patience...

i didn't have it today.  not a complete catastrophe-of-a-day, but definitely not winning best-mom-of-the-day today.  (not getting runner-up either)  stimson has to know every single detail about every little thing concerning anything.  and i just didn't feel like answering today.  why can't i just answer the pointless questions?  what are we having for breakfast tomorrow?  why is that digger digging that grass up?  why do we need to pick weeds?  why are they irritating frustrating annoying grueling to answer?  why i don't have all the patience i need?  and why why why is there so much to do????   and when when when will i be able to get enough sleep to have patience to answer questions about cheetahs and jaguars and how they are different and how we can tell them apart and where they live and which one this is a picture of and why is it not the other one and when will it be the other one and which do i like better and would i be scared to see one and which one would be scarier and why am i not scared of the other one if i am more scared of the first one and and and...

we just got back from camping and there is so much to do around the house.  and like i mentioned before stimson has no "hurrying" skills.  i was frantically trying to get some things done and he asked me to play with him.  ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  i worked on a puzzle with him and then told him he could play with merritt while i finished dabbled in a few things.  then i felt guilty.  why can't i just play trains with him for ten minutes? first- maybe tomorrow, second- i don't know how to play trains, third- i have too much whizzing around in my head.  but suddenly stimson was chasing merritt, bouncing on the bed, laughing and giggling.  i paused.  oh how i love that sound.  some of my guilt was gone.  i think i need to just say no, i can't do that right now, and let him make up his own games.  they were having so much fun and it wasn't even orchestrated by me.  hooray!!!

and this made me think of how stimson is really so good with merritt. i think all parents say that about their children's relationships with each other.  (but i think stimson is the best and i am entitled to my own opinions about my own son and you can't argue with me because this is my own writing)  he understands her and speaks her language so well.  we have been calling merritt 'sweet pea' and stimson does the same.  but he knows she can't say that quite clearly so he has shortened it to pee-pee which has been very helpful as you can imagine.  we have been calling stimson 'timmy' thinking that would be easier for merritt to say and easier for other kids to understand as well.  (everyone always thinks stimson says his name is simpson and we all think bart as soon as anyone says simpson)  but merritt and stimson have shortened up timmy to be titty.  (apparently m's are harder when they are combined with other sounds)  so this is all super helpful and cute, except when we are in public.  we were all at costco yesterday and brad had (or was supposed to have) the kids while i ran through the store to grab our usual cart full of bulk groceries that will somehow only be enough for one week for our family of four .  i was trying to check out with most of the rest of the population and hoping i wouldn't see anyone i knew so i could just run out and be done.  but i spotted (meaning they spotted me) some friends near the checkout as i was working on getting to the front of the line.  i talked to them for a bit but saw brad out of the corner of my eye (moms have lots of corners in their eye) and he ran up to me and desperately frantically asked "where are titty and peepee?"

i'll just let that sit there a minute.

i am honestly not sure what my friends thought he was talking about and i just said see you later and walked out.  classy.

here was our lunch in glacier two days ago.  no to-do list up here.  no cheetahs or jaguars either.

June Cookies and Comments

1. My five year-old has no quiet volume setting nor a fast speed setting.  No matter how hard I try.
(solution: never get in a situation where we have to hurry or be quiet) (reality: maybe 20 years from now)
2. A 15 hour road trip is about 14 hours too long with young kids.
3. A 15 hour road trip actually takes about 30 hours to complete.
4. Stimson aspires to be a perfectionist.
5. Merritt aspires to thwart Stimson's aspirations.
6. I try every day but the house is only getting messier.
7. My "anti-aging" cream can't keep up with my "aging".
8. Merritt's agenda lately is to dismantle the grocery store. (and for some reason the employees don't think it is that cute)
9. My summer reading list has no checkmarks yet.
10. Sitting is the new smoking.

It is hot here.  We have been making these "cookies". No oven required.
They have five ingredients, no cooking, no dairy or wheat or sugar, and we all like them.
original recipe here

Walnut Cookies
2 c walnuts
1 c coconut, shredded, unsweetened
1/4 raw honey
2 pinches sea salt
1 t vanilla

Blend all in a food processor about one minute until smooth.  Smash into little balls and put on parchment paper.  Flatten and keep in the freezer until ready to eat.  They get soft fast.