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| Eating lunch is always fun and a bit celebratory when on a picnic bench in the sunny 70-degree weather! |
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| It was to be expected that Mary soon lay down on her tummy on the deck railing in order to eat her lunch: sitting on a bench is a bit too safe and boring! |
With Grandmom and Pop-Pops visiting, we took the opportunity to rent a trailer and use Pop-Pop's trailer hitch: we are doing some spring cleaning de-cluttering, taking items to Goodwill for donation and to the dump.
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| The children enjoying cool beverages in lawn chairs in the parked trailer |
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| At the dump: two trash men serious about their business |
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| Joseph, two-and-a-half months |
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| "Whoa!" |
On Monday evening, we enjoyed eating out a restaurant, then Margaret got to open some belated birthday gifts from her grandparents.
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| Happy birthday! |
Bonus Reading: "These Are the Lines of a Story" by Mary Martin Wiens. A lovely friend of mine drew my attention to this story today and it brought not a few tears to my eyes. I used to be a powerful and very thin athlete (running races, climbing mountains, hiking through forests with 50-pound backpacks): today I am most decidedly
not an athlete and I have four beautiful children to show for it. As another lovely lady said to me last week: my clothing with its elastic waistbands that have to flex for my often-changing size may be a bit plain, but the garland of roses I have swirling about me as decoration are my children. (Wasn't that kind of her to say?!) I started this last pregnancy at my heaviest plus gained the most I ever have and I find myself still in maternity clothing two and a half months later. This brings with it many mixed emotions.
The article is well worth the read for mothers like me.
I too was an athlete, a nationally ranked year round swimmer!To put it in perspective, I swam with Michael Phelps when we were younger, competing at the same events nationally. My 6 pregnancies have certainly taken their toll, and I often feel so horrible about myself, it down right depresses me. I am hoping to knock most of the 100 lbs I have gained this year, but its slow going! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteClaire: No, thank YOU for sharing. What a beautiful testimony.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful article! Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteA very poignant essay. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete