Clothes Line

Well it has been a while once again. My Cuz Troy is cruising along getting almost a post a day for April (and it was just his birthday by the way)...and I have hardly got one up! So what has been going on??? Well Jacy is sitting and getting big. She was 18 lbs at her 6 month appointment. She has taken to eating cereal, fruit and veggies. She is really loving her veggies these days. She was not real found of any of it for about the first week. Her little personality is really shining through. She likes to be very active and have lots of toys to play with. She lights up when she sees her daddy or big brother. She had about 2 weeks where she was saying mamamamama a lot but now she is into squealing or singing (I'm not sure which). I think she is finally going to pop a tooth. She has had the tell tale stinky poop and sore butt this weekend. She seems to like to be outside but she gets jealous pretty easy if we are playing with Hunter.

Hunter has discovered the world of Power Rangers which has once again reminded me that he isn't my baby anymore. He now has power ranger moves that he practices and is very proud to share! He loves playing with his cousins, especially Riley and Sydney. This weekend he had an all star day by going to Chuck E Cheese with Me'Me', getting a haircut with Jessica and having Riley over all night to play with. He loves being with Jacy and is a really good big brother when mommy and daddy need help. He now has a job that he has to do every day (getting Joey fresh water...even though he and Joey have thier moments). He is doing really well and has also been good about cleaning up his toys every night before he comes in from playing.

It is amazing how my little ones are changing. Time really does fly by! I miss them so much during the day and I don't think I will ever get used to the guilt I feel leaving them every day. Hopefully with a little luck that will change a little in the future!

As for other things going on...we had water in our basement a couple of weeks ago when we got a crazy rain with wild wind. We knew we had to do something with our landscaping but this just expedited the project. So I have spent a couple of hours shoveling gravel, really it isn't any more fun then it sounds! Josh (with the help of Willy) tore the deck off this weekend in some more crazy wind. So we will be putting a new deck on and relandscaping the south side of our house. I am excited to see the results and sit out there and watch the sunset but I am nervous of the estimate. If there is one thing that landscaping ISN'T is CHEAP!

One last note on us. I chopped my hair off on Friday. I grew my hair while I was pregnant and then didn't really want to part with it right away but I was getting sick of picking up long hair and it was hot and heavy. So I went in and donated over 10 inches. I have a couple of pictures of before and after I will get up when I down load my camera.

Now I am going to end with a poem I got via. It really struck a cord with me. Not sure why?? Could be because we had our comforter hanging out on the line today or the fact that I wasn't allowed to have a clothes line at the old house and I have one at this house. Or maybe it is because I didn't really use it much last year and that I am vowing to use it more this year. Maybe it goes back to my childhood when these rules were all too true! I remember knowing when Diana's mom was going to hang clothes out and how much we didn't like it because we couldn't play volleyball over the clothes line. Or when mom had clothes out and we would try to play basketball even though the sheets were hanging half way into the court. I guess there are a lot of things that clothes lines remind me of. Enjoy the poem, I hope it brings back happy memories for you too! (for the record I always shared clothes pins for two pieces of clothes!)

THE BASIC RULES:
1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes.Walk the length of each line with a damp cloth around the line.
2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order and always hang whites with whites and hang them first.
3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders, always by the tail.What would the neighbors think?
4. Wash day on a Monday...........never hang clothes on the weekend or Sunday for heaven's sake
5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your 'unmentionables' in the middle.
6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather.............clothes would 'freeze dry.'
7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes.Pins left on the line was 'tacky'.
8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item did not need two clothes pins, but shared one oft he clothes pins with the next washed item.
9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes basket and ready to be ironed.
10. IRONED?????????? Well, that's a whole other subject.

A POEM:

A clothes line was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by.

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link

For neighbors always knew

If company had stopped on by

To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the 'fancy sheets'

And towels upon the line;

You'd see the 'company table cloths'

With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth

To folks who lived inside

As brand new infant clothes were hung

So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed

You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck,

As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes,

and a bathrobe, too,

Haphazardly were strung.

It said, 'Gone on vacation now'

When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, 'We're back!' when full lines sagged

With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy gray,

As neighbors carefully raised their brows,

And looked the other way..But clotheslines now are of the past

For dryers make work less.

Now what goes on inside a home

Is any body's guess.

I really miss that way of life.

It was a friendly sign

When neighbors knew each other best

By what hung on the line!