this one's for you, geidl-girl

yesterday's sunshine and laundry motivated me to use the clothesline.  i like to use the clothesline as much as possible, but sometimes i simply forget... or don't want to be bothered.  yesterday, i didn't mind.

however, as i grabbed the bucket of clothespins that grandma has had forever, it began to crumble in my hand.  time for a new clothespin holder.

i looked online, thinking that target or walmart would have some cute solution.  nothing.  several crafty blogs, however, had all kinds of suggestions.  huh, i thought, how hard could it be?  often that question gets me in a lot of trouble.  this time it worked out ok...   

this is one of tucker's old shirts.  well, it used to be.  now, it's my new clothespin holder.  i sewed up the arm holes and the bottom and added a few other strategic stitches.  although i was quite proud of myself, i couldn't help but think that the whole process would have gone a lot faster if i had used my sewing machine.  that is, if i knew how to use my sewing machine. 

but, how hard could it be...

playing hooky

every now and again, chuck decides to take a day off for no other reason than to just spend time with us.  last friday, we surprised the kids when they woke up and we told them they didn't have to go to school.  we went fishing instead...

chuck spent the night before getting the fishing poles ready and determining what was missing from his tackle box.  after a leisurely morning at home, we were off to havre de grace for a day on the water.

they definitely did some fishing.  and even caught a few small ones...

tucker enjoyed his version of fishing:

mom casts

i immediately reel it in and check for fish

mom casts again

i reel it in and check for fish...again

mom casts...

chuck's "fishing" looked like this:

bait their hooks

cast their rods

begin to bait my own hook but put it down so i can reel in a 3 inch fish

remove lousy blue gill

return to my own line, only to repeat the process all over again

still, they all seemed to have a good time... even if much of that time was spent sitting

and looking

 

and waiting

but at least there was stuff to look at.

 

and, ultimately, it was just nice to watch them be who they are...

and who they're trying to become.

they'll grow...

i was back in the garden again today.  teacher appreciation week and mother's day left us with an onslaught of potted plants just waiting to be de-potted.  

i obliged.

i had also picked up a few vegetable plants to begin the veggie garden.  i feel very uncertain about this new undertaking.  although my usual approach to anything is, "how hard could it be?" i don't want to let over-confidence rob us of a successful gardening experience.  usually, grandma fields all my questions but shrugs her answers.  (she's even less sure than i am... and can only relay, with confidence, what she has successfully killed).

today, while we were both out working, grandma suggested i ask our neighbors, mr. and mrs. durham, any questions i might have.  they are both avid gardeners and have lived there as long as grandma has.  i showed mr. durham a few plants and asked which would like the sun,... which would prefer some shade.  his wife joined us - mrs. durham, whose precious mind is slowly giving way to dementia.  she complimented me for taking on a garden... and for taking over grandma's as each year she decides she's less capable of all the up-keep.  she calls me Sissy.  i'm not sure if that's her generic name for me since she can't remember who i really am or if it's a prophetic label due to my obvious lack of gardening confidence.

mrs. durham gestured towards lucy and tucker, commenting on how big they are getting.  amidst references to vegetables and flowers and soil, she expressed her amazement at how much they've grown.  i couldn't help but agree.  four years ago when we moved in, i was only pregnant with tucker, and now, here he was, running through the yard, threatening to throw a golf ball at his sister.   after some instruction on using miracle grow, i thanked her, saying i hoped it would all work and returned to my yard work.

she called out, "leave them in God's hands, Sissy.  They'll grow..."

i pondered this as i returned to my small plot of earth and couldn't help but wonder if she was referring to my plants or the kids...

Dad's birthday photo shoot

my father celebrated his 60th birthday this weekend.  in true myers fashion, we gathered after church on sunday for dinner to recognize this milestone.  

you can't have a family gathering without marking it with a family photo... so we got a full family shot.  after that, mom decided to get a picture with dad... but the kids jumped in to join them.  

chaos ensued...

those crazy kids love to work the camera.