annie blog

First Day of School
Today is the first day of school for the 3 oldest and for Jon.
Whew. I hope that everyone has a good day. I hope — and I eat some chocolate for good measure. I’m always glad when the first day is over. It is a bit of a mountain in my mind. You know, this might be a whole bar of chocolate day.

The 2 year old, Tater Head (Papa Ta-Ta) and I are going to the store to get my mind off everything.

I think that the first day of school is harder for the ones that stay behind.

Ahh, Little Boys
I will never understand these little folks that I’m living with. Now, I’m going to tell a few stories with body parts….so come back later if you don’t like that sort of thing.

This morning, I was out in the back yard taking out the dog. The youngest two are always up early, so they were out there with me. So, you know, the dog was doing his business in the grass and out of the corner of my eye, what did I see? The 6 year old had whipped it out. So what did I say? “Ack, put that thing up!!! You go inside, you’re not a dog!” He did what I said, but I don’t think that he wanted to. Maybe little boys don’t want to let anyone do their business alone? I’ll never understand.

And, I wasn’t done with the body part/body function conversations for today.

After dinner, we were out in the backyard. Jon was playing with #2 and #3, #4 was running around and I was sitting on the steps talking to #1. Oh, that boy. He noticed the strap of my bra peeping out of my sleeveless shirt and an interesting conversation ensued.

#1: What’s this?
Me: Something I wear under my clothes. Women wear them.
#1:Do you wear it for the lumps that you have over your heart?

Lumps that I have over my heart? Bless him. He is slowly understanding his world. So now, the dilemma. Where do I start informing this , basically guile-less, child without giving him lots of terminology that I’m afraid that he would throw around without care for how it is received? I have to think about this stuff. Do I want him to know and use the word “breast”? No, I don’t think that I do right now. Why? Because, this is the child who asks androgenous-looking people what they are. He asks old people if they are old and how their ears got so tall. He tells people that they are not skinny. He does none of this to hurt their feelings — but talking to people like this isn’t good. But it would be so much worse if he asked someone how her breasts got so big, small, waistlength, fill in the blank. Yes, I think that we’ll just leave it at “lumps over my heart”. That’ll hopefully be okay.

Lumps over my heart. Lumps in my heart. I think that I’ve got them both.

Ahh, Little Boys
I will never understand these little folks that I’m living with. Now, I’m going to tell a few stories with body parts….so come back later if you don’t like that sort of thing.

This morning, I was out in the back yard taking out the dog. The youngest two are always up early, so they were out there with me. So, you know, the dog was doing his business in the grass and out of the corner of my eye, what did I see? The 6 year old had whipped it out. So what did I say? “Ack, put that thing up!!! You go inside, you’re not a dog!” He did what I said, but I don’t think that he wanted to. Maybe little boys don’t want to let anyone do their business alone? I’ll never understand.

And, I wasn’t done with the body part/body function conversations for today.

After dinner, we were out in the backyard. Jon was playing with #2 and #3, #4 was running around and I was sitting on the steps talking to #1. Oh, that boy. He noticed the strap of my bra peeping out of my sleeveless shirt and an interesting conversation ensued.

#1: What’s this?
Me: Something I wear under my clothes. Women wear them.
#1:Do you wear it for the lumps that you have over your heart?

Lumps that I have over my heart? Bless him. He is slowly understanding his world. So now, the dilemma. Where do I start informing this , basically guile-less, child without giving him lots of terminology that I’m afraid that he would throw around without care for how it is received? I have to think about this stuff. Do I want him to know and use the word “breast”? No, I don’t think that I do right now. Why? Because, this is the child who asks androgenous-looking people what they are. He asks old people if they are old and how their ears got so tall. He tells people that they are not skinny. He does none of this to hurt their feelings — but talking to people like this isn’t good. But it would be so much worse if he asked someone how her breasts got so big, small, waistlength, fill in the blank. Yes, I think that we’ll just leave it at “lumps over my heart”. That’ll hopefully be okay.

Lumps over my heart. Lumps in my heart. I think that I’ve got them both.

Ahh, Little Boys
I will never understand these little folks that I’m living with. Now, I’m going to tell a few stories with body parts….so come back later if you don’t like that sort of thing.

This morning, I was out in the back yard taking out the dog. The youngest two are always up early, so they were out there with me. So, you know, the dog was doing his business in the grass and out of the corner of my eye, what did I see? The 6 year old had whipped it out. So what did I say? “Ack, put that thing up!!! You go inside, you’re not a dog!” He did what I said, but I don’t think that he wanted to. Maybe little boys don’t want to let anyone do their business alone? I’ll never understand.

And, I wasn’t done with the body part/body function conversations for today.

After dinner, we were out in the backyard. Jon was playing with #2 and #3, #4 was running around and I was sitting on the steps talking to #1. Oh, that boy. He noticed the strap of my bra peeping out of my sleeveless shirt and an interesting conversation ensued.

#1: What’s this?
Me: Something I wear under my clothes. Women wear them.
#1:Do you wear it for the lumps that you have over your heart?

