Man, I'm lousy at keeping up!

I didn’t realize how well Meredith and Alex play together until he left for second grade. When he is home and they spend time in their playroom, I feel like I’m breaking up skirmishes every twenty minutes. In reality, it’s probably once an hour and Meredith is entertained the whole time. With Alex gone, it’s a different story.

Not to say we didn’t stay busy…

Meredith is really, really, really into drawing. She doesn’t seem to enjoy coloring all that much, which is funny because Alex LOVES to color, but not draw freehand…just like his mom. Meredith is happiest with a package of markers and 500 blank sheets of paper.

At some point this week, I’ll scan in some of her drawings and give her an entire post. She’s pretty good for a four year old. Brandon can draw really well, so maybe she gets it from him. Anyway, for much of the week I was able to fend off Merdi’s boredom with a stack of paper.

When Alex gets home from school, they are very anxious to play together. Right now that means driving the gator around the yard and building tents.

It thrills me to know they are close enough to miss each other.

I had a fun week or so of e-mails to respond to. Most of you probably already know via a phone call, text, or FB that I was featured on Me Ra Koh’s photography blog two weeks ago. Evidently, I was pretty excited! Sorry about that.

Me Ra gets thousands of hits a day from people all over the world. Most of the e-mails I got were incredibly touching. Women told me they related to me, gained confidence from what I’ve learned, and thanked me for sharing my story. Some were so flattering that I laughed out loud. One lady thanked me for answering questions for her and she was so surprised that “someone of your caliber and talent” would take the time to respond to her message. Seriously?! Talk about a guffaw!

I got messages from some real wackados too. I won’t go into them, but I don’t have time to settle disputes between one time best friends who now hate each other because they argued over wedding photos…Women are weird.

Maybe the most bizarre thing to come out of Me Ra’s post was a comment left by someone who loved my work. The woman left a website address, so I followed her link and quickly recognized landmarks. She was shooting in Flora, Illinois. I snagged her e-mail address and shot her a message asking if she found me through Kelly’s parents. Nope. Turns out, she stumbled upon Me Ra’s blog via a photog’s blog in Texas, read my story, and felt compelled to leave her fist comment ever. How weird!!! And…GET THIS…her daughter was once in a fender bender with Kelly’s little brother, Danny. Small world!

Back to my life as a mom…Thursday Annie came over with Drew and Penny. Meredith was thrilled to have company to play with. Annie is trying to help me overcome my decorating phobia. I really believe everything has to match exactly. If left to my own vices, I would decorate my home much the same way Gymboree designs their clothing lines. Everything. Would. Coordinate. Exactly.

Thursday evening, we met my friend (and neighbor Kerri) and her kids at the pool for sushi. Kerri’s Isabelle and Alex get along very, very well.

They initially bonded over a shared love of California rolls. In fact, we fear we see signs of burgeoning crushes. Gulp!

Nolan, Kerri’s middle son and Meredith have a ball together. Kerri is a peach! She’s my Mom’s in Touch leader and I’m so glad God put her in my life! She even brought me a homemade iced latte to the pool. Her lattes are THE BEST!!!

This weekend has been pretty low key. Meredith helped her friend Clare celebrate turning 5 yesterday at Clare’s Olympic themed birthday party. It was hot, but really fun. Clare’s sister Kendall provided me with hours of entertainment. She’s seriously the funniest two year old I’ve ever met.

Today, we’re staying inside to escape the 90 degree heat and I’m finally going to put away my suitcase from Hawaii. Yep. It’s still on the floor of my room. I often do projects to 80% completion and unpacking is one of them. Lord help me when I re-enter the workforce.