Friday, May 27, 2011

Photos By...


From time to time I've let Amy try taking a picture with the big camera, but I've always done the holding or the aiming, or tried in vain to explain how to look through the viewfinder to see what the picture will be. But today the whole point and shoot process suddenly "clicked" for her when I let her try the camera at her friend's preschool graduation. All at once she was actually taking really good pictures! I wish I could have a picture of the pose she makes when she's shooting, and the grin that shows just how proud she is of this new accomplishment.

So without further ado, I present Friday Evening, by Amy:









Nothing says trust (?) like letting a three-year-old use your $500 camera.

Sunday, May 22, 2011

ONE


Donald William...
Baby Donny...
Little William...
Sweet William...
Buster Brown...
Mister Mischief...
The Willy Goat...
Putt-Putt...
My sweetest little boy...

...turned one whole year old today.


To celebrate we went to the National Zoo with his new red wagon. Our last visit there was when he was 10 days old. It was a fabulous day, capped off with a quiet afternoon at home with presents, burgers on the grill, and cupcakes.





My heart belongs to you, little one. Happy Birthday!



Friday, May 13, 2011

Small Victories


It is Friday evening of a very Don-less week and I've promised myself some veg-out time, but first I wanted to reflect on three very small accomplishments this week, those of no real significance but which make me feel like I'm doing a good job... so chalk this one up to a "Susan pats herself on the back" post.

Monday morning: Trash is at the curb yet has not been picked up yet. Odd, because it is past 7 and usually the truck comes much earlier than that. I'm making breakfast and cannot find Amy's red-handled spoon anywhere. I always wash it by hand, so if it's not in the drying rack it should be in its drawer. No where to be found, and I begin to suspect that it got tossed right along with the container of cottage cheese that Amy ate the day before. Meaning that the spoon is at the bottom of a bag trash with all kinds of other good stuff on top. I debate whether dumpster diving is how I want to spend my morning, and eventually decide to just go see if I can spot the spoon without too much trouble, since after all, by the grace of the trash gods the bag is still at the end of our driveway. And lo and behold, there is the spoon, pressed up against the side of the bag and easily retrievable. Yes. When you're the type of person who never loses anything, you just don't want to start.

Monday afternoon: I'm lamenting how few pants remain in William's rotation, and how few of those are presentable after months of crawling and spring mud and gardens and the like. Then I remember several pairs of pants that I had months ago put in the too-small bin because they were a bit short and left his poor legs exposed to the cold. But, as I suspected, they still fit fine in the waist and now I'm not concerned about length, just want my boy's knees covered when he's crawling around outside. Four nearly-new pants for zero money out. Yes.

Friday afternoon: Amy has decided it is Christmas in May and wants to wrap up random toys and things in the living room as presents. Asks for wrapping paper. I stall, not really wanting to indulge this and part with my one roll of wrapping paper and precious scotch tape, but also not wanting to squelch an otherwise harmless activity. In a flash I remember having just discarded a Hancocks of Paducah catalog - page after pretty page of fabric photography. Wrapping paper solved. Brilliance truly shines when I tell her to use all the surplus address labels my dad sends her as the tape. One hour of entertained daughter with no materials wasted. Yes.

So, there you go. I just had to share with somebody, because after all, aren't these the small victories that make the world go 'round?


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Changes Afoot



Tomorrow we will be saying au revoir to some really good friends. Bill was once Don's superior when they were both on the CGC Ida Lewis in Rhode Island. He and his wife Tara, and their then-two-year-old daughter moved to Maryland at the same time we transferred here. For three years we have lived in houses about a hundred yards from each other. We have both added a second child to our families in that time. They were the ones I called at 2 a.m. when I went into labor with William; Tara came over to stay with Amy. We have shared two Thanksgivings and one Easter as family. We have traded sugar, lawn mowers, decorating ideas, babysitting, and evenings hosting dinner. We have met each others' parents. I can say without equivocation that I think of them as family and I am quite confident that we will always be in each others' lives (there are already plans for 2 visits in the next 6 weeks) but what I will miss most is that sense of company and comfort that comes from knowing that there is someone right around the corner. Especially when we are so far from our own families.

I'm feeling sappy not just because we are losing the nearness of very dear friends, but because this is just the beginning of a season of change throughout our lives. Our own parents are on the verge of moves. We are waiting anxiously to hear whether or not Don was accepted to OCS - and by extension whether we will be moving this year or next. We wonder what the next 12 months will hold for us and what decisions will be made in that span of time. As I watch our friends' house get packed into boxes I can only bide my time until we know the circumstances will be when we start packing our house into boxes. So many unknowns, yet much confidence that it will all come together just as it is supposed to. It always does.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

A Peek from This Week



Just checkin' in to say hi... on a bit of a break here... back in a bit.


Meanwhile, check out these two handsome guys I know...




Have a lovely week!