These Three

On a Sunday afternoon, at the end of May,
I have only the time to record a few quick thoughts.

Myles is 19 months old and full of vim and vigor.  His eyes express reluctance and hesitation until you are in his inner circle.  Once you're in, you are blessed by his amazing sparkle and charm.  His favorite places are outside and in Papa's arms.  He detests his car seat.  He eats an embarrassing number of "pouches" every day (the little fruit puree push-up genius inventions).  He knows how to open the cupboard and get them out, and he would gladly eat them for every meal and every snack of the day.  I still want him to be my baby, but I also want him to start talking and using the toilet.  If I had to choose, I would go with the latter.

One of the other mothers from Isaac's class told me the other day that Isaac is "so charismatic." I wish that I could see what he is like in school because I get the sense that he has multiple personalities.

 He is certainly a ham, but he has the sweetest little spirit.  He is thoughtful, generous, giving, goofy, and tender.  He is pretty proud of his recent accomplishment of diving to the bottom of our pool's deep end (8.5 feet) and collecting multiple rings.  His has become our second little fish and spends hours in the pool.  He just finished his first year of "school," and he literally LOVED EVERY MINUTE.  He had the most incredible teacher, and he wanted to go 7 days a week.  He is very sad about summer vacation, and I already anticipate the countless times he is going to ask when he gets to go back to school.

Clare...

She has changed a lot in the past few months.  It seems like she's really grown up, and her desire is always to please others.  Rather than always being first, best, fastest, and victorious, she now defers to her brothers and delights in their successes.  She loves being our little helper, and she doesn't want to miss a beat.  She is the last one asleep at night and the first one awake in the morning.  She wants to make her own pancakes every morning...start to finish...except for the clean-up part.  She's gotten very good, and she has yet to get sick from the copious amounts of batter that she's eaten.

She is definitely Daddy's girl when it comes to loving animals.  Phil brought home a hornbill that needed round-the-clock care, and Clare was always on feeding duty.  She and Phil share an innate connection with animals that is fascinating to watch.  Regarding nature vs. nurture, it is definitely in her nature because Isaac is seemingly as uninterested as she is interested.

We have a pair of hawks that hang around our house, and Clare spots them before anyone else.  She is incredibly observant, and she notices things that I completely overlook.  The other day, she saw her "little buddy" on the fence, and she kept saying, "Birds are just so beautiful."  Only the daughter of an ornithologist. 

  So much more to say, but this has to do for now.

All is well.  Very well!

This and That and A Little of the In-Between

I remember when I used to blog regularly, and I held onto the presumption that that would always be the case.  I really believed that I would still make time to document the little things in the midst of the fast-paced life that continues whizzing by us.  Alas, it is the fifth month of the year, and this is only my fourth post.  I missed the month of February altogether.  Anyhow...here I am attempting to refresh some memories of the past few months. 

 Easter was extra special this year because Papa and Mema were in town.

Phil and I graduated from the Easter outfits that we've worn for the past ??? years,

2012

  

2014

2015

...but we still captured the ceremonial family shot in front of the house. 

The kids had spring break during the second week of March, and we did lots of day trips around the area.  We figured that we live in the middle of America's playground, where most others make their destination, so we could easily vacation in our "backyard."

 Adventure Island is always a hit.  Mema and I brought the big kids to the water park, and it was a mostly perfect day.  Our little Isaac, oh Isaac, made the lifeguard earn his wage for the day.  He jumped off the cliff dive area (a good 6-7 feet high), and his goggles filled with water.  That disoriented him enough to create panic, and the life guard jumped in to help him.  Oh mercy.  It happened to be in the 45 seconds that I was in the bathroom, and poor Mema witnessed from the sideline.  His name went in the log for the first rescue of the day.  Awesome.

Normally, I wouldn't remark on the next tidbit.  But, following the aforementioned story, it needs to be recorded somewhere.  A few hours after Isaac was "rescued", and his name went in the official log, he had another incident.  Oh Isaac.  He incurred a pretty decent rope burn, and he started bleeding in the water.  The life guard told us that we needed to go to First Aid to have him bandaged appropriately.  I stayed with Clare while my mom brought Isaac to First Aid.  Guess what?  They needed to document the incident.  My fast-thinking mother, who wanted to protect us from getting black-listed at a Busch Gardens' sister park, quickly answered with, "Pat Durham." 
Thank you, Mom.  Thank you!

As many "Oh Isaac" incidents as we have in a day (and there tend to be several), I still have the softest spot for this little one.  His cheeks are undoubtedly the most kissable on the planet.  His tenderness melts my heart every day, and his crystal blue eyes pierce through any frustration and make me want to squeeze him a little longer than what is considered normal.  Oh Isaac!

Phil shares a similar bond with Clare.  Those two are peas in a pod...an animal-loving, insect -inspecting, dirt-digging', wood-haulin', olive-eating, brilliant-negotiating pod.  Phil has been working with penguins for the past year, and he got to bring a few of them on The Today Show in March.  He did a test run with the penguins in Clare and Isaac's classrooms, and everyone thought that was pretty fantastic!!!

Much to their chagrin, we don't have skateboards...yet. 

Our neighbors let the kids roll around, and they LOVE it.  Ironically enough, Phil is the only one with a busted knee or blood.

Clare and Isaac love sharing a room roughly 87% of the time.  More often than not, we hear them giggling until they fall asleep.  Yes, they pester each other a fair amount of time as well.  But, for the most part, they have a special bond that is unmatched with any other, they comfort each other, and they love each other.  We have found them cuddled in the same twin bed on countless occasions. 

Clare is down three teeth.  She hasn't lost any of them naturally (another story for another time), but the tooth fairy still made a special stop at our house.  

Tooth #1

Teeth #2 and #3

The tooth fairy at our house is more of a superhero-type with testosterone and excellent fine-motor skills. 

Clare started art lessons a couple of months ago, and it is the highlight of her month.  A wonderfully talented woman at our church noticed Clare drawing one day and she remarked on her natural gift.  I kind of hate using that word, but let's just go ahead and say it.  I'm her mother.  I think she is a gifted little artist.

Anyhow, that same wonderful woman agreed to do casual "lessons" with Clare, and it is a win-win situation (she loves art and doesn't have a daughter to share it with, and I have a daughter who loves art but she has a mother who knows NOTHING about it). These are just two of her creations, and she is learning many different styles and forms of art.  This is one of those areas that I just don't possess any natural talent of my own.  "Draw" is one of the worst 4-letter words that I can think of, so I'm thrilled that we found this connection for Clare.

I haven't said much about Myles Man in this post, but he got his ink in the last post.  Since that made up 25% of my blogging for the year, I think we're good for now.  

The five of us are healthy and well.  We enjoy our pool almost every afternoon.  We're moving out of bonfire season and into oppressive humidity season.  We get excited when Myles does something new.  We love it when we have family in town (Papa is here right now, and it is like Christmas every day).  We started our Michigan countdown at 100 days, and we still have way too many days for our children's liking.  The kids are in the silly face stage for most pictures. 

We are blessed!