Spell this.

She finished 2nd grade. The bar has been raised.

Let it BEGIN!

(FINALLY!)

WELCOME summer.

June's literary selection

Honestly a pleasure to read: I was half-way through it when I climbed in bed last night, and by 12:53 am I closed the cover and felt nostalgically like I was saying good-bye. I don't know why it took me so long to find this gem, but truly, reading it was like standing in a beautiful meadow with a gentle breeze blowing, arms out-stretched and head tilted upward to feel the sun on my face. I loved the underlying theme: that good can come from making mistakes. American life in rural Colorado during WWII is the setting. The main character, Livvy, a determined masters candidate in History, never imagines that the course of her life could take such a drastically different path than the one she had chosen and planned for. Ultimately, we realize together (Livvy and me) that the most valuable lesson to learn is that each person creates her own history day by day. I loved it.

tie one on

Shirlgirl!
Because YOU are the lucky winner of the very stylish and tres chic Apron from everydaychicdesigns.com! My very best blogging supporter and I put all names on cards and plucked one at random. Ironically, I think you were the president of the frequent recipe submission club anyway. Thanks for all the delish summer dinner idea-ers. And when we get together to try out one of those recipes, let's be twinners in our muy fabuloso aprons, okay?

They all went out for ice cream

...so I could be here in my house alone.
It's better than having eaten the ice cream myself.
[she said with a wide smile on her face]

even without sun

we ate plump and zesty radish in our salad

cry me a river

I’ve been weepy. It’s the end of the school year, I’m scheduled to the edge of my capacity and I’ve gone to bed over-stimulated for the past three weeks. Honestly, I could tell you that I’m emotional and leave it at that. I remember being pregnant and crying at the holiday commercials for coca cola. But I no longer watch TV; no time. I can’t quite get a handle on the why of all the crying... Past emotional pregnancies pale in comparison. I told one child that I had a leaky tear duct. Is there a frequent crying club? I should be an honorary card-carrying member. My sister is enduring a really tricky pregnancy. She’s in my thoughts constantly. I’ve been attending end-of-the-year awards assemblies at multiple schools, and it has taken everything I can muster to keep from sniffling at awards given to children I don’t even know! My husband unknowingly deleted my Segullah essay. I returned to the computer to revise and it was gone. (Sob) He also handed out a punishment to one of our kids. The consequence was appropriate. There was no complaining or appeal for a lighter sentence. But I was the one who cried. The carpet was miraculously cleaned and floors washed by my extremely service-oriented sister. My daughter ran excitedly into the house to greet me after school and I had forgotten to lock the door--the contractor had pulled out rotted floor boards at that entry and wasn’t finished yet. She fell in up to her hip. Much limping ensued, and I was the one crying. If that wasn’t bad enough, it happened again to my poor unsuspecting nephew. Even the skies have been leaking. Three out of every four days in the last month have been rainy. To everything there is a season… It must be my season for weeping. Knowing that seasons come and then pass, I’m alright with the crying for now.

Happy Summer Give-away for YOU!

Summer is almost here! Father's Day too. It's another great celebration weekend. Love them. In honor of this happy weekend occasion, I would like to introduce you to a great little internet shop.Meet "Everyday Chic." Hop on over to THIS place and look at the gorgeously faboo APRONS.
I couldn't resist. I bought one. Actually, I bought TWO. One for me, one for YOU!
The proprietress of Everyday chic was GREAT to work with.
AND... If you can GUESS WHICH APRON I LIKED BEST? you win the twin!
also: along with your guess, leave a comment about your favorite summer dinner dish.

*yummy ideas wanted for our summer menu*

If more than one of you happens to guess correctly, we're taking a family vote on the recipe. So make it delish! (You won't be sorry... the apron is darling!)

Since we're desperately seeking change in our meal repertoire, let's give it a week. Winner to be selected Thursday June 25th. Announcement Friday the 26th.

GOOD LUCK!

24

hours, that is.

And here's the update.

I left once today to keep my recess duty commitment.

Other than that, I was HOME. Working.

The result? Big progress.

(not perfection) And I needed the entire day.

dishes: be gone!

piles: be tamed!

Legos: contained.

clutter: poof!

Laundry: well, no expectation here. It'll come back. Vehemently.

the piles peak (and welcome!)

Got home after my three-hour annual Music Aiders meeting tonight, where my intention was to resign as secretary; I won't say much about how that went, except to tell you that I have pages and pages of notes to process and type into official minutes to send out to the rest of the board. The kids all ate dinner and put themselves to bed. That was pretty sweet. And the dishes were even mostly loaded into the dishwasher. The big stuck-on greasy pans and stuff? No worries. That'll all still be waiting when we wake up.

It's now mid-week: the hard reality of my prolific piles stares right back at me. So I'm turning in. School papers, RS notes, Music Aider meeting minutes, ice cream social assignments, bills to pay, information to file can all wait. Just keeping the worries small. And the blog real.

And putting any unfounded thoughts that I keep a house clear of clutter and dust bunnies right to bed.

I do wonder how the laundry seems to procreate right there on the floor...

And how we seem to have a hard time maintaining enough of a food supply for just us, but we have legos for the entire neighborhood.

You're welcome at my house ANYTIME. Just don't look in my cupboards. And know that I might lose you in the mess.

