may I please take a break from may?

I really do like having a blog, but I certainly neglect it sometimes.  And I used to think of all kinds of clever things to write, but right at the moment my brain is mushy.  We have also been very busy as usual.  There seems to be 20 things going on every day.  So far this month I had:

1.  a party to sell Norwex (I don't like doing parties like that, but the products are amazing so I did one so I could get a discount on some things I wanted to buy, but the reason I don't like doing them is because people don't like coming to them and so there weren't very many people there, but the people who did come were utterly lovely in every way and we had yummy food, too)
2. the school carnival (I tried to be helpful)
3. my 8th annual Mother's Day Tea (which I always stress about, but always turns out so nice, but no pictures) 
4. Ibby's birthday party (I tried to keep it non-stressful and then it totally was for some reason.  I actually know the reason, it was the silly person who works at the bead place who didn't explain to the girls that some of the beads cost .10¢ and some of them cost $13 so after they picked stuff out I was running around wildly trying to get them to trade some of them out so that each bracelet didn't cost $120.  I tried to ask her beforehand to tell the kids where they could pick from "Oh, just anywhere" was her reply, erg.  She did apologize later when she saw the chaos and mayhem, but I was just too tired to be very forgiving)
5. the dance recital (which just wouldn't be complete without skanky costumes and really deserves its own post because it was crazy and we kept showing up without everything we needed, like dance shoes, and I was afraid that people are going to think our house looks like a house from Hoarders, but it really doesn't, and they would call over the loud speaker "Would Lucy and Ibby's mom please bring down _____" and I was embarrassed to be me, but the girls said they weren't embarrassed that I was their mother so that was good)
6. Lucy's orchestra concert
7. Ella's choir concert
8. Charles had several track meets (I am a very devoted mother and watched the only two of his races that I saw from the street in my car -- he ran a mile in 4 minutes and 52 seconds!)
9. school field day (once again I tried to be helpful, but Phin kept needing to go potty and it wasn't close to our station, but I was working with a woman who said she had two kids -- Carson and Charlie -- who I assumed were boys, but then when they came over were both girls!  Karsyn is spelled differently than I thought, but really what are people thinking?  There are so many beautiful girls names in the world, stop taking the boy ones!!!)
10. recovering my dining room chairs (which would take most people about an hour, but seems to be taking me two years)
11. various and sundry church events (which for some unknown reason I even have some responsibility for!)
12. planting the garden (people think I'm crazy for putting one in this summer since I'm large and cumbersome, but I think I'm going to want fresh tomatoes and cucumbers more than ever)
13. and then of course there are all the garage sales from which I just can't stay away...  I have had great luck with finding great deals on baby boy stuff so I don't really need any more baby things except for: a new stroller (sit and stand), some new diapers in fruity colors, some muslin baby blankets, a new camera, a laptop, and a car that seats eight.  Not much.

Some pictures from last summer that I just found on my camera
::fourth of july street parade

 ::grandparents visit

:: pure craziness

 ::tired boy

 Now some more recent ones
::school carnival face paint

 ::birthday party

 ::dance recital -- aren't they cute?

 ::they're almost the same size!

the name game

More cute Phin stories:  This morning he slept in for the first time in ages and when he did wake up he yelled, "Hooray!"  Sometimes it is just nice to be alive.  He also ran in from the bathroom the other day and told me that his bumbum was singing a song.  So funny.  On Friday I had to run to Sam's Club so he wanted a hot dog and I got a slice of pizza.  When he saw my pizza he wanted some so I said, "Do you want to share with Mommy?"  "No," he said, "I want mommy to share with Phin."  I wasn't getting any hot dog, thank you very much.  It is great when kids start talking more and you can hear what they really think about everything.  He also tells everyone he's "O" (complete with thumb and index finger forming a circle) if they ask how old he is and will go to great lengths to correct me if I happen to mention that he's 3.  


Last week I drove past Charles' school and he happened to be out on the field for P.E.  I waved and one of his friends announced to everyone that I was pregnant.  Charles then told them that we were going to name the baby Oscar (his current favorite since they just watched Schindler's List at school) and they all asked him if his baby brother was going to be Mexican.  Did you all know that that name was now exclusively latino?  I didn't.  At any rate the naming is not going well.  I have never had such a hard time!  I think we have usually narrowed things down more a bit by now.  It can't be too common or popular, no surnames or place names, nothing made up or too outlandish, and of course, nothing too easy to make fun of.

• Oscar: too hispanic (apparently), not to mention the grouch and wiener associations
• Felix: with Phoebe (Ibby's middle name which she may choose to go by someday) and Phin, too many F sounds -- how about Phoelix?  Also Ella thinks it sounds like a male stripper (I don't know where she acquired the expertise on this topic, but I'm sure that if pressed we could come up with some better ones -- Buck?)
• Casper: Matthew's favorite, but would require legally changing Phin's middle name.  I don't approve.
• Lorenzo: too Italian; Mormons like it, but with anyone else we are met with blank stares
• Archie: too harsh when yelled -- you should try it.  Yell Archie and then yell something softer, like Phin.  I'll wait...  Do you see what I mean?  I yell a lot.  I could try to make it more sing-songy, but you never know what his future wife might do.
• Oliver: getting too common
• Atticus, Silas, Wallace: ends with -us sound so too close to Phineas
• Ira: too Jewish
• Horatio, Sebastian: pretty long with no good nicknames
• Nigel, Clive, Alistair: too British
• Bertram, Clarence, Percival: too nerdy -- I like them, but he could be scrawny and smart so we'd better be nice

Then there are names that I like the female version of, but not the male version.  For example, Clement which is lovely as Clementine, but just not that great for a boy.  I think Clem is a really cute nickname.  Sometimes when my mind wanders I think of things like Pelican, Hyperbole, or Tortilla.  Granted, these all sound fantastic with Smith... note: don't let mind wander.  Perhaps I'm over thinking this and should just go with my mom's suggestion of naming him after her brother, father, and grandfather: John Smith.  It's a classic.