Brian was at work so that when he got home he could spend his evening actually playing with it rather than setting it up. McKenzie hopped off the school bus just in time to hang the net.


Now, for a girl, I'd say I'm slightly above averagely savvy when it comes to assembling and building stuff, but there were a couple of times that I worried about death as the top-heavy monster of metal and plastic threatened to crush us. And I feel it is appropriate to brag here, just a little. :) We persevered for hours - and Carson and I felt victorious when, dripping with sweat, we finally shot our first baskets.
























Halfway through the assembly, Carson said, "Mom, dis is taking way too long. I didn't know it would be dis long when I said I would help you." He was a trooper - and there would have been no assembled hoop without him!
























We have had a great time with this hoop - you can find us out there almost every day at some point. Miles has had a great time with his little hoop, too. :)


You know what the best thing about these kids is? How well they get along with each other. McKenzie and Carson play together so well, and when they turn their attention to Miles, he feels like the star of the universe. Just look at these faces in response to Miles making a basket! You are loved, little boy!


It's always a sad goodbye when we wave off the best weeks of spring. But you can be sure we'll keep enjoying it before the temperatures force us to stay in the house or in the water! (A note to my family - I love living in a place where I don't have to do my hair for the entire summer!) (A note to everyone else - I do not love having wet hair for an entire season. At least I can choose whether it's wet with pool water or sweat...)

Let's not do that again...

"Brian?" I whispered into the quiet darkness. We had already said goodnight and the stillness from his side suggested that his mind had already started to drift into sleep. But my mind was not quite settled.
"Hmmm?" His tone was gentle.
"I'm glad you didn't die today."
"Me too," he said after a slight pause. "I'm home, safe and sound. And we had good burgers tonight."
A small laugh escaped through the lump in my throat and I closed my eyes to fight off the stinging tears. It worked pretty well...only one of them escaped and landed on my pillow.



Tornadoes swept through Raleigh yesterday. There are three confirmed deaths so far (just in Raleigh), and many damaged houses and buildings...including the leveling of a Lowes home improvement store just outside the city.

Brian and Carson were 5 meager miles away, stopped in the minivan watching a 2 foot deep river rush down the road they intended to cross. Several compact cars had tried to cross and were sitting in the middle of the river, stuck. "Linds! I've never seen anything like this!" Brian said over the phone, "This is crazy!" Carson called a few minutes later. "Mom, dere was dis guy, and he was stuck in his car, and a big twuck came up, and the man got out of his twuck with a rope, and den the man in his car got out of his car and he was only wearing his socks! Den the twuck pulled and pulled and got all the cars out of the water!"

Clearly they were having a good time.

Meanwhile, I was sitting home watching the news and listening to the announcers say, "You need to seek shelter!" "Do not go into downtown Raleigh right now! If you are listening to us on the radio and are headed for downtown Raleigh, pull off the side of the road immediately! Do not go into downtown Raleigh! We are seeing very dangerous signs that a deadly tornado is forming!" "We cannot stress enough how dangerous we feel this situation is!" The predicted path had the storm passing through downtown Raleigh and then continuing northeast. Brian and Carson were in northwest Raleigh - out of the predicted path by a few miles. This calmed Brian's fears and gave him encouragement that he could finish his errands. But it didn't calm my fears - - - they were still much too close to it for my comfort and I kept asking him to turn around and come home. Thankfully, the storm followed the predicted path, causing the casualties 5 miles east of my life.

I'm trying not to entertain the what-ifs. But my heart went through an emotional roller-coaster yesterday and I realized, once again, how much I love and how tightly I am bound to that man.

And, my Carson, oh!

- I think I'll stop thinking about it now...

Worn and Torn

I sent my 4-year-old son to preschool like this on Wednesday. In the pouring rain. I felt a twinge of guilt as I watched him dance around (but mostly through) the puddles on his way to the car-pool van. The poor boy was trying to walk on only the outside of his foot to keep his big toe from getting drenched. I'm pretty sure he wasn't successful.

Three hours later I sat in the carpool line waiting for him to come bouncing out the door with the rest of his class. My windshield wipers worked constantly to keep my vision clear and I saw a little boy walk out of the building, hand in hand with his mother. He skipped and jumped through the puddles and I watched the water splash up and around his bright green rubber rain boots. His mother pulled him along, most likely anxious for the shelter of her car, but the rain didn't bother the boy a bit...he was already sheltered in a bright green rain coat with the hood cinched up around his face.

And I couldn't help but think, Oh dear. Perhaps my son should have rain boots with a matching rain coat. But of course, I was just feeling guilty that I had sent my son to school with holes in his shoes. And his pants. He's just so dang hard on his clothes! Out of the six pairs of pants I bought for him this season, five of them have holes in both knees.

He and I went on a date last night to get a new pair of shoes and a milkshake, but he'll have to live with the torn up pants for the rest of the season. Is this a boy thing? I'm guessing Miles won't have many hand-me-downs from here on out...