A Penny For Your Thoughts

What goes on behind those eyes during that split second before he realizes there's a camera in his face and he starts posing?

My Angel

There was a little girl

Who had a little curl

Right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good,

she was very, very good;

but when she was bad...

she was HORRID.

She LOVES this wrap/shawl thing. Wears it everywhere. Ties it in umpteen different ways. 

It's true, though. What they say about that little girl. I have two of them. 

This one, though. This one can be SUCH a lifesaver! Tonight for example.

Coming home after shopping to an untidy house with arms full of bags, fighting kids and no plans for dinner... toss the keys to Avril, Xandri carries Max and I try (unsuccessfully) to manage all the giant pillows (for our patio pallets) and shopping bags at once, only to come to the door with the three little kids standing outside- Avril inside and the door chained. 

Not happy. I did not conduct myself well in the heat and frustration and tension of the day and the moment. She undid the chain after a few moments listening to me yell at her in frustration outside, but didn't bother to open it, which infuriated me further since my arms were full and Xandri was carrying Max. After a bit more yelling on my part, with her replying nonchalantly "I did open it"  

("IT'S NOT OPEN!!! MY HANDS ARE FULL OF ALL THE STUFF NO ONE HELPED ME BRING IN!!!")  

GUILT TRIP MUCH? Like I said, weak point for me today.  

she finally condescended to open the door. Or maybe Xandri managed. Who knows?

By the time I got in, I was in full tirade mode, dropped everything and ran out to grab the rest. Back inside, tirade spent, I sat down at the computer to look up some random thing I decided I needed to look up RIGHT THEN and destress before putting things away and doing dinner. 

And then.

To my complete and utter surprise, my little seven year old is suddenly next to me throwing her arms around me and apologizing, choking back tears and expressing her own frustration about Xandri and Roman and their shenanigans, telling me what she knew she should have done better and how she felt guilty she hadn't done it and made my day harder in the process. 

I hugged her back hard. I thanked her, accepted her apology and told her it was all okay. 

We hugged for a few moments longer, both hot and sweaty from the day, listening to the kids have a little too much fun on the brand new pillows until I couldn't take it anymore and had to go intervene. 

She follows me and helps me put away the pillows. Offers to make dinner (Top Ramen, her favorite). Tidies the living room. The TV room. The kitchen. Gets ready for bed without me asking and helps Xandri stay focused. Washes the dishes while I rinse next to her, laughing and talking companionably. 

All the while telling me how happy she is to help me on a day like today when she knows I'm tired and how frustrated I must feel and is there anything else I'd like her to do?

So we finished cleaning up and cooked a batch of cookies to eat while watching an episode of My Little Ponies together. 

I love this girl. Even though she makes me crazy sometimes- when she is good, she is very, VERY good.

Beachin' at Bellows

Bellows has become our new favorite beach of late. It's been pretty chill with consistently good body boarding waves and parking that's not too bad. We wanted to get cabins here for Christmas, BUT they filled up like SIX MONTHS AGO. 

Yeah.

I thought they weren't available for reservation until six months prior. But that's just for military that's not Air Force. Air Force gets up to 13 months in advance. 

So. Back to the drawing board. 

Anyway, we're having fun there meanwhile. 

And Shane's been hooking me up with free beach babysitting so I can boogie board with Derek. I'm not sure, but I don't think he minds terribly much.

Words fail.

Phoenix is becoming quite the little surfer these days. It's been super fun having these guys here, the kids adore each other and have tons of fun playing together. Every time we part ways it's "when are we gonna play together again?!!!"

Trin found this little crabby guy and was showing him off. He was pretty fond of his stick.

For real.

No, he's really not letting go. It's actually funny how much animals in general remind me of Max. This crab makes me think of how tenaciously Max holds onto people's hair. And earrings. 

My little beach baby.

Phoenix and Xandri heading out to catch some waves.