Clearing Webs

Weekend Camping - the Final Straw for Those of You Who Don't Already Think Mine is the Cutest Dog in the World

For the record, none of these shots were staged. Again: Yes, my dog is just that cute.

Arlo wasn't allowed on the beach so he watched forlornly as we played.




Andy and I let Arlo in the tent, went away for a few minutes and came back to find him snuggled up on the pillow a-like this:


It was very windy and once Ike got wet he was pretty chilly.

Gid was a big fan of the s'mores, though he had me roast the mallows 'cause that was just a little too stressful for my little Type A guy. (Thanks for the apropos T, Katie!)


I love this one of Gideon.


Phin fully enjoyed the three days in the dirt outdoors. He shoveled dirt onto his face, over his head, into cups, and into trucks. He crawled, rolled in the dirt, then rolled some more. I think it may have disconcerted the couple we were camping with but my philosophy is to parent the important (attitude, obedience, safety) and allow little boys to be little boys where it's appropriate (playing in the dirt, searching for bugs, skinning knees and bumping heads). I've constantly got to remind myself it doesn't matter what others think about allowing kids to get dirty and such, that I need to make sure I'm being faithful and instilling what's truly important into my boys.


Oh - and Gid's t-shirt says: "In case of fire break glass." Get it!? It's a marshmallow on a stick. I love it! Katie truly knows my heart.

Squeezably Soft

Isaac has the Charmin Ultra of bums.

The Dog Stole My Napping Partner

Yes, Gideon would rather sleep on the floor with the dog than snuggled up with Mom now. At least it's completely adorable.

So. . .

A couple weeks ago I gave Phin his first haircut. Might of blogged about it sooner if we hadn't all been puking our guts out lately.

The sucker helped keep a grumpy Phin occupied but ended up becoming quite the hairy treat. His hair looks pretty hacked in this pic but it's all I've got right now.

These are from a little backyard work he and Arlo helped me do a few weeks ago. You can see the "before" hair in these.

Let's Try It like this again

Entirely different sentiments but this poem too expresses a lot of what I've been feeling lately.

Egg
by C.G. Hanzlicek

I'm scrambling an egg for my daughter.
"Why are you always whistling?" she asks.
"Because I'm happy."
And it's true,
Though it stuns me to say it aloud,
There was a time when I wouldn't
Have seen it as my future.
It's partly a matter
Of who is there to eat the egg.
The self fallen out of love with itself
Through the tedium of familiarity,
Or this little self,
So curious, so hungry,
Who emerged from the woman I love,
A woman who loves me in a way
I've come to think I deserve,
Now that it arrives from outside me.
Everything changes, we're told,
And now the changes are everywhere:
The house with its morning light
That fills me like a revelation,
The yard with its trees
That cast a bit more shade each summer,
The love of a woman
That both is and isn't confounding,
And the love
Of this clamor of questions at my waist.
Clamor of questions,
You clamor of answers,
Here's your egg.

Wordsworth speaks for me

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune,
It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.