i would be blogging but…

i wasted time on facebook and twitter during naptime; my pc is dead, and i haven’t figured out how to upload photos to this little netbook yet. a post is coming, i promise.
question o’ the day: What was your last most frustrating techno failure? messages on your phone when you never heard it ring? burnt toast? grounds in your coffee?

Summer feet.

ever since i was a wee’un, i have been mildly obsessed with my feet. perhaps it is because they are freakishly skinny, often the only part of me able to lay claim to that descriptor. in any case, there is a moment, a moment that happens only once every few years, where my humble toesies become the perfect symbol for a perfect summer.

this year, it’s made even better by the addition of friendship anklets (or, “piglet anklets” as edmund calls them). agatha made mine herself.

A perfect summer, you say? What makes it a perfect summer?  Well, this:

several hilarious and mostly successful rounds of scrabble,

baking and craft sessions just me and the kiddies,

down time,

day trips with cousins,

water fun of all kinds,

and Canada Day cuteness.

As a sidenote, i love how a gallery of photos distills the fun times, making them far outshine the regular bumps and hiccups of daily life.

Now, we’re back, and into the thick of our first summer of lessons.  Just swimming and yoga, mind you, but the first sessions where both the children are occupied at the same time.

so, now that you’re overwhelmed with photos, a Question O’ the Day:

what makes a summer perfect?

i’m on keats; where are you?

seriously, where are you right now?
that’s all for today. how twitter of me.

dude.

sometimes, things are just…wacky. Like:

my ancient, apartment-sized oven died.

for the third time.

bought a new one.

it won’t arrive for 3 weeks.

seriously.

Then:

agatha got attacked, and i do mean attacked, by an angry bee/wasp Sunday night.

it stung her 5 times.

it was still attacking when jaegen swooped her up into the house.

first stings ever, and the most terrifying kind.

Oh, and:

Edmund spent 3 1/2 hours at Children’s b/c his skin rash (sorry, guys, for the gross) has begun to abscess.

he’s now on antibiotics.

if they don’t work, we’re back to hospital for an iv drip of stronger antibiotics.

But, then:

All the kindergarteners at Agatha’s school led chapel yesterday morning.

agatha decided to surprise us.

don’t worry, it’s a good surprise.

Feel free to just watch bits and pieces; i tried to edit it to a more succinct chunk, but my video editing software (aka Picasa from Google) is crap.  also, jaegen says that he couldn’t zoom in, which explains the classic, “Whose-kid-is-that-at-the-front-singing?” perspective on the video.

all and all, we’re living in a crazy time right now.  how about you? Question O’ the Day:  what’s something random that’s happened to you in the last week?

My Weekend: A Photo Essay

Intrepid explorers, we set off looking like this:

This was the view from our room (photocredit: Jaegen Milley):

There was a lot of this:

this:

and playing on this (photo by jaegen):

and on these:

It was all hosted by these fantastically generous people:

and

The rest of the crew:

What a place! (Barnabas, Keats Island, that is)

pond photo by jaegen, too…i think our photography styles are really working together, don’t you?

As requested…

a gallery of photos of my newest nephew, at his long-awaited homecoming:

so, does this count for 2 days’ worth?

apart from neurotic introspection, i am capable of documenting life here in this particular milley household.

Obligatory photos of cuteness:

And, here they are, working busily:

Agatha is working on her “Student of the Week” poster for next week.  And, not to be outdone, Edmund is working on colouring with markers on PAPER, as opposed to on the table, or on himself.

As for me, i have finished aurora’s Adelaide pinafore, and am anxiously awaiting her recovery from a cold, so that she may in fact try it on, and see whether it is a viable design.

there.  i have now more than fulfilled my stated objective to post photos.  tune in tomorrow, when i post the results of an impromptu photoshoot with edmund in his mommy-made manpris.

Jennifer is…blog-negligent.

does that even mean anything?  seriously, though, it’s been 6 days !! since i put cursor to screen to report the various happenings here in milleyville.  you deserve better.  you deserve pictures.

that said, i am working on some christmasy projects:

what? chaos? what?

here’s one thing i have actually produced in the last week:

It’s a little fivestar cloche.  i’m quite delighted with the result; but, as you’ll perhaps notice, it isn’t agatha modelling it for me.  she won’t sit still long enough.

as for the rest of life, it’s similarly chaotic.  we’ve reached that “Oh-my-word-it’s-time-to-organize-agatha’s-birthday-and-all-of-Christmas” portion of the year.  it’s insane.  so please forgive me in advance for some rather uneven posting over the coming weeks.

i do, in fact, have a snotty and semi-hysterical child on my lap as i type this, so that’s all for now, folks.

oh, a question o’ the day: what are your favourite podcasts/radio shows/tv shows during the winter months?

For those of you who love the pictures…

and those of you who don’t–LOOK AWAY NOW!

First up, some photos from yesterday’s craft morning. we made summer solstice lanterns, and a variety of other arty things (for the first time in ages.) it was mostly fun, and very messy:

Now, as for today, it is, as some of you may remember, Edmund’s second birthday. See if you can guess from the photos where it is that we went for our Mystery Trip…

Any guesses? Now, of course we followed it up with a trip to White Spot…

While waiting for food, Edmund worked on Blue Steel for a bit–got to keep it fresh, you know:

he’s still got it. When we got home, we celebrated by putting together a new Playmobil airplane (many tears tonight when he was informed that it couldn’t sleep beside him. cruel parental units. oh the harsh realities of 2.)

“And, to add insult to injury, they made me wear this dorky new sweater my mom knit me. who are these people anyway?”

Last, but not least, what would an Edmund Birthday be without a good old snot face?

laters.

when reflection squeezes out writing time

which is what has happened recently.  before, thanks to kids sleeping in, i was able to both blog and have quiet time in a more routine fashion. well, i don’t quite know what happened–well, i do, but the reasons are too varied and tedious to article–but i just stopped having that 30-45 min. morning window of time.

consequently, i’ve been more harried and busy, and have lately lapsed into that lovely “whoa is me the domestic victim” thing to which i am sometimes prone.  this thrown-headlong-into-a-day-already-too-full-of-demands thing has similarly destroyed any time i would like to devote to writing.  hence the bizarre pose of this hackneyed prose.

enough.  i have been attempting, this week, to haul my tired ass out of bed a wee bit earlier, to see whether an extra 15 min. of quiet space buys me a bit more patience and perspective.  i will keep you posted on the success of this experiment, as riveting as i’m sure the details are going to be.

so, to the Question O’ the Day:  How much “alone time” (no rude inferences, please) do you need in a day?  Or, is there a particular activity (again, keep it clean) that soothes your troubled soul in a reliable way?  i am always open to suggestions.