Sheep Meme

Hmmm. Perhaps I should have completed this meme on any day besides Sunday. It's a good thing there's a Wikipedia article to explain/clarify anything, eh? Even LDS worship service lingo.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Mommy
2. Alice's Mommy
3. Susan

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Stickers
2. Contacts
3. Brown socks

THREE THINGS YOU WANT VERY BADLY AT THE MOMENT:
1. Sleep
2. Sustainable ideas for me to become a better Visiting Teacher
3. Can't really think of a third one..."very badly" isn't something I feel that often

THREE PEOPLE WHO YOU HOPE WILL DO THE MEME:
1. Ummmmm. Bobby.
2. Alice
3. Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater. Make your voice heard!

THREE THINGS YOU DID LAST NIGHT:
1. Date night swap
2. Worked on a secret Christmas gift
3. Cleaned up after the date night swap

THREE PEOPLE YOU LAST TALKED TO ON THE PHONE:
1. Neighbor asking for a ride (Saturday)
2. Wrong number (Friday)
3. Bobby asking when date night was supposed to start (Friday)

THREE THINGS YOU ARE GOING TO DO TOMORROW:
1. Aerobics
2. Grocery shopping
3. Diaper laundry

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE DRINKS:
1. Water
2. Fresh lemonade
3. Cocoa

THREE THINGS THAT MADE YOU SMILE TODAY:
1. Robert sitting through Sacrament prayers for the first time...ever
2. Sitting and chatting with my husband during Sunday School
3. Robert happily sharing his snacks with Alice after she had finished her own. He learned that from her, actually, which amazes me on many levels. They just came that way.

Thoughts on Lifelong Friends

I've been thinking a lot recently about how life will change when all of our kids are in school. It was more fun raking leaves with kids running around and having fun than it ever was raking them alone in quieter times. I'm starting to see how people can eventually miss this chapter of their lives. Unfortunately, I'm already beginning to miss the people from this chapter in my life.

When we first moved to Illinois, Bobby's dad told us that the friends we made here would be our dearest friends for the rest of our lives. I didn't believe him. How on earth could this place be any different from everywhere else I had lived and made friends? It turns out that it's not the place that's important, but the stage of life. These truly are the best friends I've ever had. And even when they move away, we're still close (well, as close as I get to "close"). I never would have believed it without experiencing it myself. There's just something about that "new family with infant" stage that sticks people together like glue. Anyway, it gets harder and harder for me to make new friends as my kids grow up and my life becomes more and more different from the lives of new grad students moving in every summer. I sometimes wonder if I've passed that unique window of opportunity that Bobby's dad so wisely brought to my attention. I wonder if it's too late to make lifelong friends. I do have good friends, of course. More than I can manage to see regularly most weeks, and I've never had that problem before :) It's a fine problem to have.

I do wonder about the future, though. Most of these good friends are slated to leave at some point. They have no intention of staying. And while each one of them will certainly graduate to a "lifelong friend" relationship, I still like to have someone to sit by at functions, someone to swap date nights, and someone to invite to a birthday party. Y'know? What's more concerning is that I will have a child in school next year. Moms with kids in school tend to have very busy, very full, very complex lives that are hard to penetrate. I've tried several times ;) The ease and flexibility of toddlerhood has passed, even if there's still a toddler in the home. Life is rigid again. It's different. It's harder to begin new friendships. So what happens when friends leave faster than I can make new ones? Is that the next chapter? Does one throw her life into her family and coast on those friendships that she made before? Will I emerge at the other end with an empty nest and few friends to call my own? If so, I need someone to tell me now so I can prepare for it.

(Ever So Many) More Leaves

We had a fun little playdate in the leaves yesterday. It was probably the last warm and dry day we'll see in a long, long time. Alice was our photographer.

This little sweetie is one month younger than Robert. Alice did her hair. I can't decide if I invite this cutie over more for me or for Alice, but we both have a great time with her.

Buddy had more fun pushing the rake into people than into the leaves.

Man, I need a haircut. 

Robert asked nicely for another playdate with the car, so I let him in. Alice happened upon him just as he happened upon a piece of candy left behind. To his credit, he brought it straight to me, not entirely sure what it was.

Alice wanted to take a picture of someone in the leaf pile. Neither of the babies felt like it and I certainly wasn't up to it, so she decided on a self-portrait.

We raked and bagged all the leaves. A storm blew in overnight. Our lawn now looks more full of leaves than ever *sigh* but at least it's a temporary kind of  futile "invisible progress" work. The trees will eventually run out of leaves to drop, unlike my sink and its dishes.

Hug!

We are all driving home from St. Louis last weekend and I'm passing lunch back to Buddy one course at a time. He had slept through much of Alice's lunch earlier. The ham and bread make him very happy. Silly, actually. A minute or two later, I hear him straining and saying, "Huuuuug! Huuuuuug!" A hug? What on earth is he talking about? I look back and can't see anything out of the ordinary, but he's got that crazy grin on his face. He spreads his knees apart and I can see a very smashed pile of ham and bread in his crotch. His knees snap shut again and he strains while he squeezes his knees together,  "Huuuuuuuuug! (giggle giggle)"

Mmmmm. Crotch-hug sandwich.

Halloween 2011

Here are pictures of our Halloween celebrations this year. Robert was dressed as a tooth and Alice had planned for months to be a dentist. I whipped up a snazzy kid-size lab coat for her last month. Alice managed to attend all three parties in three different costumes, and not one of them was a dentist.

Mothers and More Halloween Parade, Friday, October 28th

Me, Tooth, and Tooth Fairy

Protective Tooth Fairy, Grateful Tooth, lots of friends

Urbana Ward Trunk or Treat, Saturday, October 29th

Barbie bride. The umbrella cape is her veil.

Y!Boo Trick or Treat, Monday, October 31st

Bobby, Tooth, and Princess Barbie (though it's exactly what she wore to church yesterday)

 

I had hopes that her dentist costume would eventually earn a showing, but it wasn't a complete surprise to me that she chose somewhat more traditional (and traditionally Alice) costumes to wear. I have a girly girl. Through and through.

Robert took to the trick-or-treating habit like a pro. Candy was eagerly sought for, gratefully received, and devoured with care:

 

A few more pictures just for fun: