A Lot Has Changed
July 1, 2010
The posts that started it all, just over 6 years ago.
10,000…
the number of times I have been asked over the past two days if the pool is done filling yet.
I keep telling the children that I would giveanything for the pool to filled just so I wouldn’t have to listen to anymore whining.
They pondered that a few moments and then my 5 year old thoughtfully asked, “Do you think the pool is filled yet?”
Nope, not yet.
Sigh….I think it is going to be a long day.
Later that same day:
2000…
the number of gallons of water that are pouring out of the pool and into our yard.
5… the number of children who are crying
2… the number of children who are most likely responsible for the slow leak in the inflatable upper ring of the pool when they helpfully tried to open the pool box by repeatedly stabbing it with steak knives.
14… the number of days before the replacement pool will be delivered.
20… the number of times I have already been asked when the new pool will get here
50,000… the number of times I anticipate being asked when the new pool will get here.
I can hardly wait
*****
I am using the much hated more tag here because this post is long and rambling. And may have some non-G rated words.
That was 6 years ago. Miles wasn’t even born yet
I still clearly remember catching my 3 and 5 yr old sons straddling the box and stabbing it with steak knives to open it. And one of them saying that they were “killing a cow.”
Those two are 9 and 11 now and are still the cause of most of my grey hair. They have an enviable friendship, the sort you think your children will have before you actually have children. They are inseparable. And you can bet that when one of them is doing something stupid the other one is right there beside him.
Not stopping him. Oh no, no, no…. doing something equally as stupid. Sometimes I think they share one brain.
What other explanation can there be? I discovered they both singed their eyebrows off. One finally admits to doing something stupid and I gasp in horror and admonish him and thank God that he is okay and he thanks God I do not believe in corporal punishment. And then I turn to the other one. Confused. For how on Earth did he burn his eyebrows off? What? He decided to try it, too? Even after what happened to his brother? What? I know, you are confused too!
He figured that was the worst that could happen.
*****
Six years has been a long time.
And to be honest, lately I haven’t been feeling like blogging here. I discovered that the longer you go between writing posts the more difficult it is to sit down and do it. There is more pressure, self imposed obviously, to be better, funnier, more insightful, smarter…
I also miss it. Miss just writing whatever I want. Miss telling my stories. Miss chronicling my mundane days. Miss writing things that I want to remember. And I wonder how to get out of it. To find my voice again. To just not care what other people think.
Now there is also the added pressure of people reading that know me but I don’t necessarily know them, or people live down the street from me, or run across me in the grocery store aisle, or the Target parking lot (Hi Angie!), or teach at my kids’ schools, or have kids on the same sports teams… then it all becomes overwhelming. The feeling of not wanting to offend people. Of wanting to be nice.
I’m really not that nice.
But what happens is that once they tell me they are reading, the relationship turns. They know a whole lot about me that I don’t usually reveal to people in real life before I know them well. I know that seems odd. I willingly share all my most of my secrets on the internet, but in real life I am rather reserved. It makes it all so one sided.
I think from now on everyone needs to tell me some secrets. Like have you ever thought men were checking you out but you figure out later that they were staring at the drool dripping off your chin that you had no idea about because dental surgery had numbed your face? Or has your skirt blown up in the air at the home improvement store and you flashed your ass to the entire parking lot? Of construction workers? Have you knitted a cozy for your pink rabbit? Waxed one of your eyebrows right off? Googled pink rabbit because you have no idea what I am talking about?
I’d like to write about the bikini wax gone bad. Or my swinger neighbors who told a different neighbor I was “rif-raf” –something which continues to make me laugh. You have random men’s dicks in your mouth and yet I am rif-raf because my grass grew a little too long for HOA standards?
*****
I have gotten numerous emails this past month asking what is going on. Why are the comments closed? Why is there mostly crappy iPhone photos? Of course I also got the occassional email saying UR BLOG SUX, Breeder!!1!!
I spent this past month forcing myself to write everyday. In one sitting. No editing and rewriting. Just stream of conciousness. I turned the comments off because I didn’t want to be distracted. It turned out to be my favorite month of posts in a very long time.
Gretchen Rubin, author of the book The Happiness Project, linked to me from her blog. I am a huge fan of her book and website and was thrilled by this in a crazy fan girl sort of way. She said that she loved the way I focused on the simple joys of raising a family. Or something like that. I was a little distracted by my own squealing and jumping on the couch.
Her comment got me thinking. What is the legacy that I want to leave behind with this blog? When my children read this in the future what do I want them to take away from it?
I want them to see me as a human, not just their mother. To recognize my imperfections and flaws and failures, and to understand that I recognize those things in myself, also. I’ll say it right here: I am not perfect, kids. I know it. No need to bring it up at Thanksgiving dinners in the future. I want them to understand the *other* side of their childhoods. To have the view from the bleachers of the crazy, the funny, the heartbreaking, the depressing, the loving, but most of all the joy.
The sheer joy that I feel knowing how lucky I am to have each and every one of them in my life. The fact that someone I admire recognized that, makes me happy.
*****
Yesterday I mentioned Gwendomama, a woman I have had the pleasure of meeting in real life. Life has not been easy or fair to her lately. I asked people to consider throwing a couple dollars her way, money that you probably wouldn’t miss. And boy, did you all answer. Today I cried happy tears. For her and her children, but also for me.
For it is in giving that we receive.
~Francis of Assisi
My faith in humanity was restored. I was reminded that there are way more caring, good, and compassionate people than those who send anonymous emails.
Writing this blog has been life changing for me.
For all the people who have emailed me over the years telling me how much they have enjoyed what I have written, whatever the reasons, know that you have given me far more.
*****
Wow, this is one long assed post. I guess all those words were just bottled up waiting for a way out. The point of the post? I am back.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
I love your blog, and especially loved your vacation “musings” — you have such a wonderful perspective (human, but grateful for small blessings) to share with everyone. Hope you stay with it, in whatever form you decide.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:45 pmGlad to have you back, Chris. Your honesty and humor have been missed, but I understand the difficulties your face. Forget all those crazy Judgy McJudgerson’s and write your heart out!
July 1st, 2010 at 10:55 pmGlad you’re back. Wasn’t sure where you were headed as I read. I really enjoyed last month’s posts. It makes me want to take more pictures of our everyday life. But both my camera and photography skills suck by comparison.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:55 pmI’ve had to stop myself several times from sending a message via twitter asking you about things that I wonder about you and your life. I know that sounds weird and creepy-stalkerish, but you write so honestly in your posts and with such emotion, that I do feel that I — as a reader of your blog — know you in some strange sense. I have to remind myself on occasion that I don’t really “know” you at all.
You write the things that I (and I hope others) are afraid to say out loud. That sometimes we really muck things up…our kids can be horrible little people…that life isn’t as perfectly planned out as we would like others to believe.
As I sit here, my husband is in a different state living in an RV with a co-worker because their company transferred them a year ago and our house won’t sell. We can’t afford to move the entire household until it does. It’s been over a year, and I miss my husband. Alot. So do my children.
We had a bad year or two before we moved here and we’re still paying off some whopping debts from that.
I took my oldest child to the doctor today and found out that she has moderate to severe scoliosis…still waiting on test results to see if she’ll require bracing or even surgery.
Our family dog died last month. That was heart-breaking.
I’ve lived and worked in this city for 3 years and still don’t have any meaningful friendships to speak of. With my husband out of state, I’m not sure who I’d call on if we had a real emergency.
Life is messy. Reading about your families trials, upsets, successes, etc… helps me to realize that it’s not just me.
Thanks for your blog. Thanks for putting it all out there and being so honest.
July 1st, 2010 at 10:57 pmI’m glad you opened comments on this post so I can tell you how much I’ve enjoyed the last month of short posts and “crappy iPhone photos.” I don’t remember how many years I’ve been reading your blog now (more than half of the six it has existed for sure), but I don’t want to imagine my day without my Notes From The Trenches fix!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:05 pmYayyyyyy! I really liked your last month’s posts as well….
July 1st, 2010 at 11:05 pmWelcome back! And yeah, I have totally thought I was being checked out, only to discover that they all had noticed the utter failure of my nursing pads long before I had, or I had food on my face, or breast-fed-baby poop residue on my shirt. Or maybe real moms are just that hot
July 1st, 2010 at 11:07 pmWelcome back… you have been missed. I rarely comment here (or anywhere!), and I don’t blog (but I keep threatening that I will). I love reading your blog because you don’t always claim to be the greatest and you remember that you are human. I am a non perfect mother of four, two of whom have Autism. I try my best, cross my fingers and hope that it will all be OK. I like knowing that there are other people doing the same. Thanks for sharing your story… I think it’s a wonderful thing for your children to look back on.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:10 pmI’m glad you’re back!! I missed your words!!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:14 pmI for one am thrilled. I have followed you for most of those 6 years and wondered where you where when I had young ones. You are good people and I enjoy every single thing you post. Pictures only, stories, or whatever. I’m so glad you are back.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:18 pmThe best part is that you are just as awesome in person. I met you twice in Chicago. I am that Stranger In The Mirror and you my young friend are the face that looks back at me. I have lived your life minus a few kids. I only have 3. Keep up the good work. Your children will be/are proud of you. Thank You for sharing!!! By the way, you have such a cute little, ooops big family.
w00t! You’ve always been an inspiration.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:19 pmThis post made my day.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:21 pmGood. I’m glad you are back.
