Molly Piper

Sssshhhhh! Sssshhhhhh! Do you hear that?

No? No?

That my friends, is the sound of SILENCE!

I survived week #1 of summer by getting copious amounts of library books for the boys! When we got back from the library earlier this week, I think they sat silently on the couch like that for at least 30 minutes. And in mom time, that’s like 3 hours. I’m not too sure about the conversion, but that seems about right.

So my second strategy for surviving summer is:

BOOKS! GLOOOORIOUS BOOKS!

• There’s really no need for a list here. I just like making them.
• Lots of books (I think we checked out 23 last time)!
• Go to the library often! Kids looooove new books!
• I’ll stop making lists now.

In the past I’ve sworn off of the library (for short amounts of time) because I would spend hours trying to locate that one last book that somehow got shoved into another book and then reshelved. Or stuck between the bedframe and the mattress. Gaaarrrr!

However! I’m trying to be better about keeping the kids’ library books in the library bag. Now there’s a concept! I’ve also been trying to get the boys into the habit of returning the book to the bag when they’re done with it. If this plan succeeds I might get a few hours of my life back. Okay, probably not, but I might save on gray hairs. I’ll take what I can get.

I think I might be a Brit trapped in an American’s body.

At least that’s what their television and movies make me feel.

Last week I devoured all 7 seven episodes of Downton Abbey.

[photo via The Adventures of Tartanscot]

I can’t believe I didn’t know this mini-series existed until now.

The story begins in 1912, right as the aristocratic British family (the Granthams) is receiving news that the Titanic has gone down. It follows their life and times as they live through uncertain family futures, scandal, and political unrest (as WWI approaches).

I’m not sure I’d love to be at either end of the spectrum of society dramatized in this series (aristocrats and servants), but there’s something so romantic about it 100 years later (and 100 years removed from the reality). But one thing I can tell you about without spoiling the plot is that they eventually get a telephone installed in the house and it’s super funny and cute!

You know you’ve been watching too much British television when you start doing your own inner monologue with a British accent. It was baaaad, friends. But I seriously want to watch it all over again! The costumes, the acting, the scenery, the accents…swoon.

I might have to buy the DVDs so if they ever take it off of Netflix streaming, I’m insured.

I’ve also been googling like a mad dog to find out when season 2 is set to come across the pond. The last thing I read was January 2012. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Oh you British people, you have no idea how good you have it, getting to watch it months before me!

What’s your favorite British TV show or movie?

So I have this one friend…no, I guess I should say we have this one friend. No, I guess I should say we have these three friends…okay, this is already confusing and you probably don’t care.

But do you have one of those friends who’s an incredible gift giver?

Our friend Roger and his daughters Eden and Sierra are insanely good gift-givers. And I hesitate to name names because I don’t want them to get all self-conscious and feel like they might not be able to maintain their level of awesomeness now that Molly’s blog readers know about it! But I do want to name names because they’re amazing. They deserve some kudos/props/w00ts/whatever-the-cool-word-is-now.

For my birthday I got this:

From top to bottom you spy with your little eye:

• Row 1: a Bedazzler. Yeah, that’s right. I now own a BEDAZZLER!!! How did that take 32 years? And yes, it’s a stud setting machine. You know you’ve always wanted one.
• Row 2: A book called “Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys,” which is a peek into the real-life stars of the 1970′s TV series. Shaun Cassidy, baby! Then there’s a box of fettuccine (I’ve heard it’s tradition to give people fettuccine for a 32nd birthday). And then the Shower Floss, a device that can be attached to your shower head for in-the-shower flossing. I mean, why didn’t this take off?
• Row 3: A mystery book about the Partridge Family. Seems to me like this was a Sweet Valley Twins predecessor or something similar. I’m looking forward to reading that one. Then there’s a little jar of Bedazzler studs for my first project. And of course, a Quaker Chewy granola bar.
• Row 4: A brand-spankin’-new Wendy’s polo shirt. I have no idea how they scored that one, but I’m forever grateful. And inside the polo shirt, they had wrapped up a book I really wanted.

True confession: I’m not a very thoughtful person. Well, maybe it’s more that I think of things I want to do, and then I’m bad at the execution. So I’m always in awe of people who are good gift-givers. I want to be like them!

Who are the good gift-givers in your life? What was a thoughtful gift you received?

