Middle

It's hard to get noticed when you're the child in the middle. You'd like people to listen to you, play with you, admire your beauty, but there's contantly the blur of siblings on every side. This day it was Mary Tessa blurring the perfect portrait.

You might wanna be family.

If you're not going to be overwhelmed by all these pictures. And off we go . . .

But, then again, don't take my word for it. Lindsay says:

"Oh, these pictures are all FABULOUS!"


Come along for a Nolte ride then!

Just not in this one--you might end up thumbing a ride home.

How Owen didn't go loony on this breakdown with us, and our kids' bathroom sagas, and his migraine, I don't know.


So, here we are together with our family. [cue Primary song]

There's Nolen,

and Aimee, and some gu-uuy, and Bryan,

There's Alli and Ella, and Simon and Charlie,
and pet stingrays/leaves


and microscopes!


And music

and sychronized swimming (wow, we're glad to have Sarah and Owen's skills in the family!)

and ALL FIFTEEN GRANDKIDS!

The menfolk engineered some volleyball poles so we could play (not nearly enough!)

lawnchair volleyball

If someday Mark becomes like his grandpa and wears a lilac shirt, I will be so pleased. So classy, so wonderful, that Grandpa Nothum!

This is also a pretty good shot of the backyard fantasyland Mark's parents created.

Everything good happened on the tramp.

or at the Bean museum

or in a minivan

or on the tramp.

Join us again for next summer's installment!

Now, mind you, this was just our Utah week. Next I'll devote my efforts to our Boise time--but I've had a few technical difficulties with getting pictures from there. It seems that my one and only sister delivered an 11 pound boy this week--named Jackson!!!! Quite an accomplishment and quite a diversion! Just so the Tayes don't think I love them less--they're coming soon!

Thanks all you Noltes, Sneads and Nothums for being fabulous, admirable, so enjoyable, fascinating, and kind. I would gladly spend so many more weeks with you!

If you still can handle a wee bit more, here is Late Night Fights: William Nolte vs. Nolen Snead.

Taking roll

Okay, so someone noticed that I'm at the bottom of the blogroll pile. Sad sad place to be. Will you forgive me if I say last night I uploaded 183 photos off the ol' camera and all I can say is: soooon, soon, you will have too much of me. But for now, it's baby steps. Baby steps back into blogging ("Where is that 'new post' button???!!"). So much of August (theme: "Wow, that was living!!!!") to tell about, and not a single post to show for it. Shame. But for now, since we're talking about baby steps and taking roll, let's just talk about the present. Simon's first day of school was today. I'm feeling brainless about it (maybe because I got up at 5:30, maybe because I'm out of blogging practice?), so thankfully, Bethany crafted this montage:

Can you believe that those two little chubs are both now Pledging Allegiance to Texas daily? Me either.

Also, for a fitting tribute to this day and some of my real sentiments, head on over to Weeds Seeds!

Finally, I think it's great to start off your education with a Ms. Washington. What a name! Simon says she was fun, he shed no tears, we were just barely on time even though I planned to be there 20 minutes early (there is something cosmic that dogs me and dictates that I must arrive 5 minutes late), I feel good about the school change, and finally, Simon told me from his bed that "it was actually really boring and I just said it was exciting." Sigh. Here we go . . . am I rambling?

Oh, one last thing: I couldn't get Simon's school supplies before our Grand Western Tour because they like you to buy them from the PTO the week before school begins. So, when I went today to make the $28 purchase his teacher told me she had too many supplies and I didn't need to buy any--take that couponers!!! I join your ranks in the triumph of a penny saved!

Cancer-free that's me!

I'm happy to be a part of my cancer center's slogan. I went back for my check-ups recently--a year and half since my diagnosis--and through ultrasound and blood tests they determined that there is no detectable thyroid cancer. I'm really glad. I knew those would probably be the results I'd have, but I always get a little nervous the day or so before my appointments. It's really nice to have your doctor say "You're my most consistent patient!" meaning that all my levels that were supposed to get really low (near zero) and stay there have done so over the last year. It makes me want a "Have you hugged your endocrinologist lately?" T-shirt. The other fabulous thing is that I can continue to nurse Mary Tessa until she weans in the next 6 months or so, with no adverse effects on my health. Last year quite a few less-experienced doctors were not giving us that option. I remember hearing a woman with my same cancer say that a year later she looked back and thought "Did that really happen to me? It feels like a dream, my life is so normal now." I'm not quite ready to say that, but I am happy with how little my diagnosis affects my everyday now (beyond my morning granny pill).

