We’ve been meaning to do a blog for Wire & Twine for ages. We finally put it on the calendar and made it happen. We’ll do a little about Wire & Twine and a lot about a bunch of other stuff. Because, you know, you needed more ways to spend time on the internet!
See the beginnings here. Look for it to grow in the months to come…
It was allowance day, so the kids got to go to Target to spend what they’d saved for the past few weeks. Tom decided this applied to him as well, and spent his allowance on this crayon maker.
I was a bit skeptical of this purchase at first, but have been amazed at the time the kids have logged making new crayons. Especially, Shep for whom this color mixing magic has been right up his alley.
My children, you should know that not everyone’s life is like this. Not everyone has a dad who turns cardboard boxes into houses complete with chimneys and mailboxes. Not everyone has a dad who pulls out amps and microphones and turns our living room into a concert venue. Most kids don’t have a dad who dusts off the sewing machine and makes capes on a whim.
This morning as I sipped my coffee, I watched him tearing apart an old hard drive, flanked by the three of you, each holding a screwdriver or a set of pliers.
Your lives are bound to be full of crazy. But based on the last eight years, it’s mostly all the goood kind of crazy with some crazy crazy mixed in. Not a bad deal if you ask me.
Happy anniversary.
I looked down from cleaning up in the loft to see Tom leading a comic book workshop. Everyone was hard at work at their own comic books.
I had on a white shirt and my pajama bottoms. And then Neko came out all excited that she’d put on a white shirt and pajama bottoms. Of course, then Shep and Ellery had to get in on the act.
And I was all like, “We should get a photo of this!”
Things I’ve learned:
1. Our kitchen at night has hopeless lighting.
2. I should probably adjust the settings before I hand Tom my camera in hopeless lighting.
3. Our kids never stand still.
4. This may be as good as our family photos get.
Sheesh. I’m feeling like Boring Mom these days. Every time I turn around, Tom is doing something fun and inventive with the kids. Today while I was putting together the shards of my sanity, he held a car wash with the kids.
Watermelon. Car washes. Never know what you might get yourself into when you head down our driveway…
I love when Tom has the kids, and I come home to find some fun surprise waiting for me.
Today I pulled up to find Tom, the kids, and Neko’s friend Mary Beth were giving away free watermelon. All four kids crafted this giant slice out of one of the pieces of wood from the tree that came down last month.
Love. It.
Today was an exhausting day. I think we can both agree on that.
I had worked a festival all day yesterday selling t-shirts while you watched the kids. We were supposed to cap off the evening with dinner at that amazing Mexican restaurant to celebrate your half-birthday. But you had a cold and our babysitter had a migraine, so we ended up canceling.
Today started early. (As usual.) You didn’t get to sleep in. We had a few gifts, but they weren’t very inspired. I offered to let you leave and do some stuff for yourself for the day, but bless you, you stuck around. We were both pretty spent, and the kids were grouchy. It was good we had the whole team at bat.
The very fact that you were willing to spend Father’s Day knee-deep in grouchy children and a tired wife is why we love you so. And hopefully, on some random Thursday, I’ll be able to put it all a bit more eloquently.
But in the meantime?
Happy Father’s Day.
Because I had the kids all day yesterday, Tom gave me much of today off to get caught up on my astronomical pile of Things To Do. On the way home, he vacuumed the car, and then suggested the kids help clean the floor mats, which they did enthusiastically.
So, at what age do they catch on to the Tom Sawyer technique?
Sometimes I get in the groove of unloading the dishwasher or some other mundane task, and I turn around and see the kids completely enthralled by something across the room, something I would never think of, but am delighted to see.
Today Tom took the cover off the piano. All the kids plinked away at keys, watching the complex behind-the-scenes mechanisms that make a piano work.