cool girls insomnia club

The first rule of cool girls insomnia club is you wake up the other girls in cool girls insomnia club. Make sure no one sleeps. Because sleep is for nerds. Dressup is for cool girls. Crackers are for cool girls too. The best times to not sleep are 9pm, 11pm, 1am, and then 4am is when you should really not sleep and just party. Always wake up with a rebel yell. Snuggling softly on the couch is NOT allowed.

a day at home

We had the best kind of day at home yesterday. Rob and Otto are a pretty dynamic duo these days, playing xbox Lego Batman whenever Etta naps. There was this magic moment where I got to stand at my kitchen sink window and drink a whole cup of coffee while Etta napped and Rob and Ot played. Ms. Etta's getting so big, sometimes she still takes two naps but sometimes only one. She's so beautiful to me, and such a mysterious creature. A real piss pot. But also a doll. Her strawberry blonde hair seems to be sticking around and her eyes are the prettiest shade of green-blue. Otto is hooked on learning: a little multiplication on the front walk, sounding out words and writing graphic novels when he's supposed to be napping, growing so fast. I am boring but it's like the weekends being boring is super important to me! My most fascinating thing right now is that I'm planning to turn my fabric basket into a dress-up basket for the kids and to sew my way through the collection of fabrics that are currently in it. Kid pants, blankets, and dressup "scraps" are the goals. And maybe some potholders, ours are all tattered.

Etta writes on everything with crayon, including the inside of her mouth. She makes this "Oh!" surprised face when she does something she knows she shouldn't and looks at you with this shocked look like, "can you believe this is happening?" then smiles and heads for the hills.

Otto loves playing super powers and magic powers. Whenever he casts a spell he says, "Magic, Magic..." and then casts it. I love it.

currently | I really like lions and sharks best

Currently is a weekly link-up with the lovely ♥ Randalin of Harvesting Kale and I am her happy co-host each week. I hope that you can participate by writing your own Currently post (using the provided themes or your own) and please join us by linking up. What have you been spending, saving, speaking, going, sharing this week? Over here, we have been...

Spending a little money on shoes. Because kids feet grow stinkin fast! And can I just say here, publicly, to I hope a sympathetic audience, that it is a CRYING FREAKIN LOW DOWN LAME ASS SHAME that Otto never liked his giraffe Toms. And I quote, "But I really like lions and sharks best." He has bad taste. They are adorable and he wore them like four times. He wore his spiderman sandals like fourty-four thousand times. A lesser mom would have shoved those cute ass giraffes on his feet and had an Instagram party of epic proportions. Just sayin. 

Saving up for a new Ducks hoodie for myself. We've lived in Eugene for two years now and I'm pretty sure I'm officially a Ducks fan. I don't know how it happened. Sports has never ever ever been on my radar before in my whole life. Ever. But you know what... Like right this minute I can't wait for football to start up again in a couple weeks! I hope I am wearing a sweet new hoodie when it does. Fan gear, people!

Etta is Speaking so many new words. Well demands really. She understands a lot but really only busts out the words when she is requiring something. "WATER! CRACKER! BOOK!" The best new one this week was, "TRICKLE!" when I'd forgotten to put a little cold water trickle on during their bath. It's kind of trippy to have a baby growl/scream "TRICKLE!" at you. You put that trickle on like a muthafugga fast, I'll tell you that.

Going to swim lessons for Otto. I'm really proud how much more willing he is participate this year. He has a real case of anxiety when it comes to swimming. He's always had sensory sensitivity and the lack of control plus the cold water make him understandably really nervous when it comes to swimming. This year, though, he's powering through and after a few minutes of lesson he's just large and in charge enjoying himself like the other kids. Last year he was the swim lesson wall flower who opted out of every class and just hung out on the edge. So this year feels like a great stride! He's also all about the water slide when lessons are over. My little guy is finding his bravery, sniff sniff. And Etta, who hangs with mama during lessons, is all about demanding to be in the water and then making the craziest faces because it's so cold but then the second we get out throwing herself towards the water again. This girl is going to be the most gray hair making teenager in the world some day.

Sharing is becoming an issue around here. Etta demands ev. er. y. thing. And Otto requires fairness or that he get slightly more than her. So they disagree on this. And they are 4 1/2 and 1 1/2 so yelling yelling yelling!
     

That was this week. Here are next week's themes: 

feeling, missing, running, visiting, cooking 

sometimes there is only time for living

Sometimes I feel like the most productive human on the planet. Baking interesting things with secrets flaxes and chias hidden inside and planning thoughtful activities and keeping my children clean(ish) and my hair brushed(ish) and taking neighborhood walks and all the while doing some dishes and putting the laundry away and taking pictures to boot. Sometimes I feel on top of it all. Kinda. Sometimes.

Other times, like lately, I feel like there is just time for almost all of it. A little baking, a board game, a bath, a walk, dishes, laundry... I try to keep my phone out of reach when I'm with the kids but then I find myself running for it to take pictures pretty regularly and that alerts the kids that Mom's about to take a picture so they of course stop doing whatever cute thing they might have been doing. So documenting the moments gets patchy, which feels patchy in this nonstop documentation world of ours.

Moments like this, though. So perfect. Just all together and laughing. Smelling feet and snuggling and sharing something special. You can't plan for that. It just happens. Just living. These moments are the reason for the life we're building and all the other "busy" stuff falls away. Even on the days that seem like they won't end. Toddler teething days. Big kid running on jet fuel days. Mom about to lose her marbles days. These moments make it all totally and completely worth it.