I'm baaaaack.....

So a Viking, Frida Kahlo, and Merpunzel walk into a bar.....

or at least into Robby's photography studio. We had such a lovely time at Sarah & Robby's annual Halloween bash. And it was their Cousin Ben, I believe who coined "Merpunzel:" V is both Rapunzel and a mermaid. Of course. 

On Wednesday, she chose to just be Rapunzel ('cause it's hard to walk in a  mermaid tail), and we again trick or treated in my hometown with V's cousins. Luckily, Hendrum is still generous with the candy.

All three Johnson cousins wore sweatshirts I'd embellished for them. They can spell WEV, or EWV, or VEW, but I love them any which way.

So much fun for our wacky little Mer/Rapunzel, Iron Man, and Supergirl.

Hope your Halloween was happy, gentle readers. As you can see, I found my camera, so let's see what happens next, shall we?

Summer excitement

Oh, bloggie. I know I've been away so long. V was done with school on May 31, and since then we've had so, so, so much quality time together. Like, so much. On Wednesday, my mom took V to Hendrum for a few hours and I almost ran away to be a Vegas showgirl. I had forgotten what it was like to not have a six-year-old with me every. single. moment.

I think about blogging every day, though! So you'd think I'd have some great ideas lined up for you! But you'd be wrong about that too!

Instead, just some photos from Friday's swimming excursion with the girl, the niece, and the nephew. And the grandma. And the dog.

Unplanned, all three kids brought the towels our friend Kathy made for them. Aren't they pretty, all lined up? Each with their name. I love them.

 V, having completed her first round of swimming lessons on Thursday, offered to teach her cousins how to swim.

 They looked on in appropriate awe.

 Seven got off leash at one point, and V and I followed him for 8 blocks before we caught him. So he was the same.

Trying to get a Christmas card photo is hard with a Grandma and three kids, because at least one of them is almost guaranteed to be crabby. But we had fun trying!

Oh, lighten up.

Too many heavy posts makes Languishing a preachy blog. Here're some photos from a recent family dinner.



Our blue-eyed girl.

Emmy's heart was broken, somehow. I think Will may have made her cry, or maybe we ran out of ketchup...at any rate, Uncle Shaun talked her through it, and Seven was emotionally supportive. It all worked out in the end.

Mask master

Just making two masks is never enough, of course, so I made some more. Then I stuck the kids on a swingset and made them model. The designs are my own, but inspired by lots of online images of animal masks, and by Aunt Shirley's suggestions on the original post.

 Emmy the owl, above, and Emmy the crooked bird, below.

 Will the cat. With a sucker in his mouth. (Yes, the cat is inspired by Peter Criss).

 Will as a burgundy owl.

 Emmy Frankenstein:

 Emmy in action as the cat:

And Will the Triceratops. This was his favorite mask, but it is by far the least ... wearable? Correct? Right? It's just all kittywumpus, but I like it in theory, and the boy likes it in practice.

 A fox mask that I'm particularly proud of.





And the girls, finally, in a cardinal mask and a carnival mask. With suckers.

So we're set for Halloween and then some. Now how do we narrow down the choices?



Rejects from the Annual Christmas Card Photo Shoot

I know that you, like so many Languishing devotees, look forward to our family's holiday card for months every year. And I don't blame you. In fact, here's a little teaser of what might show up if you're a good boy or girl.

Unlike healthy, well-rounded families, we don't actually have an annual Christmas Card Photo Shoot. We just toss the camera to an unsuspecting family member once a year or so and demand they take our picture while Shaun makes faces and rude gestures and the rest of us try to play along.

Above: Shaun in the early stages of making a rude gesture.

 This one coulda been a contender, if it weren't for that pesky, adorable niece. She fits right in, though, doesn't she?

Shaun and Rocket have quite an affinity for one another, but this doesn't really include either V or myself. I'm just enough of a traditionalist to say a holiday photo should include at least 50% of any given family.

That's all I can show you for now. Perhaps I've already revealed too much. Maybe this year we'll go to Wal-Mart and choose a special winter wonderland background for all of us. Maybe.

What constitutes a good holiday photo, in your world?

Birthday Post 2011!

Despite V's insistence for the last year that she definitely, certainly, surely wanted a Star Wars birthday this year, two weeks ago she switched her vote to Phineas and Ferb. I was not going to allow this, until Shaun pointed out it is not MY birthday. Phineas and Ferb Birthday, here we come.

There was a jumpy thing (Thanks Jenn B!). And a wagon full of presents.

 The clothesline, which is practical and beloved in everyday life here, but not very pretty, was transformed into Dr. Doofenschmirtz's Mazinator of Doom with a dozen sheets, strategically placed.

 There were platypus bills and Secret Agent hats. Here's Shaun modeling with V's good friend Parker.

