Piper Finn Willow
Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans; it's lovely to be silly at the right moments. - Horace
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hand-me-downs
Piper’s closet is full. Overflowing. Brimming to capacity. Full. She owns five pairs of jeans. That’s more denim than I own. (Who can afford that many grown up jeans at the cost of Gap these days? And by Gap, I actually mean TJ Maxx or Target because I think those are the stores of choice for any jeans I have purchased in the past five years.) Skirts? Uh – probably a dozen. Dresses? Fuh-get about it! Too many to remember. Now wait. Lest you think I favor my fifth child more than the others or that I spend our weekly grocery budget on attire for a three-year-old, I must say…
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a chip by any other name.
There are many reasons that I love baking with my little Willow. The following conversation during yesterday’s cookie baking is merely one of them: Willow: Mom, may I have one chocolate chip? Long pause for dramatic effect. (As if I would tell that angelic face “no” to a single chocolate chip. Why bake with Mommy if extra chocolate chips are not part of the bargain?) Me: Weeelll, Willow, I guess we could spare one chocolate chip for you to eat. Willow: Oh good. Thank you Mommy. You’re the best. I’m going to name it Pixie.
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Piper Speak.
I love when my life just writes blog posts for me. It’s so easy. Piper Finn came wandering into the kitchen – apparently the room of our home where I spend the majority of my days. She had discovered a piece of ripped paper and a tiny notebook. Treasures to her four-year-old self. “May I have these?” she requested. The paper was a map of a hiking trail in Georgia from our end-of-summer adventure. “Sure.” I told her. (Pleased to have an easy yes for once.) She was thrilled and began right away sharing her good news with her unimpressed siblings. “Here’s my special map. Mom says I can keep…
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four. 4.
Tomorrow she turns four. She loves unicorns and princess and dresses and cuddling with her daddy. We love her knock knock jokes and the way she pronounces “ch” and her quick laughter and her many names. One. Two. Three. Four. Piper, we just could not love you more.
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Times Four.
In the middle of all our annual July Fourth who-ha, our family had the absolute honor to be present for the wedding of our beloved friends – “Nake” and Laura. It was a ceremony as simple and precious and redemptive and hopeful as I have ever attended. And as I sat in the blazing July sun, grateful that I chose to wear black making my sweat less obvious, it was impossible to be seated at the wedding ceremony, impossible to listen to the words being said, impossible to watch a father walk down an aisle and hand his daughter to a young man, without looking at my own wedding companions. Without peering…
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dunce cap.
I was tidying up the kitchen table after being inspired to do so by reading this blog post by my friend. Listening to The Cure. (Seriously – the iPod was on shuffle and before I knew what was happening I was singing along to “Pictures of You”.) Seriously. That’s true. This whole post is true. (all of my posts are true.) This is what my life looks like. I heard some cries from the girls’ bunk bed where they had been playing happily for over an hour. It had been a beautiful thing that I knew could not last. (The youngest boy was asleep in his crib. The biggest boy…
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justice: finn style
We have had a serious problem with ticks this summer. Just short of a plague. And the conversations in our house as we discover these creepy little creepers have been both ridiculous and hilarious. But mostly we just joke about how much we dislike them and the various methods in which we hope to destroy them. (Ticks have made us into a violent family, apparently.) I imagine this talk has affected our children as well, influencing them in ways I was not aware. Yesterday as we loitered around outside while Hannah worked tirelessly on the building of our chicken coop, Piper Finn announced her need to use the restroom facilities…
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no.
Otto Fox Wilder does not say a lot of words. (Which is why I was so impressed this week when he said the names of two of our family’s friends – Walter and Jamal.) But one word he does have an exceptional fondness for is the word “no”. It’s his first response for almost everything. Untitled from Lacey Keigley on Vimeo.
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speaking of . . .
Meet Finn. Still one of the funniest kids I know. Lately she has taken to spouting a phrase she has picked up somewhere. “Speaking of . . . “ She will start sentences with this phrase. Just toss it in there mid-conversation, before anything she feels she needs to announce. Sometimes it doesn’t really make any sense. Such as – “Speaking of corn, can I have breakfast now?” And sometimes the connection is a little clearer. “Speaking of peanut butter, can I lick some?” At times, it is straight-up comical. “Speaking of pants, where are mine?”
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Like Mother Like Daughter
As if we need further evidence that Piper Finnian Willow Lacey is my daughter indeed. But here it is just the same. I do not actually care for Oreo cookies. (gasp.) Not the traditional black and white numbers anyway. But ever since some genius in marketing over at the Oreo cookie factory brainstormed the idea of the Golden Oreo, I have been hooked. I could eat the entire bag. I try not to buy them when I will be alone. (I know my own weaknesses – okay?) My favorite part of the Oreo is the white cream center. I have long joked that there would be one simple way to know…
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Oh Finn. You Never Stop Being Funny.
I’m sorry. I try to represent all six of the kids (mostly) equally here. But that’s pretty tricky. Okay. It’s basically impossible. And here I am again. Sharing a Piper-Finn-said-this story. Please accept my humble apologies. A few days ago, at the sink, having not seen a ladybug nor while having a conversation about anything remotely related to insects in general, Piper says: “Mandy is right – ladybugs are good luck.” Still at the sink, washing hands, face covered in chocolate chunk muffin Mosely just made by herself, Piper announces: “Mom, I’m not afraid of hair anymore. I am only afraid of talking toilet paper and walking underwear.”
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The Two Tiniest
Dear Fox and Finnian, Can you please stay small forever? Love, Momma
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is there a funnier age than three?
Not one day goes by that Piper Finnian Willow does not make us laugh. We think she is hilarious. Example One. After a trip to the Goodwill store I required the children to use some hand sanitizer. I poured the goo in Finn’s hands and watched her face change as she began to remember the future flavor of her thumb, post-hand sanitizing. She quickly determined her best course of action and controlled the situation. Finn shoved her thumb in her mouth to “keep it clean” while she scrubbed the rest of the sanitizer on her free fingers smashed up in front of her wee face. Example Two. In the car…
