old photos

When the kids were really young they did crazy things in the backyard of our house in town. Apparently, it was more fun to be crazy in a town where everyone could see them. When we moved to a smaller town, they weren’t as crazy anymore. In our old town, they filled tiny pools with water and jumped in in their underwear. My daughter ran around in her diaper almost all the time, even on the very busy street in front of the house, which sort of drove my husband nuts because he felt it made us look like we weren’t taking care of our children.

Looking back, I totally see his point but he and I both also recognized that children should be allowed to be children. I look back at those messy, crazy, full-speed days and I miss them like I thought I would.

I miss the freedom of them. I miss the unstoppable energy, the unbridled joy, the unrestrained exploring, and the intense curiosity.

Recently, on our third re-read of the Little House books, I had to roll my eyes once again at Ma (Caroline Ingalls) reminding Laura and Mary that children are to be seen and not heard.

I have always hated that saying. I want my children to be seen, to be heard, to be held, to laugh and have fun and make messes and learn from it all.

Last week I was able to get a computer working (after finally finding a local computer repairman!) after I thought it had died almost a year ago and found a ton of photos from 2018. It was the most exciting thing that happened to me all week and I’m not sure what that says about my life.

The computer will still need some work because when I got it home it started shutting off when it was unplugged. The computer dude, as I like to call him, thinks I need a new battery. He’s probably right and I’ll figure that out in the next month or so. For now I’ll just keep it plugged in when I use it.

Some of my favorites from what I found are below. I found a whole folder of photos I took at a farm last year during my personal project to highlight area dairy farms. The rest were photos of the kids, some of them with our dog, who was just a young pup at the time, and some of family members who have decided (again) that we aren’t good enough for them or have passed away. I’m not sharing many of the family member photos. Too emotional.

It was so surreal to see how much the kids have changed in a little more than a year.

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