A little of this, A little of that

It's warm outside, and not windy (yet), which means:

 YARD WORK!!  I'm trying not to get discouraged by the fact that our yard still somewhat resembles a desolate wasteland after three years of trying to plant lawns, and the other day, my friend came over and helped me plant a bunch of daffodil bulbs in our front flowerbed, which only goes to show that hope does, in fact, spring eternal. 
Even in an area where spring=hurricane-force gales on a constant basis from March thru June. 

 Maggie had her first meal of spaghetti last night, and I was just cracking up at the smacking noises she made as she tried to get the tiny little pieces of noodles in her mouth.  The picture doesn't do justice to the orangey clown face the spaghetti sauce gave her. 
I'm finding that I'm really trying to savor Maggie's babyhood--more so than I did with the boys, which is something I regret, but am trying to change this time around.  By the time Jack and Clark were this age, I was pregnant or planning on becoming so relatively soon, so I wasn't able to quite appreciate all of the little moments the way I do with Maggie--I was just too tired/morning sick/pregnant.  But she's my baby, and she will be for at least a couple of years yet, so I'm trying to really pay more attention to the details about how she smells, or how magical her laugh is, or the way it sounds when she's trying to eat spaghetti for the first time.   You know--all the details that are so easy to forget once they've reached toddler/preschoolhood.
Not that toddler/preschoolhood doesn't have its perks, either--the boys and I have been having a lot of fun playing hide-and-seek lately.  Their favorite is when I do the monster/zombie version and make scary noises as I look for them.  Hilarious!  The other day, Clark and I were playing hide-and-seek, and after I finished counting, this is how I found him.  Pardon the fuzziness of the image--I was laughing too hard to hold my phone still to take the picture.

 

It's weird for me to have kids at the stage where I remember thinking the way they do--I totally remember thinking that as long as I couldn't see what was out there, no one could see me either.  Or thinking my mom knew everything.  Or thinking my dad was the most handsome, strongest man in the world--I thought he looked just like Indiana Jones. 

Clark found our Tangled DVD case the other day, and pointed at it and said, "Look!!  It's mom and dad!" 

It's okay if you think I resemble Rapunzel, son--I'll take it.

Heaven knows my self-esteem could use the boost.