Stuff of Childhood

I think perhaps there are few things as fun and rewarding as watching your child begin to get the hang of walking and balancing. And once they get it, it's amazing to see how their skill and confidence grow daily and exponentially! Molly has been experimenting with the concept of walking for a few weeks now, but was obviously not truly committed to the process. The army crawl was her proven modus motatus, and why ruin a good thing? However, this past Monday someone flipped a switch in her and she decided that this biped stuff was the thing of the future and she'd better get on the wagon or get left in the dust. There's no going back.




But kids and dirt! One somehow does not feel the same warm fuzzy feeling of parental pride and joy as they watch their child shove fistfuls of dirt into an already-dirt-caked oral cavity as though it were mother's homemade mulberry pie. (Have I told you about that pie...?) But whereas one may leap to the rescue of their first child and frantically rinse the germ-laden soil from the mouth of The Baby(!), things tend to be somewhat different with subsequent siblings. In fact, there have been documented cases of parents with ... say, four children (or thereabouts) ... who actually videotape their fourth child (or so) while they consume a section of the back yard, then merely rinse all four teeth off with an extra swig of apple juice from the sippy cup. I suppose it must all come down to one's perspective on things.

The Marvelous Little Toy

This is a new 'toy' I received for my birthday this year, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun together! It's a portable digital multi-track recorder. (Read about it here if you're interested.) This means that you can record voice, instrumentals, or any other noise on any of four separate 'tracks', one or two tracks at a time. You can then play it back while recording something else on a separate track, then mix it all down to a master track for playback on any computer or other audio device. Homemade music. Is this cool, or what?!

You can hear my first-ever attempt at simple multi-track recording by clicking here. It's a pretty bare-bones experiment this first go-round, involving only a direct guitar line in, the two internal microphones shown on the front of the machine, and a couch. There are also external mic inputs which I have not yet used, and features (no doubt) which I have not yet explored. So "stay tuned".

New Project

Recently we cut down this tree beside our house because it was being crowded by two adjacent trees.  As an afterthought, with chainsaw in hand, I decided to leave a 12' stump for Future Development.  It then occurred to me that this would be the perfect spot for a treehouse for some little kids.  Plans are a-preparing...

Happy Birthday(s)!

First it was Daddy's. It started with a pancake breakfast in the morning with the 'opening' ceremonies (gifts, that is). There are no pictures available for this part of the event because, although the gifts were very presentable indeed, Daddy himself is somewhat less photogenic at that hour.

Shown here is the lunch segment of the agenda, specifically the cake kindly donated by 'Grandma G' and labelled and lit by Mommy. During the afternoon intermission Daddy was able to metabolize a portion of this cake by cutting the lawn (or, as Nathan says, 'lawning the grass'). But by early evening the gastronomic theme was resumed as supper was served, another of GG's donated dishes followed by Mommy's homemade mulberry pie straight from the tree in our back yard. I could go on and on about this pie, but alas! I cannot show you a picture because we accidentally ate it all too quickly. All in all a very good day.



And just when you think the party's over ... a yardful of good friends mysteriously appear for an evening hymnsing and dessert two days later. Surprise!! Some wives are very good at organizing things with just the right touch, and I am blessed with one of them.


Then, four days after Daddy's birthday ...

Our little Molly Dolly turned one!!


There's nothing like the baking of a birthday cake to inspire a little Chef Wannabe (who apparently prefers to remain unidentified).


Yet another tasteful offering from the kitchen of The Cake Lady
(see May 23 post)...


The dining hall, bedecked and festooned withal, awaits the commencement of the birthday banquet and festivities.


"Happy Birthday dear Molly ... Happy Birthday to you!"


The birthday girl seemed to be pretty excited about the proceedings...


but not quite sure what to do with the cake. However, having been apparently satisfied with the results of her preliminary fingertip test, ...


she soon engaged first one hand ...


and then the other to shove fistfuls of it into her mouth.


After which there was no stopping her, and before long she was covered in the stuff ...


and carrying on like someone who was having a Very Good Time.


"That's ok, Molly, have at it! It's all about the cake!"