you're sure it's Thursday?

My younger girl and I talk about schedules. She lives in Chicago. We're coordinating a visit. She throws out an idea, I tell her -- great! But don't wait too many days to let me know! Can you get back to me say by Thursday? She pauses, then says -- mom, today is Thursday.

I hadn't quite realized that.

I think I live in a calendar fog at the moment.

(Morning photo of a walk to the barn. The girls all clamor to be near the person who will lift the magic lid and dispense the pellets of food.)





Breakfast: Ed does me a favor and agrees to the porch. It is so loud right now! They're digging at our property line and having hit the water table in one place, they're trying another -- you could not get closer to the farmhouse if you tried!





The rest of the morning is devoted to house cleaning and making an enormous attempt to barrel through a to-do list. Neither project is completed.

By noon, I am at my older girl's home. We're putting in place our new schedule and I admit to liking it quite a lot -- it gives me time with Sparrow and later in the day, it gives me time with Snowdrop and on some days, it gives me time with both of them together.

I catch a tail end of a feeding, where Sparrow gets his supplemental drink. The boy really does enjoy a healthy wallop of food!






The parents go out for lunch and I get my first baby sitting time with the little guy.

He decides to mostly sleep through it.






I mean, is that a chill babe, or what? (time release photo)






He opens his eyes in a dreamy way for a second or two, then dozes off again.






And now it's time to pick up Snowdrop from her first day at "camp." It is a busy scene in the new space where she is now placed. Twenty-five kids attend some or all of the program in that room and when I come to claim her, at least 10% are having issues. Not Snowdrop: she bounds out with her typical enthusiasm, even as I can tell that she is one tired cookie.

I suggest a calm adventure and she lets me know that she'll do a lot, just as long as it's not the pool!

We go to the playground. We'll wage our swimming battles another time.






(the usual role play: she's the mommy, I'm the little girl...)





At the farmhouse, she is delightfully her old self. But there's no question about it: these days, she is especially revved up when her parents and Sparrow come for the evening pick up. She is a hugely enthusiastic big sister and she does not want to be left out of anything!

Oh, but let's introduce Sparrow to Ed. It's their first encounter! He plays tough, but he holds on to that little guy for an awfully long time.





Tomorrow, the pace of the day will pick up some. The Chicago family is coming for the weekend and for the first time, all the cousins, sibs, and their parents and of course us, the farmhouse guys will be in one place together.

A thrilling but very busy weekend ahead!

And a P.S.: thanks to those of you who have pointed out that your comments did not make it to Ocean this last week. I thought it was a fleeting problem, but no -- there is some glitch whereby I never get notifications of comments and so I do not give the necessary permission for publication. There is an easy temporary fix and for the next few weeks, I'll use it: I'll spot check for new comments and at the end of each day. So no more big delays, but until I take the time to resolve the glitch, the turnaround between your commenting and publication will be slow. Please know that I appreciate all your efforts to keep in touch in this way. Ocean has a lovely community of very caring people. It's very sweet to hear from its loyal (and new) members!