I read somewhere that people are more generous to people they know when times are tough. we share what we have even when it clearly means we’ll have less. I think we all want to see gwendomama prevail.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:22 pmWell, thank jeebuz. Although, I liked the phone pics, too. You are very reliable. Love your posts!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:24 pmGlad that you’re back too. I love reading about your adventures with the kids.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:24 pmSo glad you’re back.
So it’s not so one-sided I’ll tell you about the time I went into a coffee shop and was complimented on the temporary tattoos I had on my FACE. Obviously I forgot that I had them on, they were from the parade we were in that morning
Kind of like the time I went to a business meeting with a macaroni necklace on, or the time I let my kids paint my face and then forgot and went to the grocery store.
There have I shared (embarrased myself) enough?
July 1st, 2010 at 11:27 pmyes!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:30 pmHurray!!!!!!!! I am so excited. It’s kind of sad, actually.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:32 pmYay! I was afraid you were going to end with a retirement announcement. Then we would wait for you to come out of retirement, because the good ones always do.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:33 pmWelcome back Chris. I have sincerely missed you.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:35 pmYay!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:36 pmI don’t care if you are nice. You can write and you take great photos. I like to read your blog.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:37 pmYou were the first blog I ever read! I’m so glad you’re back, but the ebb and flow is what it is.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:38 pmYay! I really missed you! I am one of those people who knows all about you, I think of you as a friend, but you (obviously) don’t know me… I always think, if I get to Texas I’ll send you an email to meet up - but, um, maybe you wouldn’t be as interested… ah well, if it ever happens we’ll see…
July 1st, 2010 at 11:39 pmChris,
Thanks for doing what you do. I have only recently “discovered” your blog (through work it mom) and frankly have never been interested in blogs at all. You have made me a “blog addict” says my husband. Thank you for sharing the joys of a large family. I am envious, (but very thankful for my compact family) and I am enjoying all those kids vicariously!
you should write a book - i would buy it and read it.
Thanks again.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:39 pmWelcome back and I loved you June posts and pictures.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:40 pmYAY! YAY! Count me as one of the many readers who love your writing. I would consider it a loss not to have your blog to look in on, it is a regular stop for me. Love your humor, your outlook and your candor.
Keep up the great work!! And THANK YOU!!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:41 pmYaaaayyy! Glad your back. Although, I actually enjoyed your recent short posts. Loved being on vacation with you and your family. Thanks for sharing that.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:46 pmGlad you’re back. Missed you (though I really enjoyed the photo essay month and understood the closing of the comments).
From the other side of the Gulf of Mexico,
July 1st, 2010 at 11:46 pmMidj…
*Huge Hugs*
You’re one of my favorite bloggers, and i’ve really enjoyed the pictures this month.
Glad you’re back.
and thank you for the link to Gwendomama.
July 1st, 2010 at 11:46 pmYea for you being back! I found your blog a few years ago while we were on our family vacation out in PA…yours in the only blog I went back and read ALL the archives for. Maybe it was the vacation!
Just kidding, there is something about your writing that speaks to me, and I so enjoy it–not to sound all stalkery. I have 3 boys and just marvel at what’s to come (except for the baseball part, I’m REALLY trying to discourage that! 
Thank you for being willing to share. (And if keeping comments off is what keeps you blogging, then do it! Who cares what us crazy people think.)
July 1st, 2010 at 11:48 pmWelcome back, Chris. There are so many more true fans of NFTT, clear back to the Big Yellow House days, than there are jerks in this world!
July 1st, 2010 at 11:51 pmAwesome. I’ve liked your posts this month too.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:01 amI love your blog. I have been reading for four years now. I love how you make motherhood seem so normal. No trying to impress people or being someone you’re not.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:02 amI’m glad you’re back! I have enjoyed the closed comments posts. Just a little peek inside your family’s day.
The other day I had your blog up with a picture of Miles and my four year old asked what Miles was doing! It’s like he is his friend!
The photo’s were not crappy - it looked as though you had a wonderful time at the beach. I found your blog four years ago and what I remember thinking at the time is what a wonderful record of their childhood your children will have. And the accompanying pictures are beautiful. Thanks for having the courage to put your life out there into cyber-land for those of us you do not know, to share.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:09 amI’ve loved this month. I thought I understood why the Comments were closed, and quite frankly as much as it took the pressure off of you, I also felt like it took the pressure off of ME. I read a lot of blogs, maybe about 50 daily and another 50 once a week or so, and I’ve been reading yours since maybe early 2005? I can’t remember exactly, but it’s been a looooong time. I LOVE IT. But I’m not a consistent commenter of ANY blogs, and when I don’t take the time to comment on every post, I do feel a little guilty. I want you to know how much I enjoy devouring every post, whether it’s just a photo with a caption or a full-blown essay. I’ve loved this month because every time I’ve come by, there’s been something new … even twice in some days a couple of times! And that has been all kinds of fun. So THANKS for a great June! And I’m glad you’re going to try to be more engaged again.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:13 amI’m glad you’re back too. Your blog was one of the ones that inspired me to start my own. I love your honest way of writing, and your humour. I’ve loved seeing the photos and reading the words over the last month, many of the posts felt like poetry. And it was so warm and lovely to see when it’s winter here, too
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:16 amThanks.
I don’t have kids and i’m not sure if i ever will, and yours is the only mommy/family blog i read. Your writing is honest and more than the writing itself, i like your choice of subjects. You don’t dish out the nasty stuff or the really uninspiring “i ate cobb salad for lunch”. Even the posts on your mundane days sound so charming. And let’s not forget the funny. You’re so funny that i forget i’m reading a family blog about children and baseball practice and school! You have a lovely family and count me in your die hard fan club.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:19 amEVERYTHING you write/share here - photos, thoughts, musings, revealings - bold, shy, stark…comments or not…you ROCK, girl friend and you are leaving a legacy to/of/for your children. You are an inspiration!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:25 amSo glad to hear it! I’ve been reading for about 4 years now, and I’ll take your writing in whatever form you want to send it out. Love the photos too of course.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 amI was sad that your comments were turned off in june because I’ve been dying to tell you how awesome your posts were. I missed the longer posts, and hearing more of your inner dialogue, but I thought it was so cool to take a picture or two every day and document a summer that will pass into a blur of summers with your kids. I love that the pictures weren’t crystal clear or centered, or posed, but it was just a quick snapshot of how life was really being lived in that fraction of a second. It was beautiful. I’m glad you’re back, but it was cool. Really, really cool.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 amGlad you’re back. While I loved the photo chronicles, it’s neat for me to see how you do it with a large family while mine is just a party of 4. And thanks for letting those of us who didn’t know Gwendomamma that she was there and in need. We’ve all got to pay it forward somehow.
BTW, how’s everyone liking Texas, now that it’s been about a year living on the surface of the sun in the summer? Is anyone missing CT? Did they miss feet of snow?
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:44 amIt does suck to know that people know my innermost feelings without having the same reciprocated. It’s a bit unfair. But I did it to myself by becoming addicted to this blogging gig, I guess…
“Welcome back”
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:45 amI have loved your blog for many years, and greatly appreciate your honesty. I should tell you that. (I did!)
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:54 ami love you more than words, cupcakes, chocolate sushi, or dildo rabbits can convey.
i also owe you my life. i would offer you my firstborn, as she causes me such grief these days. but i know you don’t need another one of those.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 amOh. YAY. I thought this was going to lead up to you quitting your blog. I am beyond relieved to hear that you are back! I love reading about your family, and I really enjoyed the little snapshots of your life this past month.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 amChris, thanks for sharing your life with me. On days when I didn’t get to talk to a friend (or another adult human being), the “I’m not alone” feeling I get reading your blog saved me at times. And even with all the craziness of raising a big family (I have 5), you do find so much joy and passion for your children which is a good reminder to me to make sure I’m not ignoring that. It’s hard but it’s good too.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:08 amAnd I love that you’re in Austin now, that’s where I grew up, so I can picture you all there adjusting from the East coast! Loved the pics of Padre. Texas is sure different, eh?
