A little weird....

There are three kids in my backyard right now. Two boys and a girl. Nope. Not my kids. My kids aren't even home.

My kids are all gone at a friend's house having a playdate. These kids came over at different times all looking to play with Jake and Andrew.

When I told the first one to come over that the kids weren't home, he said "That doesn't matter. Can I play Legos?"

Uh, sure. Why not?

I did the dishes.

Then another one came over. Emerson ran to answer the door with me and invited the next kid to come in and play Memory with him.

I scrubbed out my shower.

The third one stopped by, joined the party, and now they are out playing Calvin-ball in the backyard.

They have asked nothing of me and have cleaned up after themselves.

I decided to post.

32.....again?

I think I've been telling people all year that I was 32, so when I realized a couple months ago that I would actually be
turning 32 at this birthday I was a bit surprised. I guess no fear of aging here!

The kids surprised me with a breakfast they made themselves. Wish we had a picture of it. My favorite part of the day was listening to the boys organize, decorate, and cook with their hushed voices, commands, and (sometimes loudly spoken) brilliant ideas! I kept pretending to sleep and smiled to myself when I heard Mike go out and ask them if they needed help and they responded that they would do all of it by themselves. They made us all plates of wonderfully arranged scrambled eggs, toast, strawberries, and carrots. Cuties!

Oh - and they woke me up by stuffing Amelia's leftover cake from the night before with 32 candles and singing to me in bed. Hahaha!

My birthday is the day after Amelia's. Can you see that she has already donned all her princess gear before coming down for breakfast? And all week she kept saying to me in an all-knowing voice, "We are da grils. So we have our birthday togezer. We don't want to have it by ourselves!" (Ourselves being said incredulously.)

Millie Girl is 3!

I can't believe it. The girl is potty trained, riding a "big girl bike" with training wheels, and wearing size 4T. Where does the time go?

She loves butterflies and requested a butterfly cake.

Opening presents.

Wearing as many presents to bed as she can manage. (About ten minutes later she realized hard wire fairy wings and a tulle princess dress are not the best bed companions.)

Goodness gracious, we love her!

Hermine Excitement

So it rained a little last night. Can you see the ruler? That reads 11 1/2 inches. The bucket went out in the backyard last night at 7:00. Yes, I might be a little of a weather fanatic. I wanted to KNOW how much rain was falling at my house, not at the airport, or weather station....

Anyway - checked the water in the bucket first thing in the morning. I can't get over it. Almost a FOOT of rain last night. That's not counting the day and a half of non-stop rain before my curiousity got the best of me and I put the bucket out.

When I went to switch over the laundry last night I looked out the front window and noticed that the flooding was out of control. I called Mike and we ran outside in our pajamas, in the pouring rain, and waded through the street in water that was almost up to our knees. Our mailbox looked like it was floating, you couldn't see where our sidewalk was....I got some awesome videos of earlier in the day when the water in the ravine was just near the top of it's banks, but I SOOOOO wish I could have gotten videos or pictures of what it looked like at that point. Craziness. But it was too dark. Our whole backyard looked like a river and water about 6 inches deep was rushing through our fence boards and gushing into the street/river.

Lots of fun. We were soaking and running the streets in the dark while our children slept peacefully, blissfully unaware they were home alone.

So I know I'm a little weird and get worked up about weather. And you can rest assured I am passing it on to my children. My kids and I were actually thoroughly disappointed that it stopped raining this afternoon. Humbug. Back to schoolwork.

Happy Homeschool Day!

That's what Jacob was singing over the balcony upstairs this morning.

Our first day - had to still get pictures

Jacob took a picture of his workstation.
He was SO excited.
Check out those freshly sharpened pencils.

We had a lovely time and were finished by 10 a.m. (A short morning to start off with.)
The boys were amazing workers. So cheerful and cooperative. Amelia was great as well! She painted while the boys worked, and then was "eraser girl" while I worked with Andrew on the white board.
I even found time to fold and put away a load of laundry while the boys did some writing.

So even though there will be days I will wonder why we made this decision, I am incredibly happy that it wasn't the first day!!!!

Wonderful children. I hope I can do great things for them.

Hot Stuff

This little chica has been wandering around my house in this get-up for the past hour. (Yes, those are the "roll up" plastic glasses you get from your eye doctor after having your eyes dilated.) Her quiet mutterings have continued to rotate between softly singing "I'm a Princess...." and in a matter-of-fact voice, "Star Wars the Clone Wars!" and a stern "Where's Master Yoda?"

Over and over. Actually none of those things come to mind when I look at her. Gangster Dopey was kind of what I was leaning towards.

But I'll tell you what REALLY makes her hot stuff.

She's potty trained.

Go Millie, go Millie, go Millie, go Millie. It's (almost) your birthday.

