Notice the kids' matching outfits handcrafted by the talented seamstress holding the child.
Jodie
Jodie is the primary kiddo-tender. While I'm off playing teacher, she's the one making sure the kids are fed, Bailey's delivered at school, doctor's appointments are made and kept and followed up on, etc. She also is a cloth diapering addict (if you hadn't noticed yet, yes, we are a tree-hugging, bottle recycling, granola eating faux-hippie family). To help in this addiction, she sometimes helps her friend Katina atLullaby Diapers to cut out fabric for diapers. Just as I began working in a used bookstore to whittle down my book trade deficit, Jodie cuts diapers in exchange for... diapers. It's kind of gross washing poo out of diapers (especially after, say, black bean quesadillas for supper), but there comes a zen moment as you're cleaning the diaper because you know 1) the chemicals from the disposable diapers aren't chapping your kids buns and 2) you're not sending your (literal) crap to the landfill. If you've ever seen the stuff inside a disposable diaper, you know it's not going to biodegrade anytime soon.But I digress.
Jodie is also the coordinator for a ministry at our church for teenage mothers. (By the way, if you or anyone you know would like to contribute to this ministry, they always need diapers. Pick up an $8 pack of diapers at Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart and send them our way. They will be put to EXCELLENT use.) Find out more atwww.youngmothers.org.
Bailey
 Bailey is our scary smart super reader. To illustrate by way of example, at 5 years old I could tell her to say something with alliteration and she'd spout off something like "Angry Alex ate Arnold Alligators apple." She is also skilled at similes ("The fire is like an orange monster dancing in the night") and a wide assortment of other types of figurative language. She is also a budding naturalist. Today, for example, we passed a roadkill squirrel on the road. A normal 7 year old girl's response would be "Awww! The poor little squirrel got run over. Boohoo. Gross." Bailey, however, takes the longview: "O no! That's not good. Squirrels have to gather nuts so more trees will grow." She's also on a mission to raise money for the National Park Service to help raise money to try to eradicate the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid before all of the Hemlock trees in the southeast die. Ask her about it sometime. She'll hit you up for $2 to buy a Chinese beetle to bring over to fed on the adelgids. Bailey's passion, however, is arts and crafts. Like the rest of the family, she loves making stuff. You'll notice a running theme... Jodie likes to sew and photography, I like to write, make lessons, and work on webpages, Bailey is an arts and crafts fiend, and Myers LOVES to draw. Additionally, Bailey writes stories, draws, paints, sculpts, illustrates. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up: author/illustrator. Check out Bailey's efforts trying to save the Hemlocks from the pesky woolly adelgids--article from blounttoday.com |
Myers
| Before Myers was born, I said I wanted him to be all boy. I don't mean this is some hermaphrodidic kind of way, just in that I wanted him to be stereotypical in-to-everything boy. I got my wish. He is a ball of energy that never stops but for one thing: drawing. He will sit motionless for hours with a pencil and paper. He will also scream mercilessly if you try to take said pencil away. You just can't stand between an artist and their art. He's also inherited me and Bailey's infatuation with canoes and kayaks. I hear "Boat, Daddy, Boat!" more than any other phrase each day. He climbs, he bounces, he plays guns (although he has NEVER EVEN SEEN ONE!), he jumps off high structures, etc. He also loves any sport of any kind as long as it involves either a ball or a stick. |  |