We've got it good OR I haven't got it.

This morning I made an appointment to see if this is strep throat that I've got. So I was able to swing into the Medical Center and get Mark, trade off the car and kids to him, and while I was at my appointment a few buildings away they went off to prove why we've got it good. And this is it: Instead of having to wait in the waiting room with me, or killing time with Dad at a quikEmart, they got to go to the zoo. Because it's right across the street. And fabulous. And free to student families ("we're not low-income, we're just in academia!") The Zoo was particularly fabulous today because it was a bit breezy and the animals were all feeling social and the flora there is always so refreshing. Being with Dad in the middle of the day is treat in and of itself. And I just think that that is great. So the raging fiends of whiningland that I brought to Mark were all tranquil and pleased when they picked me up a few hours later. If you know Mark, a true mandate to go to the zoo in the middle of a Friday was just bliss--he's too hard-working to get there very often, even though there are FEW places he'd rather be. Those kids and Marko, they've got it good.

I've got it good too, because I haven't got it. The strep throat that is. So you can still be my friend.

Now, a picture of the kids at "swim blessons with Miss Morgan" last month. In honor of finding out that the Parks Department maintains free swimming pools here--we're going again tonight. Got it good, I tell you!

Simon's school of lizardry

Simon is so intent on tracking lizards that he's become despondent over all the following in the last 72 hours, purely because they interfere: having to go to church in the morning (morning being when lizards are slowest), having to go to bed (he wants to be free to slip outside at any opportunity), or having anything scheduled during the day.

However, he attended his Sunday meetings and was rewarded with this prize shortly after:

A baby gecko.

Poor buddy dropped its tail over the new friendship with Simon, so we had a little conversation about observing and not always catching, and "what would it feel like if you had to choose between dying or losing a leg? Is it different than just loosing a fingernail?" (Pretty good reasoning of mine, if I do say so myself. Did you know a gecko's tail keeps twitching as a decoy for a lot longer than you'd think?)

Simon even mowed down by hand a huge patch of grass near the garden that's been growing out of control and out of the mower's reach--all because he was sure a green anole was still hiding there. Tenacious. Dedicated. Amazingly observant. Those are the qualities you'll come away with if you study at his school.

Mary Tessa's found an apprenticeship as First Tomboy. She's not afraid to get right down there in the leaf litter.

Lest you think it's only lizardry you'll come away with, Simon discovered this outside before I was even awake today. Happily Mark was still here to throw around words like "ovipositor" and "stick bug" and "male/female dimorphism."

"This" is actually "these"--a couple of stick bugs . . . ahem. The male is much smaller (the dark brown section at the bottom).

So you can probably already tell, but I think this is a great way to experience childhood. Keep it up, my boy!




Keeping us well-rounded was our attendance at the library's fairytale event. Books, fancy dresses, and small sandwiches.




We like culture and we like dirt.

All-American bike parade!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Cute as a button.

Thanks Lindsay, mother of boys, for these adorable button and bow hairthings!!!!!!!

We've been enjoying their cuteness for a few weeks and have just been waiting for the right photo-op for a digital thank you! Allianna couldn't wait til this Saturday to wear the Americana one, the Hello Kitty ones are a delight of course, and I personally love the funkiness of the button colors that Mary Tessa's styling. happy happy happy! Thanks again!

Also, in other news of cuteness:

Allianna wrote her Sunbeam teacher (from church) a lengthy letter or "email" each day this week and then handed her a fat envelope of love on Sunday. I don't think Sister Seeley has any idea of the level of adoration. She sure deserves it though--she goes to such wonderful lengths to make her kids comfortable and happy.

Since we're using cliches today, I present "Snug as a Bug," under a blanket, in a fort.

Finally, the cutest of them all: Simon's first lizard. Captured by his able hands, held captive and loved for a day and a half, and named Bob, Jr. (though I was personally pushing for Nolen the Anole).

After Bob had been in the cage all day, Simon picked him up and got bit. A few minutes (and tears) later Simon came back by the cage and said, "You bit me, but I didn't die!" Heckler. Later, he said he forgave Jr. for biting and said it didn't really hurt and he wouldn't mind if he bit him again. Accepting the responsibilities of lizard keepership--that's my boy.