a home that is real

I took these photos today of the boys having some fun with the pillows -- all the pillows in the house.

I must admit, my first response was exasperation and under my breath, "Uggh. I just made up those beds." But they were having such a great time, all playing together happily, which every mother knows is a blessing that swells your heart. It reminded me of journal entry I wrote several years ago. Even though some of the specifics have changed, the theme remains the same. Our house is not intended to be kept "guest-ready" but to let those who live here really live and play and make it their own. While it's my responsiblity to keep things neat and clean, I want these children to remember that we had a real home.

Journal entry from 2007:

a beach trip by the numbers

10 days at the coast

3 brown-skinned boys

36 Krispy Kreme Donuts (seems like the HOT light's always on at NMB)

1 near-trip to the emergency room (Sawyer knows now that a clam shell will fit inside his nose)

lots of seafood

hundreds of sharks' teeth

countless trips to the beach

1 dad thankful to be on vacation

4 others glad to have him to ourselves

$20 dinner

Preparing a twenty dollar dinner was one of the most anticpated items on the kids' summer fun list. They planned the menu during the day, and I took them to Harris Teeter to shop. I loved watching them make "adjustments" as they realized how much some things cost! The butcher was nice enough to repackage some smaller steaks for them as the Bobby Flay recipe featuring NY strip with blue cheese and onion relish was the star of the meal.

The littles operated as Jackson's sous chefs -- gathering herbs and taking orders.

A delicious meal!

his name is cinco

My mother gave him to Sawyer on the fifth of May, hence his name. He's a gift and a first pet in honor of Sawyer's becoming a "big boy" and giving up a habit he's known since the day of his birth.

They've become fast friends, and Cinco, who at first seemed to merely tolerate all of the handling, now actually enjoys the warmth of Sawyer's tiny hands.

"here, mommy. these are for you"

I can't get enough of this little one.

starting the summer at lippard creek

We kicked off our summer with a trip to the creek with the Radebaughs and Grooms.

There were crawdads to be caught, feet to be bared, watermelon rind boats to be sailed, and a celebration of summer to be shared.

blooming recklessly

"Everything is blooming recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of night." Rainer Maria Rilke

I love this season of blooms - perhaps the most effortless time of gardening through the year. Without prompting, without watering and weeding, the plants know their role.

These irises, pass-along bulbs from my friend Jennifer, have been such great bloomers. I keep dividing them, moving them around to different spots, finding out where they're happiest.







I planted a few in front in front of this trellis that the boys built me just two years ago for Mother's Day. In that short time, one Confederate Jessamine plant has totally covered the trellis, yielding a spectacular show of blooms this year and successfully covering our satellite dish!



And the meager clump of daffodils I dug up from our rental house before we moved has turned into literally hundreds of blooms.

I get so excited that first day when I notice daffodil shoots pushing up through the mulch, recognizing spring is around the corner when we can't imagine it to be so in the midst of the cold, gray days. I finally had enough blooms this year to feel that I could be generous with cutting -- giving away bouquets and keeping vases filled in the house.

Soon, gardening will become laborious. Pulling weeds (a task which Jackson once noted in a school essay as one of my greatest strengths as a mother) and watering will drag me down in the dog days of summer. I'll long for cool fall days and dream of what else I can do to the yard when we're freed from the sweltering heat.

So for now, I'll be swinging on the front porch, just watching and appreciating everything blooming recklessly.