Last Days of Summer

We had a glorious month of August and early September here in western Washington. All of the sunshine that we were lacking earlier in the year seemed to (almost) be made up for. I had forgotten what it was like to long for warm sunny days until this week. I am already missing the boost in vitamin D.
I got some great shots of the kids in the pool last week enjoying the last bits of our summer sunshine.

And of course I can't forget our "white trash Friday" that we had last week with Erica and Elijah. The boys did a "car wash" with the hose, buckets of water and their favorite push cars. They were down to their underwear in the process. Then they had popsicles while sitting in the very small sandbox. Needless to say, they were a couple of very happy, sandy little boys.

I can't forget our "sick" day that consisted of stuffy noses, popcorn and the kids watching Despicable Me. The movie was so charming and cute. I loved it and so did they.

On the same "sick day", the kids got into some mischief. This has been happening more often lately, as the kids are becoming more friendly with each other and less competitive. I honestly would rather have them get into trouble with each other than fight. But here is what happened: I gave the kids their milk cups at the same time. I left the room for about 1 minute. No more, no less. I came back in the room to find that they had shaken their milk cups all over every single couch cushion in the living room. Not just a light sprinkling either. They were drenched with milk. I scolded them and put them in time out. Instead of feeling bad and ashamed of what they had done, they giggled and talked to each other throughout their punishment. I couldn't help but feel happy and thankful that they were enjoying each other at the moment. 

I stripped the couch cushions and got them out of their time out chairs. I put their milk away and left them downstairs while I ran upstairs to throw the cushion covers in the wash upstairs. Gone not 2 minutes, I came back downstairs to find them ripping the cotton threads off the inside of the cushions and throwing them everywhere. They were in complete destructor mode. I was again mad at them, but thankful at the same time that they were working together and not against each other. How silly is that? So...we ended up with 5 bare couch cushions and one bare ottoman cushion. The kids decided we should make a slide (and be naked at the time). I couldn't help but enjoy every second of them sliding butt naked down the cushion. The pictures are few only because there were so many full frontal photos that I wasn't willing to publish all of them on the internet. I love my kids, mischief and all. The chair in the background is piled high with couch cushions and covered with a blanket so that they wouldn't continue to rip the stuffing off of them.

My Take

I followed the Casey Anthony story pretty closely once it went to trial. I actually don't remember when Caylee disappeared in 2008 or when her little body was discovered later that year. I was pregnant with Judah at the time and then taking care of a newborn. My mind was a perpetual blur.
I was absolutely floored when she was acquitted of all charges in July. It makes me so sick to think that something as plain as day could be ignored. You don't have to be the mother of a toddler to become ill when thinking about what happened to little Caylee. All you have to be is human.
I watched Dr. Phil's interview with George and Cindy Anthony yesterday and today. I now feel that I understand why and how this happened to Caylee. Cindy readily admits that after Caylee was born, Casey was different. Her mind wasn't the same. She would lie about everything from play dates to her job. She stole money from her parents and grandparents all the time. These warning signs of serious mental illness were completely ignored. Cindy insists that Casey was a good mother and that she never saw any indication that Caylee was in danger. I now see that Cindy was completely blind to the fact that her daughter needed help. She was sick in the brain and the signs were right in front of her. Not to mention the fact that Casey and Caylee were living with George and Cindy. When the two of them disappeared for 31 days, Cindy never thought anything seemed off. She just assumed that Casey was being rebellious and trying to keep Caylee from her. She didn't want to deal with the problems that were staring her right in the face.
I'm going to guess that Casey grew up very spoiled. She probably always got what she wanted and had her mom wrapped around her finger from day one. Nobody thought to question her actions and that is why she got away with murder.
This whole story is so disturbing and frustrating, but I feel a little more at peace now because I see how this happened. Even though the whole truth will probably never be known, it is settling to know that judgement day will bring justice to Caylee's murderer.