September 26, 2011

• wouldn’t it be nice

   

   (Random wistful post of the last months of summer.  With apologies to the many of you who saw these photos and read some of these very words on Facebook already. )

   

  Random photo of Liesl reading to her dolls, the most blessed thing you ever saw.

   

  

   

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if the guys knew how GooD they look when they wash dishes?

  *But I know.  They have a lot of other things to do that I have no clue about.*

   

  

   

  ^ ^ ^ (The other Sunday afternoon in our kitchen with Andrew & Vivian Miller as guests.)

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if big sisters and their sweet little Chinese babies and cute 7 year olds lived next door instead of 14 hours away?

   

  

   

  *But maybe we wouldn’t get along so well if that was the case.*

   

  And wouldn’t it be nice if kind aunties who make work fun for your children and build cardboard polly pocket houses and trim trees and drink hazelnut coffee with you would come more often?

   

  

  *But then it wouldn’t be as special when they do.*

   

  And wouldn’t it be nice if little girls who start with one ladybug pet named Flower and then start a whole colony of them would never grow up?

   

  

  *But then you wouldn’t have the help and companionship of young ladies who say, “Are you tired, Mom?   I can sweep the floor.”  And you wouldn’t get advice about the way you tied your scarf or if your dress and sweater look good together.  And you wouldn’t have girls like this gracing your house.*

  

   

  

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if life was all meals out in fancy dining rooms and peppermint sage body wash  and Jacuzzi suites and crisp white duvets on hotel beds and time to connect with the person you married 15 years ago? (It was SUCH a good little honeymoon, people.)

   

  

  *But then you wouldn’t have mountaintop experiences like this with your favorite family.*

  

  *And you’d soon be broke.*

  *And who would you eat barbecued corn and mountain pies with at cabins in the mountains?

  

   

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all take pictures like Christy @twofus_1  or Rachel @foreveranoatneygirl_n2Hisown ?  Instead of shots like this of a bright golden field and amazing yellow leaves?

  

   

  *Yes.  That would be nice.*

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if some of the poses of the family photos didn’t have leaf shadows that look like a hairnet on the dad’s face? 

   

  

   And if you (and he) had thought about it that the shoes he slipped on his hurry out the door might show in the pictures and he’d chosen his nice brown casual shoes instead of tennis shoes with the tongues showing? J

   

  

   

  

   

   Wouldn’t it be grand if we never made faces like this

  

  *But then what would we have to laugh at?*

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if exaggeration was always as funny as a 4 year old’s impatiently waiting on his toast at breakfast?  “Mom, I’ve been sitting here for miles and MILES of years.”

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if 9 year old boys were always this quiet and well-mannered?

  

  And if cabbages like this were easy to store?

  

  And if aunties from Wisconsin were nearby to make pie crusts every weekend?

  

  *But then how fat we would all be.*

   

  Wouldn’t it be nice if by the time you get brave enough to paint a wall dark brown the ‘look’ hasn’t changed to sweet clean blues and oranges and whites or greys and yellows without you knowing it?

  

  

   

   

  Tonight at 8:45 my 3 littlest have a huge play dough bakery going.  There are markers in the mix for some reason too.  Earlier they had a concoction of lentils, dried beans, flour, poppy seeds, and water happening. 

   

  I am holding on to the beauty of fall.  I think it seems incredibly beautiful because we know its brevity.

   

   I should shop online for brown drapes and Canon cameras and 560 Levis for Dan.  I am trying.  But I really don’t enjoy shopping, online or otherwise.  I used to in the days before kids.  And the reason I don’t now is because it is so time-consuming.  And I am indecisiveness defined.

   

  I briefly entertain thoughts of online writing courses this winter.  I have done a little shopping for them as well.  But then I wonder who I am kidding that writing interests me. 

   

  And since this random brain unloading is getting very self-centered I will stop.  I love my old and new friends on Xanga and Facebook.  Your Friday photo days are a highlight and you inspire me often in other ways as well.  Thank you!

   

  

   

   

  • 11:28 pm
  • 19 Comments