30. Handwriting

Today, in honor of the "handwriting" prompt, I give you a picture of a pencil that I found in our work room at the office a few weeks ago. I rarely have need for a pencil at work, and apparently no one else uses them often either because this was the ONLY pencil I could find. The only one.

Roll Tide

I was smirking at the fact that the only pencil available to me was an Alabama one and how that would further perpetuate what Luke started last fall with his Roll Tide obsession, when I rolled it over and saw this on the other side.

Weagle, weagle, War... well, you know.

Someone hand wrote the score from Auburn's 2010 victory over Alabama. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how we do football rivalries in the great state of Alabama. Ya'll.

 

P.S. If I were as hardcore as Wuke Boper would have you believe, I would have taken this pencil straight to the bathroom and scrubbed that blasphemy right off the back of it before sanitizing my hands after touching such uncleanliness. I just took a picture of it instead.

 

 

29. In my bag

If the size of it doesn't give you a clue, the contents definitely scream, "Mom Bag!" 

Inside the Mom Bag

Here is the full inventory of things in my purse that do not belong to me: 1 plastic hammer, 1 carrot bubble necklace, 1 red crayon from Hooters, 1 Wise Man, and 1 plastic man from a Happy Meal.

Be prepared.

They didn't all get in there at one time, of course. It happens gradually as more things are brought out of the house and left on tables and in buggies as we go about our business. It's okay though. My purse is big enough to handle it and you never know when you'll need a little extra distraction while waiting somewhere with children.

28. Red

These are tomatoes from the plants on our back porch. I said I would count it as a success if they bore fruit, and they have, so I guess, technically, it's a success.

Tomato Harvest

They are yummy. However, the plants look pathetic, so I'm not sure we will get any more than the 14 we've picked and the few that are still turning red. I didn't take a picture of the plants because there's no need to document in photographs how truly bad at growing things I am. I think I just don't care enough, or gardening doesn't interest me enough. Something just isn't enough, and their priority assignment is rather low on my list of things that need doing.

I'd like to say that I probably won't try this again next year, but I doubt that's true because I'll forget by next Spring and because the kids are so excited about it. They've been checking on the progress every few days and now that the tomatoes are turning red, they want to pick them and wash them. Ella is good about only picking the really red ones. Man Cub brought me one that was half yellow last night, so we had to have a conversation about waiting a little bit longer until they are red all the way around. We'll see if it took. So, yeah, I'll try to grow tomatoes again next year; I'll even attempt to keep these alive and growing for the rest of this year, but I'm kind of over it.

The citronella plant is big and beautiful, apparently not taking objection to being mostly ignored, but it doesn't do much to keep the mosquitos away. In its defense, we do have supernatural mosquitos around our house - the kind that drink Deep Woods OFF for breakfast.

As for the rest of the vegetables I planted, something is eating them. I spray them, but they are still being eaten. One of the bell pepper plants was full of blooms one day, and all but one were gone the next. The other plant actually has some tiny bell peppers on it right now, so we'll see how they do. Every squash and zucchini blossom gets eaten before it can open. I suspect deer. The okra is pitiful, but hanging in there, and the cucumber has a few tiny cucumbers on it. I don't think those plants get enough sun where they are, either, and that's just going to be an issue in my yard.

I guess this means we'll just continue to buy our vegetables, and of course, off load any fresh ones that those with greener thumbs than mine are trying to place in a good home.

27. Into the sun

It's cloudy today so I can't take a fresh "into the sun picture" and I don't have time to put together a collage of all the sunglasses wearing we do, so I'm sharing this throwback of Dave and I (and my infamous white Oakleys - no, this is not the same pair I wear today. Yes, I do need to update my sunglasses style, and I'll do that just as soon as the perfectly good pair I have now breaks. I have been completely spoiled by good sunglasses.).

This is from 10 years ago. We left the day after Christmas and drove to Savannah to spend a few days because we had both just read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (John Berendt) and we needed to see the city for ourselves. We fell in love with it, and one day we'll go back and stay in a nice hotel or bed and breakfast in the heart of the historic district, but we couldn't afford that back then. It didn't matter, though. We spent our money on good food and we explored the city. We loved it so much that we had plans to name our daughter Savannah, should we have a daughter one day. Time changed that, but it is still one of my favorite adventures with him.

I keep this picture pinned on my cube wall at work.

