finally did it...

After much debate (mostly internal, on my part), it has been done. Mira has bangs. In general, I am not a fan of bangs on little girls. I, for one, had them, and had far too much of them. So often you see little girls with as much bangs as the rest of their hair. Too much bangs begins to infringe on that dreaded mullet look. The other thing I hate about bangs is that once you have them, it's so hard to get rid of them.

Mira had a ton of chin-length wispies. She has often eaten them. She has asked to get her hair cut a few times, and upon further questioning it came out that those short hairs in front were the ones that bugged her. I cut only the chin length hairs, none of the rest of her long hair (which goes just past her little bum).

At first Mira wasn't really cooperating and wouldn't give me a nnice happy picture. I don't mind pictures where kids aren't smiling, but as my little sister Claire pointed out, it looks like a mug shot! Mira says it's her "plain face." But we handed her the scissors and she cheesed away.

Postcard from Ohio

Two pictures forwarded from Ohio this past week. One is Torrin at West Branch Lake near Ravenna, OH, half an hour from Akron and the other is from just last night. The large white expanse behind him is a movie screen--they went to a drive-in theatre in Cleveland to see Harry Potter! I am jealous, as I have yet to fill my HP quota this year. And also because they seem to have several drive-ins in Ohio. There are none in Nebraska.

My babies are gone!

It's been so long since I posted that I couldn't remember which screenname I use to sign in here! In between, I've had the most relaxing weekend of my entire life since having kids and other trinkets of here-and-there. My son T-boy is staying with his dad until the 26th of July, perhaps another week after that. My-little-girl is in Colorado for a week with her daddy and grandma.

Here is Mira in Ottawa, IL...she was sitting on the edge of a fountain, dangling and swinging her feet. Then...she fell in. She was devastated. Mom took pictures (28 June).
Here are Mira and Orion at Jazz in June (free jazz concert series). Orion grabbed sister's hair:

Iowa City has an awesome city park with a carousel, mini-train, huge green spaces, playgrounds, etc. We stopped there on our way to drop Torrin off with his dad. Orion had his first carousel ride:

Here is Mira playing around in a shawl we got from her great-grandma, at the rained-out Pawnee exhibition powwow in Kearney on June 20:

Orion loved talking to one of Mira's babies one night:

They just looked cute. I think this was Thursday morning (02 July).

obsession

Dipping baby's toes into the pond...also fun: playing with photo editing software.

The living, and the dead.

Shadow of mommy holding baby


on the first day, there was light.

we found berries!

Why, why, why, do I find it so irresistible to take pictures of flowers? All in all, they're all the same darn thing. I can find hundreds of shots online just like mine (or better) by doing a quick search. Ben says, "why not? At least it's not crack."

Baby O is a big boy now. He has been taking sips of water today, from a water bottle and a regular drinking glass. Just showing off, really! Good thing, too, as it was pretty hot and muggy. Personally, I like warm weather--I just dislike the overabundant indoor air conditioning that accompanies it, making it nearly impossible to choose suitable clothing in the morning.

Ha. That reminds me, what will my workplace be like without Viktor Krum? And more frightening...who will they plunk into that position next?

Oh, and check out my big baby! Last year's camping trip with our uncle made the paper, thanks to said uncle's rock-star status. :)

who steals CDs these days?

The thief was not smart. They rummaged through the glove compartment and took a Britney Spears disc, along with a dozen or so mostly burned discs that had been in a visor holder. I'm a little annoyed, because there were a couple of actual CDs in there that were of the legal, purchased variety. I can burn a new Veggie Tales Silly Songs suite (although a compilation entitled "Loud" came from TCO and can't be replaced). But these?

Namely the pink one? That thing alone is worth over $200. They didn't take that. Thank you, Idiot.

perfect Saturday

Torrin and Mira climbing the Torn Notebook

Mira and Sophia's pink-polished dirt-digging fingers
We planted pansies.

Lying on the grass, sleeping Orion on chest, reading a book in the sun.

Happy kitty on a window sill in the sun

banana slime spots

It started with a banana.

Orion was thrilled.
He growled and sucked on fresh banana through the ingenious mesh feeder device.

At first, he was just shiny and slimy.
Then little boy's face began to get red everywhere that the banana slime had touched.
Mama took the banana away!
Baby O objected.
He was so enchanted by this first encounter with something besides breastmilk.

Who has an allergic reaction to a banana? I've never known such a thing. Poor kid has never had any other solid foods, not even rice cereal. Makes me wary of trying more new things...things that little man is very interested in getting to know.