And if you don’t want to answer that question, then tell me what kind of item you’d bedazzle if you had (insert Oprah announcer voice) a BEDAZZLER!!!!!!

Well, friends, today’s my birthday.

I was woken up by a sweet little two-year-old hand tapping me gently. When my eyes sluggishly opened, there was a burst of song from Abraham, Orison, and Morrow. They came bearing chocolate chip pancakes and orange juice (two of my favorite breakfast items). I was too tired to even eat them, so the boys were happy to do their part to consume them for me.

These are good memories. Sweet family, sweet gestures… but every year I think about a different birthday.

It was 2004. It was coming up on my first birthday as Mrs. Molly Piper. I was already carrying Mr. Piper’s firstborn. He asked me one day, “When’s your birthday? May 25th?”

He was totally serious.

I, of course, was just shocked that he didn’t know my birthday. What in the world could he be thinking???? So he (tried to) explain himself:

“Well, I know it’s one day different from Bob Dylan’s birthday. But I just can’t remember if it’s the day before or after.”

Ohhhhh…rrriiiiiggghhhht. Now it makes complete sense. You can remember Bob Dylan’s birthday….

I didn’t get seriously mad at him or anything. I’m sure we laughed about it then. We still laugh about it now. That’s a mistake you only make once.

So every year we celebrate my birthday and Bob Dylan’s. It just so happens that Mr. Dylan is having a milestone birthday this year. Last night we listened to a documentary about his life in Minnesota and enjoyed it so much.

Happy 70th birthday (tomorrow), Bob Dylan! I like “sharing” a birthday with you.

So I made these really yummy ribs in the Crock Pot today. I haven’t made this particular recipe in a couple years, just because I forgot about it! (Don’t you love when you kind of forget about a good recipe and then it crops back up?) Anyway… it’s super good, and the ribs are so tender that the meat literally falls off the bone.

I’m sitting here typing this, smelling the yummy goodness and already hungry for supper. Which leads me to ask:

If you’re cooking in your Crock Pot, do you eat more that day?

I feel like I’m smelling delicious food all day and salivating, and therefore I want to EAT!!! So far I’ve avoided a full-0n pig-out, but I don’t know if I can make it till 5:30. That’s HOURS from now!!!!

If I cooked in the Crock Pot regularly, I feel like I’d gain weight. Agree? Disagree?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Orison finished up a unit on weather for school a couple weeks ago. Since then, he’s developed a kind of hyper-focus (obsession?) with tornadoes. And last week’s devastation hasn’t alleviated any of his fears, as you might well suppose, though I don’t think he saw any images from the storms.

To help quell his fears, I informed him about Minneapolis’s tornado siren, and told him that they do a practice every month to make sure it’s working properly. Naturally he wanted to know what day they do the practicing, so I absently told him, “The first Wednesday of the month.”

As he was coming in from school today he could hear the siren of an emergency vehicle nearby. He worriedly asked me, “What’s that? Is that a tornado siren?”

“No,” I told him. “It’s a police car or ambulance or something.”

“But when are they doing the tornado siren?” he asked.

“What?!?!” I thought to myself. “Is it the first Wednesday of the month?” as I tried to remember the current month and day. I realized that, yes indeed, it is the first Wednesday of the month.

“Who told you it’s the first Wednesday of the month?” I asked.

“Well…the month started on Sunday, and there hasn’t been a Wednesday yet since the month started, so this is the first Wednesday of the month.”

Right on.

“Well, they do it at 1pm.”

And lo and behold, at 1pm I had him run outside to listen to what it sounds like. I think he thought it would be louder.

I just found it funny that he’s tracking it so closely and privately. It’s interesting to realize that your children have their own thoughts running through their heads, their own events they’re keeping track of, their own little obsessions.

He also licked his finger today and felt for the wind direction. (It’s not a windy day here whatsoever, but whenever a slight breeze blows, he says it’s too windy.)

The kid cracks me up.

I just have to keep posting pictures, because I love them so much!

We lovingly call this face “Bulldog.” Whenever she does it, we get the biggest kick out of it! I was so excited to catch it on camera!

Me with my blue-eyed-boy! I don’t think I’ve told you all, but while I was in Hawaii, Whit became an all-out crawler. The kid goes everywhere! He’s unstoppable. And he has the softest, most nuzzleable (is that a word? It is now.) head ever to top a baby.