I went over to Gwendomama’s page and read about her life, and I had to keep reading, and I cried too. I felt her frustration and hopelessness, and had to help. Francis was right, I feel blessed that I could help
…and YOU should feel blessed too. Because of YOU we were able to reach out to someone that needed us. I’m another creepy lurker who looks forward to reading your blog every day. You make me laugh and cry, and I know EXACTLY how you feel at times. Thank you for your words here! 
…oh and I was at the movies today with my kids and totally dropped half of the popcorn down my bra. :/
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:10 amI’ve been reading a LONG time, and probably never ever commented before - - but the last month of posts? Awesome. Maybe it was because I read you for so long that the pics of your family made sense, but I really loved seeing the single shots of daily life. That’s why I started reading blogs 7 years ago — because I like knowing how other people live their daily lives.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:14 amI so enjoy your blog and I’m so glad you are back. Your writing is honest and resonates with my own family life in a way that is sometimes amusing and at others, touching. I also have to say that I really, really enjoyed your photo posts last month.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:17 amThanks for sharing parts of your life with the rest of us.
Yes! So glad you are back. I was worried as I read the post that you had decided to pack it all in. I, like other commenters have enjoyed watching your summer play out through pictures.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:18 amomg, i must look like a stalker bec i instinctively check your blog every time i sit down at the computer. you are my very favorite blogger. june KICKED FUCKING ASS. i loved the daily posts, the comments turned off, the fuzzy pics. i’ve never met you, but your voice totally comes through in your writing. i’m posting every day in july, and i can tell you one day into it - i’m already having a stroke. bottoms up.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:25 amI rarely read the comments but just read today’s and have lots of yeahs to add to the above.
Keep writing. Do figure out how to suck your work backwards out of the blog and into a self-printed book or something, though, just in case the pixels go awry, so your kids have a hard copy to reinforce how lucky they are to have you.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:25 amI am so glad you are back!!! I’ve been reading for about 5 years. I missed you the last month but I actually did think it was some of the best stuff you’ve done. I just wanted more!! I was one of the recipients of your wisdom way back when you were doing a quasi-advice column of sorts. I asked you about dividng your time and finding a balance because I’d just had number 3 in 3 years and WTF was I thinking?? You very kindly wrote back a detailed post about balancing time and being kind to yourself etc. I felt totally honoured and it did help me. It’s funny, Eliza Dushku, Summer Glau and Charisma Carpenter came to Perth last weekend as part of a convention and I had the supreme pleasure of meeting some of my favourtie actors. If I had to give you a list of “famous” people I’d like to meet in the future, you’d be on it. You rock. Happy Blog Anniversary and thanks for letting us peek into your life.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:28 am(((( Chris )))) We love reading your blog, look forward to it everyday. You choose how you want to deliver it and we will be there.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:35 amChris,
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:38 amWhen I read your blog it feels like I am hanging out and gossiping with my friends. You have a funny outlook on life, and your pictures are great too. Your kids are lucky to have such a cool mama.
I love your blog, too. I’m sure there are so many people like me (lurkers) who don’t comment often or at all - MANY more than those nuts that send you crazy e-mails.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:40 amI was wondering what was going on too…
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:57 amBut I realized sometimes it’s just not there. The need to share it all, the desire to write, ebb and flow for me as well, and I haven’t been at this nearly as long.
Welcome back!
Your posts are a real-life peek into your life. I enjoy and look forward to reading your honest and sincere thoughts on the events in your life and the relationship you have with your kids. Those who don’t like it don’t have to read it…just a mouseclick away…haters, really.
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:20 amI love your blog, but rarely comment, because I would so much rather you spent the time you’d waste reading my comment on seeing one of your children do something that makes you smile. It’s enough for me to just read what you have to say.
And I, too, LOVED the month of daily posts without comments. You have no idea how many people went on a lovely vacation with you.
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:21 amI love your blog — love reading about your children, your unique mothering, your ease and most of all, your humor.
Thank you for brightening my days, often!
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:23 amI am so incredibly happy you are back. I admire you and your authenticity more than I could ever express. Yes, I’m one of those people who don’t know you but secretly would like to think of you as my funny best friend! (creeper….yah possibly)
I’m 29, engaged, nanny for 5 boys (9-2yrs old) and I aspire to be you some day!!! Funny, articulate, real, loving mom, photographer, skinny, and completely lost in the joy of my life totally abandoning the judgmental ass hats out there!
Well done!
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:35 amMissed you loads! I love the peeks we get into life with a large family, and it is so refreshing to read about a Mom who loves hanging out with her kids. You have an awesome family! On the other hand, I can totally understand it being creepy if total strangers talk to you as if they know you, or close neighbors know more about you that you would normally reveal! All that said, I am very happy you decided to stick to blogging, because I would really miss your voice.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:00 amAdd me to the glad you’re back list. The thing I love about your blog is that it’s an honest look at parenting.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:03 amYipee! Actually I loved the pictures of your holidays but I have missed your writing too. I have been reading for a few years and actually kind of felt you writing changed after you moved to Texas. Before that we used to get such fantastic stories of your life and amazing pictures of your home. I an still amazed you moved because you seemed to have invested so much time and effort into that house!
Anyway I can imagine exactly what you say. It must be difficult to share too much about your personal life if you are very widely read. I guess also as the kids get older it’s harder to share their stories. Of course this is what I love as my sons are 16 and 14 and my daughters 12 and 9 so I enjoy empathising with nearly every story you tell as I will have a very similar story but not the talent to tell it.
Anyway, a very rambling comment. Bottom line, great to have you back enjoying blogging again.
By the way if you want an embarrassing story… I was walking to school the other day to collect the kids. I was wearing a long flowing oh so romantic skirt. The kids are in a country school so most of the parents drive. I was nearly as far as the school, so many, many parents had driven past me on a narrow country road when a mother pulled up beside me, wound down the window and said she thought I should know that my skirt was tucked into my knickers!! Will that do for making a fool of yourself?
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:51 amI have been reading what you write for years now, Chris, and your frankness has always made me grin. As someone a lot older than you, I know the reality of raising kids, and the laughter, fury and tears which go with it all. There is no such thing as just sweetness and light,believe me!
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 amI have also worried about you at times - if you were really ok.
It is good to have you back, girl. Keep writing.
You’re a funny and smart writer and I love seeing your kids growing up and hearing about your adventures. I realize it must be tough to keep writing honestly once your anonymity is compromised, especially locally but I’m so glad you’ll continue this blog. I think it will be a wonderful journal for you and your kids in future years and meanwhile lots of us are enjoying and learning from your posts. Your blog is one of a very few that I read and I’ve been reading here since before Miles was born. You should write whatever you want and close the comments whenever you don’t want to hear us chattering back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:14 amI think this post covers what a lot of us bloggers feel. Well, I haven’t been called rif-raf by the neighbors but she doesn’t speak to me because I had the gall to call the police when her twins were shooting off fireworks…..at 2a…..on a TUESDAY.
Glad you are back. Would miss you if you were gone.
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:22 amI missed your posts too.
Glad you’re back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:29 amPerfect! Your blog is amazing. Period.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:06 amI just wanted to let you know I love reading your blog, all the way down over here! You have made me laugh out loud, giggle to myself, cry out loud & stream silent tears. Through reading your blog I have been reminded to stop & enjoy each moment (I am a sahm to 4 children 5 & under) even if I just want to hurry the kids up otherwise we’ll be late.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:12 amto sum up, I love your blog, & am glad your back (though I would have also been quite content with more iphone photos & witty captions, lol) & there is minimal chance of running into me in the target car-park.
phew, when I started reading this I thought oh wow, she is going to shut down her blog. I’ve only been reading you for about 6 months, but I’ve gone and read all of your archives - I love the reality you share, your spare but cuttingly funny writing. The last couple months you haven’t written much - the May postings made me wonder if there was huge upheaval in your life mostly because of the things NOT written about. And then June you’ve given us all a gift of your blurry but moment in time pics, stark but spot on words and I have been looking forward to seeing them each day. So thanks for not putting at the end of this post a good bye. I hope you continue and that you find a way to stay honest and real on your blog without holding back too much to keep your neighbors from egging your house! You are such a talented writer, I know that I would really miss your blog if and when you stop - its blogs like YOURS that make reading them worthwhile.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:19 amI’m glad that you are back, and that you took the time you needed to figure out what this blog means to you.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:20 amYay! Welcome back. Loved the month of pics.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:39 amFrom a fan in South Africa x
You know I love you. And I loved your last month of just posting pictures. I am copying you. This summer I am not going to stress about writing. I’ll just take pictures.
Also, when people in real life started knowing about my blog I went private. The anonymous comments and the mean emails got to me.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:47 amYes!!!! Welcome back!!
