starting over!

I've taken the plunge and am moving my blog to Wordpress. I'm already enjoying the experience so much better, just in the one evening I've been dealing with it. So, if you want to keep following our family's little happenings, start checking out the new and improved blog. See you there!

another new beginning

"Every new beginning comes 

from some other beginning's end."

-- Semisonic's "Closing Time"

Sean about to get his first tooth - July 2005

Sean about to lose his first tooth - May 2011

After three weeks of gentle wiggling and carefully biting his food with his side teeth, Sean's first loose tooth was finally jolted almost free by a stray ball in the backyard. I'm not sure if it was the blood or the extra wiggliness of it that convinced him he was ready to just get it out for good, but after a few hard tugs from Daddy (and a few yells and tears from Sean), our little boy was sporting his first toothless gap.

I was cheering for him on the outside, but on the inside I was still wondering how it's even possible that my little baby is already big enough to start getting his adult-size chompers. I don't think I'll ever get used to the bittersweetness of childhood milestones.

Ta-da!

 

And then Chris and I had the fun of determining what the tooth fairy's going rate was going to be in our house. Sean was expecting pennies (maybe we should have humored him), and we contemplated a quarter or two until we remembered that we got quarters for our teeth. We figured the tooth fairy's rates have probably changed in the last 25 years, so decided maybe a dollar might be more appropriate. (I was just thankful we had a dollar and weren't stuck with nothing smaller than a $10 bill like one girl I know when her son lost his first tooth. That tooth fairy was broke by the time that kid lost all of his teeth!)


I'm curious: What is/was the going rate for teeth in your house?

elijah's first haircut

before

during

after

the ride that helped make it happen

We've been in denial for over a month now that little Elijah needed a haircut. His brothers didn't need one this young, and we were hoping we could hold out a little longer--it's hard for us to let go of that baby hair look! But when his hair got so long that it wouldn't stay out of his eyes, and then he got called a girl twice in one week by strangers, we finally figured we couldn't deny it anymore. So off we went to The Hairy Elephant for one more Huntley family tradition first haircut. And just like his brothers before him, the little guy did great. First haircut for #4 was a success.

long-awaited

 

This depicts these two so well--Ben acting goofy and Sean smiling at him in spite of himself.

They can all now say they've worn a tie. But if they're anything like their dad, they're just getting started.

snow: shadows, angels & snowboy sam (aka rocky)

 

baboons, gooeys, and earwacks

Some of Jonathan's adorable mis-speaks here lately:

"baboons" = balloons
"gooeys" = smoothies
"kim-miss" = Christmas (a term which he applies to more than just the day--Christmas lights are "kim-miss", Christmas trees are "kim-miss", Santa is "kim-miss"...and if he sees lots of Christmas-y things one right after another, he starts saying, "Der's mo kim-miss...and mo kim-miss...and mo kim-miss."
"lemons-tines" = clementines

And Chris overheard this gem from Sean to Ben recently:

"Ben, you have an earwack in your ear. I'VE had earwacks in my ears before."

on summer, fall, and the importance of right now

As Chris always says, I'm perpetually ready for fall. I love the crisp, cool air, the need to wear a sweater, the chance to open up the windows and let the breeze flow through the house, the crunchy leaves on the ground, the smells, the colors, the foods...I love it all. But this year...well, it kind of snuck up on me and I find myself, believe it or not, wishing for more summer. Did I really say that? I feel like I'm cheating on fall. But, it's true. As much as I'm enjoying the changing of the seasons, I'm having to quell a longing for the weather to stay warmer for just a little bit longer, for the leaves to stay on the trees for just a little bit longer, for the evenings to be lighter for just a little bit longer.

I could blame this on a lot of things, but basically it comes down to this: for the first time in my life, I'm starting to feel old. I've had the usual hints of that feeling over the last few years--a kid I used to babysit getting married, a month here and there feeling like it's flown by, realizing that "15 years ago" now no longer refers to my childhood, turning 30. But this is the first time I can remember feeling like the days are truly fleeting and realizing that I must take advantage of the time I have right now before that time is gone. Because this summer I didn't do that...and I so wish I had.

Back in June, for the first time ever, Sean and Ben started listing off things that they wanted to do over the summer. Things like make popsicles, ride bikes, go on a walk in the wagon, have a picnic in the backyard. It wasn't a long list, but I knew, probably even more than they did, that it was an important one. And I naively believed that in the middle of finding our new baby routine, and t-ball games and practice, and getting ready to leave for three trips, and being gone on three trips, and recovering from being gone on three trips, and having company, and working, and the usual day-to-day busy-ness, we'd somehow just work in the things on that list. But that didn't happen. And instead, when fall rolled around this year, I was left with a short list of summer things that I knew my boys really wanted to do, but only a few of which we actually did. All because I failed to recognize the importance of right now.

So I'm vowing, from here on out, to do my best to take advantage of the here and now, to put aside the urgent and focus on the important. Because 20 years from now our family won't care how clean our bathroom was today, or how many crumbs were on the kitchen floor, or how many books and toys were scattered throughout the house. But we will care about whether our early family memories are either of mommy being too "busy" to play or of mommy taking the time to make popsicles, ride bikes, and have picnics in the backyard. I'm creating memories right now for these little boys, and I want to make them good ones.

I'm keeping our unfinished summer list from this year to help me always remember. But I think it's time we start a new one for fall...and this time make plans to finish it.