The twins will be 9 months old next week! I can hardly believe it.

Once upon a time, an overwhelmed, frazzled mother of four small children went to a magical land…

A magical land of

sun

sand

scenery

and…

sickness.

Wait…what?

Yes, yes that’s right. But that’s only a small part of the story. We’ll not discuss that now. Let’s imagine instead the magical sun.

And the sand.

And the breathtaking scenery.

The magical land had breezes that blew straight out of heaven–no edge, no chill. They were brisk, but somehow soft. The sun warm, but never too hot. The winds blew the cares of her other life away. And then sun shone through the frazzle, making it melt away.

The sickness part seemed a small price to pay to be able to take in such beauty. Not even tonsillitis could dull her enjoyment. There were these magical things there (perhaps you’ve heard of them here in your land?) called antibiotics and ibuprofen and they made even her sickness feel manageable.

The no-longer-frazzled mother drank in every drop of her time in the magical land.

But like all good things down here, it ended. She had to fly away from the magical land, her flower-laden neck the reminder of the magical land in the midst of metal tubes and uncomfortable seats.

When she came back to her land, where the winds blew cold and the snow fell and fell (even though it was springtime), she had only to close her eyes and imagine the place she visited, where all the cares and frazzle were no match for the ocean and Vitamin D.

The End.

[from Watari Goro on Flickr]

I’m all nervous about hitting the publish button on this post, but…

In a few short days, I’ll be traveling to sunny HAWAII!

I’m so insanely excited, but so self-conscious about receiving such a lavish gift.

So who’s giving such a gift?

• My dear friend, Kate, who’s an incredible doctor, presenting a case presentation poster at the American Academy of Neurology conference (the reason we’re going). Her generosity is stunning. She showed up at our house a couple months ago and told me she’d had her case presentation accepted by the neurology academy, and that she’d be presenting in Hawaii, but…she didn’t want to go by herself. So…would I want to come with her??? Kate and I have been friends for almost 15 years, so this is certainly a way to celebrate the Lord’s faithfulness to us in friendship!

Which leads me to the next amazing gift:

• My amazing husband, sending me happily on this dream trip. I know I wouldn’t be as happily sacrificial if the tables were turned. As soon as Kate asked me to go, I was all like, “Ummm…uhhh…I don’t know…” and Abraham chimed in, “OF COURSE you’re gonna go!” What a fantastic husband.

Which leads me to the next amazing gift:

• My in-laws, who are willing to take the babies for a couple days so Abraham can still have a little fun with the big boys at our church spring retreat. As soon as I heard the dates for the Hawaii trip, I knew there would be a conflict with our church’s spring retreat (which is a highlight of our church year). Not wanting Abraham to have to miss it, his parents and sister have stepped in to make that possible for Abraham and the big boys. AWESOME!

And the Giver of all these gifts:

• My loving God, who hears little heart-whispers into a long winter and sees my joke flight searches to warm places. Just a few days before Kate showed up and asked me to go with her, I’d been searching flights to Hawaii one afternoon, because of how depressed I was feeling about the endless winter. The price was laughable, and so I just stopped looking. But God saw. God knew. And God gave.

SOOOO…

In a few days, I’ll be somewhere that looks kinda like this:

[from Cody Anker on Flickr]

One thing I learned the other day (reading a kid’s book about Hawaii, because that’s all I had time for), is that Hawaii is technically a subtropical climate. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as subtropical, but apparently it has something to do with the weather being so stable (pretty much always in the 70s & 80s and sunny). I’ve never been anywhere tropical or subtropical so I’m pretty much psyched for whatever!

I hope to post more about it this week, or maybe even while I’m there. Aloha, my friends!

There are still icy snow patches left in the yard, the temperatures haven’t reached 60 degrees, and our grass is more like a mud-wrestling pit than a yard, but I guess that’s spring in Minneapolis!

We had such horrible cabin fever this weekend, that we decided to just hit the front porch and let the big kids play in the yard, mud and all.

Cadence wasn’t feeling particularly photogenic, but Whit was pretty happy with the arrangement!

I thought he looked like a dock worker in his little pea coat and rolled-brim hat. I captured this little gem that really needs a caption:

By the way, the twins turned 8 months old this weekend! Can’t even believe it!