Your posts last month were some of my favorites. They inspired me
to start free writing (in journal, not blog).
Hahahahaha… pink rabbit… hahaha!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:48 amI just wanted to come out of lurking to let you know I lover reading your blog. You inspire me to be the best mom I can be.
My only disappointment is that we recently switched everything over to Verizon FIOS and I can’t get any of the photos you post. When I click on the photos it tells me that it will not let me see them due to nudity content. (I know there is no nudity).
It amazes me that people take the time out of their perfect lives to email you negative things. I would think they wouldn’t waste their time reading your blog if they didn’t find you funny or inspiring. People have gotten to the point where they feel it’s okay to say and do anything they want. Well people it’s not. Didn’t your mommas teach you if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.
Chris, children learn from example and from what I see your setting a good example for all of us.
Keep up the great blog.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:49 amYAAY! I came to you late, but I really enjoy your blog. Also I live very very far away so I’ll never meet you in a Target parking lot. Glad you’re back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:49 amI’ve been reading since big yellow house days. I would be so sad if you went away. Glad you’re back.
PS- One time I was walking through BJ’s and getting some interested looks and I was feeling mighty fine. Until I realized I had a yogurt hand print of my 1 1/2 year old on my boob. Does that make you feel better?
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:55 amWelcome back. Personally, I loved the pictures and made me want to cronicle something similar when I dont have the time to blog.
I have many secrets and for the reason of my friends reading my blog I don’t want them to judge me, when I talk about one of many of my secrets.. but of course it is my blog right? Somewhere I lost that feeling…
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:59 amYAY! I love your blog because I love your voice.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:59 amHello from Canada,
I read you mostly daily. And I have wondered sometimes how different your blog posts are on any given day/week/month from another month. Sometimes there was a story which made me laugh or cry or nod my head, sometimes there was a picture that said just as many words as a post would have, and sometimes…there was nothing for days.
I only have 2 kids. But they keep me as busy and as distracted as those of any parent. So my blogging adventures are the same…sometimes I can’t come up with the desire to even care to write. And sometimes I write just a bunch of crap. To get it out. Or to make me feel better.
But I must write. And then I do. And blogs like yours keep me inspired.
Over the past little while I had been thinking about emailing you and asking you questions. Specific questions…because I am curious. But I always hold back. “Oh, she won’t have time, or the desire, to contemplate such a question, much less answer one for me”. I know you are busy. But maybe I will send that question one day. And maybe one day you will answer me, or make it a post.
In the meantime, I enjoy your posts, whether they are pictures or words.
And Miles, who is the same age as my Benjamin, makes me realize that even across this great continent, little kids are all the same in so many ways! Makes me laugh…
Take care.
Javamom
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:06 amChris
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:06 amYou capture snapshots of seven childhoods, you caption your impressions of family life. The love for your family shines through. There will be stories at Thanksgiving .. ones that have you rolling on the floor in years to come. How I wish my mother had chronicled the childhood of her eight children as we grew up. Time passes so quickly and childhood disappears in a flash. What a gift you are preparing for your family.
regards
mak
Oh man… here’s where I admit that when I’ve got some time to kill, I go back and read through random old posts. I rarely comment on blogs, but I have to say how happy I am to hear that you’ve worked out whatever it was that was holding you back. This place should be yours to do with as you please… with the rest of us just along for the ride. Thanks Chris!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:13 amThank you so much for your blog. I’ve seen your children be born (well, Miles), watched them grow, seen you move, and travel. I have enjoyed every single posting. When life throws me a curve ball, and I need a smile, I click on a random posting from your archives and it always picks me up.
Thank YOU Chris.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:16 amI am glad you are back too- you are the first blog I ever read!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:19 amThank you. I don’t have kids of my own, but I love reading about the adventures of yours. You really seem like a great mom, and even if your kids don’t appreciate it now I hope they will one day!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:26 amTears once again. You have the gift of words and the gift of capturing the perfect picture. I love reading your post or just veiwing your photos. You bring joy and laughter to us and for that I thank you. Write what you want is what i say i have admired you for being able to put things in words that most if not all of us think and feel but would never say. I have had the plessure of knowing you and your family for a short time and i feel you are all that nice.
Comments opened or closed your choice i will continue to read and enjoy your blog.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:28 amRif-raf! Ha! That’s a good one. Your response is even better though. I didn’t really understand why you were doing the photo posts (honestly I thought I missed the explanation somehow) — I thought maybe you were just counting the days of summer in a unique way. I’ve enjoyed them all because it has been like you were just documenting a normal life.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:30 amI’m glad you’re back! I started reading you about 6 years ago, and “The Big Yellow House” was one of the reasons I started blogging.
I know what you mean about how knowing real-life people are reading makes you censor yourself. Thanks for putting so much of it out there anyway….
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:34 amI have read your blog pretty much everyday for the past 3 years. Your stories make me laugh out loud and choke back tears - I have a few less kids than you but some things are universal whether you have 2 kids or 10. I love the fact that you share both the highs and the lows - so many of us Moms are just convinced that we are the only ones with lows. I have found that my kids remember the great times in hd color and the not so great moments in fuzzy black and white. I wish we could be so forgiving to ourselves.
It’s crazy how we can become so attached to our favorite bloggers - we all consider you a friend. Please keep writing.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:35 amThanks for this post. I enjoy your writing, and your willingness to share real life.
Shall I tell you about the day I had an early meeting in NYC with the CIO of a really big company and I spilled an entire 20oz cup of coffee into my lap before the train even pulled out from the station?
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:41 amLove your writing and although I rarely comment I’ve been reading since The Big Yellow House. Just to share - when I took my daughter to gymnastics last week I looked down and noticed I was wearing 2 different sandals - one black and one pink. When I asked my six year old if she had noticed my shoes didn’t match she said she had but just thought it was the style choice I was making that day. Loved the June photos too.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:43 amglad you didn’t decide to give up - I think your blog is great and you make me laugh.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:47 amWhen I first starting reading this post, I had a pit in my stomach as I was sure it was your good-bye post. I am so glad that you “are back”. I have been a daily reader but infrequent commenter since about the time Miles was born. I love your honesty and hearing about your life. The good and also the struggles. I have often thought how you as a blogger must have thick-skin to withstand the sometimes negative comments that are occasionally posted. Usually the thought I have is that the person must be having a bad day and want to share their misery by hurting another. I for one think you are an awesome mother and not one of us is perfect. I just hope and pray my kids have the grace to see past my imperfections and know my intention. Thanks for the support your blog has given me over these years and again…I’m glad you’re back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:49 amlove your blog glad you’re back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:56 amalso loved the pictures this month.
I loved the month of pictures…I thought it was cool. Summers are special and go by too fast. You are experiencing summer on a school calendar now in the South with lots of activities…your pictures captured it all so well…it will make for wonderful memories for your kids one day…thanks for taking us along for the ride. I am glad you are back and obviously glad that I can comment again ;o)
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:56 amI’ve been reading here since the Big Yellow House days - it’s part of my morning routine. I loved the June photos. I rarely comment but in the spirit of the day I will share a funny story about myself. Last week at my daughter’s gymnastics class I looked down and realized that I was wearing two different sandals. One was black with a big flowery thing on top and the other one was a very plain pink flip-flop. When I asked my daughter on our way home if she had noticed before we left the house that my shoes didn’t match she said she’d noticed, but thought it was the style choice I was making that day.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:56 amI love your blog!!!! I check everyday. Mostly I am just jealous that you have 7 adorable, beautiful, intelligent, funny children to hang out with all day. I love how you parent and your blogs remind me what is really important about raising a family. It’s your blog and if you want to turn off comments that is your perogative. Why can’t people remember the old saying, “if you have nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all”!!!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:57 amHalfway through the post, I was seized with dread because I was convinced you were going to quit blogging. Then I got to the end and was OH THANK GOD SHE’S BACK.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:01 amjust one more internet ‘friend’ who loves all of the posts, long and short. the vacation posts rocked …i grew up in corpus christi and it brought back many childhood memories. you rock, girl!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:03 amYours is the first blog I’ve ever read and certainly the first I’ve ever answered. I was drawn to it by the sheer honesty and humor you have toward rasing your family. Plus I am always looking for new recipes.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:05 amToday I thought about you….
I wondered how you would feel and what you would write in your blog if you were standing and waiting for a bus along a busy street (Nathan Road) in Hong Kong (where I live). Just minding your own business, but happened to be in an area that was a bit “seedy” and you were apporached by a man thinking you were a prostitute! Would you a)want to slap him? b) get really really frightened or c)wonder where in the world this man got the idea you looked like a street walker!?
