Summer, in pictures

After a wonderful summer, we're back to the delightful whirlwind of regular life.

Tonight, Miss Meatball wouldn't (or couldn't) go to sleep.  

Children that do not go to bed when they are supposed to are one of my pet peeves.  Sometimes it makes me so frustrated I could swear.  Sometimes it makes me so frustrated that I actually swear. 

Tonight was different. When I picked up my screaming baby and she looked at me with her big eyes, I felt an overwhelming sense of contentment.  

We walked outside in the evening quiet, up one side of the street and then down the other. The stillness was like my favorite Wordsworth sonnet: "It is a beauteous evening, calm and free / The holy time is quiet as a Nun / Breathless with adoration."  I stood on the front lawn, watching the pencil-line of moon brighten until I felt Miss Meatball's tightfisted grip on my t-shirt loosen.  She was asleep.  

Crescent Moon & Treetop by CmdrGravy 

The Family O

Because it's been so long since I've regularly posted to this space, I thought I would fill everyone in on some Family O basics.

We live in a small town in the rural South. It is the kind of place where you find roadside stands that sell "hot boiled peanuts," and Civil War reinactors march in the Fourth of July parade. People here are for the most part friendly, chatty, and unhurried.

Mr. O is attending graduate school. When he is not cramming his brains full of more knowledge, he is interested in comic books, horror films, and hanging out with the kids and me.

I am a stay-at-home mom. I do many stay-at-home mom things. I read to the kids; sometimes I even read to myself. I do play-dates and grocery trips. I attempt all sorts of craftable projects. I make dinners and lunches and snacks and a shocking number of cookies. Aside from the typical stuff, I also teach piano lessons.

Of course, you can't meet the Family O without meeting the Buster.

bust•er /ˈbəstər/

Noun:

1. A person or thing that breaks, destroys, or overpowers something

2. Used as a mildly humorous form of address, esp. to a man or boy

3. An unusually sturdy child

4. A busy, much-loved redhead belonging to the Family O (see above photograph)

Our newest family member is the sunny Miss Meatball.

What do you think she has stashed in those adorable, fat cheeks? Mr. O thinks it might be meatballs.

Hopefully this nickname doesn't cause any permanent emotional damage or social awkwardness in later life. At present, she doesn't seem to mind.

That's the cliff-notes version of my family. I hope you all had a wonderful, love-filled February fourteenth. We are celebrating Valentine's Day a day late because Mr. O had a crazy class schedule. Check back later for some of our postponed holiday fun!

Cheers.