Rainy Day!

This past Saturday it was a rainy mess outside. Grant wanted to work on a wonky drawer and cabinet that had been driving us crazy for months and the kids were antsy so in the spirit of my mess post I decided to take the children out to splash in the rain. I'll admit, it was chilly so we didn't last long, but Finn and Maggie had fun and got soaked. Carolina was bundled and stayed dry. I'm not sure I'd say she had fun. Anyway, it was worth it.

(As a side note, have I mentioned the crazy hand-me-down network my friends and I have? Nearly all of us pass our kids' outgrown clothes down to someone else and although we may not get back anything from the person we give to, we all get clothes from someone. We have probably saved THOUSANDS of dollars by doing this and it's so much fun to see my kids' castoffs on my friends' kids. Plus, it's fun to get the kids dressed in the morning and figure out which friend each item came from. For instance, in the photo below Finn is wearing Maggie's friend Caleb's rain boots, pants from his and Maggie's friends Liam and Callum, and a sweatshirt from his friend Ty. When he gets dressed each morning he'll pull out a shirt and say, "Ty! Ty!" or "Nima!" which is how he says Liam.)
I generally don't put my children in clothing with licensed characters (Mickey Mouse, Dora, etc.) but I make an exception for Hello Kitty. She is just so cute. Maggie loves her, too. She already had her Hello Kitty rain boots but for her fifth birthday her Uncles Steve & James sent her a Hello Kitty umbrella and rain coat. She is all Hello Kitty'd up.
She was having fun here drinking the rain that was splashing off the roof. Gross, but I figured it wouldn't kill her to have a little sip here and there.
And after that her face was soaked.
I was inspired by something else from that other blog I mentioned recently. The mom who writes it made a conscious decision to be photographed with her children. She said something that really resonated with me because for a long time (oh, the last five years) I avoided taking photos with my children unless it was some kind of dress-up occasion where I felt I looked okay. That blog's author made the point that she never saw old photos of her and her mom where she thought, "Oh, my mom looks fat there" or "Oh, I wish my mom had been wearing makeup in this photo." When I read that I realized it was true for me, too, although it's kind of an unfair comparison when we're talking about MY mom who is gorgeous, but you get the idea. I want my children to look back at photos with me and remember that I was involved and present for their childhood, whether I have makeup on, need a hair cut, look fat, or whatever other hang up I may have. So I'm going to make an effort from now on to be in photos with them whenever possible.