It’s a big world, but your blog adds a bit of regelar life regular people that is refreshing to me.
i’m so happy you’re back! after checking my emails and reading a really trashy celeb gossip site i go straight to your blog. everyday life is really interesting; your blog reminds me of that.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:05 amI’m glad you’re back! I started to have the same feelings as you did and in haste I deleted my blog. In hindsight, I wish I hadn’t because there were so many memories there that I’m afraid I will forget. I’ve been having the blogging itch again and I’m kicking myself. Stupid hormones!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:09 amYou rock. I LOVE your writing, your photos and how you are so real.
I loved your last month of pictures.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:10 amGlad your back!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:11 amWhew! I thought I was going to lose one of my favorite pleasures (and there are so few these days)
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:12 amHaving a well-read blog places such pressures on you, but think of all of us who love to share in your life. There have been many times over the years that I have been so down and there you are-making me feel better by sharing in the Mom life that doesn’t have those immediate rewards.
Please keep putting yourself out there. You’re a wonderful inspiration and thanks for sharing your lives with us…we are the recipients of your talents and love.
O thank goodness, you really had me thinking you were signing off!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 amLoved this post…and for the record, I love your iPhone pics!
Sophia loves seeing pictures of Miles, but I’m sorry to report that she’s in love with Brennan at her preschool (who is in love with Makenna, who is in love with Logan) so the wedding may be off…
And be not nice - I love knowing I’m not the only mean person out there…
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 amYay! I loved your June posts, BTW.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:14 amI love your posts (and was curious to why your comments were turned off!) My blog isn’t private, but I don’t try to get readers for the same reasons you mentioned. Even with just a few readers, sometimes I feel the pressure and I can’t imagine what it would be like to have as many readers as you.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:21 amMostly just want to say thank you for a daily dose of real life. If I had to point to one thing that your kids will take from this blog it’s the birthday posts you do that are so heartfelt and unedited. Don’t stop blogging - we need you!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:29 amI was holding my breath too! I was convinced that you were ’signing off’… so thankful that you are not. I haven’t missed a post in years. You make me laugh, make me cry, make me want to have more children, make me appreciate the family that I take for granted so often, and most of all make me think.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:31 amChris,
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:44 amI can’t tell you how glad I am that your post didn’t end with “this is the last one . . . ” or something! I was kind of panicking as I was getting to the bottom in anticipation of you signing off for good! I have been reading your blog since your article in a women’s magazine a few years ago about how no one seems to be able to empty the trash or something. I got a stomachache laughing at it, because it is the same way in my house. I went back to the beginning and read it from your first post, and I log on every day to see what is up in your life. You never let me down. I always walk away with a smile or a giggle. Thank you so much for that. I am so glad you are sticking around!
Betty
Wonderful post. Though I was afraid for a moment there that you were leading up to closing up shop….so glad instead to read “I am back”. I truly enjoy each and every post. Yours is one of only two blogs I have discovered (and I read about 40) that I liked enough to go back and read from the beginning. Every post. I think the everyday happiness you find in your family and the things you do together in an inspiration. I try to apply the same to my life with my two little ones.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:50 amOver the years, I have read as you’ve gone from the Big Yellow House to the flat plains of Texas. I think I got here originally from Darren McLikeshimself (who, for the record, I miss too). I don’t have kids and have never really wanted them - but I love reading about yours. It reminds me that there are parents out there who *parent* when all too often, what I encounter are people who only bother to have marriage-trophies.
Thank you for what you do share. It restores me in a way I don’t think I could ever communicate to yo.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:50 amChris,
I don’t have any children of my own, probably never will outside of my boyfriend’s children who I will love and try to nurture as well as I can as they continue to grow. Your blog is an inspiration to me, and continues to teach me how to see past myself and appreciate the uniqueness and love they both can show if you just let them.
In the interest of disclosure, I have many embarrassing moments, and some truly mortifying. Your asking about waxing off eyebrows reminded me of this one…
I was attempting to wax my own eyebrows at home using these stupid little strips, and forgot that you are supposed to powder your skin first. I ended up using a strip twice on each eyebrow, because the first time didn’t get all the hairs I wanted to grab. I had put both strips on at the same time for the second go ’round. When pullin goff the first one caused a ton of pain, I realized with fear that pulling off the second one was going to do the same thing.
Turns out the second time pulled off skin, on each eyelid.
I ended up going to work for a week with scabs and two bruised eyes, and the only explanation I could give was my own stupidity.
I have a black sense of humour though, and after a while I started saying that I had an argument with my then boyfriend (we worked together) and I “just wouldn’t listen”. Terrible thing to joke about, domestic violence, but I wanted to confess that too so you would know that I’m not entirely a nice person either.
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:57 amI guess you’re only being human.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:05 amI missed you! I really enjoy the photos of the kids - I want to take their dimples and put them in my pocket for safekeeping! I also thought your last post was going to be a goodbye one, so I am doubly happy today! Welcome back!
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:06 amWow - I hope you realize how much you were missed by the number of comments! Glad you are back - Don’t let anyone bring you down. You offer amazing support to moms everywhere - helping us realize that we are not perfect and it’s okay. Please keep writing!
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:08 amI have followed your blog for years and I absolutely Love It
!! It’s the Best :)!
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:10 amI’ve not been blogging long, but I get it. I don’t know if I’ll ever go back, but Welcome Back to you! Maybe taking June “off” could be a new tradition.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:12 am…and I am afraid to google pink rabbit.
I also thought it was a goodbye post and was so glad to see it wasn’t. I have been reading you for years and on the days where I have no motivcation I love to come and read, it always gives me a boost.
Thanks for letting us peek in you your life.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:14 amWhew! I was worried as I read your post, but loved the surprise happy ending. You’re a regular O. Henry! DE-lighted that you’re continuing. I love love love your stories and thank you for sharing them with us. Welcome back!
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:14 amI love your blog and look forward to reading each and every post. I love the fact that you are open and honest about the trials and stress of raising kids and all of the extras that life throws your way. Your sense of humor is similar to my own and I can identify with so many of the things you say. I really enjoyed your posting style over the last month, but missed the longer posts as well. I hope you will continue blogging, in whatever capacity suits you that day, because I so enjoy reading it.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:21 amGlad you’re back! And yes, my skirt flew up, exposing it all…only, mine was at Wal-Mart
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:25 amSo glad you didn’t decide to hang it up.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:29 amOf all the blogs I read, yours is my favorite. It is the only Must-Read I have. I love the way you are so honest & say those things we all are thinking yet too afraid to say out loud. You are so funny! I frequently send links to your posts to my friends & sister with a “You have to read this one!”
Thanks for continuing.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:40 amOne of the biggest reasons I love your blog is because you are real. I can relate, because as much as I love my kids, sometimes, they drive me absolutely batty. That is my reality.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:55 amThanks again for sharing yours.
I always enjoy reading what you write. Light or dark, photos or none. (even though what you accomplish as a mother and human makes me feel so completely lazy!!). Thank you!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:56 amYour kids are going to LOVE reading your blog someday. I love reading it and I don’t even know you. It’s brought me to tears more than once (little teary-eyed right now) and I have also laughed out loud more than once. They will, too.
So glad you’re not giving up on your blog. I love coming here to read whatever you have to say. Thanks for sharing so much of yourself with total strangers. Have a great rest of the summer.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:57 amI love your blog, no matter what you write as long as your writing.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:10 amGlad you are back ! Thank you for sharing your life with all of us.
Rif-Raf that cracks me up !!
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:13 amYours was the first blog I ever read. The Big Yellow House post where you buy your kids sugar cereal with Lightsaber spoons was where I walked in on your story, and I have been following along ever since. This is my first comment just to say I have enjoyed your life musings soooo much, and your June photos inspired me to blog in the same style for July. Thanks for all the laughs, and the occasional cry.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:17 amI have been reading your blog for four years now, and I have loved it. It brings comfort and laughter to me as a SAHM of two. Thanks for writing your thoughts and willingness to share real life.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:19 amI too thought the punch line of this post was going to be a farewell. Happy you’re back! Happy 4th!
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:21 amI’m so glad that you’re not retiring your blog! I’ve been reading it for years, since Miles was a baby, and love it.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:24 amI started reading your blog 7/29/2005. How do I know? I was just looking through my archives and came upon a post where I documented the immense amount of enjoyment I got from your blog. I had seven kids then, roughly the same ages as yours. (Now I have a 1 year old to add to the gang).
I appreciate your honesty and humor, and thank you for helping me enjoy this life, feel far less guilty about my imperfections, and to just hang on for the ride.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:25 amOver the past month with your blog I felt more like I feel with people I know IRL than ever. You know, when you can *tell* something is bothering a friend, and you try to delicately bring it up, but they say “I really don’t want to talk about it,” so you have to just kind of hang out with them and enjoy them and wait. Thanks for opening up.
