{p,h,f,r} & Theme Thursday: Crack (me up)--My Boys

Oh these boys. How I love them.

And I also love when they are running around the yard, expending all their energy, playing happily together, totally entertained... for all of, you know, three minutes.

But this week we received an especially wonderful hand-me-down from my brother- and sister-in-law. And playtime in the yard has reached a whole new level of awesomeness. Which is to say, we are actually playing in the yard. Multiple days in a row. For hours at a time.

{pretty} / {funny}

As I was taking this picture, Michael was yelling: "Mama! Come back! You're in GREAT DANGER! You went away from us and you're going to get a BIG OWIE!" Obviously the long talks about how it's important to listen to Mama and Daddy and stay close to us when we say so have made an impression. The gift of Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales for Children to the boys from Liam's godfather may have helped as well... 

Also linking this one up with Cari for Theme Thursday because that totally cracked me up. 

{happy}

John Paul was loving the outside playtime as well. I was all set to take a picture of him sitting up, because this week he hit my all-time favorite stage of development: sitting up by himself with enough balance to play happily for extended periods of time, not losing his balance and falling over, but also not getting back down onto his stomach on purpose yet (and scooting away to chew on things he shouldn't)... but as I was taking pictures of him sitting up he very gracefully and deliberately leaned over and started scooting off the blanket. 

*sigh* 

I guess I should be grateful I got two whole days of stable-stationary-sitting.

{real}

Very real. Also real? Baby now awake and wanting his post-bedtime-pre-midnight snack.

{p,h,f,r} A Taste of Contentment on the Threshold of Autumn

The other day I was... something. I don't remember exactly--frustrated, anxious, upset, disappointed, just plain tired. Probably all of the above. And I thought to myself, "I need more contentment in my life."

Almost as soon as that thought entered my mind I realized it was kind of ridiculous. I don't need more contentment, I just need to pay attention to what I already have. And you know what? It's working! When I start to feel frustrated and disappointed that my back and our budget and the sheer business of three such little boys kept us from accomplishing much (compared to our totally unrealistic dreams) in the yard this summer, I stop and focus on the things I love about our yard. There's a lot to love out there!

Same with the state of my house. When all I'm seeing is the dust and the pretzel crumbs and the toys everywhere, I focus on being thankful that we have so much space in which to gather dust and crumbs and ohsomany toys (and then I try to find a minute to grab the vacuum and make a mental note to get rid of some of those toys). 

Baby steps. I'm not very good at baby steps, but goodness knows I don't have the mental or emotional capacity for a complete attitude overhaul all at once (who can even do that, anyway?).

So to help I decided to (finally) link up with Like Mother, Like Daughter for {pretty, happy, funny, real}. Capturing contentment, right here at Crane Corner. Okay, less alliteration, more pictures.

{pretty}

So, that yard that hasn't been transformed into the perfectly manicured little retreat yet? Well, it still had a few very happy surprises for me as the summer winds down. I scattered many packets of wildflower seeds around the grotto in the spring, and some of them are finally blooming.

{happy}

I am so happy that it is (almost) fall. I love fall. But for some reason this season, more than any other, brings on an intense nostalgia. And it's usually an "I wish I were..." nostalgia, and not a "wasn't that nice" nostalgia, if that makes any sense. As much as I love fall, it can bring an added challenge to contentment. Oh hooray, another chance to grow in holiness (only sort of sarcastic).

{funny}

"Mama, look, I'm a robot!"

{real}

There has been a lot of this going on at our house lately (that would be Thomas on the laptop screen there). Usually it's Little Pim or Magic School Bus (60% of our preschool "curriculum" for the year, only sort of joking). Sometimes it's Thomas or Mighty Machines (and then oh! the excitement!).

Last week I got a very unexpected but very welcome and exciting writing project. It also ended up being much more challenging than I expected, and hugely time-consuming. Thus the extra screen time. And there will be more tomorrow, because I'm behind on the second part of the project.

Snow. Boo.

We have been thoroughly enjoying the excitement of watching our new yard come to life over the past several weeks. We knew we had some nice bushes in back, but we had no idea they were pretty much all flowering bushes. The scent of the air drifting through the open windows in the evenings has been simply heavenly.

So here are some shots from around the yard, as it looked heading into the weekend.

two weeks ago, before weeding, budding, and grotto-building

interim grotto

these smell absolutely amazing

I was thrilled to discover we have lilacs

and cherries!

the front flower bed coming alive with allium

And then here's my view of the yard today:

I was able to rescue the allium that had already started to bloom as the snow started yesterday

No bueno :( I keep trying to find comfort in the fact that the grass will be ridiculously green when all this snow melts... but I'm not sure the trees will recover as easily.

I also had a visit from these little guys this morning:

I was doing dishes when I heard something and saw some movement outside our back door. I was startled--Alex wasn't due to be home for another several hours, and no one else had any business on our back patio. But then I realized it was a bird trying to fly into the garage through the window of the closed door. He sat and shivered on the doorstep for a minute and I was momentarily tempted to let him in, but then I came to my senses and realized that Michael and Liam provide more than enough chaos without introducing actual wild animals into the mix. As far as I could tell, they were American tree sparrows (you can't tell in this picture, but they had white breasts and red heads). Not as impressive as some of the rest of the family's Big Year entries, but I don't think anyone else has reported a bird literally knocking on their door to be let in yet.

Come back, spring! We miss you!