12 on the 12th- May 2014 (a couple of days late)
a hopefully-not- too- rambling look at twelve things going on with us this month:
1. Oh my goodness, is it a busy time of year! There is so much to keep track of right now between all of the baseball/ softball stuff and end of the school year stuff! Pictures on this day. Wear your pajamas to school on this day. Don't bring your lunch on this day because there is a pizza party. You must bring a sack lunch on this day because there is a field trip. This form must be turned in on this day. Parents come to school on this morning. Chaperones are needed on this date. Wear tennis shoes and sunscreen on this day. etc. etc.
Throw in Mother's Day, Katie's birthday, a ballet recital, and etsy shop orders and you have a pretty busy couple of weeks. It's all fun, so no complaints, but the relaxed pace of our summer vacation that is right around the corner is sounding pretty good too.
2. Katie is full of excitement for her birthday party this weekend. It won't be an elaborate party, which is a good thing since she's currently not loving too much attention on her. We are blessed to be having lots of family here to celebrate. She wants a sunshine party, so everything yellow has been the theme. I am really looking forward to celebrating all of the fun that is three years old.
3. Today Katie and I enjoyed the last morning for a while that we'll have with just the two of us. We should have done something exciting with it, but we just ran a couple of errands. Errands with one is better than errands with two and errands with one is much, much better than errands with four.
4. One of our stops this morning was to Goodwill. Do you ever treasure hunt at thrift stores? I highly, highly recommend it. I never leave there empty handed. Books are between thirty and seventy cents each. The most expensive article of clothing in the store is around $4.00. Today I found a couple of classic VHS movies marked twenty cents each, some J.Crew clothes in nice condition in size XS for Gracie girl, the green twin sister of my favorite pink hoodie, and some really pretty aqua glass bowls marked fifty cents a piece. I know it is not for everyone, but I really enjoy the hunt.
5. My boys are Pokemon obsessed. Luke especially. According to the other parents we talk to at baseball practice, most of the boys in his grade are too.
6. Gracie and her class toured the Sixth Grade Center today. She is even more excited about next year than she already was. I hope she loves it.
7. I am really looking forward to summer. I always love having the kids home from school and love having a relaxed schedule. I love having our version of homeschooling in the summertime. I love the kids having more time to just play with one another. Summertime is good for our family. I am hopeful that this summer will be even better because for the first time in a very long time, I have nobody requiring a nap in the middle of the day, freeing our schedule for many more outings.
8. As much as I love summer vacation, I kind of hate the end of the school year. I always have- as the student myself, then as the teacher, and now as the mom. It's sad to me to see the student/teacher relationships end- you spend so much time with that person during the year, but after that last day of school, it is never the same.
9. On a very similar note, I got a little emotional at preschool graduation yesterday. I was watching those sweet little five year olds in their little caps and gowns and thinking about how much fun they have together, what a great class it was, how loving the teachers have been, and how so many of them will probably not see each other after this since they all scatter to different schools. I looked to the front of the room and the teachers had pictures of the kids taken during the last week of school holding a picture of themselves taken during the first week of school. Their faces had changed so much in one school year! The teachers read something about each student that included a prediction of the best parts of kindergarten. I couldn't help but think about Drew going off to school all day, every day next year. Five full days will be a lot more time away from home than the four mornings he is gone now. All of this was swimming through my head while sentimental music was playing in the room and the mom next to me was wiping her eyes with Kleenex. Despite my best effort, I was a goner about five minutes in. I did at least manage to avoid the ugly cry, so that is something.
Ben does NOT understand it. He asked afterward, with apparent genuine confusion, "What? So you were just thinking about him growing up or something and that made you cry?" I didn't even try to explain. Sometimes people are just wired differently.
10. Katie is gong through a pretty intense shy stage at the moment. She cringes when people outside of her close circle talk to her. She was almost in tears at preschool the other day when our neighbors spoke to her- and she knows them! When people at the store or library talk to her, she hides her head. When the preschool teachers talk to her, which she used to like, she clams up.
We had a house full of friends on Monday afternoon as my book club met here. Six women and their children made for a sweet couple of hours of playtime. I had hoped that Katie would love all of the extra friends to play with inside the familiarity of her home, but she barely left my lap or said a word the entire time they were here. Seriously… in two hours, she might have maybe spoken ten words, even when asked questions. As soon as everyone was gone, though, she started talking and talked the rest of the afternoon.
I will be pretty okay when this phase ends.
11. Drew is developing quite an interest in business. He asks questions often about my etsy shop. Yesterday he decided I needed a sign to explain to people just how my shop works-
1. Oh my goodness, is it a busy time of year! There is so much to keep track of right now between all of the baseball/ softball stuff and end of the school year stuff! Pictures on this day. Wear your pajamas to school on this day. Don't bring your lunch on this day because there is a pizza party. You must bring a sack lunch on this day because there is a field trip. This form must be turned in on this day. Parents come to school on this morning. Chaperones are needed on this date. Wear tennis shoes and sunscreen on this day. etc. etc.