Lumps that I have over my heart? Bless him. He is slowly understanding his world. So now, the dilemma. Where do I start informing this , basically guile-less, child without giving him lots of terminology that I’m afraid that he would throw around without care for how it is received? I have to think about this stuff. Do I want him to know and use the word “breast”? No, I don’t think that I do right now. Why? Because, this is the child who asks androgenous-looking people what they are. He asks old people if they are old and how their ears got so tall. He tells people that they are not skinny. He does none of this to hurt their feelings — but talking to people like this isn’t good. But it would be so much worse if he asked someone how her breasts got so big, small, waistlength, fill in the blank. Yes, I think that we’ll just leave it at “lumps over my heart”. That’ll hopefully be okay.

Lumps over my heart. Lumps in my heart. I think that I’ve got them both.

He knows a good thing when he sees one…
Last Sunday afternoon, we were sitting out in the backyard while the 2 middle boys were playing with their slip and slide. The 2 year old was pretending to be Steve from Blue’s Clues and the oldest was inside recovering from a mystery illness. Jon was trying out his new grill (a great Craigslist find) and I was sitting there daydreaming on the back step. Jon went inside to get the meat, or something, and handed me his beer to hold. The 2 year old wakes up from his make-believing Steve to observe with awe in his voice, “Mommy, now zhue hab 2 beers.” That boy pays attention to the important things in life. Yes sir-ee.

He knows a good thing when he sees one…
Last Sunday afternoon, we were sitting out in the backyard while the 2 middle boys were playing with their slip and slide. The 2 year old was pretending to be Steve from Blue’s Clues and the oldest was inside recovering from a mystery illness. Jon was trying out his new grill (a great Craigslist find) and I was sitting there daydreaming on the back step. Jon went inside to get the meat, or something, and handed me his beer to hold. The 2 year old wakes up from his make-believing Steve to observe with awe in his voice, “Mommy, now zhue hab 2 beers.” That boy pays attention to the important things in life. Yes sir-ee.

He knows a good thing when he sees one…
Last Sunday afternoon, we were sitting out in the backyard while the 2 middle boys were playing with their slip and slide. The 2 year old was pretending to be Steve from Blue’s Clues and the oldest was inside recovering from a mystery illness. Jon was trying out his new grill (a great Craigslist find) and I was sitting there daydreaming on the back step. Jon went inside to get the meat, or something, and handed me his beer to hold. The 2 year old wakes up from his make-believing Steve to observe with awe in his voice, “Mommy, now zhue hab 2 beers.” That boy pays attention to the important things in life. Yes sir-ee.

Hi, out there…
Sorry to be gone for so long. Our computers were out of the internet loop for awhile, and well, I’ve just been not really focused on blogging and such lately. So what’s been going on?

We love our house. It is so well-suited to us. While it has roughly the same amount of liveable space as our apartment, the space itself is much better divided, and we really appreciate that. The “zones” of public and private/adult and child, are much better placed. We even have a room, the living room, that has no TV in it. And, yes, I’m writing about us, the TV-loving Barlows, not some other family. It is nice to have a space like that. It is a nice place to read. The boys have a playroom with toys and media-stuff. It is off to one side of the house and has a door that shuts to hide their mess and muffle their noise. What a lovely thing. 🙂 So far, we have not been in the yard as much as I thought, but that is my fault, really, and the heat until this week has been opressive, too. I can hardly believe that I get to live in this house, in this cute little neighborhood where everyone walks, less than 2 minutes to the boys school and so convenient in many other ways. We definitely feel blessed. That is for sure.

Meanwhile, we have a little less than 2 weeks before the 3 oldest go to school. I’m trying to not get nervous about it. And, I’m not nervous about the younger 2 going, but I am nervous about my eldest son going to a new school. Even though the school has an excellent reputation with special education and autism, I’m still nervous. I think that the reality is that I’m just going to be nervous about him a lot in his life. There is just a lot more unknown with him than with the other boys. You think I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not. Maybe I’ll never be used to it.

I have a few projects around the house to do after the boys go back to school. I’m planning on upholstering one chair and doing a fitted slipcover for my Miss Liz couch. I was thinking about reupholstering the couch, until the other night at dinner when the 2 year old, having gotten down out of his chair before being cleaned up, wandered over to the couch and gave it a kiss with his ketchuped mouth. Any piece of furniture within 10 feet of a dinner table should be readily cleanable and his little smooch proved that to me anew. I also have to hang stuff on the walls, but I like to wait on that and think a little. Blank walls don’t bother me but stuff hanging where I don’t like/want it really does bother me. So, waiting is part of the plan for me for now.

So, that is all of my boring news. Oh, and I wore the brown dress that I wrote of earlier this summer. Even though it is not exactly as I want it to be, I wore it to a wedding over the weekend and thought that it looked pretty good. Maybe I’ll even wear it to church sometime. Maybe my sons will recognize me in a skirt — the last time I wore one, my 8 year old asked me what I was wearing. He didn’t know the name for it. I live in such a male household.