At the top of the Tybee Island lighthouse.

24. Negative space

I had to Google "negative space" to figure it out, but I immediately thought of this picture I took a couple of months ago while we were eating supper on the back porch. The balloon was low enough that we could hear the hot air blowing into it.

Dinner with a view.

20. Cute

For some reason, I just can't get over the little girl cuteness when Ella lets me do her hair in braided pigtails. The only thing cuter might be her crazy big and curly bedhead when she sleeps with wet hair. I should have taken a picture of that this morning.

19. Currently reading

I recently did that thing where I forego sleep and read 5 books in one week, then it was VBS time, then I caught up on sleep, and yesterday I started this book. It's a retelling of the book of Hosea, which I've never read, so I guess that will be next.

This is the last stack I read before this book. Imagine another Nicholas Sparks novel and the last Sookie Stackhouse book on top of these three.

Why yes, I am a Nicholas Sparks fan.

18. Street

In this case, "Dead End" is code for "Home". The Brown One is my welcoming committee. She doesn't wait nicely at the sign, though. We faked that for the picture. If Dave is home first, she barrels off the front porch and meets me at the end of the driveway to escort me in. 

17. Centered

She has always been very expressive.

This was Ella's reaction to the Tilt-a-Whirl at the fair a few months ago. We were ready to leave and didn't have enough tickets left for Dave and I both to ride. The Tilt-a-Whirl is too circular, so I decided not to ride and she had to ride with Dave and Luke, without me. I entertained myself by watching and laughing every time they passed by and I could see her in the full, dramatic wail - head tilted back, mouth wide open, screaming like a banshee. She was obviously still mad at me for bailing when the ride was over.

16. Family

Ropers, May 2013

Here we are, in our most recent family picture. I love, love this picture that my friend Jessica from Simple Gifts Photography took of us on the UM campus recently. It's past time to update the pictures on the mantle, and I can't wait to put this one front and center.

I try to make a point to have a professional family photo taken every year. We usually do it in the fall, right after the kids' birthdays, but we skipped it last year because Dave wanted to have hair in the picture. We tried to work it out for late fall, but I really had my heart set on doing it at UM, so we postponed it until the spring when everything is green and blooming. They turned out beautifully. Jessica is so talented and so good with the kids. She didn't give me a single picture of Ella with the horrible, my-mother-is-making-me-do-this, fake smile.

I don't know if it's because Dave had a bloodwork appointment with the oncologist last week or because it's summertime, but my mind has been turning to cancer a lot lately.  His bloodwork was all normal, so we have three more cancer-free months behind us, but I keep thinking about what we were doing at this time last year and how different this summer is already - how fabulously, unworried, and unencumbered it is. I took so many pictures last summer because I was on a mission to capture everything, but when I look at them now, I can feel the worry and fear mixed into the joy. I let it wash over me, and then I praise God for all of that hard stuff and for my happy family of four that survived it and came out better on the other side.

When I look at this picture of us a year later, all I feel is joy.

13. Kitchen

This is our kitchen today.

The sign says, "Many have eaten here, few have died."
Rebecca made it for me.

I still love it like I did when we moved into the house. I love the big window over the sink and the functionality of it, but now that I've worked in it for six years, there are some things about it that I can't wait to change. The weird lighting, for instance. There isn't enough of it and sometimes one of the two flourescent fixtures won't turn on at all thanks to our old, low-voltage electrical work. I'm looking forward to seeing that replaced one day. I also want two ovens.

My biggest beef with the kitchen isn't with the kitchen itself, but with the family room on the other side of the penninsula where the stove is located. For one, it has carpet and that carpet is absolutely disgusting from the tracking in at the front door and the cooking on the stove. Also, the penninsula and the stairs make it a weird space. It's hard to arrange the furniture and have enough light where we need it. We have a kitchen table that fits decently in the eat-in space, but if anyone in addition to the four of us eat there, it gets very crowded. It boils down to needing more space for family - for eating and for sitting around, and if some upgrades come with it, well, that will be fine with me.

After our trip to IKEA, this is the kitchen we are picturing in our heads. We have some work to do to figure out how to fit it in our space, but it has all of the things I want, including two full-sized ovens.

Our model kitchen, courtesy of IKEA.

We've been collecting pictures of kitchens for a while now, so who knows if this is what it will actually end up looking like when we finally do it, but we both like it and it renewed Dave's hope for a classic black and white tile floor.

