Trellis!

Here is the trellis now that the fencing panels have been added and the brambles are tied up to it. Yes, the brambles are especially roughed-up. Nothing a good leaf drop and spring regrowth won't fix...I'm hoping. I laid down a soaker hose under the mulch, too. Love it! I'm so pleased with how it came out.

With the plants up off the ground, there's now room for a path and something else. I'm leaning towards hardy kiwi vines on the fence, but I will need to ask the neighbor about it. She probably would prefer grapes :( James is in the background here for scale.

An unexpected benefit to this addition has been an added measure of privacy. The driveway feels so cozy now (if driveways can be cozy) and it's fun to work behind the trellis on the mulch path. I think that's the part I like best. The privacy. But it comes at a cost...lower visibility of the intersection and street for all the bike riders in this family.

Mopping

I pull the mop out this afternoon and my 3-year-old asks in horror, "What is THAT?!"

Guess I should mop a little more often.

Made my day

After school, Robert and James are playing on the playground. A boy from Robert's class walks up to me and smiles, "Robert is my friend," before running off to the monkey bars.

Music to my ears.

Take a breather

I haven't had half a second lately to reflect on any of the things going on around here. Haven't taken many photos, either. I feel like we've been going through some real milestones and I'm afraid this period of my life my be lost from record indefinitely if I don't put things on the blog, however haphazardly...

Matthew's first haircut...whoosh!

All four of the guys got haircuts the same day.

Love these boy-o's.

The first few minutes of his new 'do felt like I was finally seeing the child I had envisioned since the beginning. It finally fit. But every once in a while I would forget that we had cut his hair and suddenly see a perfect stranger in my house toddling around. No more shaggy locks. All business.

Primary Program in church...whoosh!

Robert actually spoke his part into the microphone. What courage! After their dress rehearsal the week before, Robert told me that he spoke his whole part to the empty chapel even though he was feeling shy in front of so many people he didn't know (meaning the kids and Primary teachers behind him). I wondered if he would pull it through on the actual day with 50+ more people staring right at him from the pews. He did it! And he was proud of himself for doing it!

Alice's sewing party...whoosh!

I taught Alice how to hand sew a simple pillow. Since she's always looking for a reason to gather friends around her, she suggested throwing a sewing party where she could teach all her friends the same thing...with finger sandwiches and a treat (*batting her eyes at me*). Well, I liked this party idea better than the last half dozen, so I finally consented. We invited 5 of her closest best friends and every single one accepted. Even the one currently living an hour and a half away. Erk. It was one loud girlfest, and they actually did some sewing. I eavesdropped on their chit chat, which was more like a series of loud interruptions, until the sewing broke down and the girls got into the dress up box. By the end of the party, they had used bricks and 2x4s and small sheets of fabric in the backyard to frame out a simple house for their imaginary play.

James also had his third birthday, but I don't want to post about that until I've figured out how to get the photos from Bobby's phone :(

And I discovered our shower is leaking into the crawlspace :( The plumber came out today and said the source of the water wasn't obvious. He's coming back in a couple days with a partner to do more sleuthing. Deep down inside, I'm hoping they also discover the source of that horrible moldy smell coming from the bathroom :)

And I broke, and then fixed, and then broke again, and then made-do with the power button on the clothes dryer. I felt super handy, then totally dumb, then just plain okay with things.

The blackberry trellis is just about done. I ended up strapping the 16-foot fence panels to the top of our van like so:

The tail end is being pulled down by a string that is looped under the car. It was a pretty snug fit. The front part flapped a little crazy if I went over 30 mph, so I stuck to the residential streets and school zones on my way home :) I spent a couple hours this morning installing the first panel on the posts, then tying half of the raspberry canes to it. I like it. I love it, actually, even if the plants look a little roughed up from all the messing around, and even if Matthew ended up playing in (and eating) a little too much dirt/mulch today. James found plenty of sticks to turn into swords, then tools to turn into toys, and a fence to turn into a jungle gym. For three minutes, the boys even played peek-a-boo through the fence. Priceless. Still more work to do before posting a photo up here.

Reading and 'Rithmetic

Two stories to share:

Robert has grudgingly worked on phonics and reading with me, but never really tried it on his own unless it was expressly assigned. Until today. We are walking home and he's staring off at something. I hear him whisper, "Sssss-t-op." Then he turns to me and smiles, "That sign says 'stop'." Later, Matthew walks by and Robert points at his shirt, "That says 'mom'." He's not asking. He's not showing off. He's just stating a fact. I playfully scold him for learning to read, and I moan loudly about how I will never be able to hide another secret from Robert because now he can READ! That makes Robert smile. He wants an example. I say, "What if I tell Alice to hide something behind d-a-d?"

"Dad!"

"Argh! You would know where to find it! See? No more secrets."

Then I spell other "secret" words and places and he loooooves figuring them out, too.


***************


We're walking home from school and we take a new route. It's a fun little side trail that meets up with our usual route about halfway. We turn onto our usual route and Robert suddenly recognizes where we are. Delighted. He wonders out loud if the new route is shorter than the usual route. A shortcut. I mention that maybe I could use my pedometer to compare distances next time. The next thing I know, he's explaining to me how I could take larger steps on the longer route to make it so the two routes would appear to be the same number of steps.

Seriously, Dude? You're 5 years old...and totally right.

I don't naturally think about the world that way. Alice doesn't seem to, either. Surprise! Robert's different (again). Moments like these are a thrilling peek into his perspective and a terrifying reminder that this mom thing is way more complex than I like to admit.