Sweetness

Let me give you some background. I've decided to homeschool my kids. I'll have to do a different post on that, but here's what happened tonight.

Our elementary school's Welcome Walk was set for tonight. It's when you find out who your teacher is. You wait, excitedly and impatiently, between 5 and 7 for your teacher to show up at your door. She brings you a little bag with papers for mom and dad, a write up about her, and some fun stuff like pencils...maybe a zebra ruler, and then visits with you for a few minutes and is off again. Then your kids are calling all their friends to find out who's in who's class. Lots of fun.

About 6:30 Jacob started his phone calls. First on the list, Simon.

Here's what I could hear from the other room:

"Simon! Hey! Who'd you get?!

Awesome! Are you excited?

Were you hoping for her?

Do you know who else is in your class?"

....a little chatter. And then apparently Simon decided to start asking Jake the same questions, even though he knew Jake would be at home this year.....

And Jake answered, "I got Ms. Anderson! Oh yeah, I like her a lot. She's the one I wanted the most."

Then he looks over at me and smiles a heart melting smile.

LOVE.

The Power of Sugar

It's amazing what some sugar in the bloodstream can do for a girl. On Saturday I ran (term used loosely) a 5k event. My time was 36:42.

Tonight I ran 5k and my time was 23:16.

That is a difference of 13 minutes and 26 seconds. And that, my friends, is the power of sugar.

Saturday morning the race started at 8 and I had to be up at 6:20 to get ready and get there. Didn't eat. Was STARVING before the race began.

Tonight I went running a couple hours after a good dinner and a little handful of chocolate chips and pretzels during Family Home Evening.

I now pose a question for all you out there that are experienced runners. What works for you on race days as far as food goes? What can you consume within an hour of running that will not upset your stomach?

I would prefer to do better at the events and am not sure how to do so.

Happy Michael's Weekend

That's right! Mike's birthday always falls right on or before Father's Day, so wham-bam every year. It's a great test of my organizational skills. Luckily, he knows who he's married to and forgives me (generally) for spacing one as long as I remember the other. This year I kind of got both.

(Maybe he'll also forgive me for posting this not entirely flattering picture?)

Lucky Mike! Your very own Star Wars Speeder Bike!

Andy gets crafty.

And this here may not be much to look at, but it was one lump of deliciousness. Chocolate orange torte. Mmmm. I need some more. With whipping cream and raspberries.

Mike is such a great dad. He does secret handshakes with the boys, talks late at night, cuts down big trees with them, takes them on errands, reads poems and great books, challenges their ideas and promotes discussion. He makes Millie laugh, does her hair, eats 10 pounds of fruit a day (wait - that was random), and takes the kids on l-o-n-g bike rides so this mama can take naps on the weekend.

We are so happy, happy he is part of our family! We would be a mess without him. Happy Father's day, Mike!

Cheri's now a runner

On Saturday, Cheri competed in her first race. It was the Vern's no-frills 5K in Georgetown, which is a town about 20 minutes from our house. It was a very pretty course.

The kids came to watch her, and she did awesome. Cheri stuck with her daily training program, so it was no surprise that she did well. Her time was 36 minutes and 42 seconds. She is now training for a 10K, and wants to run against me in a 5K.

And here is just a nice picture of Cheri and Amelia.

Little Fred

A little poem the kids memorized yesterday. The content of the poem being my attempt at brainwashing....

But either way, they are pretty sweet.

(Each video is about 30 seconds long.)







Little Fred
When little Fred was called to bed
He always acted right.
He kissed Mama, and then Papa,
And wished them all goodnight.

He made no noise like naughty boys,
But gently up the stairs
Directly went when he was sent
And always said his prayers.

Bye Bye Birdie

One evening a little birdie was found in the backyard with a broken wing.

Kids made a nest and put it in a shoe box along with a little bowl of water.

Very tender.

In the morning they discovered the birdie was flying in a new paradise.

Had a funeral.

Buried alongside graves of a caterpillar, a beetle, and something else I don't remember. Seems like it was a big something.

Oh - Jake said a prayer and then Andrew honored it's memory with a song. (I absolutely could not hold my laughter in while listening. Tried to say I was laughing about something else.) Let's just say the song was heartfelt.

Rest in peace.

Fireflies

As I looked out the window this evening after putting the kids to bed, I saw the familiar flashes of light start popping up here and there in the backyard. Excitement! Fireflies are back! That means summer really is here!

I was immediately overcome with the memory of the first time I saw fireflies. My family took a two week road trip when I was 15 or 16. We made a stop in Kansas and that evening we saw the scattered lights start appearing in a cornfield. It was thrilling - like in a way that those who live in the south may feel when they first see snow. Is this real? I've heard of it! I can't believe it!

And then when we first moved to Michigan I was so delighted to discover that I actually got to live where these fairytale-like creatures lived. What fun!