12. 11 o'clock

Water break. I just finished practicing for a client presentation and my voice is tired. 

11. Something funny

Luke's surprise from our trip to Six Flags was a Batman cape. The next day, he wore it with his Batman t-shirt. He was running around Grandmother's living room enjoying the feeling of the cape fluttering behind him when I asked for bye-love. It was then that I learned something very important about Batman.

"Batman don't need hugs."

Luckily, Grandmother convinced him that even though Batman doesn't need hugs, he does give them out to mommies who are about to leave for work. Because, even though Batman doesn't need hugs, Wuke Boper does, and he would have had a bad day about it if he'd missed it.

After telling me goodbye, he realized a part of his costume was missing.

"Where my Batman eyes?"

Because he was already dressed the part, I relented and went home for the mask. You can't be Batman without the eyes.

Luke is Batman

10. You!

Me and Ella, circa November 2008

I didn't want to do another self-portrait for this Photo A Day prompt, and when I was trying to think of a picture of me that really shows who I am, this is the one that came to mind. It shows the biggest parts of me - work and family. Since God is part of all of that, I can see Him there, too, especially when I think of a couple of my favorite verses : Colossians 3:23 - 24 and Ephesians 6:4. The Lord knows I needed Him when I realized the magnitude of responsibility that came with a baby and the complete helplessness I felt at the thought of one day sending her out into the world without me to protect her. It was then that I realized what a precious gift every moment with her is and I started praying for guidance, perspective, strength, peace, patience, courage, and all manner of other things so as not to screw it up. So yeah, He was there, right in the middle of everything, as it should be.

"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." - Colossians 3:23-24

I know Ella was between 4 and 5 months old in this picture because I was back at work and she was wearing the Pavlik harness on the outside of her pajamas - which meant we were able to take it off for bath time. I think this was the first time I had to work late after returning to work from maternity leave. That doesn't happen often, and now when it does, I either just stay at the office late or wait until the kids are in bed to finish up. Back then, she was waiting for me to get home to nurse and she needed for me to sit in that brown chair and nurse for most of the evening. Even when she fell asleep, I usually held her until I went to bed or she would just wake up over and over again.

Our end tables are blessedly less crowded these days, I gave the Boppy pillow to Aunt Becca two years ago, and if there is a burp cloth in our house, it belongs to the baby Maggie Beth. But man oh man, the sight of that fuzzy little head tucked into my neck while I worked makes me almost able to feel her tiny little body snuggled in my arms, almost able to smell her baby smell all around me. This is what makes me tell new mothers to hold their babies as much and as long as they want despite what anyone says about spoiling and self-soothing because that age really, really doesn't last long at all and you can never get it back. The hugs are just as good now, and I can still smell her baby smell if I tuck my nose into her neck while I hug her, but she'll never fit in my arms quite like that again.

"And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord." - Ephesians 6:4

9. From down low

Bouncin'

8. An Animal

On the same night that Dave became one with the golf course, we paid a visit to our friends at the college lake.

Meet Quackers and Wackers. 

The kids and I had the pleasure of meeting them at a picnic a few weeks ago. We took a stroll down to the water and the ducks waddled right up to us, quacking softly. I ran back up the hill for a piece of bread, and we fed them until it was gone. They were not shy about it and they followed us around for the rest of the afternoon. The kids loved it.

The other night, we had some leftover french fries so we fed them again. This time, Wackers wouldn't come out of the water, but it was okay because Luke made it his job to throw the fries as hard as he could so that Wackers could eat, too. A couple of times I was really afraid I was going to have to launch myself into the nasty, green water, because it looked like he was about to throw his whole self in along with the french fries.

Then Dave decided to see if Quackers would take the fries from his hand, and he did, and he doesn't understand the "Easy" command we taught Georgia so long ago as to preserve little fingers. He became emboldened then, waddling up to the kids and snatching the fries. It was both funny and intimidating - especially when he mistook Luke's little brown fingers for a fry. Luckily, ducks don't have teeth, so while it was shocking to feel his beak, it didn't hurt.

We told them goodnight when all the fries were gone and promised to visit again soon. I'm pretty sure Ella and Luke believe they are our ducks.

