This Reminds Me

Archive for August, 2007

It’s raining.  Again.  Really unbelievable for Texas in August.  Hannah  and Julia – stuck indoors all day  - applied their artistic talents to “after the rain” and “during the rain” colorful creations which will soon grace my AT&T cubby wall.

Daddy’s old shirts prove most excellent painting attire….

Rain….It’s Grrreeattttttttttt!  Of course, Tony was himself dry inside Wal-Mart tonight, where we went during a lull to break the monotony.

Lake Woodworth with grass islands in our front yard….

Three of the girls – including these two drizzly pups- have been to the doctor with sinus infections in the last 10 days.  If my cremated mother had a grave, she’d been turning over in it, seeing them all wet after carrying in groceries.

Raindrops keep falling on my head

But being the Mom who never seems to get to bed

There’s a lot to do

So

Come grab some bags and just keep on a’goin’

Groceries aren’t free

Don’t complain to me.

That isn’t the school bell you’re hearing quite yet – it’s the ring of cash registers.  For snazzy backpacks  School supplies.  Lunch kits.  Calculators.  And, of course, some new clothes, because seldom do the shorts that fit in May still fit in August.  And somehow those sneakers are a little snug, and most of our socks are singles with the other halves being long forgotten at a slumber party or church camp.

August is our most expensive month.  And normally, it’s made me grimmace.  But this year, there’s a bit of joy cuddled up with the debit card in my ever-opening wallet.

Julia has grown.  Finally.   She’s up to 42 lbs. and 45 1/2″ inches – an increase of 3 lbs. and 3 1/2″ since she came home 15 months ago.  And while she can still wear most of the clothes we bought then, some of the shirts really are too skimpy.  Her favorite Sponge Bob jammies are looking like high waters.  Her denim capris no longer need a belt.  We bought two Dora the Explorer church dresses in a size 6 – and they fit!

An early meeting in February ’06 in Children’s Home #47.  The difference in her hair is amazing.  It was so thin, sparse and crackly.  Now it is a thicker, shiny, beautiful chestnut brown with intriguing golden strands.  We think improved nutrition has made the difference.  Notice the sleeves of this size 6 hoodie are rolled up big-time.  It hung on her.  We brought clothes in a variety of sizes so we’d know what to bring on the second (coming home) trip.  I traced her foot in the notebook I carried everywhere, then matched that tracing to shoes.  When we returned in May, we took three pairs of light-up sneakers – the pair we thought would fit (and did), and pairs bigger and smaller, just in case.  We’d visited with a family who brought too-small shoes to for their 10-year-old son and he was miserable.  Didn’t want that for her.  We left all the extra clothes and shoes at the orphange.  I’ll bet there was scuffling over the light-up sneakers.

I am actually putting clothes aside for my three-year-old great niece Laura, and this pile of size 4 undies – including her favorite Curious George pairs - is going in the trash.

Goodbye, George.  Bottoms up!

Most of our clothes haven’t been worth passing onto anyone, because they’d been through Rachel, probably Lois and often Hannah.  But Julia’s stuff was either new, or from friends at church with only one daughter.  There’s plenty of good left in them.

So passing on clothes is something to get excited about.  Shout about.

Maybe even ring some bells – cash register or school.  Either way is fine by me as long as I get to do it again and again.  And maybe – please Lord – a little more frequently?  We’d like to get her up to 48″ so we can do the better rides at Fiesta Texas

We just put away the cooler, table and chairs from Neighbor’s Night Out, a happy annual tradition you know had to have been started by someone up north.  I’m thinking most Texans would vote for Neighbor’s Night Out in winter, not sultry August with mosquitoes as uninvited guests.

You can see that our yard is continuing to grow in.  Our neighbor Denise – an Air Force pathologist – is explaining, “You give me a corpse.  I’ll tell you why it’s a corpse.” Her dip was a hit, too.

(Some of) Da kids in da hood – or at least our cul-de-sac.  The dogs received a lot of leash-driven attention.  Lois (the show off) made hot chocolate chip cookies to complement the Oreos I so thoughtfully served.  Rachel went to a friend’s house a couple of blocks over – “better snacks.”

I like Neighbor’s Night Out.  It’s a great excuse to share neighborhood gossip, bash the local politicians and share recipes, as well as catch up on everybody.  We’ve got Pam, who just started a post-retirement career at Home Depot – and loves it.  The woman now knows her countertops, baby.  We’ve got Colin the computer guy with his wife Keri, who were nice enough to invite Julia and Hannah to their backyard bible club last week.  We’ve got Kim, a sweet child in an adult’s body who is always so anxious to help.  We’ve got an assortment of kids ranging from age 2 to 16.  I like to look at them.  This is America and – praise God – we don’t all have to look or act alike, but thankfully, they are all pretty good to each other (excluding their own siblings.)  The girls next door quit knocking months ago.

Please won’t you be our neighbor?  There’s a house for sale at the end of the block and we all want to see it sold soon.