Strange Wardrobe Choices

Kim over at The Mommy Machine made a post about this, so I couldn't resist sharing something.

Through the years, my kids have occasionally demonstrated an affinity for some strange wardrobe items.

When my oldest daughter was in single digits, she dressed purely for comfort. She had texture issues. The pattern/fashion was negligible - she only wanted to be comfy. It was with her that I first learned that socks should be put on inside-out so those scratchy toe seams wouldn't bother her. I also learned to avoid velour and crushed velvet at all costs. I could go looking through the old pictures to find a good example of her eclectic style, but she'd kill me. Or cut my hair while I'm sleeping. {JK. She's devious but not malicious.}

One of them wanted to wear his Batman costume all year round. And since I couldn't see the harm in it, I let him. (I was already carting around 5 or 6 kids - it was too late to care what people thought of me) It was a mad-awesome costume, after all. I don't have any pictures. Just imagine me trucking to the grocery store in March with 4 children and a three-foot-tall Batman in tow.

Conor's nickname used to be "Boots." His favorite color has always been red, so one year he received red rubber rain boots, which he wore until they fell off his feet. We replaced the first pair with identical boots. People didn't recognize him without his boots. I think he wore red rubber boots, winter and summer, from 2000 until 2004.

Clare and Theresa wear their Christmas dresses year round. This was taken in October.



Clare also is a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie. I made the girls sunbonnets and aprons last year for Christmas, and my mom found the perfect dress at the Sal Val. Clare can be seen here, running laps in her prairie dress.












And finally, at one point, some of my children thought that spandex exercise unitards were the bomb. For you SpongeBob fans, my husband affectionately refers to this photo as "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy."

Breathtaking moment:

Not exactly breathtaking, but touching ... after taking the Christmas tree down, my 12yos got the vacuum cleaner out to sweep up the fallen needles without being told, asked, prompted or threatened...

Gardening: Before

There's been a lot of gardening going on the past month or so.  Just yesterday, we decided to reclaim the jungle plot that's been growing under the dogwood.

It was centipede heaven under there.

I dreamed of squirming masses of centipedes last night.

Mission accomplished; now it's filled with a variety of impatiens.
And centipedes.

Hello, Lantana!  

I was so delighted to find my favorite flower at a local nursery.  This grows in abundance in the southwest...in El Paso, the roadways are lined with huge bushes of this flowering beauty...but it is much more scarce around here.    I found only these two plants, and that was after shopping in four distinct nurseries.  I love it because of its continual flowers, and because it tolerates heat, and dryness,  . . . and neglect.

Over the past few weeks, Andy and the boys ripped out the row of dying hedges that lined the front yard.  You can see the same kind of hedges lining the neighbor's yard in the background of the picture.  

In their place, we planted a row of flowers.  

Geraniums at the corners...

followed by a colorful row of dahlias, 

 salvia, and sun-hardy begonias.

On the other side, geraniums, followed by forty feet of marigolds.

Although it's difficult to see at this time, the pictures below are petunias planted in the pattern of an American flag.  

Yes, I hang our laundry out to dry.
It smells wonderful that way.

They do look rather pathetic, don't they...

We're going to string the runners in lines; hopefully it will look better once they take root and fill in.

In a few weeks I'll post more pictures to show how everything has progressed.

Picture Parade: Twins.

Identical or not?  I can't see how ANYBODY couldn't tell them apart...

Natalie won the wrestling match.

Picture Parade: Bathtime. Then Second Bathtime.

Regina used to hate every minute of her bathtime, especially the hair-washing.  She hated the water so much that she wouldn't deign to sit down in the water, and her "bathtime" ended up being a quick and traumatic standing pat-down.

Not anymore.  In fact, this time after she was washed, dried and dressed, she made a desperate dash for the water when my head was turned.

She was successful.

Picture Parade: Dare I?

I have steered Regina away from so many puddles that when she finally got the green light to splash in one, she didn't know what to do!  She stood at the edge and ever-so-tentatively touched her toe to the water, then looked at me repeatedly for reassurance.

Yes, yes, it's really okay, honey.  Go ahead.