And now it is something my kids will grow up with. Lucky ducks.

And since we're talking about summer - let's talk about my fabulous garden. It really brings me such joy. We harvested our first zucchini the other day and had it for dinner. Mmmm. (Random Thought: Can I tell you I am so proud I spelled zucchini right the first time I typed it?! That is one weird word.)

Amelia is my helper and she takes her role seriously. In fact, the other day we were reading The Tale of Peter Rabbit. There was a picture showing Mr. MacGregor in his garden. Amelia pointed to the picture and said, "Oh no! Where is his little girl to help him?" So adorable.

And here are some pictures of the garden. When I came in to record on my little chart how many we harvested, I realized it was exactly 30 days after planting. Does that seem crazy to you? I am always amazed at how quickly the garden grows.

Conflicted

One of my dear grandmothers passed away a little bit ago. My family had moved away when I was 14, and then I grew up and moved even farther away and got swept up in my life and my little ones and what I was doing. And then she was gone. Quickly. I had a wake up call. Life really is short. I've had a lot of aching moments thinking of times that I would think of her and decide to call her to chat - and then something came up and that had to be done and we had to get there and then I had to go to bed.....whatever. And I never would call. I never would write. And I loved my Grandma.

So tonight I was looking through the mail and there was a letter from an attorney in Oregon. I was surprised and couldn't figure out what it could possibly be about. Then as I opened it and began reading my eyes passed over the phrase Last Will and Testament. I had this sinking in my stomach. I thought, "Please, oh please tell me you did not leave anything to me." It's such a weird feeling to even think about that kind of stuff after someone has died. And then the hardest thing of all was when I found, at the end of the document, a form I needed to fill out to basically lay claim to my portion. It felt wrong to even fill it out. It felt like I was coming forward and asking for something from my grandma whom I was feeling in debt to relationship-wise.

Anyway. My thoughts.

And I did decide to seize the day. I had a plane ticket to go see her when I found out she had Leukemia and then she died before I was scheduled to fly out. So I kept the same flight and went to see my other grandparents who also live in Oregon and had a lovely time. Visiting, catching up on what is going on in each others lives, looking through photo albums and hearing many stories of their growing up years. It was precious time. Time that I will be forever thankful for, and wish that I would've made happen earlier with my grandma.

I am so grateful for my family. All of them. Parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, 2nd cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws. They all have a special place in my heart and have played a part in my life experiences that have given me great memories and contributed to who I am today.

Now to figure out how to stay in touch with everyone.....the blog counts, right? Except that they don't all have one. And there's a difference between knowing what's going on and having conversations and getting a great hug. Okay - if you are family and you are reading this, please consider yourself hugged. You are all running through my mind right now. Yes, ALL of you.

Mother's Day

I approached the holiday this year with dread.

1. I manage to yell at my children most days.

2. A tired mom mixed with 2 belligerent, exhausted children every morning who have to be out the door by 7:35 (while being quiet enough to not wake the 2 year old) is like mixing baking soda and vinegar - someone's going to explode.

3. There have been weeks this year that I haven't even looked in their backpacks to see what homework has been assigned.

4. More often than not I am looking at the clock as they excitedly tell me every detail of the star wars lego battle they just had upstairs.

5. Amelia has had to hang on my arm and pull on my face while crying "Look at me, Mom!" while I am sending off emails.

Anyway - I have had many moments in the past year where I have fallen in bed and thought, "Nice going. That'll mess them up and leave them needing a psychotherapist when they're older."

So you can understand why I asked Mike to skip it this year. He didn't - being the husband he is, but it was all I could do this morning to accept gifts, a plethora of homemade cards, and songs made up and presented on the spot by Andrew. Even though it warmed my heart, I was still feeling guilt at not doing my best at the most important thing in my life.

A talk in church really helped adjust my perspective. It was a straightforward, no nonsense talk, devoid of anything sappy. He talked about a mother's responsibilities - including taking the necessary time out for ourselves, and to be ever watchful of becoming overwhelmed and discouraged and thinking that we are not doing a great job. It wasn't a feel good talk, it was like he held up my life in front of me and let me see it from an objective person's point of view, and then told me what I could do better. As I type this I realize that he was inspired in his presentation and content, but that the Spirit was obviously involved in creating this experience for me.

So I graciously accepted the flowers and chocolate they handed out afterward, and have felt cheery ever since. (Maybe the chocolate had something to do with that?) I still need to figure out how to once again prioritize my extremely full plate, and also to take out the time needed to rejuvenate myself spiritually and physically. I have been trying to "give" from exhausted reserves for some time now. It doesn't really work that way.

So Happy Mother's Day to myself. I am glad to be able to think that way again. And to everyone else out there who gives of themselves time and time again to those around you - whether they be your children or your neighbors. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!