7. Bright

Mowgli and Me

I actually have a pretty decent tan, as far as tanning and SPF 50 go, but when I'm standing next to my family, you would think it's the middle of January. Luke's tan especially makes mine look bright white.

P.S. Dave suggested we all line up and take a picture of our naked butts so you can see how bright mine is compared to the rest of them. You can thank me later for modifying that suggestion.

6. Transport

I'm slowly but surely delegating my pack mule duties to the children. The bigger they get, the more able they are to carry their own stuff and I'm making them do it. I want them to be accustomed to having their hands full and taking responsibility for their things before they are grown.

Little Pack Mules

Since they like to take a load of stuff with them to Grandmother's house a few days a week, they pack a backpack and carry it themselves. If they forget to bring that stuff home, well, that's their problem. Mostly. There have been a few times that Grandmother or I made a last minute run for the baby Maggie Beth or Gigi blanket, but if it's just regular old toys, they can wait until the next day. The same thing goes for cups left on the counter as we are walking out the door. If I fill it and hand it to you, you can take it to the car. If you forget it, you can wait until we get somewhere to get another drink. I am responsible for the essentials - the pool bag, the changes of clothes, etc. - but they can take care of the extras they insist on bringing.

On this day, their backpacks were filled with two potato heads and all the various potato parts, two Mickey Mouse cars, a singing, spinning Mini Cooper, Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy. Luke's hands also carried a copy of the riveting storybook, Snug House Bug House - which they cannot stop reading, not even long enough to walk to the car.

5. Environment

Before we had a dog (and kids, but the dog came first), Dave and I made a habit of visiting obscure festivals in random locations or just taking off for a weekend to explore a different city. Sometimes, we'd just get in the car and drive on all the back roads we could find in the surrounding counties. We like to find neat things in out of the way places and just enjoy each other's company in the car. That mostly ended with the dog because we couldn't just up and leave for a few days without making arrangements for her. Then the kids came along and Ella hated riding in the car so much that we hated it, too, so we don't do very much exploring anymore.

We went to Atlanta this past weekend for the roller coasters, but we decided to wander around the city before driving home Monday morning. We just recently watched an episode of House Hunters where a guy bought a house in the Virginia Highland neighborhood and we got it in our heads to go see about it. (While we were creeping through the streets in awe of those big, old houses, I wondered aloud if the residents get tired of people gawking through their neighborhood all the time. Dave quickly reminded me that most people aren't like us, religiously watching House Hunters every night and then stalking the locations that are near us. I couldn't disagree.)  As we drove around, we happened upon the Jimmie Carter Presidential Library, and having never seen a presidential library before, we decided to stop. The grounds were green and beautiful, so I took some pictures thinking that they would fit nicely with the day five topic of "environment". We decided not to pay the $8 to walk through the museum, instead we settled for peeking through the windows and strolling around the gardens. It made me wish I had brought my big camera, but I made do with the iPhone.

We found a large goose feather for Ella and saw a flock of not-quite-baby-anymore geese. There were also ducks and very large coy in a little pond. It was a nice stroll around the grounds and on the way to IKEA afterward, I was thinking up some things to write about "environment" and democratic presidents and my indoctrination into green-thinking in elementary school with Auntie Litter's visit to teach us about recycling and the scene in our 5th grade play that included the song Pass It On Down by Alabama - as if I need to justify or explain how I came to think the way I do about the environment.

Then, I walked up to the hand dryer in the bathroom at IKEA and read this sign, and I knew I'd found my photo for day 5.

It's blurry because someone came out of a stall just as I was
snapping this picture and I was trying to hurry and
not look like a complete weirdo. Ahem.

Also, I love IKEA. Dave loved it, too. If we'd driven the Pilot to Atlanta, we probably would have come home with a load. We will go back.

4. After dark

As we were driving around after going out to supper the other night, Dave told me to drive by the golf course because he wanted "to be one with it." I still don't know what that means, but we drove up the little service road by the 11th hole so he could look at it.

Golf Course After Dark

I was asking him if the road was the old entrance and if the little building was the old clubhouse, and from the backseat, two little voices chimed in: "Clubhouse?!" "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?!" They were sorely disappointed.

We all humored him for a few minutes while he became one, and then Ella said, "Can we go home now? I'm ready for bed."

Three out of four Ropers agree, the golf course after dark is nothing to see. The fourth Roper would probably have pitched a tent if we'd had one.