whatever

these pictures . . .
i know there are too many
i have a hard time choosing less
but these pictures make it look like our first day of summer was good.
don’t be fooled.
but these moments were good.
so they will remember those right?
not the long time-outs
and the chores they hate.
i hope so.
after piano lessons we got Sonic
yum.
then we went to the park.
i laid a blanket in the grass.
had my magazine all ready.
i was going to relax.
within minutes they were gone all the way across the field to the creek.
they asked permission but it was one by one till it was just annie and i
and she really wanted to go!
can’t be left out of anything.
so we went too.
exploring in the sunshine . . .
it was just so pretty.
they were too brave for me.
even annie begged long enough to “go swimming” and i let lauren and scott take her in … to wade her feet.
it made for nice pictures.
with all the rain the water was flowing nicely.
they all got very wet.
lauren and scott were hunting for creatures.
they found a water snake!!
but she couldn’t catch it.
thank goodness.
then suddenly the fun was over.
everyone was done.
no reason just . . . bored?
we went home and our bad day continued.
bummer.

but it’s only day #1
it can only get better.

any great creative ideas for some fun with my kids?

and wait till you see the bathroom art project.
lauren drew some amazing stuff.
she surprised me. . .
how talented she really is.
not bragging just proud.
so maybe that is bragging?
whatever.

it’s late.
i need sleep.
without dreams of ants coming out of every crack in my house.
the refrigerator was covered with ants in my dream – inside and out. how sick is that?
i even got out of bed in the night and turned on the light because the dreams seemed too real.
so i need better sleep tonight!

i have wanted to start this project for awhile.
but i was nervous.
yesterday i decided to
just do it!
i am letting the kids draw on the bathroom walls.
talby was unsure at first.
she drew a beautiful cat.
then a dinosaur with lots of kids riding on it’s back.
she looked at me and said “is daddy going to be mad?”
(hopefully not)
sean and scott drew more.
i plan on drawing it over with a black marker and maybe painting some of it.
she is working on the giraffe under the light switch.
a very original bathroom.
i love it already.

2 new pages i finished for talby’s book.
the “play” one is a bad pic. – bad lighting i guess.
for the play i painted green
then put letter stickers on
waited for it to dry
(i hate waiting)
then painted the white
THEN pulled off the letters
the ‘be’ words are rub-ons
i was giddy with myself.
i have seen this done many times but hadn’t tried it.
i will have to control myself to not have every title this way from now on.
just picking the patterns for the quilt side of this page made me
happy all afternoon.
i love color and patterns.

this was annie tonight.
she came outside
all on her own
in the plastic dress-up feather puffy high heels
into the driveway.
i said “HI!! what are you doing?”
she answered “i go’d to walmart and got M&M’s”
so matter-of-fact.
as if she really had.
and then we sat & shared imaginary M&M’s.

later we did go to walmart.
all 7 of us.
it was surprisingly pleasant.
they all brought their money & each picked a toy.
everyone was very happy.
(i did find it funny when we were ALL in the women’s underwear department together.)

craig then treated us to his special chocolate chip pancakes for dinner.
yummy.

before dinner on saturday night talby said “mom we have a surprise for you”
and for once i really was surprised.
sean and talby had quietly made a fort all by themselves.
it was under the fooz ball table.
very cute.
i told craig “it’s very sweet & they are playing so nicely … until a certain 2 yr. old finds them.”
i think it was about 3 minutes later we heard screaming from the fort.
they had been found.

then the two older kids couldn’t resist and they had to get involved (which means ruin)

but it was nice while it lasted.

our weekend was filled with
gardening, mowing,
golfing, cleaning,
laying in the sun,
blowing bubbles with the wind,
scott’s birthday “party” going to see shrek with 2 friends,
long walks and swinging on the porch swing – love that craig.

sean went to a dinner theater yesterday for a field trip.
they saw the play of Treasure Island (in some form)
he was telling me all about it when i was putting him to bed (get to stay up longer when you talk to mom).
he said “you should have been there mom! i had everything in the cafeteria . . . hot dogs, macaroni, applesauce and fries AND
we got to eat with this thing that was a fork and a spoon!!!”
seriously .
the spork was the highlight of his week.
i love him.

funny picture of annie.
a little light reading.

i am sure i am not the first person to do this.
but i do feel quite smart that i came up with it on my own.
last year i took talby and annie with me on a road trip to chicago by myself.
we had the dvds, cds, snacks, books & tons of toys but when all those didn’t work and the crying started i would crank the air on high and start the bubbles.
it is magical.
instant glee.
i mean really . . . who could be mad when there are bubbles all around you?
it also keeps sleepy babies awake so they can take their naps in their bed at home and not a five minute nap in the car.
i laughed as cars passed us yesterday.
i thought “you think it looks funny? you should hear it?!!”
the screams of joy were way too loud.
but they were happy, awake, buckled safely in & not fighting.
sometimes screaming is okay.
i cannot be held responsible for accidents that you may have if you try this in your car.

this morning at the creek annie was throwing rocks into the water.
she kept shouting
“HOE-WEEE BOW!! DATS A BEEEEG WOCK!!”
translation: Holy cow that’s a big rock.
about 50 times.
so cute.

can’t you remember doing this?!!
i think everyone has a memory of parachute playtime.
i kept thinking back to gym class when we’d lift it up up up . . . and then quickly run in and then sit on it as fast as you could to make a mushroom. my heart would be pounding from the excitement of what would happen. if you ever got caught under it would cause a panic. or the game of switching places with some one underneath. and of course bouncing the balls off using the “popcorn” method . . . shake shake shake.
i am so glad my girls will have that memory too.
and their parachute was rainbow colored . . . even better!

new creation preschool is located inside a nursing home. the kids interact with the “grandmas and grandpas” every week. it is precious to watch. and it was VERY cool to have them outside in the sunshine in their sun hats and wheelchairs holding the other side of the parachute. special for everyone.

i wasn’t planning on staying for talby’s last day of preschool but it just was so much fun i had too.
annie even got to be a part of the group.
i could hear her singing during circle time with all the big kids.
talby sings all the songs at night to her when they are going to bed so annie knows all the songs.

i put an entire album in the bottom left corner of the last day of preschool.

talby is finished with preschool.
she is sad about it.
me too.
it is the most fun place.
elementary school is so . . .
grown up.
scheduled.
big.
at preschool it is relaxed.
it is FUN!
you use your hands.
you get messy.
you are playing and learning.
kind words all the time.
no stress.
kindergarten is great but i will miss preschool for her.
i guess i just see how big sean got this year in kindergarten.
talby will be like that in a year from now!
it’s just so different.
so much change.

talby was loving the program.
smiling and singing.
she said “i did so good didn’t I?!”
there was a photo slideshow at the end and i was getting all teary watching it!
she is so precious.
i don’t want her to change.
talby is kind, compassionate, helpful, genuine and loving
i pray for her that she will stay true to these qualities.
i sound like she would change over night or that change would be bad.
it’s not that.
it’s that she is a joy to be around all the time.
i enjoy spending time with her and i will miss her next year.
and i will miss this phase of life.