So - does everyone here have a skirt up story? Mine was at work. I came out of the restroom in my lovely flow-y skirt and saw an older gentleman with whom I worked frequently, and said hi. Then I turned to walk the other way down the hall and he started calling “uh, miss? miss?” This confused the heck out of me since he knew me. But, when I turned back, he pointed out that my skirt was tucked up in my hose in the back. Lessons learned: 1) always check skirt before leaving restroom, 2) that nice man was pretending he didn’t know who I was so I wouldn’t be as embarassed (M-bare-assed), and 3) wait a minute, he looked back at me as I was walking down the hall. Was he checking me out?
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:25 amYay! I thought you were outta here…..so glad you’re not! Can’t wait.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:37 amThe month of pics and especially the vacation ones were my favorite. Welcome back…
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:45 amThis post made me smile
I started reading thinking you must be leaving, and I got so disappointed, because I’ve enjoyed reading your blog since I found it when Miles was a baby. See, I don’t even know you, yet I know all about you! That’s kind of weird. But I’m really grateful to you for opening up and journaling in such a public way. Your outlook on life is so real and refreshing, and it’s so good to know, “I’m not the only one.” I enjoyed your month of photos and captions, and I’m looking forward to you being back!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:45 amAnother lurker coming out of the woodwork to say your blog is one of my favourites. It’s the first one I read every day. Thank you.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:47 amWelcome back! I don’t even remember how long I have been reading but I think it was shortly before Miles was born. I remember when he was born.
I really enjoyed your short daily postings last month. I also really enjoy your writing. I am looking forward to the future!
Have a great holiday weekend!
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 amThank you for making the decision to continue. I read you because I have five kids and one step-child and it is awesome that you are able to be a SAHM. I work full-time. I know how hard it is to do what you do. I just wanted to say, I admire your ability and, truth be told, how skinny and youthful you are! Yes, you are!
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:01 pmAnyway, keep up the good work.
I figured you were just taking a well-deserved summer break! But hey, it’s your blog. Blog when you feel moved. Use pictures or words. It doesn’t matter b/c there is something about the way you do it! Ignore the high-and-mighty types because most of us know they are hypocrites in some way.
I’m not perfect either. In many ways. And my 5 year old had airheads for breakfast the other morning … ah, so what …
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:14 pmReading your blog reminds me to see the joy rather than the drudgery of motherhood. Thank you. I don’t know you, but love you for that, nonetheless.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:26 pmI’m so glad a little of your faith was restored, i personally cannot hack even one nasty email or comment, you have gotten further than i ever would! I am very glad you have, too, because i’d miss your blog if you went (i’m an only child and really yearn to have a family as big and crazy and active as yours).
A secret… well, an embarrassing moment: A few years ago i took to roller-skating to work, and although i could look steady and relatively cool, i wasn’t an expert skater.
I approached a crossing where the pavement sloped down a little to the road, and went to stop a skate against the base of a lamppost to help me halt.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:29 pmMy foot slipped past the lamppost, i grabbed for it, and slid slowly, so slowly, horribly slowly down the post until i was lying on the floor in a heap, and all the while this chap walking towards me had his arms reached out as he came towards me and a little ‘oooops!’ expression on his face, wanting to catch me but also probably not knowing if he should, lmao. I can laugh now, but it was a little embarrassing at the time.
YAY!
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:29 pmHURRAY!!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:34 pmYea! I missed you girl. Welcome back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:36 pmi’m with sharon — i thought this might’ve been a goodbye post. so glad to see i was wrong.
welcome back!
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:37 pmWhew! I really thought you were going to end it… and I would have been so sad. I’ve been reading you for a few years, and think I may have made a handful of comments here and there. I love your style - both writing AND parenting! And - even enjoyed your “crappy Iphone pics” from vacation. So glad to hear you’ll keep going. SMILE! You are loved and appreciated.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:38 pmI love your blog whatever the posts look like
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:40 pmI am happy you have invited us back in. I think I saw you with your daughter and a friend with hers. I didn’t introduce myself for a number of reasons. One of them my own timidity, but I think I recognize that trait in you, with strangers. I am a stranger to you, I know your writing well, but that doesn’t give me the right to walk right up and say “HI, Chris!” But it does give me the right to say here on your comments how much I appreciate your writings.
July 2nd, 2010 at 12:54 pmI’ve loved the last month. Seeing the small things. It’s made me want to do it too. Although, I don’t post pictures of my kids…so, people may no like it at all. ha.
I think that it’s your blog. I’ve been reading for years. In fact, I remember that post…although I believe I read it a year later, when I found you and read your entire archives. Those were the days. The days without readers full of posts that I don’t care about, when I used to find someone, love them and sit and read their archives.
Back when I didn’t care about stats. Or comments. Or who was reading. Back when it was more fun and less work.
I guess that’s my secret today. That I’m considering changing everything about how I do this. We’ll see if I’m brave enough to do it or not.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:28 pmI too enjoyed last month’s posts and figured they were shorter because you were taking a well-deserved bit of a break for the summer. Also, I’m a displaced Texan (from Austin, living now in MN)so I’m always wondering what you think of it. I’m not a real Texan in that I wasn’t born there and, uh, let’s just say that politically I fit in in Austin but nowhere else in Texas.
Embarrasing moment/secret - It’s not really a secret, but once, years ago, I was with my boyfriend (now hubby), his brother and the brother’s daughter, age two. We were tromping around in the woods and going up a little bit of a hill, so I leaned over to pick up the little girl and swing her over a log and…..farted right in the direction of my boyfriend’s brother. Who, being a smart ass, could not resist remarking on it. Now he’s my BIL, I see him all the time, and, well, I still blush when I think about it.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:42 pmI can’t tell you how much fun I had even just seeing your photos and reading your captions. Your voice is so distinctive that it comes through no matter what you post and I always feel like a compadre-in-arms, like you’re leading us through the trenches of Motherhood when I read. I love that you blog about yourself as a person first, mother second (and sometimes the other way around) and it’s OKAY for women to BOTH want to be their own person AND enjoy their children. It’s not either/or. Motherhood is complicated, but you always make it hilarious, too. That’s why *I* love you and why I’m glad you’re back, Chris.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:47 pmI love your blog and admire you. I’ve loved the past month of simple photos/posts too.
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:50 pmI am glad you are back, anything you write is appreciated. People love you because your writing is spectacular– brutal, honest, funny as hell and grammatically correct!
July 2nd, 2010 at 1:59 pmwooohooooo just just made my day! I have missed your words.
I thougth maybe it was because you didn’t have as much to say because you were not remodeling.
So glad you are back!
Jackie
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:09 pmI liked the pictures. I thought you were doing more of a Month Of Making Summer Memories With My Kids rather than avoiding the overexposed feeling from writing so openly on the internet.
I thought by blogging anonymously that I could avoid that feeling, but instead it created another problem. One of having to remain separate and secretive to those in close physical proximity while being more open to those who are essentially strangers. When it should be the other way around, shouldn’t it? I empathize with your dilemma.
BTW, the yard nazi’s would have a field day if they could see my grass right now. I choose to enjoy the wildflowers that grow when it’s like this rather than fret over the unkempt look. Besides, if I mow every week the kids can’t make clover bracelets and dandelion rings.
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:32 pmI’ve loved your blog for a long time…I feel like it’s one of the first blogs I really felt some kind of connection to, because I’m a child of a large family. I like to imagine that my mom might have written some of the things you write if there were blogs back in her day
I agree with Victoria - I read no matter what your posts look like, and I always enjoy them.
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:50 pmI love you Chris! I love this blog. My friend and I talk about you like you are one of us. I think you are an awesome mom, and I love the way you just love your children. You just love them! Keep on keepin on, mama!
July 2nd, 2010 at 2:57 pmI read your site everyday and miss you on the days when you don’t write. I love your perspective on raising kids and wish that I could be as candid in my writing and in my home.
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:16 pmChris I absolutely do not blame you for turning off your comments - except that I wanted to comment on - like - every other picture … they were fun to see and read and it was actually a good thing they were short becuase I had to read them all in one sitting! (Busy month!)
I am glad you are back and look forward to your humorous take on soooooooooo many every day events. Your kids will love reading this (to themseleves when they can read).
6 am football … in the Texas heat … ahahahahahaha!
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:33 pmHappy July!
Several years ago you were mentioned in a magazine article. At the time, I had never really read a blog so I checked yours out. I have been reading it ever since. You keep it real. You don’t show us crafts or educational activities over and over again that make me feel guilty that I don’t do that more. You write what I am feeling too, only my brain is too dulled motherhood and getting older to be able to express it as well as you do. I hope you don’t stop doing what you do!