Biology in the yard

This is one of our neighbors from the pond out back. She is a young mother snapping turtle. She made her way up into our yard looking for a place to lay her eggs. We caught her digging a hole in the grass along the edge of our driveway, right where we park the cars. We stopped her mid-dig and persuaded her to seek another spot. We tracked her across the front yard and around the big pine. After that, we weren't sure where she had gone. A week or so went by and we wondered from time to time where she might have layed her eggs. We talked about how a mother turtle buries her eggs and then leaves them. I was impressed at the way in which she used her hind legs and spiky tail to dig. Mr. Dub threw down a size 5 women's croc to get a perspective on her stature.

When she was feeling defensive, she stuck her neck out and puffed up her throat.

On the way to the school bus yesterday, the girls discovered her depository. Unfortunately, somone had discovered it before they did, and had eaten most of the eggs. Maybe a skunk?

We were sad. But at the same time, it was a fascinating glimpse into the world of the snapper.

The eggs ended up being layed about 100 yards down the driveway from the original dig.

Why we miss Dad When He's Away

by Mr. Dub's chitlins and his side-kick

1. You weren't here for the annual opening of/first swim in the pool. :(
2. I miss being called Roonie, Angel Girl and My Swedish Princess.
3. Nobody else makes up goofy words.
4. You're not here to help me with my soccer skillz.
5. No wrestling competitions!
6. Mom has too much to do.
7. No waiting for you to come home (at night).
8. We miss your burnt food.
9. Family Home "Eating" just isn't the same without you.
10. Because he doesn't like to go to bed alone.
11. Someone always leaves the lights on.
12. Because he's not there to tell you to think positively.
13. Because he's not there to talk about how the day went.
14. I miss his help.
15. I miss snuggling with him!
16. I miss going on dates with him and building in the basement with him!
17. Because he takes the time to cut celery and carrot sticks and leave them in the fridge for healthy snacking.
18. I miss not working in the basement with him.
19. Mom's just not as cheerful in the morning.
20. We LOVE him.

come along

Guess where we went?

We hit the road spontaneously tonight;

...of course when you head to the city at 6pm, you'll hit a bit of traffic. Can you name this bridge? Love it.

We do love our sports here.

A view from Childrens' Wharf

Ta-dah! Friday is dollar night. It's a bah-gain.

we stayed busy for hours

there's this amazing two-and-a-half story enclosed climbing sculpture

everything's hands-on

Who's your favorite "Arthur" character?

You're never too old for Buster.

climbing sculpture

(little) men at work

haircuts for everyone

and a beee-YOU-tiful beauty parlor

I feel negligent for skipping this for the past five years

WHAT?! was I thinking?

do come join us next time you're in town.

Dear Freezer,

I love you.

Thank you for taking care of our freshly processed strawberry jam.We'll be back to visit. Often.
XOXO,

Jenny

pillow talk

Last night I crawled into bed feeling thoroughly depleted of energy. "We just had too many dang kids" I said (with a loving lilt in my tone, because I wouldn't trade a single one of them).

After that, I proceded to unload about some of the events that made up my day, none of which included my husband (which is why it felt that much better to be dumping my Mack truck full of stuff onto his side of the bed). He's a patient man. He listened, and then I pleaded for him to throw some tranquil words my way. "I just need to feel at peace," I explained.

He didn't respond, so I imagined he was at a loss. I attempted to lay it out there for him by saying "I just need some calming words. You know, like aroma therapy for the soul."

He came right back with "Would you like to smell my armpits?"

I was speechless.

Then he said "That was the first aroma that came to mind."

June is National Safety Month

June 8-14 is Fall Prevention week. BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

And now for a safe driving tip:

It only takes a few extra seconds to play it safe when you back up - and those seconds can make the difference between life and death. While hard to imagine, every year more than 100 children die and thousands more are injured by being backed over, sometimes in their own driveways.

Before driving, the National Safety Council urges parents and other drivers to walk completely around their cars to ensure the safety of children and pets.

If I had thought to adopt the preceding safety procedure earlier than now, the lives of many skateboards, scooters and various and sundry other yard toys would have been preserved.

We could refer to it as the 30-second stroll.
I think it's a really good idea.

It's BIRTHDAY time!

Happy 18!

XOXO

The Prophet said

to plant a gardenso that's what we'll do!

In between all of this madness, I've been speed dating my garden.

AND, we've added another raised bed and doubled the size of our existing planting space. I'm in love with the concept of nurturing dinner.

Closing the book

This is the small diary that I started for our oldest son when he was two years old. I've kept it by my bedside since 1993. Each page represents one day in the year, and has five sections where you fill in the year and make a brief note. It was my Grandfather's diary, given to him by my mother, her sister and their mother on his birthday in May of 1945. He took it with him to California, where he served on a Naval Base during WWII. He made less than a dozen entries during that year, and it sat empty until I started making notes in it for our oldest. Most of the pages have been filled in. Some have gaps of years, but it's fun to look back and see almost 50 years pass between Grampy's last entry and my first. I never thought I'd fill up these pages so quickly. I never imagined 16 years would feel quick. I'm happy to hand over the book and let him peek into his childhood from his younger mother's perspective.

This chapter's over. Now he'll start a new one.

3 up, 3 down.

8am:Munchkin soccer

we were not quite on our "A" game this morning.fingers were much more interesting than playing ball.I was intruiged by his fascination with his handsI figured out that THIS was what he was trying to do.

Whew! Water break.

9am:Travel League9:30am:Youth In-Town League

Good Fans, Good sports, Good Morning.