They Stayed

The next morning, Piper sat at the table, minding her own business and drinking a mug of milk, when I noticed her.








She and those curls ambushed me! I'm not to blame!




I think Piper missed the Curly-Hair boat on which she was intended to ride.




They just fit. It was as if she'd never had anything but these wonderful corkscrews spilled all over.



I didn't wash her hair, and they bounced around and taunted us all week.





It's a good thing I finally gave her a bath, and the matted curls turned back into smooth, straight hairs again.

I don't think I could have resisted the onslaught for much longer.

This Girl is NOT Cute

I sneaked up on Susannah. (Yes, I sneaked.)









And then I forced her to stand against the wall and look cute.
It went something like this...

Me: STAND AGAINST THE WALL!


Susie:


Me: LOOK CUTE!



Susie:


Me: HEY, STOP IT! YOU'RE TOO CUTE TO HANDLE!



Susie:



Me: I MEAN IT! STOP IT!



Susie:


*For the record, I did not really tell her to look cute. I rarely tell my children they're cute when they're old enough to understand. Other people tell them too often, anyway, and then they start to Really Believe It, which is fine, as long as they don't put their stock in cuteness.

**For the record, I do tell my children I love them. Daily. And appreciate them for their sweetness, if they're being sweet. And other good things.

***For the record, I do think Susannah's pretty darn cute.

Noir

Ten minutes later, I came upon Curlylocks in the kitchen, only she'd improved on the curls with the addition of John's hat.



Then she noticed me. Darn broken zoom.



She watched the chickadees out the window, and then she informed me that she saw a "carnival."



I was just kiddin', Mama. I did not see a carnival.




I was disappointed to hear that. A carnival outside our kitchen window would be just the ticket for chasing away mid-winter blues.





And while I'm posting too many pictures of a cute, little priss, may I once again deny any responsibility for the girly gestures she employs? She is totally not made in my image, and I love her.

Don't bring It before Solomon

Do any of you have a friend who has given you such princely gifts that anything you contemplate giving seems cheap in comparison and then you never end up giving anything at all? Enter Titi.

She has given me and my girls some of the most wonderful handcrafted gifts ever, some of which haven't even made it on the blog yet.

Remember this dress she knit (knitted?) for Piper? Little Lu enjoys it now.

I'm trying to think of things I value I could give in return, but it looks like all she wants is the Thing I can't live without!

Sorry, Titi. Luci stays with us.




*P.S. She's a fantastic cook, too.

If Any Man Come and Knock

Piper and her faithful steed stood guard at the stairtop.




Even when gnats distracted her, she let none pass.



Loyal and FIERCE! That's Piper through and through.

And It Shall be Given Him

My sister Debbie and I went shopping for boots.

I found a chin* on sale instead. Praise be!


*Never mind. I just noticed the sign says chinos, and now I see that I've been wearing a pair of pants on my chin for the last two months. How foolish of me.

It's About Time

Lately I've been trying to follow John's fine example and include the younger girls in baking and cooking. As Millie becomes more capable, it's easy for me to let her go to town without remembering that when she was Susie's age, she was already scrambling eggs with John and making shakes.

John's super. When he's in the kitchen, he'll usually include the younger girls in the mix, so one recent morning, I let Annie and Susie make the Ooh-La-La Oven Pancake, which is usually Millie's specialty.

I'm not completely sure yet,


but Piper still may be too young to be allowed near the stove.



She's a fine flour mule, though.



They needed my help and assurance as they followed the recipe,






but the resulting pancake was ooh, la, la!

Backstory

I was carrying a dead chicken from the coop when I saw a kind neighbor walking toward me with a gift of newly-butchered beef and pork (Ham! BACON!). Because I value bacon more than dead chicken, I put the chicken on top of John's car and took the bacon indoors.

Later, I wondered at Piper's fixed stare out the window before remembering...
oh, yeah.

Moral of the story:
Don't delay dead chicken, lest their frozen feet reproach you.

Moe Holds Strike the Chicken

At some point, I must have been smug.




Looking at undeniably cute pictures of Magdolena and Lucy with chopped hair, a small speck of smugness must have stirred deep within my heart, and the Lord took note, because guess which one of my five finally decided to play Delilah and cut herself some desired and forbidden bangs.

My eight-year old! Yeah!



I was not happy.
John was not happy.
Soon after, Millie was not too happy, either.




All's well that ends well, though. John showed Millie pictures of her and, to balance things out, I showed her pictures of him. Millie has been good-natured about her new nickname. She even refers to herself as Moe now and signs her notes to me...MOE...with a flourish; it just might stick.

These pictures were taken the day after The Incident, before I cut the world's shortest bangs to camouflage the missing chunks of hair.

And do you know what's crazy? I bought that coat at a rummage sale when Mildred was a newborn and thought it would take years for her to grow into it.

Gulp.

It's been years.



Dear Moe,

You're growing much too fast.

Love,
Mama

Piper in the Sky with Diamonds

I usually enjoy going outside to do chores.

Having a face like this in the window only sweetens the pot.

Your Tax Money in Motion

There are some things one expects to find at a library.

Patrons, for one.
(That's us.)



Books, for another.
(We found 75 to take home.)


Saucy elephants, however, are not usually on the library checklist.



Piper put him in his place.
'Atta girl, Pip!