 We played "Pin the Heart on Candace," because she's always mooning over her beau, and Candace is V's favorite. Here's me, spinning dear Tilda, who's grown up so much from last year.

 And here's Dana, with whom I graduated 20 years ago, and who was in Texas last year but this year could bring her beautiful daughters right over the river to see us.

 Candace with all her hearts:

The theme song includes the line "Giving a monkey a shower!" so we did. (I drew that monkey! Freehand! Looking at a picture from the show, but still...)

The water balloons were a huge hit, not the least of which because some of them would not break, so the kids got to pick them up and throw them again and again, and even stomp on a couple. They played until the monkey fell down, and the balloons were all popped. Whee!

 Emmy got bored, so she went in the house to find something to play with. She was the only one, though, I think, so I call that a success.

WD, post waterballoons.

I bought these plastic fedoras at Loopy's Dollar Store, because they are the exact color of Perry the Platypus himself, and the exact shape of his fedora, and I like the idea of alternate party hats. We put out pipe cleaners and straws and ribbon and stickers and a hole punch and scissors for decorating, and the kids did cool stuff.

Here's Oscar's hat, as decorated for his little sister.

We also played "where's Perry?" with little Perries strategically placed all around the backyard. I think there are still a few in the trees yet.  And there was food, of course! Good food that we couldn't take the time to photograph because the wasps swarmed immediately after we brought it out. But we had tacos in a bag (the best. food. invention.ever) and the accompanying cheesey goodness, grapes, olives, and curly cheesey poufs. We also had cupcakes: strawberry and spice, both with pink frostings. (I am forever indebted to my sister for bringing the food back in before the wasps carried us all away).

It was really a lovely party, I think, because afterward I took a desperately needed three hour nap.  Most importanly, V said she had fun, and I hope she will remember it fondly. And hopefully next year we can just go to a movie or something. 

My Little Sister

She inspires me to be a better mama. Her patience and creativity, her obvious love for her children and for my daughter, never cease to move me.

 She's on a new path, now, leaving her preschool teaching job to follow her true calling as a music therapist. Such a huge leap, but I know she can do this.

My brave, smart, patient, loving sister.

Today's tidbits

Some random things that have occurred so far today:

1. Marriage therapy: Shaun and I have been seeing a marriage therapist for over a year now. She's awesome, and we're better to each other because we know her. Some days we feel like the worst matched couple in the history of the universe, but most days we work to make it better. She helps us to do that.

2. I got bit by an ant. Between my breasts. Sexy ant bite, eh?

3. We have Will and Emmy today, and again I'm reminded of how much harder it is to have more than one child. V and Will wanted to swim, but Emmy got tired of being splashed and wanted to go inside. With just one of me and three of them, it's all about negotiations. I am humbled by the parents of two or more.

4. Screaming meltdown: V had a psychobilly freakout over a cheap plastic lanyard that Will was playing with, because, she insists, "I was playing with it first!" Perhaps a better parent would try to ascertain who was right or wrong here, but I didn't care who had it first. You have an entire house full of toys, child. Adjust.

5. Ms. Fix-it: I repaired the protective guard on the lawnmower, put a Burger King Transformer back together, rescheduled two appointments, and reassembled a fashion-plate-like toy. All before 3pm. Now if I just figure out how to change the lightbulb in the hall, we'd be good to go.

How's your Monday?

Day at the Park

Yesterday I took the niece, the nephew, and the daughter to the city park near my hometown. As they ran through this field, I was singing the Little House on the Prairie theme song, but Emmy refused to fall down ala Carrie. Damn uncooperative toddlers.

They did cooperate with each other, though, when I was too lazy to push the merry-go-round any longer. They took turns pushing like it was the best idea ever; I was very proud.

Until V decided she wanted to ride the tree frog, at which point Will disagreed by slapping her in the head. To be fair, the tree frog IS a far superior animal to the kangaroo, snail, or tiger. 

While the cousins explored a tic-tac-toe game, I explained how when their mama and I were little girls, we had a big fall festival out here every year, and it was big doin's. I recall roasted pork, nickels in straw, three legged races, and other wholesome small town goodness. They were more interested in the tic-tac-toe.

I found half a bag of Cheetos in my purse, and pretended I'd packed them a picnic. They totally bought it, and Em managed to get Cheeto dust up to her forehead.

Then they played on a small stage, and yelled "CLAP!" at me at random times. So I did.

Back at the big pavilion, I decided if Jess & my childhood couldn't enthrall them, maybe I'd go further back. "Your great-great-grandfather helped build this shelter," I said. "My Grandma Minnie told me she remembered bringing him lunch while he and the other men were building it." This is all true, but it's a bit of a stretch, I guess, for kids five and under to care about the grandfather of the grandfather they've never met.

Especially when there's stuff upon which to swing.

It's not a fancy playground, but I care for it a great deal, and it filled our morning with lots of adventures. It was a fine day.