July 2nd, 2010 at 3:47 pmChris,
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:11 pmLike so many other regular readers, I’m so glad you are back. I’ve loved the 30 days of posting you’ve done and really enjoyed the pictures. I always look forward to your posts and hope all is well! Your blog is one of the first I started reading and it’s by far my most favorite.
Sincerely, Alison
Thank you for sharing your family with us. I enjoyed June’s posts because it was so pure, as I find most everything you post. This is your space and I am glad you have reclaimed it in your own way.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:36 pmI’m glad you’re back…but I read and enjoyed every one of your posts last month, too. I have commented this before, but I blog because of you,…and I have connected with some wonderful people through comments that threaded through your comment section. Thanks for being there.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:45 pmI love your blog and I was worried you were leaving us. Thank you for letting us into your world. I also loved all your vacation photos. The snapshots were beautiful.
July 2nd, 2010 at 4:58 pmI kind of adore you.
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:20 pmWelcome back, Chris! I too appreciate how you communicate the joy (and the frustration )of life with children. I know your kids will appreciate reading about life from your side of the bleachers when they are grown up. Thank you for continuing to do what you do.
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:31 pmHi Chris,
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:54 pmI have been reading your blog since the Big Yellow House days. I love that you are so honest about the little things that happen to all of us raising a family, buying a house, selling a house etc. It has been very cool that you have shared all of this. To be honest you actually make me take a chill pill sometimes and be a little bit more flexible with parenting my boys (16 in a few days and 12).Classy neighbour by the way!!!
Take care
Holy shit it is ridiculous how happy I am that YOU ARE BACK!!! Seriously
In a weird, I-don’t-know-you-except-for-through-your-blog-but-I-am-sure-we-would-be-great-friends-in-real-life sort of way. And your last month of posts were fabulous by the way, so yeah, you are SO back.
July 2nd, 2010 at 5:57 pmI love your blog and love how you are a real mom to real kids. Not just writing what others want to hear. Keep writing !!
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:32 pmI have really missed hearing all about your family life. Yay, you are back!
July 2nd, 2010 at 6:34 pmthanks for being you and feeling free enough to share with us.
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:29 pmI have been reading you since you were the big yellow house.
I have laughed,nodded in agreement and cried while reading your look at life with your family. I have many times wished I was your neighbor or your friend or your sister.
I will have to admit also I have worried about you, a perfect stranger, when you were moving, when your son was not feeling well, when you were not feeling well. I have worried about you as I have noticed you missing.
I want to tell you there are many days with just four children that I have thought will this day ever end and have read this and it made me see that my world is not the only one that gets crazy. It has made me sigh in relief.
Welcome back ~ you have been missed.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:08 pmI’m a big fan of your blog! Thanks for sharing your life with us.
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:33 pmChris,
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:41 pmYours is my fave blog ever. I mean ever. I have a little guy the same age as Miles and sometimes your posts are what help get me through the craziness! I was worried that you were going to say this was your last post. I really would miss your writing.
Thanks for sharing pieces of your life with us!
I love following your blog! You are so funny and I don’t know how you do it! You have got to be one busy mom! I do want to know what happened with your crazy neighbors - I don’t remember a post telling how things worked out? Keep it up! Thanks!
July 2nd, 2010 at 8:58 pmI’ve been reading for a long time, but don’t comment too often. I love the stories of the kids, the everyday life and even the dentist.
I don’t care what you write about,just keep writing. Thanks for sharing your life and making us laugh, cry and helping me find new friends through your blog!!
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:00 pmGlad you’re back - I understand those blogging doldrums. Sometimes the well runs dry; but, paradoxically, if you don’t keep writing anyway, it won’t fill up again. Strange, isn’t it? So many of the things you’ve blogged about wouldn’t have been remembered by you if you hadn’t written them down - so, no matter how it is received by strangers, it is important to keep writing.
At least, that’s what I think - not that you asked…
July 2nd, 2010 at 9:14 pmSo glad your back and I hope all these comments make your day. I have been reading since 2007 and love your blog. I could tell you about my thoroughly embarrassing moment at Target, but we don’t talk about that anymore.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:31 pmI’ve enjoyed your month too.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:52 pmWelcome back, Chris. Although I enjoyed viewing the photos, I must admit I missed your post. I often wish that I had kept some sort of diary over the years for my kids to have later in order to preserve the memories, frustrations and enjoyment of life. Who the heck cares what the negative Nellys (or Nelsons) think. Those who read your posts enjoy the humor, wit and patience (real or otherwise) that come through. Keep ‘em coming. I look forward reading to every single one.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:56 pmGlad you’re back, I have been following you for a while now (a year, two years, 8 months, I don’t know, time is lost on me)and I thought you were probably busy or just not in the mood. Both are okay. You have a life and are entitled to it. I’ll be here whenever you write, because it always makes my day.
July 2nd, 2010 at 10:59 pmI’m glad you share what and how you choose. I love coming here and remembering that it is those moments with our children they will remember and that being myself is good for all of us.
I’ve loved the photos and the no comments and I love this entry to.
I think you are leaving a wonderful legacy for your children.
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:24 amMy daughter bought that kind of pool this summer and we have been having so much fun swimming in it. It’s a great pool and yes, it did take sooooooooooooooo long to fill. Enjoy!
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:46 amYESSSSSS!!
July 3rd, 2010 at 1:21 amSo glad you’re back, Chris. I only started reading blogs a short while ago, and yours was the first one. Since then I have been reading daily and reading your blog has even inspired me to write my own blog about life with seven kids. There aren’t too many large family blogs out there and hardly any with a mix of young children and teens. So, thankyou for keeping it real. Thankyou for all of the giggles and tears. I know your kids will love your blog when they are older.
July 3rd, 2010 at 2:08 amDaily visitor from New Zealand, who really enjoyed seeing the holiday pics - thank you for sharing. And a bigger thank you for sharing all the other posts too.
July 3rd, 2010 at 3:36 amBlush moment? Asking a lady when the baby was due when she wasn’t pregnant… oops.
Love the blog. Post whatever content you choose - it’s your blog after all!!
You’re BACK!!! I’ve been reading for ages and whenever the craziness of raising five kids gets to me, you’re sure to post something that makes me laugh and know that I’m not alone. I follow you on Twitter too and your tweets make me feel like I’ve just gotten an update from a friend. Does that make me a crazy stalker chick??? Sorry!
I love the crazy neighbor stories. Mine moved out so I can laugh at yours. I love Miles stories because my twins are a few years younger and I laugh thinking what mayhem awaits me. My daughter survives on air as well and is the only girl in a huge family of boys.
I have delusions that I’ll run into you at Whole Foods and we share a cup of coffee while my twins tear the store apart… because Miles would never do that. : ) Forget that I live across the country… it’s my delusion… it could happen.
I’m at the stage in my life when I really am all wrapped up in my large family and everything revolves around them because they are still so young. I don’t get to have adult connections as much as I would like. Your blog helps me feel connected to someone else who actually really could relate to me… understand me. It’s like those little warm fuzzies we passed around in highschool… a mom to mom hug. Thanks.
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:15 amWelcome back! I’ve been reading your blog for about 4 years now. My mom sent me the link to it one day, shortly after we had discovered that blogs even existed…and most of them had the looooong list of “blogs I read” in the side bar, which I believe is how she found you. But I still remember her telling me that I had to go read about the woman “with SEVEN kids! And she lives in a big yellow house that she’s restoring!”
Your writing style is what kept me coming back. I love it. In fact, to this day, when I’m feeling stuck on my own blog, I think “How would Chris word this?”
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:28 amSo glad you’re back as I love your “voice”!!! Thoroughly enjoyed the 30 days posts, too. Thanks for sharing your gift, Chris.
July 3rd, 2010 at 7:44 amI am so glad you are back! I am struggling a lot with how my life is changing as the kids get older, finish high school, etc. I’ve read you for a few years and see how your life is changing as they become teenagers, aren’t homeschooled, etc. I somehow became convinced that you were losing interest in the blog as your kids’ lives hve changed — glad you are back — we still have a lot left to say and do, both of us!
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:14 amI love your blog. Last month’s posts took me back to yearly vacations with my two boys at the beach. It was refreshing. I love your idea of them viewing their lives from “the other side of the bleachers” Wow, that’d be a great name for a blog….My boys are now 19 and 16. His realization that I am indeed just a woman with flaws, who certainly dos not have all the answers to life, has been bittersweet for me. On the one hand, I miss being his hero. I miss being able to kiss away hurts. I miss him believing what I told him. I think he misses it too. Because at 19, he’s experienced his first real life heartbreak over a girl. He’s realized that life isn’t fair. He’s realized that he’s close to embarking on life being HIS responsibility. He’s stuck close to home though. Because no matter what we look like from the other side of the bleachers, when we’ve done our jobs well, we’re still, always their hero….!
