Sillies and Beauties

As I was sorting, discarding and swapping out clothes-- an endless activity that begins afresh with every changing season-- I found the collection of summer hats. The boys could not have been happier.

To occupy the boys while I did the obligatory clothing swap out, I put their tent back up in their room-- the one that isn't really age appropriate and might cause one of them some sort of perilous injury. I have kept it up, and Daddy has made good use of it.

Due to a general surliness on Kindred's part, Elias got to take an evening bath all by himself. He enjoyed the solitude so much I think he forgot several times that I was in the bathroom with him. After he got out of the tub, he stood peering out the window with his towel, of course, on his head. I got the camera, and he turned around. He really wanted me to take his picture, and I told him he needed to cover his...ahem. So he did.

I planted bulbs on a dark evening in the fall. When Spring came, I anxiously searched every morning for a sign that my bulbs would emerge from the earth and present their gorgeous faces to us, because, well, everyone else's were. I lamented when my neighbor's daffodils sprung high and mighty, taunting the mere leaves that were poking lamely up from my crusty, naked front lawn bit. But not to fear. My lovely flowers broke the surface after everyone else's had past their prime, and then they had their heyday! I took pictures of them today so that I could remember their placement for next year. Elias, in his impeccable timing, managed to get into almost every picture.

This picture is my thanks to Lindsey for choosing glorious tulips.

And finally, I present to you "Elias and Abigail."

Abigail, if you haven't guessed it, was my doll, my favorite doll, from my girlhood. I found her at my parents' house the last time I was there and felt obligated to bring her to my new home. She has taken so much abuse. Her hair used to be orange, she used to have a nose, and I don't remember what her eyes and mouth looked like before she got the surgery. Anyway, Elias found her today and refused to put her down without a fight. I don't mind him having dolls to play with, but the problem was that he clamped her in his arms just as we were going out the door. To pick Kindred up from school. On the bus. I had to draw a line. Abby is not quite fit to be seen in public. So instead he took Baby Matt.

After we'd collected Kindred and the bus appeared at the stop to take us back home, Kindred climbed aboard and greeted the driver: "Hey there, mister bus driver man!" And off we went.