Throw in Mother's Day, Katie's birthday, a ballet recital, and etsy shop orders and you have a pretty busy couple of weeks. It's all fun, so no complaints, but the relaxed pace of our summer vacation that is right around the corner is sounding pretty good too.
2. Katie is full of excitement for her birthday party this weekend. It won't be an elaborate party, which is a good thing since she's currently not loving too much attention on her. We are blessed to be having lots of family here to celebrate. She wants a sunshine party, so everything yellow has been the theme. I am really looking forward to celebrating all of the fun that is three years old.
3. Today Katie and I enjoyed the last morning for a while that we'll have with just the two of us. We should have done something exciting with it, but we just ran a couple of errands. Errands with one is better than errands with two and errands with one is much, much better than errands with four.
4. One of our stops this morning was to Goodwill. Do you ever treasure hunt at thrift stores? I highly, highly recommend it. I never leave there empty handed. Books are between thirty and seventy cents each. The most expensive article of clothing in the store is around $4.00. Today I found a couple of classic VHS movies marked twenty cents each, some J.Crew clothes in nice condition in size XS for Gracie girl, the green twin sister of my favorite pink hoodie, and some really pretty aqua glass bowls marked fifty cents a piece. I know it is not for everyone, but I really enjoy the hunt.
5. My boys are Pokemon obsessed. Luke especially. According to the other parents we talk to at baseball practice, most of the boys in his grade are too.
6. Gracie and her class toured the Sixth Grade Center today. She is even more excited about next year than she already was. I hope she loves it.
7. I am really looking forward to summer. I always love having the kids home from school and love having a relaxed schedule. I love having our version of homeschooling in the summertime. I love the kids having more time to just play with one another. Summertime is good for our family. I am hopeful that this summer will be even better because for the first time in a very long time, I have nobody requiring a nap in the middle of the day, freeing our schedule for many more outings.
8. As much as I love summer vacation, I kind of hate the end of the school year. I always have- as the student myself, then as the teacher, and now as the mom. It's sad to me to see the student/teacher relationships end- you spend so much time with that person during the year, but after that last day of school, it is never the same.
9. On a very similar note, I got a little emotional at preschool graduation yesterday. I was watching those sweet little five year olds in their little caps and gowns and thinking about how much fun they have together, what a great class it was, how loving the teachers have been, and how so many of them will probably not see each other after this since they all scatter to different schools. I looked to the front of the room and the teachers had pictures of the kids taken during the last week of school holding a picture of themselves taken during the first week of school. Their faces had changed so much in one school year! The teachers read something about each student that included a prediction of the best parts of kindergarten. I couldn't help but think about Drew going off to school all day, every day next year. Five full days will be a lot more time away from home than the four mornings he is gone now. All of this was swimming through my head while sentimental music was playing in the room and the mom next to me was wiping her eyes with Kleenex. Despite my best effort, I was a goner about five minutes in. I did at least manage to avoid the ugly cry, so that is something.
Ben does NOT understand it. He asked afterward, with apparent genuine confusion, "What? So you were just thinking about him growing up or something and that made you cry?" I didn't even try to explain. Sometimes people are just wired differently.
10. Katie is gong through a pretty intense shy stage at the moment. She cringes when people outside of her close circle talk to her. She was almost in tears at preschool the other day when our neighbors spoke to her- and she knows them! When people at the store or library talk to her, she hides her head. When the preschool teachers talk to her, which she used to like, she clams up.
We had a house full of friends on Monday afternoon as my book club met here. Six women and their children made for a sweet couple of hours of playtime. I had hoped that Katie would love all of the extra friends to play with inside the familiarity of her home, but she barely left my lap or said a word the entire time they were here. Seriously… in two hours, she might have maybe spoken ten words, even when asked questions. As soon as everyone was gone, though, she started talking and talked the rest of the afternoon.
I will be pretty okay when this phase ends.
11. Drew is developing quite an interest in business. He asks questions often about my etsy shop. Yesterday he decided I needed a sign to explain to people just how my shop works-
Yesterday he pointed to a spot next to Target and told me that I needed to open a shop there. He also said that he would come with me and work there too. I love that kid.
12. I am aching to take a trip. I dream, unrealistically of course, of planning a long trip with Ben back to Italy. When we were there in 1999, we said that we would return in 2014 when we had been married for fifteen years. Now the thought of leaving the kids for more than a few days to travel to the other side of the world makes me cringe. Not. going. to. happen!
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