Thanks for dropping by.

Hi, out there…
Sorry to be gone for so long. Our computers were out of the internet loop for awhile, and well, I’ve just been not really focused on blogging and such lately. So what’s been going on?

We love our house. It is so well-suited to us. While it has roughly the same amount of liveable space as our apartment, the space itself is much better divided, and we really appreciate that. The “zones” of public and private/adult and child, are much better placed. We even have a room, the living room, that has no TV in it. And, yes, I’m writing about us, the TV-loving Barlows, not some other family. It is nice to have a space like that. It is a nice place to read. The boys have a playroom with toys and media-stuff. It is off to one side of the house and has a door that shuts to hide their mess and muffle their noise. What a lovely thing. 🙂 So far, we have not been in the yard as much as I thought, but that is my fault, really, and the heat until this week has been opressive, too. I can hardly believe that I get to live in this house, in this cute little neighborhood where everyone walks, less than 2 minutes to the boys school and so convenient in many other ways. We definitely feel blessed. That is for sure.

Meanwhile, we have a little less than 2 weeks before the 3 oldest go to school. I’m trying to not get nervous about it. And, I’m not nervous about the younger 2 going, but I am nervous about my eldest son going to a new school. Even though the school has an excellent reputation with special education and autism, I’m still nervous. I think that the reality is that I’m just going to be nervous about him a lot in his life. There is just a lot more unknown with him than with the other boys. You think I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not. Maybe I’ll never be used to it.

I have a few projects around the house to do after the boys go back to school. I’m planning on upholstering one chair and doing a fitted slipcover for my Miss Liz couch. I was thinking about reupholstering the couch, until the other night at dinner when the 2 year old, having gotten down out of his chair before being cleaned up, wandered over to the couch and gave it a kiss with his ketchuped mouth. Any piece of furniture within 10 feet of a dinner table should be readily cleanable and his little smooch proved that to me anew. I also have to hang stuff on the walls, but I like to wait on that and think a little. Blank walls don’t bother me but stuff hanging where I don’t like/want it really does bother me. So, waiting is part of the plan for me for now.

So, that is all of my boring news. Oh, and I wore the brown dress that I wrote of earlier this summer. Even though it is not exactly as I want it to be, I wore it to a wedding over the weekend and thought that it looked pretty good. Maybe I’ll even wear it to church sometime. Maybe my sons will recognize me in a skirt — the last time I wore one, my 8 year old asked me what I was wearing. He didn’t know the name for it. I live in such a male household.

Thanks for dropping by.

Hi, out there…
Sorry to be gone for so long. Our computers were out of the internet loop for awhile, and well, I’ve just been not really focused on blogging and such lately. So what’s been going on?

We love our house. It is so well-suited to us. While it has roughly the same amount of liveable space as our apartment, the space itself is much better divided, and we really appreciate that. The “zones” of public and private/adult and child, are much better placed. We even have a room, the living room, that has no TV in it. And, yes, I’m writing about us, the TV-loving Barlows, not some other family. It is nice to have a space like that. It is a nice place to read. The boys have a playroom with toys and media-stuff. It is off to one side of the house and has a door that shuts to hide their mess and muffle their noise. What a lovely thing. 🙂 So far, we have not been in the yard as much as I thought, but that is my fault, really, and the heat until this week has been opressive, too. I can hardly believe that I get to live in this house, in this cute little neighborhood where everyone walks, less than 2 minutes to the boys school and so convenient in many other ways. We definitely feel blessed. That is for sure.

Meanwhile, we have a little less than 2 weeks before the 3 oldest go to school. I’m trying to not get nervous about it. And, I’m not nervous about the younger 2 going, but I am nervous about my eldest son going to a new school. Even though the school has an excellent reputation with special education and autism, I’m still nervous. I think that the reality is that I’m just going to be nervous about him a lot in his life. There is just a lot more unknown with him than with the other boys. You think I’d be used to it by now, but I’m not. Maybe I’ll never be used to it.

I have a few projects around the house to do after the boys go back to school. I’m planning on upholstering one chair and doing a fitted slipcover for my Miss Liz couch. I was thinking about reupholstering the couch, until the other night at dinner when the 2 year old, having gotten down out of his chair before being cleaned up, wandered over to the couch and gave it a kiss with his ketchuped mouth. Any piece of furniture within 10 feet of a dinner table should be readily cleanable and his little smooch proved that to me anew. I also have to hang stuff on the walls, but I like to wait on that and think a little. Blank walls don’t bother me but stuff hanging where I don’t like/want it really does bother me. So, waiting is part of the plan for me for now.

So, that is all of my boring news. Oh, and I wore the brown dress that I wrote of earlier this summer. Even though it is not exactly as I want it to be, I wore it to a wedding over the weekend and thought that it looked pretty good. Maybe I’ll even wear it to church sometime. Maybe my sons will recognize me in a skirt — the last time I wore one, my 8 year old asked me what I was wearing. He didn’t know the name for it. I live in such a male household.

Thanks for dropping by.