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:25 amgeez, should have edited, huh? I’m writing specifically about the 19 year old, who has completed his first year of college. And ‘dos’ should be “does.”
July 3rd, 2010 at 9:27 amI’m glad you took a break and took care of yourself. Good for you! Besides, I think the month of pictures told their own story. It was exactly what summer should be - carefree. And um, I had to pick myself up off of the floor after I read the part about your swinging neighbors. TOUCHE!
July 3rd, 2010 at 11:19 amI loved your June posts - I get excited (maybe a little too much) when I see there is something new on your blog, and the daily pics were a real treat
Looks like you had a fabulous vacation! Glad you are back, look forward to continuing to read about your life with your wonderfully entertaining kdidos 
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:58 pmoops … kiddos, obviously
July 3rd, 2010 at 12:59 pmSo happy you’re back.
July 3rd, 2010 at 3:37 pmHi Chris,
I just wanted to say that I love your blog whether you allow comments or not. I love that it’s all about your family and don’t think that it should matter what other people think about it. I’ll probably never meet you in person, but love seeing the family dynamics. I have twin girls adn live in VA.
thanks for sharing your normalcy with us
July 3rd, 2010 at 4:40 pmI think comments, pictures, and post formats are your choice. Period. But, I love your writing and am glad that it is back in some form. A secret? Unfortunately I don’t think I have anything particularly sexy or interesting.
July 3rd, 2010 at 5:19 pmWelcome back! I love your blog.
July 3rd, 2010 at 6:02 pmI sometimes read your blog every day. Sometimes I go a month or two without & come back & read for an hour or so. How can you be back if you were never gone? I loved your posts over the last month. I like this one too. I have 4 boys, and anytime I think I can’t go another minute without killing one of them, I remember you are out there doing it with a couple more & if you can do it, so can I.
It’s YOUR blog. Do whatever you want with it. I’m pretty sure I’ll be a fan no matter what.
July 3rd, 2010 at 8:47 pmI hear ya. I feel the same way. I blogged quite happily (if insanely) for quite a while until a (now-ex) friend found my blog at which point I felt stifled. How is it we feel comfortable blogging things we wouldn’t tell neighbours or friends? I don’t know, but that’s how it is. I’m still trying to overcome the inhibition. I thought perhaps you’d turned off the comments because crazy people had surfaced.
I’ve rather enjoyed the last month, as I always love your pictures. Not that I don’t love your writing, too. If I had my druthers, there’d be lots of both here.
July 3rd, 2010 at 10:27 pmSo glad you’re back! I do tend to fret and worry about you, but don’t want to bug you with emails, because we’re not ACTUAL friends.
Maybe you could semi-retire your blog, like Antique Mommy has done, or write the more “shocking” things privately to your hard drive. I would miss you, but it ain’t about me, is it?
July 4th, 2010 at 8:02 amI have been reading your blog since 2006 (from a link in another blog based in Singapore!) and although I have never commented, I follow your ‘adventures’ daily and love your approach to motherhood and your humour (and the combination of the two!). Your blog has been in our discussions with my husband often, especially when we think if you can do it, then surely we can also do it (we have a 3,5-year old girl and a 1,5 year old boy- not exactly 7 children, just 2).
July 4th, 2010 at 3:09 pmWe are a Greek-German couple based in England and it gives us an extra insight into life on the other side of the Atlantic. One of the highlights was your move to Texas (we were trying to guess so hard where you were moving to-like a travel quiz). Please keep writing and yes, do turn the comments off whenever you prefer, it won’t harm anyone and you won’t feel the pressure (I bet today’s comments made up for the entire month of June?).
wow, what a way to open the comments back up!
i first have to say that i’ve loved the past month’s photos and posts.
now, on to you/this blog/and what it means to/for me:
July 4th, 2010 at 3:30 pmi always dreamed i’d be a stay/work at home mom to seven kids. my life, while wonderful and perfect in its own way, ended up taking a very different direction. so i love the glimpses you allow us into your life; and even after following you for several years, i still get excited when you put a new post up. your life interests, intrigues, and amuses me. a sincere thank you for sharing what you do. xoxo
Yay! You are an inspiration. I love your blog Amy way you write it…you are incredibly talented and I love your mothering style. Thank you for sharing your words with us.
July 4th, 2010 at 5:52 pmHey, lady, welcome back. I too have enjoyed you and appreciate that you are willing to let me peek into your very interesting life.
July 4th, 2010 at 9:02 pmThat’s exactly it! The realtionship does change and people read, don’t comment and don’t share in real life or otherwise. Thanks for being brave, thanks for making motherhood look real AND enjoyable, even when its hellaciously ridiculous. You make is look lovingly snarky, instead of begrudgingly awful.
July 4th, 2010 at 10:18 pmI’m not seeing a lot of secrets shared in the comments, people! Come on, bare your souls! I can’t do it, I’m too shy!
In highschool I watched a girl walk out of the bathroom, down the hall and into her classroom with her skirt tucked into her nylons. I had at least a minute and a half to stop her, but I said nothing, because she was prettier than me, had more expensive clothes than me, and I had a crush on her boyfriend.
I can be a horrible person, and every day I fight against those instincts.
Sometimes I win.
July 5th, 2010 at 3:05 pmreading your blog is always a pleasure! i look forward to your posts and I always enjoy your stories (since the big yellow house). I’m sorry I never tell you, you bring joy to my life!
July 5th, 2010 at 3:32 pmChris, I just really enjoy the stories about your children BECAUSE of the fact it shows me other moms are not perfect, their children are not perfect, and it makes me laugh my ass off. Plus your writing is dry humor I appreciate. Thanks for posting!
July 5th, 2010 at 8:43 pmWhen I saw this post pop up in my reader, I skimmed the start of it and was afraid you were going to say you were going to stop blogging. So glad to know that it isn’t true. My heart is always so happy when I see there is a post up from you…you are the first thing I read. You’re insights on parenting are so real and I realize that I don’t have to be a perfect parent. Thank you for the perspective you bring to being a parent and to life in general. Your voice is as fine as ever and I thank you for sharing your life with us!
July 6th, 2010 at 9:30 amHip hip hooray!! So glad to hear you’re back. I’ve been enjoying the site, but missing the old you! And rif-raf, I love it! You should embrace that description and just live it up. Perhaps put some of those pink flamingos in your yard.
July 6th, 2010 at 9:33 amI’ve been reading you since WAYYYYYYY back in the day. So now I feel obligated to tell you something embarrassing about myself.
July 6th, 2010 at 2:45 pmOnce…I went to the restroom at church. I came back, during the service, trying to be as inconspicious as possible, I waited until everyone was standing to sing and just nonchalantly walked back to my spot. and stood singing with the rest of the family. The kind old lady behind me reached up and pulled my skirt out of the back of my pantyhose where it was stuck, exposing my huge ass to the poor church folk here in puddletown. Did I mention my family was on the third row, or that I went down the middle aisle because it was closest to where my spot was??? Or that I had worn my favorite hot pink thong that day?
I don’t go to church there anymore. I can’t.
I love your blog. I love hearing about your kids. It shows me that I am not the only one having trials and tribulations raising my kids. Keep it up!
July 6th, 2010 at 2:54 pmOh my God Chris
I love your blog. I have been reading for six years!
Well, just after the baby was born.
Back when you were in the big yellow house.
I feel those same things about blogging now because I am afraid to upset people. It really cramps your style for sure.
You make me laugh and cry on a regular basis. Sometimes I do both at once while reading your posts!
You rock!
July 6th, 2010 at 3:36 pmand i miss your recipe blog! i loved that, and made tons of your food. lots of recipes in my box are “Chris’s Whatever.”
July 6th, 2010 at 4:43 pmI’ve been a faithful reader for years.. I love you and your family and all the stories that are posted whether they be short and sweet, long and sad or having just a picture posted up for us all to see. I’m glad you’re back
July 6th, 2010 at 5:00 pmI so look forward to your posts. Whether there are words to accompany a photo or if the photo just tells the story. Thank you for continuing to post. I would really miss you if you stopped!
July 6th, 2010 at 5:33 pmWelcome back Chris. You always bring smiles to my work day. I enjoyed your month long “experiment” and hope you bring other similar ideas to your blog. Your humanity is one the the things that I enjoy most.
July 7th, 2010 at 1:58 pmI read you all the time … when I have time … and I missed your posts but figured you were busy. I share tidbits of what you say with a group of internet moms I’m a part of all the time … I’m glad you’re back and understand the feeling of needing to censure, but hope that you do not - close the comments if you need to … just wanted u to know that I love reading your blog and feeling like someone understands … even if I only have one kid. My brother has 5. So, you know, it’s osmosis…..
July 9th, 2010 at 2:33 am